A Tarnished Compass

by Brian Bill
Published November 27, 2007

I just finished reading The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. Since a movie by this name is coming out on December 7th, and I’ve received several emails and been asked many questions about it, I thought I should read the book the movie is based on.

I haven’t seen the movie, and after reading the book, don’t plan to so I’m not going to give a review of the film. My comments are strictly from a careful reading of the book. I realize that the movie version is often different from the book and I’m told that the director has “cleaned up” the movie but my concern is that many children will turn to the book after reading the movie and encounter more than most parents would approve of. The Golden Compass is actually the first book in a trilogy called His Dark Materials.

I’m not normally an alarmist but I found this book to be alarming in its embrace of evil. Here are the first four words on the very first page: “Lyra and her daemon...” Every character in the opening chapters has a daemon (this spelling is from the old english but means the same as our word “demon"). The author even mentions that a priest has a demon. Lyra and her demon (Pan) are so close that when the demon feels pain it is shared with her and vice versa.

I’m concerned for the young (and older) readers of this book because demons are considered to be impossible to live without. In fact, one character in the book has his demon “intercised” or cut away and the boy then dies. Here’s a quote: “A human being with no daemon was like someone without a face, or with their ribs laid open and their heart torn out...” (page 214). Lyra refers to her demon as “Her dear soul, the daring companion of her heart...” (page 284). Here’s another quote from page 316: “As long as there have been human beings, they have had daemons. It’s what makes us different from animals.” Really? I thought it was because we are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26).

I can understand why the Catholic church is upset with this book not only because the author indicates that priests have demons but also quotes like this: “Most church things they keep secret.” One of the bears in the book wants to be baptized as a Christian, even though he doesn’t have a demon (implying that every Christian has a demon). I won’t take the time to explore this but suffice it to say that the church is depicted as evil in the book.

The book is filled with fantasy and exciting chase scenes but was hard to read because Pullman is not subtle in his approach. When he quotes Scripture, he adds words that are not there. Here’s his chilling quote of Genesis 3: “...Then your eyes shall be opened, and your daemons shall assume their true forms, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil...but when the man and the woman knew their own daemons they knew that a great change had come upon them...” (page 372).

Wait, there’s more nefarious evil and blatant blasphemy: “...It really means that God’s admitting his own nature to be partly sinful.” (page 373).
Friends, this book is bad news. Again, I don’t know what the movie will be like but I STRONGLY CAUTION all parents. You may think I’m being overly hyper but you should know that on the official website for the movie, children will be able to meet their own demon! This is scary stuff, foks!

As I prayed about what to post, God brought Ephesians 5:11-13 to mind: “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible.”

Hopefully this will help you decide whether to allow your children to see the movie or read the book. It would be great if the movie “flops” at the box office because if it does, the director may not make the sequel based on book two (which he is planning to do at this point).

Let me also say that as Christians we should use the cultural discussion about this movie to point people to Jesus. He is the victor and the only bridge to the Father (John 5:24; John 14:6). I don’t want to enrage you but hope that my words help engage you to be both careful and winsome in your approach with those who don’t yet know Christ: “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”

If you’d like to learn more, these links are helpful.

Snopes
Fox News
Journeyman
Wikipedia
Plugged In Online

Viewed 246 times