Last night I finished The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (of The Davinci Code fame…or is that infamy?). My overall assessment is that the story is actually very good…for a work of fiction. As long as you remember that this is a novel, and not a scholastic work, it’s easy to enjoy. It has a good story, great plot twists, it captures your attention and keeps you involved in the evolving story. The riddle(s) that is unraveling keeps you guessing and you actually get engaged in trying to solve the riddle yourself. For a story I give it an A+.

I just wish that Dan Brown had left it alone when the story was over. The last few chapters have nothing to do with the story (they even occur after the riddles have been solved and everyone else has gone home except for two of the main characters). The last few chapters (chapter 133 in particular) is simply Mr. Brown’s way of getting in his secular humanism…it reads as page-after-page of secular humanism lecture. In the last pages he manages to proof-text Scripture (when he isn’t outright mis-quoting or mis-interpreting it), lump all religions into one basket, and declares that all religion simply points us to ourselves as gods.

Here are a two examples (two of many):

The Bible, like many ancient texts, is a detailed exposition of the most sophisticated machine ever made…the human mind.” (chapter 133).

Um….no it isn’t! The Bible is an exposition of God’s search for relationship with mankind. It’s the story of God’s redemptive love…from start to finish. It’s exactly the opposite of an exposition of the human mind.

Langdon had never understood why the very first passages of the Bible referred to God as a plural being. Elohim. The Almighty God in Genesis was described not as One…but as many.

“God is plural,” Katherine whispered, “because the minds of man are plural.” (chapter 133)

Again…wrong! God is plural because God is Trinity…not because the minds of man are plural. This is basic theology and Mr. Brown does his best to explain the Trinity away withing the confines of secular humanism (and does a poor job if you ask me).

As I said, these are only two example. The litany of secular humanistic “teaching” in this chapter alone is too long and detailed to get into here…but it is obvious. Mr. Brown believes that humans are becoming like their Creator (at least he admits we have one)…gods that can accomplish great things. I agree that we can accomplish great things, but not apart from God…rather with God. There is a big difference.

If you haven’t read this book…please do. It is a good book, but think about skipping chapter 133 (it doesn’t help the book at all). And if you have read it…or if you choose to read chapter 133 (I know I would…especially if someone told me not to)…let’s keep this final quote form the book in mind…

This book is a work of fiction. (Copyright page)