Philip Pullman and His Dark Materials
Why is 'His Dark Materials' harmful?
I asked a friend whether I should encourage my children to read 'His Dark Materials'. He said 'yes'. When I asked what he thought about the way Pullman portrays God as evil, his response was along the lines of 'I don't recognize the character in Pullman's books as being the God I believe in from the Bible.' This sounds reasonable, but having read all three books for myself, I am convinced that
- Pullman intends it to be the God of the Bible, and
- this is how most people will read it.
These books are explicitly anti-Christian: They talk about the church, God, sin, the kingdom of heaven, Jesus, being a Christian, atonement, and redemption. They quote directly from the Bible. At one point, one of the key characters says:
I thought physics could be done to the glory of God, till I saw there wasn't any God at all and that physics was more interesting anyway. The Christian religion is a very powerful and convincing mistake, that's all. (The Amber Spyglass, p. 464)
So there is no getting away from the fact that Pullman has written a series of books for teenagers / young adults, with an explicitly anti-Christian message. Here are two reasons why these books are harmful:
- How he describes the church
- How he describes God
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People often disagree with what we say on these pages. This is OK. However, if you read these pages carefully, you'll see that we aren't recommending that the films should be censored, or that Pullman's books (or Pullman himself) should be burned, or that people should be otherwise prevented from watching the films and reading the books. We disagree with what he says; not with his right to say it. We uphold the right of free speech, even - especially - for views we disagree with. Will you do the same if you disagree with us?
Web Sites
The Golden Compass - the official web site of the movie.
His Dark Materials web site, containing many interviews and news stories.
The Bridge To the Stars - a 'His Dark Materials' fan site, with the latest news and info on the HDM books, movie and stage version, as well as an active discussion forum
The Truth in 'The Golden Compass' - a video from Tony Watkins, Culturewatch
'Dark Matter: a thinking fan's guide to Philip Pullman', by Tony Watkins - a collection of resources including Tony's book about Philip Pullman and a briefing paper for churches on The Golden Compass.
'Hollywood Jesus' Philip Pullman resource center
Pullman vs. The Magisterium, by Terry Mattingly
The
Golden Compass: Pointing in the Wrong Direction - Steve Cable, Research
Associate of Probe Ministries, gives his response to The Golden Compass.
The
Golden Compass - Christianity Today contributor Peter T. Chattaway's
review of the movie.
Thinking
Christian Blog Tom Gilson's blog review of the His
Dark Materials trilogy.
The
Golden Compass: A Briefing for Concerned Parents - Dr
R. Albert Mohler, Jr outlines the worldview and
the agenda that lies behind the His Dark Materials trilogy.
The
Golden Compass: A Primer on Atheism - Russ Wise explains The Golden
Compass as a primer of Atheism, and presents suggestions of how Christians,
especially parents, can respond.
Atheism
For Kids - Gene Edward Veith examines the attack on C.S. Lewis and
The Chronicles of Narnia as the behind the scenes passion of author Philip
Pullman.
'The most dangerous author in Britain'? Article from 'The Mail on Sunday', 27th January 2002. "Philip Pullman is being hailed as the new C. S. Lewis after being awarded the Whitbread Book of the Year prize for his latest novel aimed at children: The Amber Spyglass. The judges described it as visionary, but Peter Hitchens reveals that the author appears to have his own sinister agenda..."
See also: 'A labour of loathing.' Peter Hitchens on the worship of Philip Pullman, who has set out to destroy Narnia. From 'The Spectator', 18 January 2003