Golden Compass - What's at stake?
This week after Chruch we guys went to movies some to 'This Christmas' some to 'August Rush' and only Steve and I found our selves at 'Golden Compass' which is the rebuttal to 'Narnia' in the Narnia uses fantasy to bring out Christian Truth where as this uses fantasy to 'undermine Christian Truth' (to quote the Trilogy's author Philip Pullman).
Book Vs Movie:
The first truth we as Christians need to understand about this is that the intent of Philip Pullman was to undermine Christianity, but the intent of the movie is to make money by not offending Christian sentiments and they have gone great length to keep anything suggesting that the movie has anything against the Church.
The book is about breaking from the holds of the Church and God from our lives, but the movie is about breaking from the body of authority that is above us telling us what to do and intervening with our free will.
The Philosophic base:
This is a complex movie/book. There are many levels of perception. I haven't read the book and there aren't any reviews about the philosophy of the movie so what I write is entirely my perception on seeing the movie.
It is about gaining freewill and that is what the struggle is for. Narnia or Lord of the Rings is also about gaining freewill. But the difference is this, that in Narnia freewill is conferred by God and the devil uses sin to prevent us from realizing it to the fullest. On the contrary, in 'Golden Compass', God restricts man's freewill using religious laws and authority and to break free from God’s authority and be sinful is to enjoy freewill, so sin becomes virtue. Sin is looked upon as something good.
In Narnia or Lord of the Rings strength, honor, love, trust are virtues. But in Golden Compass knowledge is virtue, 'knowledge about sin' does that ring a bell? Yes this is a kind of re-enactment of the fall of man in the Garden except that here the fall is looked upon as the fist step to freedom from God. The fall helped man to break away from God and gain complete freedom, but before man could fully enjoy it, the church intervened and freewill was lost. This book is about destroying the hold of the Church and gaining freedom again.
I think (my perception could be wrong), as per the setup of the fantasy world in the movie, the 'dust' which the academicians say (is the ultimate reality of the universe) permeates all universe is actually a metaphor for sin and the movie says that dust feeds into man through his deamon (soul - an animal). The church tries to deny and stop the feeding of dust through the deamon by kidnapping kids and making them immune to dust, and the freedom fighters go on war against the church because they believe that only through the feeding of dust into them through the deamon they would enjoy un-curtailed freewill.
To me, this is closer to Gnosticism (which Da Vinci Code touches upon) where sin is virtue, God is evil and the devil is the liberator who liberated man through the woman by making her wise though the fruit. Knowledge of sin is wisdom. This is how I think this atheist tries to build his case. And in Gnosticism God is feminine as Eve is supposed to be the source of wisdom, that is why it is a girl who is supposed to be the redeemer of mankind. She is the second-eve. And her plan for redemption is to eat more of the fruit and gain complete knowledge and freedom.
Problem with this Philosophy:
From the Christian world view, the problem with this (Godless) perception of freedom and freewill is that without God's leading in our lives, our (Godless) freedom becomes akin to the freedom of a boat without a rudder in the open sea. It looks like such a boat is 'free' to go all places, but in truth that freedom is entirely under the mercy of nature, so such a freedom without God is actually slavery to nature.
Man has the God given freedom to choose freedom 'under' God or freedom 'under' nature. The difference is if one chooses freedom 'under' God, one becomes God's most loved child. But instead, if one chooses to enjoy the freedom 'under' nature, one inexorably, in the long run becomes a slave to nature.
To the atheists, the concept of God is so revolting that they choose slavery to nature and embellish it as greatest freedom a two legged being can enjoy on planet earth.
Can Christians watch the movie?
The movie does not say anything overtly anti-Christian. You will not see a Church or a cross. You'll see men in black robes wearing big pendants which can never be misconstrued to resemble a cross. Their building looks more like the White House than a Church. This movie is a war against authority. It more about anarchy than about anti-Christianity. Without knowing how the second and third part comes out, we cannot truly comment how it would look at the end, but I have a feeling that the directors wouldn't want to make it anti-Christian.
Well, this is not a 'must see' movie as the Lord of the Rings is. Its not as good with fantasy. The plot is intriguing, the movie is fast paced and its dark, I mean even the heroes are dark characters who care not for love or honour or bliss of innocence. When God is taken out of the equation, darkness results, it can't be helped.
I think Christians can see this movie, but must be on the guard. If the Lord's 'leading' is to not see then obey the 'leading'. One can't go wrong excercising caution :)
Book Vs Movie:
The first truth we as Christians need to understand about this is that the intent of Philip Pullman was to undermine Christianity, but the intent of the movie is to make money by not offending Christian sentiments and they have gone great length to keep anything suggesting that the movie has anything against the Church.
The book is about breaking from the holds of the Church and God from our lives, but the movie is about breaking from the body of authority that is above us telling us what to do and intervening with our free will.
The Philosophic base:
This is a complex movie/book. There are many levels of perception. I haven't read the book and there aren't any reviews about the philosophy of the movie so what I write is entirely my perception on seeing the movie.
It is about gaining freewill and that is what the struggle is for. Narnia or Lord of the Rings is also about gaining freewill. But the difference is this, that in Narnia freewill is conferred by God and the devil uses sin to prevent us from realizing it to the fullest. On the contrary, in 'Golden Compass', God restricts man's freewill using religious laws and authority and to break free from God’s authority and be sinful is to enjoy freewill, so sin becomes virtue. Sin is looked upon as something good.
In Narnia or Lord of the Rings strength, honor, love, trust are virtues. But in Golden Compass knowledge is virtue, 'knowledge about sin' does that ring a bell? Yes this is a kind of re-enactment of the fall of man in the Garden except that here the fall is looked upon as the fist step to freedom from God. The fall helped man to break away from God and gain complete freedom, but before man could fully enjoy it, the church intervened and freewill was lost. This book is about destroying the hold of the Church and gaining freedom again.
I think (my perception could be wrong), as per the setup of the fantasy world in the movie, the 'dust' which the academicians say (is the ultimate reality of the universe) permeates all universe is actually a metaphor for sin and the movie says that dust feeds into man through his deamon (soul - an animal). The church tries to deny and stop the feeding of dust through the deamon by kidnapping kids and making them immune to dust, and the freedom fighters go on war against the church because they believe that only through the feeding of dust into them through the deamon they would enjoy un-curtailed freewill.
To me, this is closer to Gnosticism (which Da Vinci Code touches upon) where sin is virtue, God is evil and the devil is the liberator who liberated man through the woman by making her wise though the fruit. Knowledge of sin is wisdom. This is how I think this atheist tries to build his case. And in Gnosticism God is feminine as Eve is supposed to be the source of wisdom, that is why it is a girl who is supposed to be the redeemer of mankind. She is the second-eve. And her plan for redemption is to eat more of the fruit and gain complete knowledge and freedom.
Problem with this Philosophy:
From the Christian world view, the problem with this (Godless) perception of freedom and freewill is that without God's leading in our lives, our (Godless) freedom becomes akin to the freedom of a boat without a rudder in the open sea. It looks like such a boat is 'free' to go all places, but in truth that freedom is entirely under the mercy of nature, so such a freedom without God is actually slavery to nature.
Man has the God given freedom to choose freedom 'under' God or freedom 'under' nature. The difference is if one chooses freedom 'under' God, one becomes God's most loved child. But instead, if one chooses to enjoy the freedom 'under' nature, one inexorably, in the long run becomes a slave to nature.
To the atheists, the concept of God is so revolting that they choose slavery to nature and embellish it as greatest freedom a two legged being can enjoy on planet earth.
Can Christians watch the movie?
The movie does not say anything overtly anti-Christian. You will not see a Church or a cross. You'll see men in black robes wearing big pendants which can never be misconstrued to resemble a cross. Their building looks more like the White House than a Church. This movie is a war against authority. It more about anarchy than about anti-Christianity. Without knowing how the second and third part comes out, we cannot truly comment how it would look at the end, but I have a feeling that the directors wouldn't want to make it anti-Christian.
Well, this is not a 'must see' movie as the Lord of the Rings is. Its not as good with fantasy. The plot is intriguing, the movie is fast paced and its dark, I mean even the heroes are dark characters who care not for love or honour or bliss of innocence. When God is taken out of the equation, darkness results, it can't be helped.
I think Christians can see this movie, but must be on the guard. If the Lord's 'leading' is to not see then obey the 'leading'. One can't go wrong excercising caution :)