Golden Compass Commentary

With the premier of this controversial film just a week away, I thought my readers would be interested in perusing a short, fairly even-toned commentary on the film by Dr. Joel D. Heck, a professor of religion at Concordia University Texas in Austin. My family is still praying about whether to see the movie. Thus far, we are coming down on the side of attendance so that we can be prepared to discuss both the film and the books should such an opportunity present itself. Unfortunately, to be prepared in this way, we will need to contribute at least $15.00 to the coffers of Philip Pullman and his producer friends. As I said, we are still praying.

To whet your appetite, here is a paragraph from the article. To read the entire column, click here.

If [C.S.] Lewis was able to steal past “those watchful dragons” through fantasy tales and convey much Christian theology, is it possible for the opposite to occur? Can one use the same style of imaginative writing to steal some anti-God ideology past watchful Christian dragons? Can an anti-Lewis do what Lewis did? Surely the answer is yes, which makes Philip Pullman Lewis’s anti-self.

Of course, my favorite quote from the article is this:

The Golden Compass still pales in comparison to Him who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the One who is at the same time compass, vehicle, path, and destination, the risen Lord Jesus Christ.