I am very excited about seeing the movie "The Golden Compass" despite the fact that Nicole Kidman is in it. Hopefully Daniel Craig will make up for her. I have read the book series, and I thought they were passably good. The first one was definitely the best one.
One of the members of a Bible study group I attended in France actually lent me the books after I told her I really like the Harry Potter series. She was appalled at my enjoyment of Harry Potter, although she had never read any of them herself. She was convinced that J. K. Rowling had made a literal pact with the devil, and as a result the books are infused with demonic influence. Her mother (and she, too, I guess) had been heavily involved with the occult, and her Christian conversion experience was a dramatic one. She practiced a more mystical variety of Christianity than I have ever experienced before, and while I do believe that God communicates with her differently than he does with me, and I think she probably has some insight into the world of the occult based on her own experience, I kind of think she's wrong about Harry Potter. But, really, what do I know?
So, she lent me the Philip Pullman books as an alternative to Harry Potter. I really liked "The Golden Compass," nothing-ed "The Subtle Knife," and hated "The Amber Spyglass." What surprised me most is that, especially in "The Amber Spyglass," the author brings God into the story, not as a sort of philosophical concept, but as an impotent corporeal being who ultimately dissolves into nothingness. Um, that's pretty anti-Christian. At least Harry Potter just leaves God out of it. The reader is free to associate or omit God as he or she chooses. Philip Pullman doesn't really leave room for that.
2 comments:
so the evangelical word out on the street is that the golden compass is way more evil than harry potter because the main characters are actually trying to kill God. that is what i heard. and everyone is in an uproar about it because nicole kidman, as a devout catholic, is condoning such heresy by her participation. and i think we can safely say that mrs. harry potter has redeemed herself by finally admitting that her books are full of christian imagery. there were cheers for that, but then there was the whole dumbledorf was gay thing....gee i hardly know what to believe anymore. someone tell me what i should boycott!!
Yeah, I have to say, that last book totally creeped me out--I hated it. I sort of don't even want to see the movie because of it.
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