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The Way
by Kevin Pauley
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own opinion and clever in their own sight. - Isaiah 5:20-21 HCSB
One of the most telling aspects of Mr. Pullman’s books, in regards to his personal philosophy, is that not only do the children accidentally kill God, Lord Asriel and Ms. Coulter are depicted as heroes who kill a Jesus-like character. In the end of the series, in spite of her earlier dalliances with the wicked, kidnapping Church, Ms. Coulter redeems herself by helping Lord Asriel kill the regent Metatron.
In the Jewish Talmud, Metatron is described as a “lesser Yahweh” who records and repeats the words of God Almighty. He demonstrated his submission to the will of God by taking a beating with a fiery rod.
To my mind, this sounds a lot like the Son of God who speaks not on his own but what He hears from the Father[1] and who demonstrated his submissive obedience by taking a beating and dying on the cross for our sins.[2]
By making Metatron a regent, Pullman not only further identifies the character as the Lord Jesus who will reign[3], but again, he slams God. A regent is a person who is selected to act as the head of state because the actual ruler is debilitated and incapable of performing his duties adequately. A senile and useless God is an ongoing and continuous object of derision throughout Pullman’s books.
Besides his blasphemous views and his bilious hatred of all things divine, Mr. Pullman also shows complete lack of originality.
Pullman consciously and deliberately pits his books and their anti-Christian theme directly against C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. In fact, in one interview, he called the CS Lewis' books racist and misogynistic!
Apparently, they were good enough to emulate however. Both books are religious allegories; begin with a transformation that occurs while sneaking around in wardrobe; parallel worlds; children facing life changing choices; talking animals; and the fate of worlds hanging in the balance. From what I’ve been able to read, Mr. Pullman’s works show a total lack of imagination.
The Bible clearly teaches that those who reject God and thereby profess themselves to be wise, darken their own minds and become fools.[4] I have rarely found that to be better proven than in Mr. Pullman’s work.
[2] Philippians 2:8; Isaiah 53:5
Kevin Pauley is a pastor and writer. He lives in Illinois with his wife, Lynn, their five children and two dogs. His internet address is Berea.
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