The Matrix, And Christian Religion In The Matrix

Stephen Prothero’s “God Is Not One” is a survey of world religions, comprising vital information on a vast array of different sets of belief. As someone who has never studied religion before, nor belongs to a particular faith, the variability within these religions is staggering. One might be satisfied to define religion as “how a person goes about believing in God,” but soon finds that even that definition has its holes. Thankfully, “God Is Not One” does an amazing job of cluing its reader into the nuances that are sometimes forgotten about the religions it approaches.

In this assignment you will summarize and analyze the essential elements of the Christian worldview and reflect on implications for your own worldview.

Mircea Eliade’s The Sacred and the Profane analyzes a wide variety of components that are found within various world religions. Eliade uses the history of religion to support his ideas as the the book itself is a brief introduction to religion as a whole, particulary the religions of primitive societies. Nonetheless, when looking to the past one can see that mankind’s desire to associate itself with the sacred has been occuring for thousands of years. From temples to passages of intiation, religious man is a unique microcosm that follows and repeats the structure of the religious macrocosm, the creation of the cosmos. One can conclude that Eliade views religion as the “paradigmatic solution for every existential crisis.” (p210) and

Judaism, Islam, and Christianity are some of the religions that most individuals can relate to, being the three largest religions in the world. Like many religions they share many differences and also some similarities. One difference that these religions hold is their view of Jesus Christ. Similarities are surprisingly common to find among some religions because of the basis they put on one another. Some similarities between these religions include: belief of monotheism and the influence of Zoroastrianism had on each religion. Also another similarity carried out by these three religions would be the significance of Abraham. Some other differences include: religious texts and also how they approach God in prayer.

The author also addresses four themes to help the reader gain an understanding of the Christian world view which include creation, fall, redemption and consummation. Creation addresses the understanding of who humans are and how it relates to the world that we live in. The fall deals rebellion against God in the garden. Redemption speaks about the forgiveness of our sins that came through the savior of Jesus Christ. Finally Consummation pulls all three previous topics together and is the start of the integration at its core.

This essay will analyse how the 1999 movie, ‘The Matrix’ reveal Neo as a messiah figure. Most people argue that it is a Christian sci-fi movie as it portrays the doctrine and the life of Jesus from birth, death, resurrection and ascension through indexical and iconic signs. This movie suggests a juxtaposition between Neo and Jesus Christ as he is being referred to as ‘the one’ through the movie. He is seen as a messiah that would save the world from the matrix- computer-generated illusion and unite humanity with the ‘real’ as Jesus reunited the human race back to God. Also, this essay will gradually unfold the parallelism that exists between the characters in the movie, and the people in the time of Jesus in succeeding paragraphs.

The book of Romans teaches us a considerable amount about various topics of the Christian life. How we should view the natural world, human identity, relationships, and culture are some of the main ones. This essay will discuss the foundations found in Romans which are essential in the formation of a biblical worldview. The letter Paul wrote to the believers in Rome indicates God’s creation is a demonstration of His existence and power (Romans 1:20-21). Romans takes us from our total inability to walk in good works, to God’s faithfulness in justifying, sanctifying, and glorifying us by our faith through his grace.

Our worldview allows us to see into the world at such an angle that it coincides with our beliefs, therefore affecting how we think and live. Whether one falls under an atheistic, pantheistic, or theistic worldview, they are guided in their life choices depending on the beliefs of their worldview. Throughout this paper, I will summarize the elements of a Christian Worldview such as God, Humanity, Jesus, and Restoration; I will then analyze questions one might have about the Christian Worldview, and finally I will reflect on my worldview.

The Christian worldview, also categorized under theism, is highly recognized and held by many. This is the belief that there is a single, personal, and relational God who is the creator of all things, this includes a belief in morality and the afterlife. This paper will discuss important aspects and key characters in the Christian worldview, including God and His plan for His children, humanity and the Fall, and Jesus’ role in restoration.

In the World State, technology is given a degree of devotion previously only used for religion. Instead of measuring time in years after Jesus’s birth, time is measured in years A.F. (or years since the invention of the Model T). The image of the cross is replaced with the capital T, which also symbolizes the Model T. In the same way that people used to put unquestioning faith in God or religion, the new World State society puts unquestioning faith in technological progress. This creates a cult based on the material world and pleasure that is the very antithesis of Christianity’s focus on the supernatural and otherworldly paradise. This creates a clear contrast between the ideas of modernity and those of Christianity. In Christianity, the highest, possible values all have to deal with achieving heaven and life everlasting on a spiritual level, and Christianity greatly downplays material or worldly comfort. On the other hand, the Soma addicted, technology-worshipping members of the world state are directly engaging in blasphemy, by worshiping the false (material) God of technology.

Through the movie we see parallel’s of Neo and Christian Mythology. Temptation from Satan to Jesus and the temptation to Neo from the Agents, are some very profound similarities between the two personages.

A computer hacker named Neo had always felt there is something not right about the world. He was requested to meet with Morpheus to learn about “The Matrix”, by Trinity. A strange new world begins to open up around him. He was confronted with tough decisions, and slowly learns the truth about the world; humans of the 21st century waged a war against the machines they created, to no avail. Humans lost the war and began being used as a power source for the intelligent machinery.

Religion has existed for countless centuries. Christianity is one of the major religions in this world, which had people be criticized, battle in wars, and killed for, but it still survived to this day. The purpose of this paper is to study the source of the religion, recognize the teachings, observe its spread throughout the world, and to identify how it stands among people today. Approaching this paper by a factual report I will explain these major points and why we need to know about this religion and other religions that existed before our generation.

Zeus hurls his thunderbolt and the world trembles. Odin invites fallen warriors in the halls of Valhalla for a drink. Jesus Christ spreads the words of his father and gathers disciples. Buddha sits and meditates the meaning of the universe. Across the world there have always been mythological stories. From the first civilization to modern times, mythologies help explain the vents of the world and attempt to provide answers for unanswerable questions. Though every mythology appears different, if one looks close enough, commonalities appear. Joseph Campbell spent his life studying mythologies and religions along with compiling the commonalities amongst them. This study on the works of Joseph Campbell focuses on the following areas:

For the layman, familiarity with the major religions stems from the stories that are associated with them. Using the narratives that are derived from the sacred texts is the most prominent way in which our society identifies the Western religions. The Jewish tradition is best correlated to stories like the Exodus and the parting of the Red Seas, for example, as are the many tales of the miracles of Jesus connected to Christianity. This essay will present narratives as an easy method of providing the basic groundwork for the Western religious traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam because of their simplicity and easily transmittable nature.