Daemons.
One of the first and most obvious distortions in The Golden Compass is the use of the word 'daemon' (pronounced 'demon'). In Lyra's alternate universe, each human has a daemon which takes animal form, and serves as the outward appearance of a person's soul. One of the dark themes of the story includes sinister, experimental efforts on the part of 'The Church' to cut children and their daemons apart (separating body and soul) and killing children as the experimental process is botched. Because this word is pronounced demons, it results in a basic distortion of a word that the Biblical worldview uses for evil spiritual forces of darkness, while the book and movie use it to describe the characters' human souls.
Ask your friends if they believe in a spiritual realm. Do they think people have a soul that is tempted in this life and lives on after they die? Do they believe in demons? Share what you believe using some examples of what Jesus had to say about this topic. (Luke 4:41, Matthew 8:28-29, Mark 6:7)
Do you think it's confusing or uncomfortable that The Golden Compass uses the word daemon to describe the outward manifestation of a human soul? Is the 'redefinition' of the word concerning? Why or why not?
What effect does it have on your understanding of the word when the characters converse intimately and consistently with daemons?
The Character of God.
In the books, Pullman calls God 'The Authority'. While the movie version of The Golden Compass has reportedly watered down this element, the depiction of God later in the HDM series is extremely warped and distorted from the Biblical worldview. Pullman's God is not the Creator God of the Bible who is so intimately invested in His creation that he sent his Son as Redeemer, but is an old, weak, evil angel masquerading as 'The Authority' and setting up churches to exercise His control over others.
Ask your friends if they believe there is a God? If so, what do they think He is like?
Do they think that God cares about them personally? Share what you believe, based on what the Bible teaches about the character of God. (Love: 1 John 4:13-17 and Judgment: Romans 2:5-8.)
Organized Religion.
Pullman's description of organized religion takes all the worst abuses throughout church history, combines them all together, multiplies them exponentially and slaps the label 'The Church' on the evil, abusive and distorted results. He describes a church that is in many ways the opposite of all the things Jesus calls his followers to be about. (Matthew 22:35-40)
Find out if your friends have a generally positive or negative impression when they hear the word 'church'? Why or why not?
Ask your friends what their reaction was to the way 'The Church' was depicted in The Golden Compass?
How was it different from what the Bible calls Jesus' followers to be as the Body of Christ? (Acts 2:42, John 13:35)
Jesus refers to Himself as the Way, the Truth and the Life. (To learn more about this, check out the Soul Fuel article The Real Golden Compass.) While it's never easy to sift through truth and lies, the Bible leaves no doubt that the Truth will prevail in the end. And that's a truth we don't need a golden compass to help us uncover!
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Jane Dratz works for Dare 2 Share Ministries in Arvada, Colo., a ministry committed to energizing and equipping teens to know, live, share and own their faith in Jesus. For more information on Dare 2 Share Ministries, please visit www.dare2share.org. Send feedback to jane@dare2share.org.
