"The Bible is a remarkable fountain: the more one draws and drinks of it, the more it stimulates thirst."
- Martin Luther
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Here are some excerpts, but you should go read the whole thing.
The release of The Golden Compass as a major motion picture represents a new challenge for Christians -- especially parents. The release of a popular film with major actors that presents a message directly subversive of Christianity is something new. It is not likely to be the last.
Having seen the movie at an advance viewing and having read all three books of His Dark Materials, I can assure Christians that we face a real challenge -- one that will require careful thinking and intellectual engagement.
The direct attack on Christianity and God is toned down in the movie. But any informed person will recognize the Magisterium as representing the Church and Christianity. Of course, in our world the Magisterium is the authoritative leadership of the Roman Catholic Church. In Pullman's world it represents Christianity as a whole.
Indeed, Pullman's tale tells of John Calvin assuming the papacy and moving the headquarters to Geneva, thus combining the Catholic and Reformation traditions into one. In the movie, the Magisterium appears to be located in London. In any event, the point is not subtle.
The most direct attacks upon Christianity and God do not appear until the last book, The Amber Spyglass, in which Lyra and Will (a boy her age who first appears in the second book) eventually kill God, who turns out to be a decrepit and feeble old imposter who was hardly worth the killing.
Put simply, Pullman hates C. S. Lewis's work The Chronicles of Narnia. He told Hannah Rosin that Lewis's famous work is "morally loathsome" and "one of the most ugly and poisonous things I ever read." Narnia, he said, "is the Christian one . . . . And mine is the non-Christian."
When the first Narnia film was released in 2005, Pullman described the books as "a peevish blend of racist, misogynistic and reactionary prejudice."
Indeed, Pullman's His Dark Materials is intended as an answer to Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia. What Lewis (and J. R. R. Tolkein) did for Christianity, Pullman wants to do for atheism.
So, what should Christians do?
A good first step would be to take a deep breath. The Christian faith is not about to be toppled by a film, nor by a series of fantasy books. Pullman has an agenda that is clear, and Christians need to inform themselves of what this agenda is and what it means. At the same time, nothing would serve his agenda better than to have Christians speaking recklessly or unintelligently about the film or the books.
This is about the battle of ideas and worldviews. While Christians will not celebrate the release of this film, we should recognize the mixture of challenge and opportunity that comes with millions of persons watching this film and talking about the issues it raises. When the movie is mentioned in the workplace, in school, on the playground, or in the college campus, this is a great opportunity to show that Christians are not afraid of the battle of ideas.
We should recognize that the Christian Church has some very embarrassing moments in its history - moments when it has failed to represent the truth of the Gospel and the love of Christ. Authors like Philip Pullman take advantage of these failures in order to paint the entire Christian Church as a conspiracy against human happiness and freedom. Of course, that charge will not stand close scrutiny, and we can face it head-on with a thoughtful response.
Some Christians have also held very unhelpful views of human sexuality. These, we must admit, would include figures as great and influential as Augustine and, alas, C. S. Lewis. But these figures, rightly influential in other areas of the faith, are not representative in this case of biblical sexuality. We can set the record straight.
Should we be concerned that people, young and old, will be confused by this movie? Of course. But I do not believe that a boycott will dissuade the general public from seeing the film. I am very concerned when I think of so many people being entertained by such a subversive message delivered by such a seductive medium. We are responsible to show them, in so far as we are able, that the Magisterium of The Golden Compass is not a fair or accurate representation of the Christian Church.
There's a lot I didn't paste here. If you don't know much about the books or movies or Pullman, please go read the whole article. I learned a lot, you will too, since Mohler has actually read all the books and seen the movie.
But for those of you who aren't going to go read the whole thing....here's his conclusion, which I really liked.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ has enemies; this we know. Christian parents must be informed about His Dark Materials and inform others. We must take the responsibility to use interest in this film to teach our own children to think biblically and to be discerning in their engagement with the media in all forms. We should arm our children to be able to talk about this project with their classmates without fear or rancor.
Philip Pullman has an agenda, but so do we. Our agenda is the Gospel of Christ -- a message infinitely more powerful than that of The Golden Compass. Pullman's worldview of unrestricted human autonomy would be nightmarish if ever achieved. His story promises liberation but would enslave human beings to themselves and destroy all transcendent value.
The biblical story of the Fall is true, after all, and our only rescue is through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The curse of sin was not reversed by adolescents playing at sex in a garden, but by the Son of God shedding His blood on a cross.
So let's get our bearings straight as we think and talk about The Golden Compass. This movie does represent a great challenge, but a challenge that Christians should always be ready to meet.
Notice that he doesn't advocate a boycott or anything like that. Merely that Christians should be informed and prepared. "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect" (1 Peter 3:15)
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Comments on "A Sane Column on "The Golden Compass"":
2. Brian
- 12/05/2007 1:05 pm CST
Thanks for the link Philip. Good to see Mohler being fairly balanced on this one.
Some other links that some might find helpful :
Interview with Pullman by Peter Chattaway
Review by Jeffrey Overstreet
Mars Hill Audio Podcast with Alan Jacobs from 2000 talking about Pullman's trilogy. (haven't listened to this yet but just assuming it's pretty good cause it's Ken Myers)
3. nhe
- 12/05/2007 1:35 pm CST
Wow - is that right? - the book actually has John Calvin as an evil pope character? - really?......that sounds cartoonish to me, and as Alan mentioned, something we should only have passing acquaintance with - at most.
But come on - "Challenge to Christians?" - nah - I'd maybe see that if it approached even half of the worldwide box office of LOTR......but this will likely fade away like the many failed attempts to capture the LOTR magic with another lesser fantasy novel series adapted for the big screen.
We really should move on to more important things - the reviews for the film are below average - the whole thing is a non-story.
The bigger question for me is - does this film have gospel inspired moments in it like in "Two Towers" where Sam tells Frodo that their journey is the stuff of great storytelling? It's a small moment in the film, but it points to the bigger truth - redemptive storytelling wins us over, no matter who we are or where we've come from - does Pullman do that?
4. Anakainosis
- 12/05/2007 1:44 pm CST
Whoa. I didn't know this was even happening with this movie. It seems like such a ridiculous movie, and plus, is it even good? Is this going to be like the "da Vinci" madness when the film itself was a huge bomb in the first place?
Really interesting stuff. Seems to be way more significant in terms of wave-making than da Vinci ended up being or Harry Potter ever had the potential of being.
5. Shrode
- 12/05/2007 1:44 pm CST
I don't know why the word "boycott" enters the discussion. Is anyone out there urging Christians to refuse to do business with anyone involved with Pullman, e.g. his publisher, movie studio, actors, etc.?
Catholic League has been advocating a boycott for some time.
Two months before the scheduled release of New Line Cinema's The Golden Compass, the Catholic League has launched an all-out assault on the fantasy film. The League, the largest Catholic lay organization in the U.S., has produced a 25-page pamphlet, titled "The Golden Compass: Unmasked," that it is selling on its website for $5.00 per copy, which damns the film as a pernicious effort to indoctrinate children into atheistic beliefs.
Or are you saying that the word "boycott" doesn't mean "not going to see this movie" as a group?
Brian,
Those were great links. Overstreet especially, really impressed me. I think I might have liked his article better than Mohler's, though they essentially have the same thesis, Overstreet said some really, really good things.
And the interview was fantastic.
6. Shrode
- 12/05/2007 1:51 pm CST
Oh and Alan, I forgot about the infamous AFA
Therefore, without yet seeing the film, AFA is alerting Christians to the potential dangers of The Golden Compass. Because of Pullman’s clearly articulated anti-Christian motives, AFA is warning all viewers to run from the film.
7. Alan
- 12/05/2007 2:27 pm CST
Shrode, I think the word boycott probably does technically include the meaning "not going to see this movie as a group." But in this context, using that term still sounds off-key to me. I think Christians are a little boycott-happy (as much as certain others are burned out on boycotts).
Just thinking back to the mother of all boycotts, the SBC-Disney thing, the idea was to boycott something we liked, Disney and its products, because of certain things they did (e.g. the gay day thing). I don't think we'd ordinarily use the term "boycott" for things that we don't like and consider bad for us. For example, I wouldn't say that I'm boycotting lead-infested Chinese toys and Mexican candies. I'm just not buying them because they're bad for my kids.
Taking the boycott language out of it focuses attention, to my mind at least, on the principles for our actions and not on their intended effects on Pullman & his partners in this enterprise.
8. Karl
- 12/05/2007 2:59 pm CST
A couple of thoughts.
For those suggesting this isn't even worth dignifying with the attention and will die away on its own, I'd say not so fast. The movie itself might bomb. But the books have been very popular and highly acclaimed, and will likely get an additional boost due to the movie's publicity. Pullman is by all accounts a very skilled writer, with a great ability to create a believable "secondary world" that readers find compelling and characters they really care about. Don't overreact, but don't underestimate the potential popular-level impact of Pullman's work either, even if the movie itself doesn't do well. What Narnia does for Christianity - stealing past watchful dragons to introduce Christian themes readers might not even pick up on but making the Christian story more attractive and believable when encountered later in life - Pullman aims for his writing to do the same for his worldview.
I'd agree the Mars Hill podcast is well worth the listen. Both Ken Myers and Alan Jacobs are bylines that make me expect to see something good follow.
Philip Pullman, on Narnia:
"One of the most vile moments in the whole of children’s literature, to my mind, occurs at the end of The Last Battle, when Aslan reveals to the children that “The term is over: the holidays have begun†because “There was a real railway accident. Your father and mother and all of you are – as you used to call it in the Shadowlands – dead.†To solve a narrative problem by killing one of your characters is something many authors have done at one time or another. To slaughter the lot of them, and then claim they’re better off, is not honest storytelling: it’s propaganda in the service of a life-hating ideology. But that’s par for the course. Death is better than life; boys are better than girls; light-coloured people are better than dark-coloured people; and so on. There is no shortage of such nauseating drivel in Narnia, if you can face it."
9. Alan
- 12/05/2007 3:34 pm CST
At least for me, the issue is not that Pullman is a bad writer, that these novels are badly written, or that the movie will be a flop. I'm sure the opposite is true on all three counts.
I yawn at Pullman because I just don't care about his books or the movie. If I were a professor or teacher of some sort, it might be different. Or if my kids were of the age to be reading Pullman. But all things considered, I don't think it's worth engaging (and putting money in the pocket of!) every brilliant jackass who thinks he's struck a mighty blow for human liberation by attacking the Christian faith.
My reaction is: So you think there is no Christian God? We're a bunch of repressed prudes? And we love nothing more than to scare the masses with fairy tales so we can oppress and rule over them?
Do tell me more. Because all of this is so original.
10. Knight's Disciple
- 12/06/2007 7:17 am CST
I've prowled around this site without commenting before, but now my curiousity has gotten the better of me.
What, exactly, do Augustine and Lewis tell us about sexuality that is so harmful? I'll admit, I've never read any direct works of Augustine, but I've read a fair amount of Lewis. Could somebody hazard a guess as to what the column author is referring to, and why it's bad?
11. Shrode
- 12/06/2007 9:58 am CST
Good Question, Knight's Disciple. I wondered the same thing. I have no idea. I do remember some comments Lewis made about sex in "The Four Loves" in the section on "Eros", but I remember thinking those comments were quite good. (Like about having a sense of humor during...)
12. Chestertonian Rambler
- 12/06/2007 10:08 am CST
Knight's Disciple:
I've read a decent amount about Augustine, and admit some of his comments about sexuality are pretty alarming--if not in literal meaning, then definitely in tone, he repeatedly depicted sex as a bad thing, even as he stressed that it was not a sin. Later Medieval philosophers stood on his sholders and went farther--the desire for sex, some claimed, was always evil even if sex itself wasn't.
But as far as Lewis goes--I think here Pullman may have been all too successful with his false "Lucy" argument. (I.e., according to Pullman Lucy chose sex rather than God--nylons and lipstick rather than Narnia and Heaven. (Incidentally, J.K. Rowling, who hasn't read all of the Chronicles, repeated this argument in interviews and helped to make it famous.)
In reality, Lewis was claiming that she chose to buy into "the silliest time in a person's life" and worship a false view of sex and alurement--the same false view he attacks in The Four Loves as being dangerous to natural (married) sexual expression. He makes the point much more strongly in That Hideous Strength, which ends in (among other things) a celebration of sexuality--among animals and humans both.
There are a lot of problem areas in Lewis, but he was remarkably and self-consciously clear-sighted in his treatment of sex. Which is why I find it sometimes funny when people attack his views of sex.
13. Mrs. W x
- 12/06/2007 10:49 am CST
I think here Pullman may have been all too successful with his false "Lucy" argument(I.e., according to Pullman Lucy chose sex rather than God--nylons and lipstick rather than Narnia and Heaven.
Susan is the character those examples refer to, Chestertonian Rambler, rather than Lucy.
Thanks for your take on the their views of sexuality-- I had wondered about them as well.
14. Chestertonian Rambler
- 12/06/2007 12:30 pm CST
Thanks Mrs. W
Apparently, discussing Pullman's views of Lewis is my personal trigger for really silly mistakes.
I don't know why the word "boycott" enters the discussion. Is anyone out there urging Christians to refuse to do business with anyone involved with Pullman, e.g. his publisher, movie studio, actors, etc.?
I'm not boycotting drug dealers. I just don't have any use for their products. The same for Pullman.
As a cultural phenomenon, it's worthwhile to have some passing acquaintance with it, but I don't see it as worth engaging.