Angels and Demons has been very popular. Author Dan Brown knows how to write a page-turner, and film director Ron Howard is equally adept at keeping the action moving on screen. But during those rare moments when a break in the action leaves the characters a moment or two for conversation, this film actually raises important issues of faith and fanaticism and the relationship of science and the church.

The film begins with two deaths--that of the Pope in Vatican City, and of a physicist in Geneva who has just perfected a means of creating "antimatter," which purportedly holds the key to the origins of the universe. Those events and the ensuing conflict between religion and science are what make this movie so compelling for Christians.

Religion, like the newly created "antimatter" in the film, has the power to do much good yet it can also be used for evil. In Dan Brown's tale, identifying the angels and the demons is often difficult. Both science and religion have their fanatics, and fanaticism in support of any ideal can have tragic consequences. The Bible--in fact, our own nation's history--is replete with such examples. In fact, all three Abrahamic faiths have endured their fanatics willing to stoop to violence for what they perceive to be the greater good. Just think of the Inquisition, 9/11, or the conquest of the Canaanites in the Old Testament.

There is much to consider in this provocative film study for adults! While the immediate danger in the film has to do with the imminent explosion of the "antimatter," perhaps the most chilling and provocative words are spoken by the neutral, paid assassin: "Be careful, these are men of God."