Mohler with a Compass

Albert Mohler wrote a great piece on the new movie, The Golden Compass, coming out this week. He does so having both seen the movie and read all three of books in the trilogy, so it isn't a vaguely informed assessment. Nor does he call for some boycott.

The article lays out clearly the explicit intent of the author, Philip Pullman, whose goal is to combat Christianity. He explains the basic content of the movie and the theme of the trilogy, but more importantly gives helpful suggestions on how Christians should respond.

This is a great opportunity to show that Christians are not afraid of the battle of ideas.

When Christians rise in protest and seek to banish a book or movie or idea from their society, this is exactly the problem. It says to the world, "We are not able to discuss ideas or explain to you why the concept we are protesting is wrong. We just want it gone." I suspect that the reason for this perception is, too often, that it is correct. Too many Christians have failed to be about the business of renewing their minds as commanded and are simply feeling their way.

There is a perception in the world that faith is "feeling", a belief bereft of reason. There is a perception that religious people in general and Christians in particular are not as rational as non-believers. They seem to think that truly intelligent folks think things through, but religious folks just aren't up to it. Never mind that some of the brightest philosophers in history were religious folks. Forget about the fact that it was primarily Christians who really introduced the concepts of modern science to the world, believing as they did that God was rational, so the world ought to be as well. In other words, to conclude that religious people can't be very good thinkers is just not very good thinking. On the other hand, many Christians today have bought the notion that faith is separate from reason, that thinking has no real part in religion, and have gone a great distance to demonstrate that the faulty thinking that "Christians can't think" isn't so faulty after all.

Dr. Mohler suggests that trilogy of books and the movie are dangerous because they are so attractive. They appear harmless, are engaging stories, and will subvert thinking before the observer is aware of the danger. He goes on to suggest that the way to handle this real danger is to talk about it. Be prepared. Know the truth. Discuss it with your kids. Talk about it with your friends. Know why you believe what you believe and be ready to explain it to others. Use this explicit assault on Christianity as a springboard for discussion rather than running from it screaming, "Boycott!!"

Perhaps it isn't merely Dr. Mohler's suggestion that we should follow, because to me it sounds a lot like the command of God:

Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence (1 Peter 3:15).

Since that's the command, I'm thinking that perhaps that's the better approach ...