Video game review: Darksiders 2

  They say there are two things you cannot avoid in life, one is death, the other is tax. It is true that death comes to us all. It seems that in THQ's latest game Darksiders 2, the game developers would have the players take control of the grim reaper, Mr. Death himself on an epic journey, not to take life, but to give life... At this stage of the review, I am going to jump ahead and say Darksiders 2 is awesome! This really is my kind of game, and Death is a very likable anti-hero. But what exactly is Darksiders 2? Well, let's find out!

  In 2010, the video game studio Virgil, developed a game called "Darksiders". The first Darksiders game was an action adventure game, blending the best elements between God of War and Zelda. Darksiders 1, received many positive reviews from critics and players alike, due to the solid gameplay, eye-pleasing artistic style and a somewhat interesting storyline "inspired" by the Judeo-Christian Bible (the book of Revelation). The game quickly gained a large fan base, and Virgil studio started to develop a sequel. In 2012, the second installment in the franchise is released. Darksiders 2, promised to be a bigger and better game than its predecessor, and the game was released in August 2012.

Synopsis:

The Darksiders universe is set in a fantasy world, "loosely inspired" by the Judeo-Christian Bible. In the world of Darksiders, the "creator" made the angels, demons and the humankind, together with the respective realms for these creatures. The balance of the universe is kept by a group called the "charred council". A demon called "Lilith" mingled the dusts of angels and demons to create the Nephlims, a race of beings which included the four horsemen. The Nephlims waged wars across many different worlds, causing unimaginable bloodshed and destruction. Eventually, the four horsemen grew tire of the slaughter, and defected to the charred council. The Four was granted with incredible powers by the council to serve the balance, and their first task was to destroy their own kind. In a major battle, the four horsemen slaughtered all the Nephlims and restored the balance. Awaiting the time when the 7 seals would be opened, when they will be summoned to bring about the end of the world.

The four horsemen in the world of Darksiders, look at the picture.. yep, there are four of them.

In Darksiders 1, the player took control of one of the horsemen of apocalypse, War. He was falsely summoned to earth when one of the 7 seals wrongfully opened, and War was accused by the charred council of starting the Armageddon pre-maturely that brought about the end of humankind. In the first game, War professed his innocence in front of the council, and was given a chance to return to earth, 300 years after the apocalypse to prove his case.

 The story of Darksiders 2 runs parallel with the first game. While War was on earth trying to find out who set him up, Death, the oldest, most powerful and fearful horsemen set out to find a way to save his brother War from condemnation. Death's plan is to resurrect and restore humankind to atone for his brother's action. On this journey, Death would travel to many places, see many wonders, and encounter many creatures both big and small, there is no way to avoid Death, the pale rider cometh!

The pale rider cometh!

Gameplay:

With Darksiders 2, Virgil studio has made many improvements over the first game. DS2 is now categorized as an open world/roaming, action RPG game. There are all together 16 chapters in this game, and Death will visit 6 different worlds. While it is possible to ride the horse to travel between locations, but the more efficient way is to use the fast travel system.

Need to go somewhere? Use the map!

 The combat in Darksiders 2 retains the style from its predecessor, the major difference is that in Darksiders 2, Death is a far more agile fighter than War. Most of Death's deadly moves rely speed and timing. Death can use two different modes of attack, his primary weapon is a set of psyche, the secondary weapon can be a set of super fast gauntlets, or heavy weapons such as axe, mace of hammer which have slow attacking speed.

The heavy weapons in Darksiders 2 are... really big!

During combats, Death can also deploy special abilities to wreck havocs against his foes. The combat is very similar to God of War and Devil May Cry, to win the day and survive an encounter with outer worldly creatures, the player has to dodge, attack and use special abilities strategically.

There are many special abilities in Darksiders 2, knock yourself out.

The boss fights (there are many of them) require the players to observe the movements of the bosses and use tactics to win the fight. Overall, the combat system is solid, and remains the core strength of this franchise.

The first boss in Darksiders 2, the Ice Giant

Darksiders 2 has a very heavy RPG element. Other than the primary quest, there are also many side quests to be found by interacting with NPCs in the game world. While the story for side quests are not particularly interesting, but these quests often require the player to travel to a perilous dungeon or locale to defeat some massive monsters, with fitting rewards to be gained at the end of the quest. The conversation dialogue in Darksiders 2 uses a very similar design in Mass Effect. However, the conversations don't really affect the story of the game at all, and the dialogue often serves the purpose of story-telling rather than impacting the development of the story.

A conversation with a... giant dwarf?

Darksiders 2 also has a new looting system. In this game, there are literally thousands of armour pieces and weapons you can find. When Death vanquishes an enemy, the creature drops items that can be picked up. If this does not satisfy your thirst for hording equipment, there are also hundreds of treasure chests scattered throughout the game world, each containing items that will aid Death on his journey. The armor pieces and weapons are level based, and the items get better as Death levels up. The loot, item and inventory system is very similar to Diablo 3. The kind of armor pieces you equip on Death depends on your play style, but also enables the player to customize the appearance of Death.

The inventory menu of Darksiders 2

Sample armors in Darksiders 2

 As Death completes quests and defeat enemies, he gradually gains experience points and levels up. When Death gains a level, he is rewarded with a skill point to assign to a special ability (of the player's choice). In Darksiders 2, there are two skill trees. One set of skill is focused on enhancing Death's melee combat (the warrior build), the other set of skill gives Death the ability to summon creatures to aid him in battles (the necromancer build), the type of character build can be further enhanced by the armor pieces equipped on Death by the player.

The menu for skill trees

 Puzzle solving is another main element in Darksiders 2. The puzzles in this game can get quite difficult, some of the puzzles will really make you think hard. Most of the time, Death has to utilize his surroundings and gadgets (such as the portal gun and gripping chains) to solve a puzzle. There are also a lot of wall running and climbing on the dungeon walls in this game, an element very similar to Prince of Persia and Assassin's Creed. In my play through, I was often baffled by some of the more challenging puzzles. Nonetheless, the puzzles are all solvable (if you think hard enough). Personally, I loved the mental challenges offered by the puzzles in Darksiders 2. However, if you are the kind of person who just want to get on with the game and kill stuff, then you might not find the challenging puzzles in Darksiders 2 to your liking.

Finally, apart from the main quest and side quests. The player can also take Death to the Crucible. This is an arena mode where Death can face up to 100 waves of enemies. After every 5 waves, Death can choose to either quit the arena and cash in the reward (such as armors, weapons, amulets, gold or potions), or continue to fight on to accumulate more reward. However, if the player dies in the middle of the session, you loose all previous rewards. Beating all 100 waves of enemy in the Crucible can let the player unlock 2 pieces of Death's most powerful armor, the Abyssal armor (I only managed to beat 55 waves in my first play through and only unlocked the Abyssal boot).

Welcome to the Crucible mode, the winner takes all. The loser goes home empty handed.

In general, the combat in Darksiders 2 is fun, exciting and exquisite. The newly introduced RPG system allows the game to have more replay-ability, and makes the experience more rewarding, while at the same time allows the player to customize Death to suit their play style. Finally, the puzzles in Darksiders 2  present some real challenges to any fans of video games who are not afraid of exercising some brain muscles.

Graphics, design and music:

The artistic design of Darksiders 1 and 2, is done by Joe Madureira (Uncanny Xmen). The looks and feel of the graphics has a very strong comic book style. The sceneries are grand, colorful and fascinating. The character designs are good to look at, and give the sense of high fantasy setting. I really like the way Death looks, with his death mask, spiked armor, a crow on his shoulder and his cool horse. While the artistic design of the game is amazing, the same cannot be said to the the technical side in the graphics department. On the PC version of the game, there are actually no features that allows you to turn on graphics options such as AA, high resolution shadow, textures resolution and so on. The result is the graphics in this game is not as high quality as it should be on modern PC games. The shadows in this game are highly pix-elated (I think I can almost count the pixels). It is very strange for Virgil studio to release a PC game with no options to tweak the graphic settings.

Welcome to the beautiful world of Darksiders 2

 The music and soundtracks of Darksiders 2 are simply amazing, a definite improvement over the soundtracks in Darksiders 1. I have the collector's edition of the game, and I was given a pass to download the soundtracks of the game from THQ website. Each of the soundtracks are very suitable for the different locations and occasions in the game. Finally, the voice actor for Death is Michael Wincott (from the film, The Crow), the voice acting for Death is top notch, very suitable for the character of Death, and certainly made Death one of the most memorable video game characters up to date.

Technical glitches:

 You might be wondering, with awesome gameplay, very likable protagonist, top notch soundtrack/voice acting, and beautiful artistic design, this must be the perfect game right? Sadly, this is not true. In my opinion, the biggest problem with Darksiders 2 is the list of technical glitches and bugs. Other than the lack of graphics setting features on the PC version, the game also suffers from a lot of glitches that can halt Death's quest to resurrect the humankind. Luckily, none of the bugs are game breaking, but glitches do prevent the player from completing certain side quests. Virgil studio has promised to release a patch in the coming weeks to address these problems. It would be very good if these issues can be resolved. Given that THQ is not in good finiancial status, they have really invested a lot in Darksiders 2, hoping this block buster title can get the company out of its current money troubles. I really hope Darksiders 2 can sell well and THQ can pull through, because I would really like to play Darksiders 3 in the future.

Final verdict:

  I instantly became a fan of the Darksiders franchise when I played Darksiders 1 two years ago. In Darksiders 2, with the solid gameplay, beautiful art design, amazing soundtrack, top notch voice acting, and a very, very likable protagonist. I think Darksiders 2 is currently my favorite game this year. However, the technical glitches and the lack of graphic setting in Darksiders 2 (on PC version) really weights against it, but since Virgil studio has promised to release a patch to address all these problems, I will rate Darksiders 2 as it will be when it will be patched in the (hopefully) near future.

In my opinion, Darksiders 2 scores a solid  9.5/10


Regarding the story:

The story of Darksiders 2, is loosely inspired by the book of Revelation. I think some people might be concerned about the spirituality of this game, in respective to the Christian worldview. Personally, I think we need to keep in mind, this is a "fantasy" story "inspired" by the book of Revelation. This means we need to look at the story for what it is, NOT for what "we think it should represent". (what I mean is, it would be ridiculous to expect a fantasy story, inspired by elements in the book of revelation, to accurately represent Christian theology. Remember, this is a video game story, not a theological commentary making a statement about Christian theology) .

A word of precaution to the would-be players. Darksiders 2 is strictly MA15+, mostly due to graphical violence.

There is one thing I want to mention (warning: Spoiler ahead!!!). In the game's ending scene (the final cut scene), the narrator spoke a sentence that summed up the story of Death: "Thus, from death came life, and the seeds of humanity was resown. But, Death's journey has not ended".

I think this is a sentence that should remind Christians of something we are familiar with. I always find it very interesting that the idea of "an individual's self sacrifice to save others", is such a highly revered idea in pop culture entertainment. If you have played this game, given the entire context of the story in Darksiders 2, perhaps this can be a conversation starter (a common ground) with your friends, who does not yet know that Jesus is humanity's savior, and has died and rose again.

 Happy gaming!

Book review: The Ultimate Triumph - The limited signed edition

"Barbarism is the natural state of mankind", the borderer said, still staring somberly at the Cimmerian. "Civilization is unnatural. It is a whim of circumstance. And barbarism must always ultimately triumph"
                    Beyond the Black River, 1935

  Empires rise, and empires fall. Throughout history, the earthly thrones of human regimes bud, and fade like leaves in the winter chills. Time and again, these empires and civilizations crumple and quake beneath the invasions from "barbarians". We have all heard of the phrase "barbarians at the gate". The somber reflection of history, seems to indicate a cyclic pattern: The demise of civilization in the waking inferno of red-handed barbarians.

 This is the enduring worldview of Robert E. Howard (1906-1936), the greatest pulp writer of all time; Corruptions and degeneracy manifest themselves as a civilization makes progress. Ultimately, when a civilization is rotten to its core, the "barbarians at the gate", a more primitive group, from outside the gateway, with hardiness and disciplines shaped by their struggle to survive the tough environs, rise up and overtake a civilization and rule in its stead. This seems to be a self repeating pattern, when one glimpses into the flowing river of history.

In Robert E. Howard's short career as an author between the 1920s to 1930s. He wrote more than 600 short stories and 700 poems, and he created some of the most enduring and iconic literary characters of all time, such as Solomon Kane, Conan the Cimmerian, Bran Mak Morn, Cormac Mac Art, Turlough O'brien, Francis Xavier Gordon... these tales impacted the world of fantasy fiction very deeply, and Robert E. Howard is widely regarded as the father of sword and sorcery sub-genre.

 Readers of Robert E. Howard's stories, are inevitably aware of Howard's disillusion with the notion of civilization. What could drive a man to despise civilization so much? Howard's did not arrive at his worldview by observing the history alone. To understand the elements that shaped Howard's worldview and writings. We need to understand something of Robert E. Howard's life. Howard grew up in a Texan town called "Cross Plain" in the 1920s. When his family first arrived at Cross Plain, it was a little town, peaceful and God-fearing. Sooner than later, the oil boom swept the town off its feet, and in the pace of a few years. The town was transformed from the inside out. The riches brought by the oil boom, also brought corruptions, violence and all sorts of negativity that impacted the community. As the Howard scholar Mark Finn correctly observed about Howard's experience growing up at a boom town:

"He saw the hypocrisies of the boom clearly, an ironic state of affairs that allowed for "progress" and "civilization" to come with their own predators and brigands. He watched as the quiet, God-fearing town suddenly became a wild and lawless place. He watched as the backdrop of his early childhood descended on an area of the country he had come to know, and he saw the effect it had on people his family knew very well".
                             Mark Finn, Blood and Thunder: The Art & Life of Robert E. Howard

No wonder so many of Howard's protagonists are barbarians. These characters are neither savages, nor are they men pampered by the spoils of civilization. While Howard despised civilization, nor does he revere the idea of "noble savage", Howard did not think human beings would be better off if we were in a status of complete savageness. Howard's barbarians are not just muscle-bound, fighting simpletons. Howard's barbarians are often portrayed as heroes contemplating with life, with naked honesty, stolid ferocity and iron determinations to uphold their principles, no matter what trials they face. Under Howard's pen, his barbarians contrast the hypocrisies of decadent men wearing the serpentine mask of civilized mannerism. It can be said that by creating these characters, Howard was stating his disillusion with the civilization, and the negative aspects that accompanies it".

Since Howard's death in 1936. Most of Howard's literary creations have been greatly diluted with  B-grade pastiches, comic books and Hollywood movies. Sadly, while the popular media has made many of Howard's creations famous, but they have also created stereotypes that Howard's literary inventions are cheap, cheesy, and second grade literature thriving on violence and sex appeal. Needless to say, none of these stereotypes are true. Recently, there has been a resurgence and increased demand for publishing Howard's original writings, unadulterated and unabridged. In 1999, the book publisher Wandering Star released a book called "The Ultimate Triumph". This is the second volume in their series of "Robert E. Howard Library of classics". The name is taken from Howard's famous quote from the story "Beyond the Black River" (the quote at the beginning of this review).

This book collects 7 of Howard's iconic stories on barbarism vs. civilization. The genre of the stories in this volume, range from sword and sorcery to historical fiction. The book is also illustrated by Frank Frazetta (1928-2005), the legendary fantasy artist who provided over 120 black and white drawings, and 4 color plates to illuminate the text. The limited edition of this book was restricted to 1500 copies, signed by Frank Frazetta, in hardcover format and encased with a beautiful slip case.

 The stories collected in this volume are:

Beyond the Black River - Arguably one of the best stories Howard ever wrote, an unique Conan story with the background of the frontier setting.

The House of Arabu - A horror/fantasy story featuring Pyrrhas the Argive, the Greek Barbarian

Spears of Clontarf - This is a historical fiction story based on the event of Battle of Clontarf in 1014, an epic battle between the Vikings and the Celts. This is a story containing all the classic Howardian elements.

The Night of the Wolf - The Irish reaver Cormac Mac Art is entangled in a conflict between the Vikings and the Picts.

Spear and Fang - The clash in a prehistorical age. A Cro Magnon man vs. a Neanderthal man, it doesn't get more barbaric than this.

The Valley of the worm - A Beowulf like pseudo-mythological tale from the dimming memory of mankind.

Lord of Samarcand - This is probably the darkest heroic fantasy story from Howard. A historical fiction based on the history of Timur (Tamerlane), who dreamed of restoring Genghis Khan's Mongolian empire. In the story, the protagonist is a Celtic outlaw called Donald MacDeesa who, through a twist of fate, served under Tamerlane's army of conquest.

In addition to the stories, this collection also contains five of Howard's poems.

The Ultimate triumph, showcased some of the most iconic barbarian stories written by Robert E. Howard. The theme of barbarism vs. civilization dominated recurs throughout all of them. Howard wrote these stories with poetic lyricism, together with his signature style of "blood and thunder". The stories are fast paced, furiously energetic and flamboyantly entertaining. Howard wrote with the intensity of a hunting wolf, at times, the text seems to be bursting into a raging fire from the sheer energy emanating from Howard's prose writings. The readers are transported to worlds and ages crafted by Howard's vivid imaginations; back to the field of Clontarf fighting alongside Turlough O'Brien, to the dark forest beyond the Thunder River and joining Conan in his struggle against the Picts, or as a witness to the death throne of Tamerlane, the last great conqueror of the world.

My take on Barbarism vs. civilization -  Part 1: The Ultimate Triumph

The theme predominating the selection of stories in this entire book, as its name suggests, is the ultimate triumph of barbarism over the decadent civilization. Does Howard's view have any credibility? Personally, I think his view is a very honest take on this known tension that has echoed throughout ages.

In our 21st century world, we often boast about our own achievements. We boast in our technological advancements, we boast in our culture that revere human rights, and we boast in our improved quality of life style in the western world, such as fine food, fine drinks, and top notch entertainment. But I often wonder, are our accumulative efforts really making the world a better place? New atheism movement wants us to believe that our collective efforts can drive our society to evolve to be a better place for all. The question is this, while the quality of life has improved in the first world countries, but if our 21th century civilization is really that great, than why isn't everyone happy? Can our own collective efforts bring us perfect happiness, or at a deeper level, perfect joy?

On the contrary, it seems that our "progress" and "advancement" came with some heavy prices. A few examples: Our rapidly improving technology has enabled us to make damning weapons that can wipe out an entire city in one blast in a matter of seconds. Our internet technology has allowed people to mass produce, store and view child pornography, and also enabled wholesale global human trafficking and sex slavery trade, all of these were not available before the birth of the internet. Our over reverence of human rights has gone haywire, producing a society where people are becoming more and more individualistic and apathetic. On the other hand, the improved quality of lifestyle has produced a materialistic, consumerism based society, where people's lives are dominated by the pursuit of personal pleasure, a facade jungle, a colorful disguise masking the invitation to unfathomable degeneracy. One only needs to stay sober for a while to ask a question, that despite our "progress", is our 21st century world is really better than the world where our ancestor fought, died, bled and inhibited?  Have we misplaced our faith on our own ability to make things better?

Please understand, that I am not undermining the value of our technology, reverence of human right and improvements over the quality of life. Nor am I against the pursuit of personal pleasure. These things are good. I am just trying to assert an honest statement, that it would be extremely arrogant of us to use our 21st century worldview and our 21st century morality (which are not perfect anyway), to step into history and pronouncing the superiority of our civilization over those who treaded before us. And perhaps, our faith in our own ability to make things better needs to be re-evaluated.


In this regard, we cannot be sure our civilization is "progressing" instead of "regressing". What if our society is, in reality gradually plunging into degeneracy, hidden underneath the illusion of our proud progress? What standard we should use to measure this? If history does repeat itself, that civilizations inevitably become decadent as it becomes drunk in its glory, then one day when our civilization is rotten to the core, what manner of barbarism, or barbarians will flood through the gateway of our civilization, bearing the black doom on their shoulders? Will such a day become a reality?

Perhaps, pondering on the question of barbarism and civilization is only scratching the surface of a deeper problem. Are humankind locked into the inescapable destiny of this seemingly eternal pattern? If barbarism is to ultimately triumph over civilization that grows degenerate, then we can say the cause of both barbarism and corruption of civilization lies within our own hearts. Perhaps, we need an alternative. Maybe, instead of trying to achieve the ultimate triumph with our own efforts, we need to let love triumph? If the central teaching of Christianity speaks the truth, that God loved us first, while we were still sinners. Then we can have faith that, in the face of barbarism and the failures of our civilization, love, will ultimately triumph. Had Howard realized this, I wonder if he could have made even more impact to the world of literature, by not putting a bullet into his head on that fateful day in 1936.

Disclaimer:

 I am including some illustrations entailed in this book (found below), for the purpose of this book review. I do not own the copyright to these artworks, the copyright of these artworks belong to Frank Frazetta Properties LLC.

 

 

Movie Review: The Dark Knight Rises

 Bane: "Gotham, take control... take control of your city. Behold, the instrument of your liberation! Identify yourself to the world!"

The Dark Knight Rises, is the third installment of Chris Nolan's Batman trilogy, and the director has promised a fitting conclusion to this well beloved movie series. Ever since the release of Batman Begins in 2005, the audiences have journeyed alongside one fictional character, Bruce Wayne. His titanic battles to wrench a city and its people that he cares so much about, from the dooming grasps of monstrous villains, such as the likes of the shadowy Ra's Al Ghul, and the anarchic Joker.

Batman Begins, received many positive praises. But its squeal The Dark Knight, due to the mesmerizing performance of Heath Ledger as The Joker, a well executed plot, impressive visuals and an all round excellent cast, set a new standard for movies of this genre almost impossible to surpass.

  The announcement and the release of the finale in this trilogy, has generated hypes and very high expectations. Some suspect, if The Dark Knight Rises would be able to match the standard set by its predecessor. After seeing this movie, personally, I think Dark Knight Rises is every bit as good as the Dark Knight. Whatever element that is missing from its predecessor, the Dark Knight Rises makes up with strengths of its own.

Synopsis:

  It has been 8 years since the event in The Dark Knight. The city of Gotham is enjoying a prospering peace. A peace secured by a lie, told by James Gordon and Bruce Wayne to hide the truth behind Harvey Dent's death and his actions. Under this lie, Harvey Dent is worshiped as a hero, and his legacy has kept the most dangerous criminals in Gotham to be locked up in the prison. Batman took the blame for Harvey Dent's actions, subsequently disappeared, and became a villain in public eyes of the Gotham city.

Bruce Wayne, after retiring from his former crime fighting career as the Batman, has retreated to a lifestyle of a hermit, a haunting ghost in his mansion. Completely withdrawn from the society and human contact, living under the shadow of grief, despaired over the tragic death of his former love interest, Rachel Dawes.

It is at the height of the peaceful time, a mysterious, masked figure known as "Bane" made an appearance into the theme. Bane is as intelligent as Batman, and physically stronger than Batman in his prime. A symbol of utilitarianism masked with a more dire undercurrent motivation.

Despite his physical deterioration and past injuries, with Gotham city threatened by the dooming villainy again, Bruce Wayne is forced to dome the cape and cowls once more, to overcome the physical obstacles, to triumph over the trauma that haunts his memories, to be the Dark Knight once more, the last bastion rising up against the incoming torrent of chaos, unleashed by the villainous Bane.

What I think about this movie:

The Dark Knight Rises, brings a fitting conclusion to the Dark Knight trilogy. A thought provoking, epic and satisfying end to a fantastic movie series. For the first time in this movie franchise. Batman has met a villain of his equal (and superior), a masked villain called Bane. Tom Hardy's portrayal as Bane is superb, bringing the audience with an overwhelming presence of menace, intelligence and brutality. For an actor performing with a mask covering half of his face. Tom Hardy still managed to successfully presented the essence of Bane to the audience, with the expression of his eyes and body language. As usual, Christian Bale's performance as Bruce Wayne is as good as in the previous Batman films, his portrayal of Bruce Wayne as a man haunted and struggling with his past memories, is exactly what is needed in a film such as The Dark Knight Rises. Anne Hathaway's portrayal as Selina Kyle/Catwoman brings many surprises to the previous speculation that the introduction of Catwoman might ruin the film. In the movie, Catwoman has an interesting relationship with Batman, and she brings many intrigues and twists of plot well knitted into the overall story. The introduction of the character James Blake, is an interesting addition, his character is a mixture between Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent, a character that never looses hope. In general, the cast of The Dark Knight Rises did excellent jobs in bringing their characters to vivid liveness on the silver screen.

The director Chris Nolan also brought a grand visual spectable in The Dark Knight Rises. The action scenes are exciting, energetic and vibrant. The dark undertone of the movie pulsed and matched with the theme of Bruce Wayne story, under a brilliant blend of on-beat and off-beat rhythmic harmony.

The brilliancy of the grim story in this movie, shined through the exploration of some inter-related topics:

1) Barbarism vs. civilization: The story of The Dark Knight Rises reflects the descendancy of a civilized society into barbarism. In this movie, the society was not invaded by "barbarians at the gate". Rather, the society took a plunge into barbarism from the collapse within, the dismantling of a structure setup by human failures.

2) Utilitarianism: To destroy the city of Gotham, Bane did not use his physical might. He employed a tactic more powerful. Through his speech, Bane successfully embedded the idea that human rights can be considered as a guidance to morality. In a society where the chasm between the rich and poor is vast, Bane empowered the people manipulatively, making them believe that it is their right to take control, that their perception of ethics is the only thing that matters. The result is the people are fooled into starting a revolution under a dictator with ulterior motives.

3) The story of this movie attempted to demonstrate; even with the best of intentions. Concealing the truth can led to dire consequences.

The story of The Dark Knight Rises allures to the symbolism from Charles Dicken's novel, A tale of two cities. The drama unfolded in Gotham city is set in the theme of revolution, where Bane acts as the figurehead of a revotionary, an utilitarian and a dictator. The heroes in the movie who opposed Bane; such as Batman, James Gordon, Lucius Fox and John Blake, are characters equivalent to Sydney Carton, protecting that which they love with altruism and courage.

While some people might accuse The Dark Knight Rises being preachy, and packed with hidden agenda. But to me, I think the story illuminates a profound underlying reality: Even with our best intentions, our limited human abilities and sense of justice can sometimes do more harm than good. The civilization that we attempt to uphold with our perceptions of ethics can breed true injustice, and when it reaches a boiling point, and under circumstances. All you need, is a slight push guided by would-be dictator with a personal ambition, then a revolution will make a civilization descend back into barbarism. This is not a fantasy story, but as history tells us it can happen, through the bloody examples of the French revolution, the Russian revolution, and the cultural revolution in China.

Dark, grim and reflective. The Dark Knight Rises ended the mythology of Bruce Wayne story with many touches of realism. A good mythology is the one where the moral of the story makes us think. Through the florid speech of the villain Bane, we are challenged with an honest question of vast relevance, lying at the heart of many social debates in our contemporary culture is this: Should we let human rights be the guidance to our ethics?

Movie rating: 9/10

Movie review: The Amazing Spiderman (3D)

 Here is a classic story that many people can recognize: Once upon a time, a teenage boy was bitten by a genetically mutated spider, and he acquired the abilities of a spider! The boy domed a spandex suit of red and blue, so he started a life long career of busting criminals and genetically mutated super bad guys. He is.. Spiderman!


  Spiderman has come a long way. He is a comic book superhero created by Stan Lee, first appeared in 1962. If you do the maths, this year, Spiderman will turn 50 years old! The chances are that most people beneath the age of 60 would have heard, read or watched stuff based on Spiderman. 


  I watched Spiderman in 2002, and certainly remember the memorable theme when the tearful Peter Parker (starring Toby Maquire) was told by his dying uncle that, "with great power, comes great responsibility". What a memorable line! Following the success of the first Spiderman mvie in 2002, the movie maker produced two more sequels, both were blockbusters and commercial successes. In 2012, the movie maker has decided to reboot the Spiderman movie franchise. Initially, I wasn't too sure if I even want to watch this new movie. After all, it was only 10 years ago that the first Spiderman was made. Why are they making a reboot already? Is this a sign that Hollywood is desperately struggling for new ideas?


Two weeks after the movie's release, I decided to check this movie out during my time off work. It turned out that the movie is actually pretty good, and I am here to provide a review for those who might be interested.

Synopsis:

  Peter Parker's parents were scientists. On a dark night, when Peter was still a child, they sent him to live with his uncle and aunt. Peter's parents subsequently disappeared afterward. As Peter was growing up, the mysterious disappearance of Peter's parents have left plenty of questions to be answered in Peter's mind. 10 years later, as a teenage school boy, Peter was a bit distant from the rest of the kids at school, he is being bullied, but often step up against the bullies for those who are being bullied. He has a love interest, Gwen Stacy. Peter caught the eyes of his love interest, after he tried to protect a kid who was  being publicly humiliated by a school bully.

 One day, Peter was cleaning the basement of his uncle's house. He discovered a briefcase, where he found his father's research notes. These puzzling notes roused Peter's interest to investigate the nature of his father's works. After being informed by his uncle that, his father used to work for Osborne corp. Peter sneaked into the company building, where he met his father's co-worker, Dr. Curt Connors. He slipped into a "secret research lab", and was bitten by a curious, little spider. On the way home, he felt into a trance on the subway train. When he woke up, he found himself with some pretty bizarre abilities.

But that is only the beginning of a series of adventures to follow..

What I think about the movie:

I think the new Spiderman movie is pretty good. While there is nothing really new to this movie that can make a distinction between the 2012 version and the 2002 version, but it is still a fun, entertaining  movie based on a very good story. The main theme in this movie, is still the relationship between "power" and "responsibility". This time, the theme is told in a more subtle way. The audience get to see the journey and the transformation that Peter Parker undertook, to become a superhero known as Spiderman.

There are a few differences between the 2002 movie and the 2012 movie other than different casts, directors, and improved CGI/speical effects. In the new Spiderman movie, the story kind of explained why Peter Parker doesn't have parents, and the disappearance of his parents plays an essential role to the main story of this movie. Other minor differences, such as Peter's love interest at school is Gwen Stacy, and not Mary Jane Watson, which is a more accurate reflection to the original Spiderman comics. Also, the main villain is "The Lizard". The story of this super villain is very well knitted into the main plot, and I think the story writer of the new Spiderman movie really deserves a round of applause.

The biggest difference in the new Spiderman movie, is that this movie is a lot darker than the 2002 version. The protagonist, Peter Parker went through a lot of emotional toils in this "origin story". Also, Spiderman is portrayed more realistically, as Peter Parker is often shown to be wounded and bruised after a night of superhero action. Inevitably, the darker undertone of the new Spiderman movie also means this film is more violent than the 2002 version. In terms of CGI, the special effects are really good, but I did not really feel like I was watching a 3D movie. There are occasional scenes when things "popped out" of the screen, but other than that, I think it wasn't "3D" enough.

There are a few things, a few sentences and dialogues that really grabbed my attention, and I would like throw them at my readers, inviting you to think about them, and cross-examine the worldviews presented in this movie against the Christian worldview, and see if they hold any truth:

- Uncle Ben: "If you can do good things for other people, then you have the moral responsibility to do it".

Question: What does it mean by "good"? It seems the definition of "good" is not very clear here. Also, Uncle Ben seems to be indicating that we should only do "good things" to people who we think that deserve it. Is this what the Bible teaches us? Who is actually good?

- Uncle Ben: "You owe the world your gifts.. come on home Peter, you are my hero".

Question: Are we in debt to the "world" because of our talents, where does this idea of "in debt" coming from? Are we morally obligated to serve others because we "owe" it to the "world"? What does the Bible say on this topic? I would like to invite my readers to think about "who" actually gave us our gifts (did the world give us our gifts?), and what doe Bible say about the reason why should we serve others? I think reading God's words will reveal a very different view, when compared to what Uncle Ben is saying here.

- Peter Paker: "This is my responsibility, I have to fix it".

Question: Can we really solve our problems with our good intentions? Can we find justifications for our actions, with our good intentions?

I leave my readers to discover the answers to the questions I listed above.

Summary:

The new Spiderman movie doesn't really have a lot of new things, to distinguish it from the 2002 version. Despite this, I still enjoyed the movie immensely. I think the reason is because the story of Spiderman is good, it has always been good. The story of Peter Parker, and his struggles to do the right thing, to be responsible for his powers, at the cost of his own interests, is something we can all identify ourselves with; at work, in our families, in our every day lives.

The Amazing Spiderman is a good movie, if you don't have a chance to see it in the cinema now, it might still be worth your time to hire it from a video store, when it is released for home media. It has a compact, emotional story, good special effects and lots of action scenes at neck-breaking pace. It is also worthwhile to reflect on the worldviews presented in this movie, and compare it against the Christian worldview, and next time, you will have a conversation starter.

Rating: 8/10

Book Review: The Norse Myths by Kevin Crossley-Holland

We are fascinated with tales of the mythical and the strange. From age to age, continent to continent, every culture has its own mythological tales. Some mythologies, are more influential than the others. Do you know, that Norse mythology is present in our everyday life? From the naming of weekdays, to books and movies. Just in case if you don't know already. Tuesday, is derived from Tyr, the god who sacrificed one of his hands to bind the giant wolf Fenrir. Wednesday (Woden's day), is derived from Odin, the Norse god of war, and also known as the "all father". Thursday, is derived from Thor, the Norse god generally associated with thunder, lightning, strength and protection. Friday, is derived from Frigg, the goddess who was Odin's wife.

Culturally, Norse mythology has inspired and shaped the stories of many movies and books. The recent blockbuster, Marvel's Avengers, is inspired and based on characters in Norse mythology. Authors of fantasy fiction, such as J.R.R Tolkien, C.S Lewis, Robert E. Howard, Neil Gaimen, Poul Anderson, J.K Rowling, R.A Salvatore (so on and so forth..) write books contain and inspired by elements of Norse mythology 

Such a profound influence! I wonder if we can go as far as saying that Norse mythology, is the "mother of all" stories. Personally, my interest in Norse mythology originated from reading fantasy fictions by Robert E. Howard and J.R.R Tolkien. Following this, I became fascinated with Beowulf, and it wasn't long before I started reading the Norse epic saga such as the saga of Volsung, and the saga of king Hrolf Kraki. Eventually, I attempted to read the Prose Edda and poetic Edda, the source of all this mythological and fantasy "stuff" that I am passionate about. Similar to Norse epic saga, the poetic Edda and Skaldic poetry were written, as the names suggest, in the format of poems. In the 1200s, a Christian historian and poet called Snorri Sturluson compiled a collection of Norse mythological stories based on the poetic Edda and the Skaldic poetry. It is interesting to note, Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda added Christian elements to these Norse mythological tales, by describing the origins of the Norse gods as warriors who settled in Northern Europe after the Trojan War. These warriors became highly regarded in that region, because of their superior culture and technology, and in the ages after their death, the remembrance ceremonies and circulating stories on these heroes gradually turn them into gods.

Both poetic Edda and Prose Edda possess enormous cultural, artistic and historical values. Nevertheless, it is a daunting task for modern readers to go through all these literature to appreciate Norse mythology, mostly because of the language it was written in. British author and poet, Kevin Crossley-Holland, put together a collection of 32 Norse mythological tales, retelling these stories in a very attractive prose form. 

The book started with a 25 page introduction, this is a brief summary on the writing and the development of Norse mythology throughout history. The 32 stories in this book, starting from the Norse creation story, ending at the event of Ragnarok, tells the beautiful stories of Norse mythology in chronological order. Although the stories here are not written in the poetic format of the original materials, but Kevin Crossley-Holland's prose is just as vivid and descriptive, and this book is very easy to read. I think this is a great introduction to Norse mythology, for anyone who is interested to know more about Norse mythology.

My thoughts:

One of my many interests, is to compare the gods in other mythologies (Norse, Greek, Sumerian, and Chinese) against the Christian God. When I was reading this book, I couldn't help but to compare the stories of these Norse gods against the story of the Christian god, and Jesus Christ. What I realized was that the gods of Norse mythology (and many gods from other mythology) were essentially entities with superhuman abilities with a certain limit. Character wise, the Norse gods are just equally as noble as they are flawed. For example, I found it very interesting that in one of the stories, Odin, the god of all gods in Norse mythology, sacrificed himself to be hung on the world tree ,Yggdrasil, for 9 days and 9 nights. In exchange to gain wisdom of the nine worlds, so he harness more power. The story of a god/God hung on a tree, reminds me of another story. Jesus was hung on a cross (made of wood) too as a sacrifice. But here is the difference: In Norse mythology, Odin's sacrifice is so that he can gain wisdom of the nine worlds, making himself more powerful. Inherently, Odin's self sacrifice is for his own gain. But when Jesus was hung on the cross and died, it was not in exchange to gain benefits for himself. The reason why Jesus hung on the cross was because he died for the sin of mankind, to offer the gift of salvation to those who believes in him, while showing God's love for us. Needless to say, in this case, the difference between Jesus and Odin is distinctive.

Fatalism, is another theme in Norse mythology. The Norse gods were destined to doom at Ragnarok, with all their powers, they could not prevent themselves from perishing at the hands of their enemies. The Norse gods, are simply flowing in the stream of destiny, in which they cannot control. Despite their "divine" status, they have no power to forge plans in the chasm of space and time. One has to ask this question: Can such gods be real "God"? If one looks carefully, when comparing the Norse gods against the Christian God. The first notable difference is, the God of Christianity is NOT a God who is destined by a fatalistic plan where He has no control. Actually, in contrast to the Norse gods, the Christian God is the ONE who HAS the plan. This is a plan that supposedly transcends space and time, because He is the author of space and time. Secondly, unlike the Norse gods, the Christian God cannot be defeated by his opponents (see the story of Pharaoh vs. God in Exodus). The God of Christianity, is a God who is sovereign over everything, including those attempting to work against Him. While the Norse gods eventually bowed down to the creeping sickle of death, the God of Christianity defeated death! (This was shown in the account of the bodily resurrection of Jesus). 

Some people ask me, why do I put faith in the God of Christianity, and reject the gods of mythology. My answer is this: While I cannot say with 100% certainty, that these "gods" of mythology never existed. But I can be sure about one thing, that is when I compare the gods of mythology against the God of Christianity. Everything tells me that these gods of mythology, cannot be the true God. Because these mythological gods, are superhuman with limitations, and they are just as flawed as they are noble. God of Christianity however, is everything that a true God should be, this is most evident when I examine my own heart with the meaning and the teachings in the Bible. Personally, this is the best evidence/reason I need to persevere as a believer.

Book Review: Kull: Exile of Atlantis by Subterranean Press

 Before the time when the oceans drank Atlantis, there was an age undreamed of. When empires lay spread across the world like shining jewels, but the greatest empire of all was Valusia. Hither came Kull of Atlantis, black haired, grey eyed, an exile, a slave, a gladiator, an army commander and finally, a king.

Welcome! To the age of king Kull, a world of heroic fantasy, magic, adventures, and philosophy. Kull, is one of the characters created by the father of sword and sorcery sub-genre, Robert E. Howard. This talented Texan author has forged many fantastical characters and adventures such as Solomon Kane, Bran Mak Morn, Conan the Cimmerian, El Borak, and Kull of Valusia, in the short period of less than two decades. Today, Robert Howard's influence in sword and sorcery genre can only be rivaled by J.R.R. Tolkien in the sub-genre of high fantasy.

King Kull is my favorite literary creation from Robert E. Howard. Not only because I am fascinated with epics about barbarian warriors dealing whirlwind like death, with battle axes and brandished broad swords, but I also prefer reading stories where the character thinks and ponders on philosophy and epistemology. Kull stories have it all! Some people say Kull is prototype Conan. I do not agree. It is true that both characters are formidable barbarians in the art of war, but the essence of these two characters are completely different. Conan is a character who lived by the philosophy of existentialism (live in the moment). Kull is a much more introspective character who wanted to build a kingdom that would last. In short, Kull is a thinking man's barbarian and a barbarian as a thinking man.

In the 1920s, early in his career, Howard wrote Kull stories. At that time, he was experimenting with different writing styles. At this stage of his career, Howard let his imagination run free. It is easy for the readers to see that Kull stories are heavily influenced and inspired by Shakespeare's Macbeth, Julius Caesar, and writings from Edgar Allan Poe. Together with Howard's personal interest in philosophy and history. The result is epic tales of blood and thunder, philosophy, mysteries, adventures of the metaphysical and the physical. Howard's style of poetic lyricism made him a master story teller, and the Kull stories read like a combination of forgotten heroic tales lost in the sea of time, prose poems and philosophical fables. On that note, Howard's wrote his fantasy stories with a strong focus of realism. The realism of a world that Howard crafted by his imagination and typewriter.

Since 1998, the publisher Wandering Star re-published a collection of Robert Howard's writings. These high quality, hardback books are fully illustrated by artists and the contents are unabridged texts from Howard's typewriter . The objective was to expose modern readers to the creations of Robert E Howard, and treating Howard as an author with the respect that he rightfully deserves. However, Wandering star never published Howard's Kull stories in hardback format. In 2008, a small but profitable book publisher called Subterranean Press, published a glorious edition of Kull in the same style as the books from Wandering Star. This book is titled "Kull, Exile of Atlantis". This edition is  limited to 1500 copies, and contains all of the Kull stories written in Howard's life. This book is also fully illustrated with 12 color plates, and numerous black and white illustrations alongside the texts, drawn by artist Justin Sweet. I have included samples of some of color illustrations in this book.

 Disclaimer: I do not own these images, the copyright of these drawings belong to Mr. Justin Sweet, and these images are taken from http://www.justinsweet.com

   This volume collects 11 Kull stories, 3 poems an other unfinished fragments. My favorite stories are The Shadow Kingdom, The Mirror of Tuzun Thune, and Kings of the Night. The Shadow Kingdom was written in 1925, and is often recognized as the first true sword and sorcery story ever written. This story has many parallels to Shakespeare's Hamlet and HP Lovecraft's Cthulu mythos, and is regarded as the best, and the original sword and sorcery story. The Mirror of Tuzun Thune is a bizarre and fascinating story about the reality, the illusion and the relativity of space and time. Kings of the Night is a finely knitted story which blends historical fiction and sword and sorcery, with theme of time travelling. The story involves a Roman invasion, Pits, Gaels, Vikings and epic battle scenes, featuring both King Kull and another of Howard's creation, the Pictish king Bran Mak Morn. 

Subterranean Press crafted a gorgeous book here. It has top notch bindings, beautiful slip case design, dusk jacket covering, high quality paper, and thunderous illustrations that give off sparks to these unbeatable stories. This wonderful edition of Kull, Exile of Atlantis is an absolute knock out on my bookshelf.

Robert E Howard stopped writing Kull stories in 1930. His was shifting from Kull to Conan. Although Kull's world and Atlantis sank beneath the ocean, Conan and the Hyborian age were coming! Nevertheless, the saga of Kull are shining gems in the genre of fantasy fiction. The fantastic stories which feel so real that they often blur the line between fantasy and reality, lost in the winding passage of space and time.

Book Review: The Language of God - Francis Collins

Introduction:

The thirst for knowledge, and the seeking of truth, are unique traits in the human kind. Throughout human history, there are many famous thinkers who formulated ideas, synthesis and theories based on both the physical and the metaphysical. These are attempts to solve the big question of "how, why and where?", which ultimately takes us to the quest for the meaning of life. The seriousness of this big question can be best reflected, when thinking about the problem of "lunch": 1) How do we eat lunch? 2) Why do we eat lunch? and 3) Where do we go for lunch? And if we are on the right track, somehow we might find the meaning of life is "42.4665813" (now up to the accuracy of the 7th decimal place, since the original publication of the hitchhiker's guide). 

While sometimes it is helpful, to use humorous relieves as we wrestle with the big question in life. (as I have applied the sense of humor akin to Douglas Adams in this case). But needless to say, despite what you "believe", or "disbelieve". Every single human being will be confronted with this big question of "how, why, where? And the meaning of life", sooner or later, because what you believe/disbelieve about the answer to this question will constitute to your character, value and principle. This will define what you are about.

Like many others, I had realized the true answer to the big question of "how, where, why? The meaning of life", lies with the Christian faith. In salvation by grace through faith in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Back in my mid twenties, in the early years of my walk with Jesus, I constantly struggled with the "war" between science and religion. As someone whose life's work at that time was based on science (I was an engineering PhD student), I constantly felt the pressure from some of my fellow Christians to surrender to the view that science, is a lesser truth compared to the Bible. Therefore I was "supposed" to submit to the view that science, should be made to fit a certain interpretation of the Bible passages whenever a "seemingly" contradiction appears. 

At that time, I was attending Central Sydney Presbyterian Church. It was through the pastor's (David Thurston's) positive guidance and encouragement, as well as reading various books and literature written by Christian and non-Christian thinkers and scientists, that I gradually gained a better and healthier perspective on science and religion [1-10]. (see the list of recommended reading in the "reference section of this review).  As I continue to expand my understanding in science and religion, it was only a few months ago that I finally came across this book called "The Language of God", written by Dr. Francis Collins. And I am delighted to say that this is probably one of the best Christian book addressing the topic of science and religion so far, but not without minor issues.

What's this book about:

Some people might never heard of the Human Genome Project, and I would suspect that even less people have ever heard of Francis Collins. The Human Genome Project, was arguably one of the most ambitious scientific project since NASA's mission to the moon. Where the project's goals were to find the sequence of the chemical base pairs that made up the DNA, and to successfully map the 25,000 genes from the human genes. A few years later, Dr. Collins took on the leadership as the director of the project. The announcement for the working draft of the genome was made in 2000, and completed in 2003. Francis Collins is not just a scientist, but he is also a Christian. In this book, Francis Collins shared his thoughts on the topic of science and religion. 

In the first chapter of the book. Collins gave a testimony of his own journey from atheism to Christianity. Starting from his childhood to early adulthood as a medical student as an atheist. As a medical student, Collins was looking after some patients from North Carolina who were suffering from tremendous illness. Collins testified that he was often struck by how well these people handle suffering. Especially when he witnessed how these people's Christian faith has given them the strength to endure the suffering they were going through.  When he was 26, he encountered a patient he was looking after, who was a Christian old lady suffering from severe untreatable angina on daily basis. This old lady shared her Christian faith with him, and asked him the question of "what do you believe"? Collins stated that the question struck him deeply, and lead him to investigate the evidence for and against belief seriously. Later, Collins went to visit a minister at a methodist church. After listening to Collin's questions, the minster gave him a booked called "Mere Christianity", written by the legendary Oxford scholar C.S. Lewis [11]. Where he realized his previous constructs against the Christian faith were not sound. Collins said the argument that struck him the most, was the argument of ethics (right and wrong) and the meaning of the universe. It was Lewis' argument for Christianity, based on the moral law and altruism that finally led Collins to reason that if there is a God, then this must be a God who wants some sort of relationship with human beings. In other words, Collins reasoned that if such a God exist, then this must be the God of Abraham, the God of the Bible. Collins testified that after struggling with this question for a while. He finally made a "leap" and became a Christian. 

In chapter 2, Collins discussed the different worldviews that are at war against each other. Which is a war that every seeker of truth will face on their journey. Such as: 

1) Is the believe in God simply a self wishing fulfillment? 

2) The problem of the evils done in the name of religion, 

3) Why would God allow suffering in the world? 

4) How can a rational person believe in miracles? 

Francis Collins provided very satisfactory answers to all of these questions. Personally, I particularly enjoyed Collin's argument for 4), where he used a combination of mathematical statistics in a poker game and Occam's Razor [12], to demonstrate the logical fallacy in denying the possibility of miracles, invoked by a supernatural entity such as God.

In Chapter 3, the author gave a brief history on the development of astrophysics and cosmology. From the struggle of scientists such as Copernicius, Kelper, Galileo against the Catholic church, all the way to Einstein's theory of relativity, Edwin Hubble's laws and the evidence supporting the big bang. For those who are interested in finding out more about this area, one can refer to the books and literature listed in the reference section of this review, particularly reference 2,3,4 and 7 [2-4,7]. Collins then moved on to discuss the question of "what about before the big bang?". He used Anthropic principle [6] and the cosmological constants [8] to construct an argument for a universe that is fine tuned for the existence of life. Collins argued that while this argument does not give us any conclusive proof that a God can exist, but the anthropic principle does favor the argument of a creator God. At the end of the chapter, Collins proposed a synthesis for someone who is seeking a true God through the moral questions mentioned in chapter 1. This synthesis is in harmony with modern scientific discoveries.

Chapter 4 and 5 are essentially, the meat and bones of this book. This is where Francis Collins discussed why the theory of evolution is, pretty much a scientific fact. The discussion was made based on the discoveries made in the human genome project, as well as the fossil record. Collins also emphasized that just because science is still unable to solve certain questions about the natural world. One should not hastily use God as a way to fill the gap in our knowledge, lest our faith will be in danger if science has discovered the knowledge to fill the gap in the future. 

In chapter 6, Collins gave a brief discussion on why the theory of evolution is still such a controversial theory in the public, yet it is a widely accepted theory in biological science just like the law of gravity. Collins also mentioned the delicate nature and the difficulty in the interpretation of Genesis. Such that Christians should not hastily take a side, and insist that Genesis contains scientific data meant to be interpreted word by word. Such is also the view and warning from St. Augustine of Hippo, one of the greatest Christian thinker in history. As Christians, we should continuously update our knowledge about the natural world [9]. Collins pointed out an important message, as Christians, we should not play the role of antagonist against revelations from the scientific truth. Quoting Collin's own words: " If God created the universe, and the laws that govern it, and if He endowed  human beings with intellectual abilities to discern its workings, would He want us to disregard these abilities? Would He be diminished or threatened by what we are discovering about His creation?"

In Chapter 7, 8, 9 and 10. Collins presented the different options of belief/disbelief:

- Chapter 7, the title is: Atheism and agnoticism (when science trumps faith)

In this chapter, Collins explains the difference between weak and strong atheism. As well as Agnoticism. Collins argues that it is a logical fallacy on Richard Dawkin's behalf to insist that science demands atheism. As Collins stated, Dawkin's argument demands science to go beyond its boundaries. Because if God exists and he is the creator of the universe. Then science, which only deals with the things OF this world, can neither prove nor disprove his existence. Therefore Atheism, is then a system of ideology based on blind faith, because it adopts a belief system that cannot be defended based on pure reason. 

- In chapter 8, Collins discussed the view of "creationism" (where faith trumps science). Collins stated that if this definition is centralized on the idea that a God is directly involved with the universe that He created. Then many Christians and himself will have to consider themselves "creationist". However, Collins went on to explain that his main topic of discussion in chapter 8, is focused on Young Earth Creationism. That is the belief that Genesis should be interpreted word by word, leading to the belief that the earth was created 6000 years ago, in a six, 24 hour days period. Collins gave a brief history of the rise of Young Earth Creationism in the last 50-100 years. Young earth creationists often call evolution a lie, and that the Big Bang is a wrong scientific theory, or "just" a theory (see this article to understand the true meaning of scientific theory [16]). In this regard, Collins explained why an "ultra-literal" interpretation of the Genesis is unnecessary. Not only that, Collins made a few examples of the problems of interpreting the entire Bible word by word, and the incompatiblities of young earth creationism with science. Furthermore, Collins argued, why would God created the universe to be young, but made it to "appear" to be billions of years old? (including all the fossil records, DNA, RNA that are strong evidence of evolution) Is God a great deceiver? Collins pleaded to use reasoning to discern the truth.

- In Chapter 9. The discussion was focused on the idea of "intelligent design" (where science needs God's help). Collins gave a short history on the development of the "intelligent design" movement. He revealed the movement is essentially, "God of the gaps" ideology masqueraded as science, by rejecting modern science such as evolution for some ulterior motives. Furthermore, Collins pointed out the theological problem with "intelligent design", because this ideology portrays God as a clumsy designer who cannot, perfect his creation in one attempt, but needs to keep on re-creating and perfecting his creations on earth, by driving the previously existing ones to extinction (refer to the fossil records). Such a god is surely not the all mighty God described in the Bible. Side note: Kenneth R. Miller has written a great book on this topic, for further reading [13].

- In Chapter 10, Francis Collins presented the idea of "Bio Logos" (science and faith in harmony). This is essentially the view that God created lives on earth through evolution. Collins argued that this view brings science and faith into complete harmony, and this perspective also makes Christian scientists to be intellectually fulfilled and spiritually alive, both worshiping God and using the tools of science to uncover the mysteries of His creation. 

In the final chapter, Francis Collins pleaded the careful examination of the evidence for Christian faith. He argued that the foundation of the Christian faith, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, was historically documented in the Bible. That no historians will doubt the existence of Jesus. He quoted F.F. Bruce's word: "The historicity of Christ is as axiomatic for an unbiased historian as the historicity of Julius Caesar [14]. Finally, Collins called for a truce between science and religion, where extremists on both sides, should stop making science and faith warring against each other. In Collin's own words: "Science is not threatened by God; it is enhanced. God is most certainly not threatened by science; He made it all possible. So let us together seek to reclaim the solid ground of an intellectually and spiritually satisfying synthesis of all great truth. That ancient motherland of reason and worship was never in danger of crumbling. It will never be. It beckons all sincere seekers of truth to come and take residence there. Answer that call, abandon the battlements. Our hopes, joys and the future of our world depend on it".

My thoughts about the book:

In general, I think this is a great book. Francis Collins has made some powerful arguments for Christianity, and made a great attempt to reconcile science and religion. I will like to share some of my thoughts about some of the points he raised in the book.

A) In this book, Francis Collins mentioned the phrase "free will" several times. Mainly to make an argument that human beings, are at the cause of "human related tragedies" and not God. From his argument, I speculate that he meant "free will" to be "pure will" (as "will" purely from human beings). The phrase "free will" is only mentioned in the Bible as "free will offering" (Psalm 54:6, Leviticus 22:23). The reason why I think his argument would be better by replacing "free will" with "pure will" is because, according to Immanuel Kant's view. Human beings, although rational and self conscious, but are limited with impure freedom of choice. For example, if I like to eat chicken, then I will always want to eat chicken instead of salad, because chicken is my preference. Therefore, my choice is already affected by my personal preference prior to the food decision I make. Unless someone comes along and influence me otherwise. However, that is not to say that we do not have the ability to "choose". Because human beings are self conscious and rational beings. This means human choice can be affected but not determined by impulses, and therefore the choice we make is of ourselves. Not pure but can be brought into action by "pure" will (purely our own) [15]. A lawless free will (a will without pre-existing laws) is therefore incomprehensible in this natural world. But as I said before, I believe what Francis Collins tried to say is, we are responsible for our actions.

B) I think Collin's message about harmony between science and faith, is a particularly important message that is relevant to most Christians. Seeing that neo-atheism has been using science as a tool to attack Christianity. A lot of Christians have reacted with knee jerking reactions by calling science false, further adding oil onto a raging fire. Personally, I believe the same thing as Collins does. And that is scientific truth should not be made to fit a certain interpretation of the Bible. Nor should we call science false. Because the Bible was never meant to be a science textbook. It is a manual from God that teaches us about Him, about ourselves, and about how we ought to live to glorify Him. As Christians, we are to put our faith, build our hopes on Jesus Christ. Not on a particular view on how Genesis must be interpreted. Furthermore, we must be very careful not to build our faith on other things other than Jesus. 

To give the readers more insight into this important issue. I will debunk a popular Christian arguments for intelligent design, to show you how dangerous it is to build Christian faith on human ideas. Namely, the watch maker's analogy.

A Christian who build his/her faith based on the William Paley's watch maker's analogy (intelligent design, apparently Darwin was once very fond of this analogy until he formulated theory of evolution), is in danger of having a faith crisis when the watch maker's analogy is toppled. How? Well, according to the watch maker's analogy:

- A watch is complex

- A watch has an intelligent designer

- Life is complex

- Therefore life must have an intelligent designer

I will demonstrate how easily this analogy can be debunked. By using the same logic, we get:

- The tape water in my house consists of hydrogen and oxygen

- Tape water, comes from the dam

- Rain, consits of hydrogen and oxygen as well

- Therefore, rain must come from the dam.

I think the logical fallacy of William Paley's watch maker analogy, is pretty obvious when I apply the logic to different objects, as shown above.

Similar danger exists for those who radically build their faith on the ground that science is false and Genesis should be interpreted word by word. Equally as dangerous is the intelligent design movement, which uses God as the way to fill the gaps in our scientific knowledge. These are serious issues that can lead people to fall away from their faith. If they discover that scientific truth does not support their interpretation of Genesis, or that science has discovered ways to fill in the previous gaps in our scientific knowledge, causing people to think that science leaves no room for God. This can happen, if we do not build our faith on Jesus. Indeed, we have been given warnings by great Christian thinker such as St. Augustine more than one thousand years ago [9].

C) As Francis Collins pointed out. There is no need for science and faith to be in a war, because science deals with the "how" in this world. Christian faith deals with the "why and where" in this world. One may argue that knowledge of science is more reliable, because it belongs to the realm of "epistemological realism". While knowledge of Christianity is less reliable, because it belongs to the realm of "epistemological idealism". But the heart of the problem is, as human beings. We cannot radically separate them and only follow one. Any complete human being and experience, consists of both subjectivism as well as objectivism. For example, no one can really appreciate his wife's beauty in that green dress by interpreting the light reflected from the green dress as 540THz! Similarly, it is not very wise to insist to get a tan quickly by sun bathing without any protection cream! The interface between Science and Christian faith, is also about the healthy balance and harmony of epistemological realism, and epistemological idealism. 

Final thoughts:

  

The Language of God, is a great book written by a sincere Christian scientist. The messages are clear:

For Christians, it is a call for the time to end the war between science and Christian faith. We cannot bring glory to God by devaluing scientific truth and shun reasoning. 

For atheists/agnostics who have elevated scientism. While science is great at telling us "how", but it does not lead us to know the "why and where". Science alone, cannot teach us the meaning of life. Just like my joke at the beginning of this review. While the answer to "how" life  started may turn out to be 42.4665813, but the meaning of life is simply NOT 42.4665813 (down to the 7th decimal place, mind you), because that is just not human!

For truth seekers, the Bible said "Seek and you will find" (Matthew 7:7). Consider the human moral laws, why is there good and evil? Why do people display altruism when it clearly does not benefit them at all? Is it all meaningless, or an accident? Great thinkers such as Francis Collins and C.S Lewis have all been through this journey to seek the truth. In the end, they have come to worship Jesus Christ as their lord and savior. Why? Perhaps it is time for seekers to weigh the evidence and reasons more seriously and sincerely.

Harmony between science and Christian faith, lead us to gain even more awe for the complexity,  beauty and the wonder of God's most divine and sacred gift. Perhaps it is when we finally stop the war between these two truth, then we can gain even more awe and admiration for our amazing creator, by gazing into the chasm of scientific revelations, of the laws that govern the eons in the past and the future of this universe, the language of God. 

Reference (Recommended reading, item 1-10):

[1] Dinesh D'Souza, What's so great about Christianity, Regnery Publishing, 2007

     Link: (what's so great about Christianity) 

[2] Stephen Hawking, A brief history of time, Bantam, 1998 

     Link: (A brief history of time)

[3] Albert Einstein, On the electrodynamics of moving bodies, in Annalen der Physik.

     17:891, 1905 Link: (on the electrodynamics of moving bodies)

[4] Albert Einstein, The meaning of relativity, Princeton University Press, 5th Edition, 1966 

     Link: (The meaning of relativity)

[5] Charles Darwin, The origin of species, Penguin Classics, 2009 

     Link: (The origin of species)

[6] Frank J Tipler and John D Barrow, The Anthropic Cosmological Principle, Oxford University Press, 1st Edition. 1988 Link: (The Anthropic Cosmological principle)

[7] John D. Barrow, The Origin of Universe, Basic Books, 1997

     Link: (The Origin of the universe)

[8] Martin Reeves, Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces that Shapes the Universe, Basic Books, 1st             Edition, 2001 Link: (Just Six Numbers)

[9] St. Augustine of Hippo, The Literal Interpretation of Genesis Vol.1 

      Link: (On the Literal Interpretation of Genesis)

[10] David Bohm, The Special Theory of Relativity, Routledge, 1996 

       Link: (The Special Theory of Relativity)

[11] C.S Lewis, Mere Christianity, HarperSanFrancisco, 2001 

       Link: (Mere Christianity)

[12] Blumer A, Ehrenfeucht A, Haussler D, Warmuth MK, Occam's Razor", Information Processing    Letters 24 (1987), 337-380 Link: (Occam's Razor)

[13] Kenneth R. Miller, Finding Darwin's God: A scientist's research for common ground between God and evolution, Harper Perennial 1st edition, 2000 Link: (Finding Darwin's God)

[14] F.F. Bruce, The New Testament Documents, Are they reliable?,Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing, 2003) Link: (The New Testament Documents: Are they reliable?)

[15] Immanuel Kant, Metaphysics of Morals 6

[16] Holbrook J, Rannikmae M, The meaning of scientific literacy, International Journal of Science and Enviornmental Education, Vol. 4:3, 2009, pp.275-288 Link: (The meaning of scientific literacy)