There is no spoon.

Too many people rave about the Christian imagery of The Matrix. Yes, the Wachowski brothers use a lot of Christian images in their film trilogy, but they also use pagan images while mixing every imaginable kind of philosophy in the mix. The problem I find with comparing The Matrix to Christianity, is this...

In the film, the mind is the battleground for freedom. This is true, I admit. The saviour who will free all humanity from The Matrix is Neo who elevates his mind and will above the computer program that holds them captive. Trinity, the love interest, elevates human feeling above the computer program and brings Neo back from the dead through her love. The message? Freedom comes through and by the human soul. This is not a Christian idea.

In Christianty, freedom comes through the spirit, not the soul. Faith does not work through the mind, will and emotions. In order to have faith, the spirit must be stronger than the soul. Ironically, Neo is shown to have faith. He tells himself, "there is no spoon," and Viola! He can stop bullets and dive inside Agents. When has anyone gotten faith by just willing it? Or just feeling it? Or by telling their mind to believe? I don't know about you, but that doesn't workfor me very long, if at all.

The images in the movie can be powerful when used as a metaphor for Christianity. It is a powerful scene when Neo stops the bullets with his hand and picks one up to look at it. With the Spirit of God, we have the ability to stop thoughts and ideas in their tracks, treating them as silly and unimportant like Neo does the bullets. Yet, we have to be careful to not get carried away and write books of theology on the imagery in The Matrix and call it a Christian film.