A guilty pleasure of mine is reading Dan Brown novels. You might remember that he is the author who wrote “The DaVinci Code”. That controversial novel played up the conspiracy theory that Mary Magdalene was the wife of Jesus. His novels are usually controversial, as religion always has a role to play in the unfolding of the story. Brown’s latest novel, Origin”, was published a couple of weeks ago and is now on the New York Times best seller list and is available in most bookstores. While some of the tangents on which Brown wanders can be a bit irritating, I enjoy his travel/quest adventures, as he attempts to unravel the puzzle that is at the heart of the story. There are always plot twists, surprises, suspense and character development, at least in his more recent novels. One of my favorite characters in “Origin” is Winston; sort of Siri on steroids.
“Origin” is about the relationship between science and religion. He sets up the story with some broad stereotypes I conflict with each other; atheistic scientist, literalist religious leader, behind the scenes power brokers and similar characters. The Harvard semiologist, Robert Langdon, is the hero of this story and as it unfolds Dr. Langdon’s education in the relationship between science and religion is broadened, as is ours. By the end of the Book, Brown has introduced enough complexity and nuance to the debate to move beyond the initial stereotypes. He probably could have developed the topic more, but this is a novel, so I can’t be too demanding on his exploration of the relationship between science and religion. I taught a graduate course on the topic about six years ago, so I’m probably more demanding than most of his readers.
The book begins with Robert Langdon being invited to Spain for a special event by a former student and protégé who became a billionaire inventor, scientist and entrepreneur. This protégé informs Langdon that he has made a great discovery that will shake the world and provide unassailable evidence that will confirm the scientific understanding of the origin of life on Earth and shatter the religious take on human origins. Since his billionaire friend provided a first-class ticket to Spain and the nicest accommodations, Langdon decides to take advantage of the offer. He goes to Spain, meets his friend briefly before the presentation and then witnesses his friend being killed before he can reveal his big secret to the world. It appears that there is a complex conspiracy behind the assignation that involves the Church, dark web assassins, strange religious sects and the Spanish royal family. Langdon and the female lead in the story spend the next several hundred pages being chased around Spain, immersed in Spanish politics and exploring ideas about the relationship between science and religion. Ultimately, the protégé’s “great reveal” isn’t all that earth-shaking, except perhaps for the most fundamentalist of religionists, but it is an interesting journey getting there. The best part is the plot twist at the end.
Most popular considerations of the relationship between science and religion are more polemical than reasonable explorations of the topic. The religious view is presented as a fundamentalist understanding of Scripture in which the world is created in six days and the world is no more than nine thousand years old, just as described in the Book of Genesis. While there are religious groups that take that understanding, it does not represent the range of religious thought on the topic. Indeed, it is a minority view. It is certainly not the understanding taught by the Catholic Church.