Okay, I’ve finally seen the Compass. Out of five stars, I give it 2-1/2. It’s not bad, but it’s not great either. The special effects and cinematography are outstanding and just what we’ve all come to expect in a blockbuster movie. Nicole Kidman was born for the role of Ms. Coulter, but alas, her role in the book did not translate well to screen. Actually, most of the book didn’t translate well to screen. As with many movies, certain elements of the book were changed, combined, or left out altogether.

The director made a statement or two near the beginning of the movie about the Magisterium that would lead this author to believe he has a base view of religion, at least the organized kind, however. The religious content of the rest of the movie was fairly bland, as well as all the rest of the content.

This movie seemed to be disjointed and did not tell the story very well. It could have been an epic adventure, but frankly turned into one or two good fight scenes.

I hope Pullman is disappointed with this first attempt. I think that if his idea really was to make a movie to sell books to turn all of our children into atheists, his plan has failed. I wouldn’t want to go out and buy the book after seeing the movie. I’m glad I read the book first.

Somethings off with the formatting here, but read on anyway:

Some friends of mine just posted a comment to my opinion about The Golden Compass. It sparked a train of thought in me that I thought I could write in just a sentence or to response to their comment. However, it got a little longer, so I decided to give it its own entry as it may spark further discussion.I want to make a follow up remark to Justin and Erika Kirkham’s well written comment which you can read by clicking here.Bravo! That is a great perspective and one that is certainly reasonable and graciously put. I want to make an effort here to be totally transparent and honest and respond to the line of thinking you raise when you say “It is our opinion that if we as Christians did in fact pull all of the books and movies that are contrary to God’s Word from our shelves (and we’ve got plenty of dvds that would fit into this category myself which leads us to a big decision as to what we plan to do about that…), we may actually find ourselves spending more time reading our Bibles and Bible-related materials (and prayerfully applying what we’ve read) instead of inundating our free time and our minds with not only ungodly, but in this case, anti-God materials and activities.” Read the rest of this entry »

Okay parents, I know some of you have voracious readers for whom you would like to buy some books this Christmas. Since The Golden Compass will be a big push AND since many of you probably don’t want your kids to read those books, I’ve decided to list my favorite alternatives. These are all series that share some things in common with The Golden Compass and His Dark Materials. They are all written for either children or a young adult audience. They are all from Christian authors. They all bridge the gap between our world and an alternate universe. And they are all basically an allegory for Christ’s redemptive work on the cross and God’s free gift of grace. Read the rest of this entry »

Okay, it’s the Christmas shopping season again. So far the stores seem to having good sales and online sales are higher than expected. In light of the fact that it seems our economy is doing well and people appear to have a little more expendable income than expected, I’ve decided to post my Christmas Wish List with convenient links. Read the rest of this entry »

If you haven’t read Part One or Part Two, click on their links to go there.

His Dark Materials, Part One

His Dark Materials, Part Two

Here’s a list of links for materials about the movie The Golden Compass as well as the book trilogy His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. Some of these materials support the movie and books, some are speaking out against them, and some just provide information. They are provided in a completely random order. I’m sure I’ve forgotten some, but here goes. Read the rest of this entry »

According to Peter Bradshaw of Guardian Unlimited, The Golden Compass has “no other challengers as this year’s big Christmas movie.” Click here to read the review.

The film The Golden Compass opened today in Europe to lackluster reviews. Read one from the UK’s TimesOnline by clicking here.

If you haven’t read Part One, you may do so by clicking here.

I apologize for ending the last post so abruptly. I actually stopped in the middle of writing to pack for our Thanksgiving trip to Mississippi. That was Wednesday morning. I wasn’t online to publish again until Saturday night when we returned home. I had every intention of finishing but was just too tired.

So, here’s what you’ve all been waiting for…I hope. The opinion.

I want to give this opinion in the form of a series of questions and answers. Hopefully, these questions and answers will help you form your own opinion, even if it is different from mine.

Q01 - Is Philip Pullman an atheist? Let’s allow him to answer that question in his own words. Read the rest of this entry »

As I sit down to begin writing this post, it’s Tuesday afternoon about 3:00, and I’m almost finished reading the entire His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman. Actually, by the time I publish this Sunday, I hope to be completely finished. So far I have read The Golden Compass (originally titled Northern Lights) and The Subtle Knife. I am in the middle of The Amber Spyglass.

The Golden Compass is being released as a major motion picture in December. Read my original post by clicking here so you’ll know exactly why I’m writing this. To summarize, many Christians believe that this movie is a thinly veiled attempt to turn our children and youth into God-hating atheists. As I said before, I’m not completely disagreeing with that assessment. However, we must carefully consider how we will respond and relate to an unbelieving world rather than react with an uneducated contempt. That is a position of weakness that I want to help you avoid.

Rather, I have read the books myself and want to share my personal thoughts on them. Let me remind you, however, that nothing can replace your own self-education on this matter. But in the meantime, I hope this is a one-stop shop for everything you need to learn more about The Golden Compass, the His Dark Materials trilogy, and Philip Pullman himself. So let’s get started!

Read the rest of this entry »

I have received several e-mails that were forwarded to hundreds of people over the last week or two about a new movie coming out December 7th called The Golden Compass. It’s based on the first in a series of books by Philip Pullman. Below is my first response by e-mail followed by one of the original e-mails I received. Read the rest of this entry »