The Gospel Reloaded: Exploring Spirituality and Faith in The Matrix [Paperback]

The authors of the book are very intelligent and have a huge concern for impacting our culture. Nevertheless, the book does have two flaws. First, the book really doesn't flow that well together and kind of skips around from one point to the next without any transitions. Because of that, the book comes off as being more of a hodge-podge than an accurate comparison and contrast. Secondly, though the authors are clearly Christian and it is apparent they are trying to illustrate the similarities and differences between the Gospels and the Matrix movies, they never really do come out and say, "Here's exactly how Jesus is different from Neo and here's how Christianity is different from the world of THE MATRIX". What ends up happening is that the authors end up doing more comparing than contrasting which is a shame. Still, I found THE GOSPEL RELOADED to be better than many Christian books on pop culture I have read and it presents a rounded enough approach that might attract non-Christians into learning more about the Christian faith.

so after finishing the book 15 minutes ago (more or less), i'm disappointed to say that "The Gospel Reloaded" is the printed equivalent of such a website.

the book seems to be intended for Christians young and old who want to get into all the Cool Stuff that the sinners are into, but can't reconcile it with their families and church-going friends. it's that old line about the atheists having all the fun... Mom says to Dad at the dinner table, "Billy is grounded because i caught him watching The Matrix. they were saying all these dirty words and there was a scene in a nightclub where people were wearing gas masks and groping each other like it was Sodom and Gomorrah!" little Billy replies, "but Mom, i read that the battle on the highway was actually a reference to Matthew 13! ...and that Neo and Trinity represent Adam and Eve for the postmodern era! ...and that The One is a metaphor for Jesus' love!"

even if little Billy (or the book's authors) can find such parallels, The Matrix films are still very dark, very violent, and very un-Christian. sure, the last human city is called Zion, as the authors point out. sure, you could come away with the impression that Neo is Jesus. but to make those sorts of things the central focus of a book is to disregard a hundred other things that take place in the films. what about the premarital physical relationship between the protagonists? the blatantly sexual non-hetero dancing that some of the good guys take part in? the fact that in the first film, Morpheus mentions that The Matrix takes control of your mind "when you go to church," just as it does "when you go to work" and "when you pay your taxes?" you can't ignore those things and pretend the movie played out differently... it didn't. the authors seem to ignore a mountain of contradictions, simply tossing them out for the sake of brevity and (superficial) clarity.

there are also numerous grammatical errors in the book which detract from its presentation... the book is probably better-written and more thought out than some homegrown Matrix-decoding books... however, the frequent typos and improper usage of common English words detract from any professionalism or theological credibility (contradiction in terms?) that the book might have to offer.

bottom line: i consider "The Gospel Reloaded" to be a parallel to Christian rock: take something subversive and re-brand it so it's OK for Christians to enjoy. of course, such rebranding can't be done without diluting the strength of the original. with their book, Seay and Garrett take the intellectual sharpness behind The Matrix and turn it into a blunt #2 pencil for people to write notes with during Sunday school.

besides, if Christian leaders have to go this far to ingratiate themselves with people who watch and enjoy secular films like The Matrix, then what's the point? Satan's already herding the sheep - and the flock has decided that watching The Matrix is more fun than Vacation Bible School.

Far from dogmatic, this book should stimulate further discussion and reflection on the Matrix triology and it's relationship to issues of faith.