Have you noticed how the familiar Christmas traditions are falling away? For years we have had a new instalment of the Lord of the Rings, but that is over now. Last year we had the Chronicles of Narnia. This year, by contrast, we have the Golden Compass, based on the novel known in the UK as Northern Lights, the first in the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman.
Tony Watkins writes: “A child who is separated from his or her parents in some way, perhaps because they are dead, is caught up in a great adventure, faces great dangers and must shoulder immense responsibilities. It’s familiar fare in children’s fiction – Harry Potter, the Baudelaire children, the children who go to Narnia, even the Famous Five – and some of these heroes and heroines are among the most memorable characters ever written. The best of them are stories about growing up. Think of how much Harry has learnt and how he has matured by the end of J.K. Rowling’s seventh book, for example. (By contrast, it is one of the reasons why the Famous Five are not great heroes and heroines – they never change.) In the minds of many people, Philip Pullman’s Lyra Belacqua has a place with the best of them.”
When we meet her, Lyra is living with benevolent but rather remote Oxford dons, and looking for freedom. She encounters the mysterious Mrs Coulter, who takes her to a parallel world, on a quest.
She encounters the Magisterium, which stands for a repressive religion (for Pullman – all religion, including soviet communism)
She also encounters protectors and mentors like Lord John Faa & Farder Coram, who offer r benign, supportive and caring authority; an invitation to grow up at her own speed.
Contrast to the Magisterium & Mrs Coulter
Question: whom do we trust?
Can we trust God in the garden that he has the best interests of the man and woman at heart?
Can we trust God to keep his promise to Abraham?
Will God fulfil his promise to provide a successor to King David?
Can we trust the account of the virgin birth?
Can we trust Herod, that he really wants to worship the infant king?
Can we trust that Jesus is the light of the world?
If we trust in him, will we really become children of God?
According to Philip Pullman, you cannot trust in a harsh authoritarianism. Ironically, it is the paternalistic care we see in Lord John Faa & Farder Coram that is nearest to a Christian understanding of who God is and how he cares for us. It is the way that the Christian church should always have acted towards its members, and usually does.
Specifically, the birth of Jesus is an invitation to us to respond to the love of God.
By our worship, we acknowledge him as king and lord.
Not just to adore a baby, but marvel at who this baby grew up to become, and all that he achieved for us. In particular, when we fail to live our lives in accordance with his just and right laws, he himself died and rose again to bring us forgiveness, new life and a place in his family. To all who receive him, he gave the right to become his chidren.
Pullman is right that we need to be free of authoritarianism in order to truly grow up. But as with Lyra, maturity is not found in willful independence but in a relationship of trust and love with a benevolent father figure, God himself.
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