几年前畅销书《达芬奇密码》作者Dan Brown的另一部作品，其实这部小说写在《达芬奇密码》之前，相当于达的前传。两个月前由于电影的上映，决定先找来小说一读。一如作者一贯的风格，情节复杂曲折，意外迭起，丝丝入扣，前有伏笔，后有呼应，引人入胜。一旦入进去，就很难出来。我70%的阅读是在一个周末完成的，沉醉不知归路，看得昏天暗地，仿佛与现实生活脱节了。

 

为报复被认为是恶魔的教廷，光明会（Illuminatti）派出刺客“替天行道”，符号学家罗伯特·兰登则理所当然地成为解谜第一人。故事缘起于某位科学家成功地在物质世界研究出“反物质”，一点点微量反物质与物质结合所释放的“纯能量”足以令人类的任何一种大规模杀伤性武器黯然失色。为了利用新教皇推选的机会一举铲平对手，光明会的刺客盗走了反物质并赶在选期内抵达梵蒂冈，利用四位红衣主教作“生祭”拖住教廷的选举；与此同时，在兰登与科学家的女儿，只能依靠四大元素的双向对称文字、Bernini的雕塑以及伽利略那首根本不存在的诗，阻止这一疯狂的计划……

对宗教的理解一直非常浅显，个人认为文中最精彩的部分是教皇内侍camerlengo在西斯廷教堂面对bbc记者的演讲，宗教说给科学的话，发人深思。

“To the Illuminati, and to those of science, let me say this, you have won the war. The wheels have been in motion for a long time. Your victory has been inevitable. Never before has it been as obvious as it is at the moment. Science is the new God”

“Medicine, electronic communications, space travel, genetic manipulation...these are the miracles about which now we tell our children. These are the miracles we herald as proof that science will bring us the answers. The ancient stories of immaculate conceptions, burning bushes, and parting seas are no longer relevant. God has become obsolete. Science has won the battle. We concede .”

＂But science's victory has cost every one of us. And it has cost us deeply. Science may have alleviated the miseries of disease and drudgery and provided an array of gadgetry for our entertainment and convenience, but it has left us in a world without wonder. Our sunsets have been reduced to wavelengths and frequencies. The complexities of the universe have been shredded into mathematical equations. Even the technology that promises to unite us, divides us. Each of us is now electronically connected to the globe, and yet we feel utterly alone. We are bombarded with violence, division, fracture and betrayal. Skepticism has become a virtue. Cynicism and demand for proof has become enlightened thought. Is it any wonder that humans now feel more depressed and defeated than they have at any point in human history? Does science hold anything sacred? Science looks for answers by probing our unborn fetuses. Science even presumes to rearrange our own DNA. It shatters God's world into smaller and smaller pieces in quest of meaning...and all it finds is more questions＂

'The ancient war between science and religion is over. You have won. Religion cannot keep up. Scientific growth is exponential. it feeds on itself like a virus. Every new breakthrough opens door for new breakthroughs. Mankind took thousand of years to progress from wheels to cars, yet only decades from the car to the space...As religion is left behind, people find themselves in a spiritual void...'

'who is the God science? who is the god who offers his people power but no moral framework to tell you how to use the power? The language of science comes with no signposts about good and bad...'

呵呵，敲起来太费时间，省略号之。。。...

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