Walking the Path: Theological Skepticism and The Matrix
By Julie Fann
“Sooner or later you are going to realize that there is a difference between knowing the path and walking it”
ââ¬âMorpheus to Neo in The Matrix (1999)
As a child, I was unaware of soteriological problems. I knew how to get to heaven, and I knew that I was going there. I guess this kind of blind faith (or arrogance?) is a natural byproduct of being the daughter of a Southern-Baptist minister. But as a young adult, epistemological questions began to haunt me. How did I know that the Bible was true? How could I reconcile its seemingly contradictory verses or discern the truth of Scripture from religious tradition? Was I even supposed to be asking these kinds of questions or was the search for knowledge just another form of pride? This uncertainty about my path to (and the veracity of) my knowledge was intensified by college philosophy classes and by sermons in my then boyfriend but now husband’s Presbyterian church. Both taught me to ask important questions about truth and free will (respectively), but, as any skeptic knows, asking good questions does not guarantee finding certain answers. I had willingly jumped down a rabbit hole, and, like Alice, I didn’t know where (or if) I would land.
In Warner Bros.’ 1999 hit, The Matrix, Neo—the film’s protagonist played surprisingly well by Keanu Reeves (I know, I was surprised, too)—also undertakes an uncertain and seemingly dangerous pursuit of answers to life-altering questions. In this first film of a now complete trilogy, Neo has dedicated his young life to answering one question: “What is the Matrix?” The answer to this question is known by Morpheus and his crew, but they cannot tell Neo the answer; they can only lead him to the truth. They do so by unplugging Neo from the Matrix and by letting him experience both the real world (the scorched earth at the end of the 22nd century that is dominated by machines) and several computer programs (artificial worlds). Neo learns that machines dominate the real world and control the Matrix, which Morpheus defines as the “computer-generated dream world built [by machines] to keep [humans] under control.” Neo also learns that Morpheus believes him to be “The One,” the prophesied savior of the world, who can change the code of the Matrix at will, allowing him to fight agents, free the minds still enslaved to the Matrix, and protect Zion.
The Biblical allegory encoded in this film is not subtle: Neo is an obvious Christ figure. However, Neo is also very human. Neo may be destined to perform miracles, but he has fear, doubt, and disbelief. He does not believe in fate; he tells Morpheus that he does not like the idea that he is not in control of his life. So the Oracle, who prophesied the return of the One and who guides the resistance led by Morpheus, lets Neo believe as he so chooses: he has decided that he is not the One. But Morpheus has already told Neo (and us) not to think of the Oracle as true or false, right or wrong; she tells Neo what he needs to hear so that he will follow the right path.
Morpheus tells Neo that he needs to “realize that there is difference between knowing the path and walking it.” I believe that God knows the path that we will take, but I am still uncertain as to both whether that path is predestined and what I will discover along the way. I, like Neo, may not be ready for the truth. For now, I am content to keep following Christ as best I can, even if I remain uncertain about how I came to know the path or where it will lead.
To be continued . . .
Posted by Julie Fann at June 30, 2005 9:17 PM
Comments
I like your direct tie in with your life and the matrix's world. I have done esssays similar to this just, as you did, trying to get the relation of neo's destiny to all of us.
Posted by: Kelvin Loutan at May 4, 2007 11:42 PM