Something has been on my mind recently and it's not because I am bothered by it. I'm more stumped by the response given and that had me wondering about the general state of conviction and faith in and of mere human beings (believers included)with regards to certain issues.

What brought about the subject was the recent release of the founding of Gospel of Judas by National Geographic. I did not follow the whole thing, and come to think of it, it's almost like 'unintentional' publicity for the soon-to-be-released The Da Vinci Code movie. As far as I'm concerned, publicity of any sort, be it 'unintentional' or not, is always good.

Anyway, and so the story goes... Judas's scrolls were found, and to the staff at National Geographic Channel (NGC)
(see more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_Judas courtesy of WIkipedia.com) , it is a big finding because of its impact it has on religion, specifically Christianity, today. It seems to bring up questions on the Bible. I feel a certain similarity between this and the Dead Sea Scrolls of the ancient isolated Christians. Both aim to dispute the happenings that occurred in the Bible. Do note that the Bible is based on historical events and men alone did not influence the events.

Based on this, my questions are:
Is faith a burden?
How does one go about measuring one's faith?
Can a Non-believer be influenced by such controversy?
Will this cause a believer doubt his or her faith?
What is the ultimate purpose of this discovery?

This relates to something I know, hence I felt the need to say something about it. Not that it's going to impact anything, but here is my stand. The Word does not need dissection or analysis of any form. The Word, to clarify this, is not written merely by men, and I mean that in the mystical aspect. God is beyond human comprehension. Scholars, Nobel Prize laureates, all of you are welcomed to continue your lifelong pursuit of something that is beyond the mind and knowledge. Because when the end comes, all your speculations, theories and opinions will not stand. Come on, do you actually think you can fathom the Almighty?

On a totally different note altogether, I have caught the film The Da Vinci Code and all I want to say is: Christians, if you are actually contemplating whether or not to watch the movie, don't. Go watch it anyway. It is not asking you to decide, by the end of the movie, to come up with an answer. It is not asking you to do anything 'spiritual' or 'religious', but simply to enjoy the movie in its purest aspect: entertainment. Because whether you watch it or not, it is not going to make a difference on truth but it does make a difference on box office results, and that is important to major studio executives as their livelihood hinges on it. So if controversies of any sort in any way can help boost ratings, they welcome it.

Therefore, leave the guessing and deciding and whatever to the theorists. Don't steal their jobs.

Whew... Okay. That's all for today. This kind of entry only comes when the general state of affairs gets too warped.

PS: Paul Bettany did a great job as Silas. I've not read the book and I won't.