The Gospel According to Neo

Xel writes "Josh Burek, writer for The Christian Science Monitor and A.K.A. the guy who sits 4 cubicles from me, has written an excellent essay on religion in The Matrix: The Gospel According to Neo. Sure, this topic has been covered ad nauseum, but it's refreshing to see such a thoughful examination aimed not at geeks alone but a broader, more traditional, and more traditionally religious audience. It also has a nice little glossary at the end where even pasty-faced and vinyl-clad Matrix worshippers may find some easter eggs they didnt know."

Comments

Christian Science Monitor Not Really Religious

[stardazed0]

Despite the name of the publication, it should be understood that the Christian Science Monitor is not an intensely religious newspaper. In fact, it is one of the most objective and well-written news publications in national circulation. The CSM is often cited by debaters, etc. as a reputable and impartial source of journalism (much more integrity and journalistic value than the likes of CNN, for example).

They forgot to mention Descartes

[Samari711]

the bulk of his book meditations on first philosophy deals with the idea that we can never truely know if reality exists as we percieve it. one of the possible realities he throws out is that we are constantly being decieved by some all powerful evil being who's goal is to make us believe everything that is not true. what descartes concludes is that even if everything he believes is false, he can still convince himself that he exists, because of the fact that he can convince himself (i think therefore i am). Descartes was one of the first christian philosophers to actually try to find other explanations for the way things worked other than "God willed it that way" so i'm surprised he didn't get brought up. maybe it has something to do with his whole "machines will never be able to think" theory ;)

Re:Meh, sometimes you look a little TOO deep

[dvorak_keys]

Wasn't it in the voiceover that one of the Wachowski brothers said they changed the color and logo because they wanted to set the tone, to suggest how pervasive the matrix one? Since everything in the Matrix was green they extended it to the credits. I don't recall them saying anything about wanting to "corrupt the Gospel of John". This article reminds of a bad lit class where they read what they want into it... it's a movie, not a neo-christian vinyl clad pamphlet.

Go to the source, Luke

[leoboiko]

You can find interesting articles about The Matrix's philosophic and religious background right on the official site. Enjoy.

Re:Wow!

[zsmooth]

It implies nothing. You said yourself it happens "at least twice". If it's really only 2 or 3 times that's hardly enough times for a rational person to assume that it's more than coincidence.

Re:Don't forget Eastern Religion

[iandunn]

Actually, the CS Monitor is pretty much a secular magazine. They only publish one religion-related story a day, the rest is US/Internation news. Most Christians don't even take the "Christian Science" denomination seriously. And, despite your paranoia, there are several Buddhist publications out there.

Re:Religion in the matrix? Are you serious?

[spongman]

Oracle lady

I'll bite. The Oracle at Delphi is a character from ancient Greek history. As the story goes, a goat herder (Koretas) wandered up the slopes of mount Parnassus and came across a crack in the mountainside where he became intoxicated and started spouting prophetical gibberish ("there was a man, born inside..."). Eventually it was decided that a woman (the Pythia) should be appointed to reside in a specially-built temple (of Apollo) at the site. Orginally the post was supposed to be held by young virgins, but eventually it was decided that the Oracles should be women no younger than 50. In the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Oracle tended a fire (oven?) and a crack in the floor from which arose sweet smelling vapours ("smell good, don't they?") which the Pythia would inhale, seated on a three-legged stool, and, entranced by the noxious fumes, speak the words of the Gods. One of the famous enscriptions on the walls of the temple was "Know Thyself", supposedly a quote from the God Apollo himself.

Michelangelo painted the Oracle of Delphi on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel. Compare Michelangelo's painting to the costume worn by Gloria Foster in the movie.

Re:Christian symbolism

[ajs]

I'm not sure I buy your take on the name (Neo is named Neo because calling someone "New" just wouldn't sound as cool), but even so, the movie is no more Christian than any other story with a messianic theme. I know this is going to be hard to swallow, but Jesus of Nazareth wasn't the first person in human history (real or fictional) to be called "the one" to fulfill prophesy. That list starts with our earliest recorded works of mythology (which happen to be Indian) and follow in every human society I can think of.

As for the theme of The Matrix being based on the shadowplay in the The Cave, I'm not buying that any more than the poster who claimed that was a Bhuddist concept (which pre-dates Plato, even though I doubt Plato knew of such doctrin). The un-reality of the world, and the extremes to which that concept can be taken are another topic touched on throughout history by many independant authors and philosophers.

In The Matrix, the idea being posed is specifically the tangible manifestation of this concept: a reality that is entirely constructed by known forces, and which exists only to distract those who experience it. It's not very Platonic however, since it is a shared un-reality and those who share it are all real (at least to the level of abstraction that the movie directly explores). Plato's angle was much more focused on the impact that the un-reality of the world had on ethics, rather than as a metaphor for opression of the masses through distraction.

I would think of it more along the lines of Dick (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep), Cameron (Terminator 2), Descartes (Principia Philosophiae) and Hume (Enquiries Concerning Human Understanding) getting together and re-writing the screenplay for War Games, but that's just MY take on it, and has no more weight than any of the others.

As for Leonard Sweet being one of the consultants for the film, I'm sure there were many. I also doubt that they added much more than the finishing sheen to the story, since the W's are pretty picky about their work, that way.

I clicked on your link

[Nazmun]

And I will never be the same again... My life would be ten times better if I hadn't. I've managed to not click on it several times but it was too long.