"Matrix" Films Reload on Issues of Faith

"I remember seeing the first film in Waco on Easter Sunday and watching this Christ character resurrect at the end of the story. I knew this was something that I would be talking about for a long time," said Chris Seay, pastor of Ecclesia, a progressive Christian community in Houston. Seay is talking about "The Matrix," a movie he said feeds people who long for spiritual food.

Seay and Baylor University associate English professor Greg Garrett have written a book that explores the faith issues that are present in the film and the upcoming sequel, "The Matrix: Reloaded." Their work, "The Gospel Reloaded: Exploring Spirituality and Faith in the Matrix," will be available in June from Pinon Press.

"The Wachowski Brothers, who wrote and directed the film, very consciously thought of Neo as a Messiah figure come to save his people. There are a number of comparisons to Christ, not least in that Neo is killed and comes back to life," said Garrett, who also uses "The Matrix" in his film class. "The spiritual elements in the 'Matrix' films are similar to those in 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'Star Wars' in that they're vital to our understanding of the films and what they are trying to say about ultimate questions."

Garrett has discovered that many Christians are alarmed by "The Matrix" because it contains references to other faith traditions, including Greek mythology, Gnostic Christianity and Buddhism.

"So many Christians are even upset that their story has been morphed with so many other stories. They aren't sure what to do with that, and we hope to make some sense of that," he said.

He and Seay believe that pastors and church denominations need to understand what is going on in culture and that includes understanding the "Matrix" films. Garrett points out that more people will be exposed to spiritual ideas from watching "The Matrix" than from going to church.

Seay agrees. "The reality is that for emerging generations, the theater has become the new sanctuary. That is the place that most get their primary spiritual food," he said. "We have to ask how these directors have managed to usurp our authority as the primary spiritual storytellers. There is something for all of us to learn, whether we are pastors or professors or just people of faith. We need to know how do we tell this grand story of faith in a compelling way."