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with comments by David Bruce

MYTH
Subject: Myth_Is_Good_Newsletter_31
Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002
From: Michael Hermann

Michael wrote: A myth is an expression of something that is "ultimately true". If we keep this classical definition in mind we will have little trouble with myth. What is the truth about humanity that a story is trying to express? What is the ultimate truth a biblical story is trying to convey, state, make real for the reader about Jesus or God? These are the helpful questions.

Myth does not mean "untrue", or "false". It is not the same as "mythunderstanding".

Response: You are exactly right! -David

PROPHESY 4 ??????
Subject: .....Prophecy
Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002
From: joe eddy

Hello David :) :) 1.) any word on a Walken / Prophecy 4??? ...and, 2.) will you be reviewing & sharing your thoughts on Prophecy3 with us??? Keep up the EXCELLENT work!!
- joe eddy -

Response: Yes I should do 2 and 3 -you are right. Prophecy 4? I do not know. -David

THOUGHTS ON HARRY POTTER
Subject: harry potter Harry_Potter
Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002
From: David S Smith

A RESPONSE TO CHAR (AND OTHERS) ON "HARRY POTTER"

1. Is the pre-supposition "Harry Potter is evil" valid?

Why is Harry Potter evil? For something that is obviously evil as pointed out in God's Word, yes, we can avoid it but what about those things that are not explicit. However, no where in the Bible does it say "Don't read a book about fantasy magic and fantasy witchcraft." For this reason I think you may have stopped short of actually investigating to answer the question "Why is Harry Potter evil?" yourself and trusted other's opinions. As you wrote indicating that you never actually read a whole one of the books (I might add that you read a portion of a book in the middle of a series not the first book, "The Sorcerer's Stone", which this may not even be valid as someone could open the Bible in the middle of a book and grab a verse or section of verses out of context):

((Char wrote)) "Not wanting to be bias based on other's opinions, I decided to borrow a book from a child and read it, at least that was what I intended. Within the first three chapters of "Prisoner of Azkaban", I felt the Lord leading me away from reading the entire book to a selection of the book instead.... Nor do I have to experience evil to know to avoid it in all manners or appearances"

I would hope that you would have enough discernment and you seem to claim to be discerning in your write up--to know whether what you were reading actually contradicted God's Word so I wish that you would have simply read the book. As far as the appearance of evil, this will be discussed in a point later. Below is the only point in your summary where you actually attempt address why Harry Potter books are evil. You start with a little paragraph that ends with "When Harry is in a rough spot, he thinks about wizardry as a way out of it....Harry becomes enraged when the death of his parents and the bloodline is discussed, again, the desire for witchcraft rises in him." I've read the first book and this 'enraged' attitude is not in it at all. However, even if it does appear later on, one would expect such a traumatic experience of both your parents dying to cause anger and resentment...the thing is--what do we do with these emotions? In the fantasy world of Harry Potter, he turns to magic. This could easily be understood to be simply a fantasy world parallel to the Christian world view where when we turn to the 'magic' of the Holy Spirit and God to help us deal with these emotions. Also, I might add that if you read some of the "imprecatory Psalms" King David expresses the same type of anger towards his enemies (Ps 139:21 "Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD, and abhor those who rise up against you?")....should we ban all these Psalms from the Bible because they show his honest anger and desire for destruction of his enemies. You then summarize and introduce the Harry Potter (HP) quotes with the following:

((Char wrote)) In the ending of the book, magic is the answer where violence and murder were desired but, could not be achieved successfully. Throughout the book there is a clear picture of the counterfeit to God's Kingdom, which is based for example on order, law, righteousness and humility. From what I have read in this book regarding Harry Potter, there is chaos, a constant struggle for power, the desire for destruction and the resorting to darkness for that power.

The Bible shows Jacob's sons commit murder and King David commit murder but these are all shown as weaknesses and sins that need to be repented for. However, it still shows even the Godly human as a weak person who can still fall into the temptation of murder. I believe you are talking about this quote: "The taunt about his father (Harry's from Sirius Black) rang in Harry's ears as though Black had bellowed it. A boiling hate erupted in Harry's chest, leaving no place for fear. For the first time in his life, he wanted his wand back in his hand, not to defend himself, but to attack... to kill." Obviously when someone insults our heavenly Father we become insulted and maybe even a little outraged. Of course we shouldn't want to kill but sometimes our emotions get out of check..as we see King David's lust gets out of check enough to murder. The Bible shows us the weakness of Peter as he desires to kill in the Garden of Gethsemane.should we ban this part of the Bible then as well as the Harry Potter books? Also, you will have to defend how God actually instructed King Saul to wipe out the ungodly nations (man, woman, AND children) around Israel in the promised land. Is the desire to kill those who are evil wrong in the Old Testament? Why was this acceptable for killing in the name of God? Also if you read God's heart in the Psalms and other places of the Old Testament, he desires to destroy those who are in rebellion towards him and has what we would call "righteous wrath towards the ungodly". (Ps 5:5-6 ".you [God] hate all who do wrong. 6 You destroy those who tell lies") It isn't as clear cut as you think. As far as if evil characters in the book have this tendency, we shouldn't be even remotely surprised about this. Because if we must ban all reading where evil characters desire to murder then we'll have to ban the entire Bible. From Cain murdering Abel until the murder of Zechariah (as Jesus phrased it) the Old Testament is filled with murders. The Gospels themselves blatantly tell us that the evil characters (Pharisees) desire murder throughout Jesus ministry. These evil characters always are in a "constant struggle for power, the desire for destruction and the resorting to darkness for that power". The good characters in the HP book that I've read look for order, law, righteousness, and humility. For example, the following Biblical attributes are exalted by the good characters in the first book: standing up to your friends for what you know is right (Matt 18), a parent's sacrificial love by dying for their son (Our heavenly father dying for us as the son so we could be children of God), submitting to authority of the Hogwart's school (as to Elders in the church), breaking of the cermonial laws in order to help and have compassion on someone in need (Jesus retelling of the showbread story), and that there IS a difference between good and evil. Although evil characters may go against these Biblical principles, this is something that the Bible has as well when evil characters (sometimes even good characters) do not always act in a Biblical way. The use of magic itself--is this evil? Well, you'll have to read on to the point below on whether sorcery in the Bible is the same as sorcery in Harry Potter. But for now, the question remains unanswered adequately. Are the Harry Potter books evil? is Harry Potter himself (and the good characters actions in the books) evil? Without any further evidence, I would say "No."

2. What are sorcery and witchcraft really, in the Biblical sense, and is Harry Potter demonstrating these?

The following entries taken (emphasis added) are from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Copyright (c)1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers.

--Occult practices, such as fortune-telling and witchcraft, which were common among the pagan nations of the ancient world. But such attempts to control evil spirits were expressly forbidden to the Hebrew people.
-- Witchcraft. The practice of witchcraft, or divination, was a means for extracting information or guidance from a pagan god.
--A sorcerer was one who professed to tell the lot of others, to have power with evil spirits.
-- Sorcery is the practice of the occult arts under the power of evil spirits, or demons, and has been common in all ages of the world's history.
-- Careful comparison of Scripture will reveal that inspirational divination is by demonic power.

I must admit that to some extent the Bible seems to prohibit magic or doing that which man is by himself incapable in ANY SENSE other than the supernatural by God's own power. But Biblically, what is the source of such magic, according to the above definitions, regarding witchcraft, fortune-telling, sorcery, and divination? Obviously the source of any such power (besides God's) to do above what ordinary man is capable is evil demonic spirits.

So, assuming this to be the foundation of all witchcraft and wizardry prohibition in scripture, does the witchcraft and wizardry in the fictional movie of Harry Potter automatically match with these Biblical definitions? I would say "No." Granted they use the terminology but a lot of people today use the term "Christian" when they are no such thing.

The real witches today, called Wicca, are not very much like the witchcraft demonstrated in Harry Potter. They are more hyper-environmentalist Mother Earth worhippers. They also rely on a spiritist type power source. I think a healthy explanation to Harry Potter fans to avoid Wicca, this other type of REAL witchcraft which the modern world offers, would be in order. One hoping to do what Harry Potter does would quickly be let down by Wicca. I'm sure the typical reader of Harry Potter realizes the fact that they are reading a fantasy book and witchcraft is not real.one young enough not to know the difference should probably not be reading the books. This would be a danger from the Harry Potter books but this is a danger with all fantasy books and movies, right. This is to be discussed next.

The big question is, "Do the Harry Potter books ever insinuate the power source for their "witchcraft" and "wizardry" to be evil demonic spirits?" If so, I would be interested to see the passage in the books that describe such. You might say in response "But what else besides "evil demonic spirits" could be the power source for it? Perhaps it's yellow sun of earth compared to the red sun of Krypton that gives them the power--the same power source of Superman? After all, Harry Potter is Fantasy and not Reality-our next point.

3. Fantasy vs. Reality (should all fantasy be eliminated or just guarded against over-fixation)

--Harry Potter.
-- Stephen King, Tales of the Dark Side, Horror movies..all thriller/horror tales.
-- Dungeons & Dragons, The Lord of the Rings, Dragonlance.all fantasy things.
-- Star Wars, Star Trek, X-files, Twilight Zone, The Matrix.all science fiction.
-- Superman, Spiderman, Plasticman, Superfriends..all comic book super-heroes.
-- Smurfs, Pokemon, Snorks, Schmoo, Mickey Mouse.all cartoon characters.
-- Out of the Silent Planet, The Chronicles of Narnia.all Christian "fantasy".

Where do we draw the line? Why does Harry Potter stand on the side that must go while others perhaps might be able to stay? Do all classic Disney cartoons that include magic or anything beyond the realm of normal man's ability need to be removed? If not, why not? Mickey Mouse in Fantasia has a wizard's style hat and a wand in his hand as the Wizard's apprentice. Doesn't this indict all Mickey Mouse or all Disney productions (as Mickey Mouse is their trademark and "spokes-mouse-person" as potentially promoting wizardry and witchcraft? Perhaps you agree? If so, how far do we take this removal of anything demonstrating a power beyond what humans are capable, not sighting God specifically as the source of such power. If we read a Superman comic which indicates the changing from a red to yellow sun as the source of his super-human strength.why should this be accepted while anything using the word "magic" as the explanation isn't? Doesn't superman's qualities appear "magical" in that man can't have that kind of power? In the same way Harry Potter has a source of magical power.what is the source? We are not told in the Harry Potter books that I know of.should we then assume they are demonic spirits and reject the books? Perhaps there is a comic book super-hero that has super-human abilities without explanation given.should we assume then his power source is evil demonic spirits? Why would we not assume such for a comic book super-hero but we assume it for Harry Potter right away? What about Star Wars? This is a great example. Before Episode 1 came out there was a mystical unknown power source long ago in a galaxy far far away that Jedi Knights could use simply called "The Force". Should we assume this power source is evil demonic spirits? I wouldn't think so. But if a power source for super-human feats can only be God even in fictional writing (I assume fictional writing about real world non-super-human type events would be acceptable) then all fantasy must go to be consistent. Is this really what God intended when he asked Israel to avoid sorcery? I don't think so.

However, one thing we should be careful of in indulging in fantasy stories, movies, or games is that we don't become so enamored and obsessed with fantasy that we neglect reality and God's calling on the reality of our lives. I think this goes more generally with all things in life that are lawful but not always profitable. We can often times become so distracted with sports, games, entertainment, leisure, exercise, politics, news, work, decorating, our car/house, pets, food, etc.etc. that we neglect those things more important like God, Bible, Fellowship, Prayer, Church, and People. While none of these things are sin or wrong, they should be in balance and proper perspective to our relationship with God and what God would have us do with our time, talents, and treasure.

4. Would Jesus read/show the Harry Potter book/movie to kids?

This is a most poignant question to ask regarding the Harry Potter books. It is a good question to ask. However, it could easily be asked about "going to a football game". I don't think Jesus would spend much time doing either. Only weak bored fleshly unspiritual (though not sinning necessarily) men probably feel the need for entertainment at all. So for this reason I'd say that Jesus would not read/show the Harry Potter book/movie to kids. In fact the Bible never displays Jesus taking part in entertainment (in a media or observation sense) even once. But in either case, Harry Potter or attending a football game, I think if Jesus could use the football game or the Harry Potter book/movie as an object lesson for spiritual truth, that He might just do that. He probably wouldn't waste His time reading the whole book or attending the whole movie or football game. He would be much too busy evangelizing the world. Jesus told many "fantasy" stories called parables. These were fictional, though not in a modern day "fantasy" sense showing super-human attributes without God as the source of such. They were fictional brief little stories used to relate spiritual truths. Jesus often used topics that his listeners could relate to like farming. Regarding Harry Potter, there are some Biblical spiritual type truths contained within. I've only read the first book but even in the first book which was rather short, it contained several (see 1. above). I'm not even close to insinuating that we should go to Harry Potter for such truths..it is merely entertainment. However, I think Jesus might become familiar with such if He knew it would give Him an opportunity to share and relate to today's children in a way to share these or other Biblical truths with them. Just like Jesus gave parables regarding a relatable topic like farming in the 1st century, perhaps Harry Potter could be a footnote or a reference to today's children if He was speaking with them and trying to relate with them where they were at (see also "Knowing about evil." below).

5. Does entertainment (and Harry Potter in particular) fall under the category of food for determinations regarding "food sacrificed to idols" in 1 Corinthians 8 and 10?

It is my opinion, the concept in 1 Corinthians of "food sacrificed to idols" is not meant to be restricted to meat of an animal that was killed by a priest in a ceremony of a pagan God's temple. If this were true, then these passages would have little relevance today. However, I think today they are even MORE relevant since we have so many different varieties of "food". By "food" in the phrase "food sacrificed to idols", I believe it to mean a general definition of "anything God has provided for us in creation that can be utilized in a broad range from a God-honoring to a non-honoring to a God-dishonoring manner". God provided "food" for us and with the New Covenant has shown us prior restrictions, like the fruit in the Garden of Eden and the ceremonially unclean foods of the Levitical law, are no longer valid. 1 Timothy 4:1-5 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith..commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; 5 for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. NKJV (See also in Acts where they removed Judaism restrictions for the Gentiles.) It would take a long time to really get into the passages in 1 Corinthians 8 and 10 but here are some of the key portionss.1 Corinthians 8:7-9 However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8 But food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse. Is entertainment something that God provided for us in creation? I think so. I think God wants us to enjoy life and what in life is more enjoyable than some of the entertainments we have? I don't think it is a sin to want to enjoy the time that God has given each of us. Can entertainment vary in it's measure of honor to God? Sure. There is entertainment which honors ungodly things like fornication, adultery, murder, hate, etc. There is entertainment which doesn't really honor or dishonor God-baseball, for example. In this case it is how you partake of it, in thanksgiving to God or in a drunken self-indulgent "thanksgiving to self" of sorts. Or perhaps playing cards or strategy games is another example. You can honor God by using the brain God gave you and in thanksgiving to Him or you can dishonor God by becoming too competitive and mad or discontent at not getting the "a good hand" of cards dealt to you. There is entertainment which honors God-discipleship videos. Fiction books that relates the Gospel in a creative way like "Edge of Eternity" by Randy Alcorn or the first book in the "Left Behind" series.. Unfortunately, there isn't much entertainment out there which honors God.perhaps this is our problem? So, where does Harry Potter and fantasy books fall in this category? I would say that they fall in the non-honoring category. The books present some biblical truths about right and wrong which might lean towards God-honoring but also shows a fantasy power source for the fantasy magic other than the God which leans towards dishonor to God. However if the book was real in that we should in reality depend on God as our power source then it wouldn't be fantasy would it. Overall, it doesn't really lean too far in either direction if you allow for any fantasy at all (see Fantasy vs. Reality above regarding whether any fantasy should be allowed). However, because we all have a power source that we rely on in life whether it be just our self, one can see parallels between the "magic" in Harry Potter and the "spiritual" in Christianity. In Harry Potter, one is a magician because it is something innate to your very being (Hagrid says, "You're a wizard Harry"). In Christianity, we are "born again" and thus our whole innate being and nature is in Christ and we are children of God. In Harry Potter there is a magical world that the Muggles can't see, accept, or understand. In Christianity, we fight not against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces and spiritual things are foolishness and can't be discerned by the natural man for they are spiritually discerned and the unsaved don't accept the spirit of God. In Harry Potter, one must be trained and become a disciple of the magic in order to have any effectiveness. In Christianity, just becoming justified/saved is not enough to really live the Christian life. We must be trained and become an active disciple (cultivate the fruits of the spirit, die to the flesh, read the scriptures, pray, have fellowship, not neglect the gathering together as some do, study systematic theologies, take every thought captive, etc. etc.). In Harry Potter, they trust in magic. In Christianity, we trust in God. 6. Showing, reading, discussing, teaching about evil is not the same as doing evil Let's assume for a moment for argument's sake that the Harry Potter books illustrations and descriptions of witchcraft and wizardry does describe something that is evil. Does reading the book about this evil mean that I am actually guilty of doing that evil? Of course not. As we've discussed above to some extent, just because I read a Hardy Boys or Agatha Christie murder mystery book doesn't mean I'm guilty of committing murder. Granted this could be the same as we read about murder and adultery in scripture.isn't it possible that by reading of King David's murder or Cain's murder that we might become enticed to do it. Certainly not. The Bible actually says this couldn't be true since in James 1:13-14 it explains "God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed." God's Word and the author (God) is not at fault for putting the adultery and murder on display for us to see. Obviously these are object lessons and spoken against in the Bible but nevertheless the stories are there. So reading about evil can never be blamed or equated with actually doing the evil or where the Bible is concerned, even being tempted to do evil. Perhaps other books are similarly not as guilty as we might think. Obviously other books tales of murder or adultery will be tainted by the sinful writers "own desires" so we should be cautious. Granted we should ensure that by watching or reading something containing those things that we don't find our own hearts wishing we could partake of the evil. But the point here is that the book itself is probably not a big part of being guilty if the reader follows after the evil described in the book but it is when we are "drawn away by our own desires and enticed." A similar question that could be asked is, "If the books of Harry Potter can't contain narrative about witchcraft and wizardry, should the Bible include historical accounts (stories) about witchcraft and wizardry like the Witch of Endor, Pharoh's magicians, demonstration of demonic powers, Simon the Sorcerer (in Acts)?" I know this point is being belabored but obviously the description of these things in scripture doesn't imply that we shouldn't read about them or that we should avoid them. Reading about them is not evil. Likewise reading about them in Harry Potter is not evil. It is a matter of the heart whether we are enticed to lust after sorcery or not. If we are not supposed to read about sorcery then why did God include this story about the Witch of Endor in His Word which He wants us to read? I think it should be obvious from this that there is too much emphasis on the prohibition of the reading about it and too little discussion about what the reading of it is doing inside the heart of the reader. 7. But shouldn't we avoid even the "appearance of evil" (1 Thesselonians 5:22)? The King James Version is one of the only ones that actually translates the word "appearance" in 1 Thessalonians 5:22 "Abstain from all appearance of evil". All other version make it pretty clear that the Greek word 'eidos' translated "appearance" in the KJV does not mean just visual "appearance". NIV says "Avoid every kind of evil". NJK and other versions say "Abstain from every form of evil." Obviously what is meant here is that no matter what form or how evil might appear in your life, avoid it. If evil appears as lust or anger or worry or discontentment or hate or whatever appearance it might take.abstain from all of them. If evil comes in the form of an angel of light or disguised as the truth, avoid it.in context just prior is the command "Test all things" which will determine after such testing between which is good and evil thus determining which we have encountered and the good should "hold fast to" and every form which is determined to be "evil" we should "abstain from". As was discussed in 1. above, if we were to abstain from any time evil makes an appearance in a book or movie or the Bible, then we would have to avoid all descriptions and examples of idolatry, murder, adultery, etc. in the Bible which would be absurd as these are all part of the Word of God and as it says in John 10:35 "The Scripture can't be broken" and as Jesus said that we should live by EVERY word which proceeds from the mouth of God. 8. Knowing about evil so we can show how God is different and evangelism by knowing what God has delivered you from Let's assume for argument's sake that Harry Potter IS evil. Ok. Should we still read it? Are the pagan religions that are in reality worshipping false God's like Zeus and Athena evil? Yes. Did Paul study and research into these pagan Greek religions in order to give the message on Mars Hill where he referenced their gods and in particular "the Unknown God"? Yes. Did Paul then seek to know about evil? Yes. How about Gnosticism? This belief included ideas like (1) we have to have some special knowledge outside of scripture in order to be save, (2) matter is inherently , (3) Jesus is less than God, (4) legalism, (5) need for mystical experience. Is Gnosticism evil? Yes. Did John learn about the Gnosticism heresy in order to write against it in his epistles? How about Paul when he wrote Colossians? Yes. Did John and Paul seek to know and learn about evil? Yes. When different beliefs about the Trinity started milling about in the first several centuries and Aryanism became popular, were these denials of the Trinity evil? Yes. Did Athanasius have to learn about them in order to solidify and clarify his doctrine of the Trinity and determine the phrasing of the Athanasius creed? Yes. Did he have to learn about evil? Yes. Does Catholicism teach a false gospel of works based on achieving righteousness of your own by performing certain sacraments like baptism, confession, last rites, the Eucharist, etc.? Is any system of works based righteousness apart from grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone evil? Yes. When Martin Luther wrote his 95 theses describing his problems with the Catholic church's teaching and nailed them to the door, did he research and learn about 95 teachings he was against? Yes. Did Martin Luther and the reformers learn about the evil that they stood against? You bet. Plus, we all have something which God has delivered us from. Often times we learn more about it after we're saved than we ever knew before. For instance for me I believed in evolution before I came to Christ and now that I've been delivered from that erroneous evil way of viewing the world, I have researched and know way way more on the subject than I ever have. I think we should all be eager to learn about the difference between God's world view and the false world views around us. I don't think HP is evil, but if Harry Potter were indeed evil, perhaps we should still read it. Our goal would not be as much for entertainment purposes but as research to know what's going on around us and to be able to reach our culture and to be able to determine the error from the truth. Should more people in the church have read Hitler's book "Mein Kampf" and realized how it's ideas were contrary to the Biblical world-view and then stood up against him proclaiming those contradictions? Sure they should have. We shouldn't avoid reading books that are evil. We should always have our biblical glasses on while viewing the world and then go out and divide truth from error and be salt and light when we find anything anywhere in the world that is decaying and in darkness. 9. Know the source about what/who your preaching and defending against ((Char wrote)) He [Harry Potter] is orphaned and living with a worldly, dysfunctional family, the "Weasleys" This is incorrect. The Weasley's are a (magical) family that embrace and befriend Harry in his wizard school enrollment process and beyond. The Dursley's are the "muggle" (or non-magical) family that Harry is living with. This may seem like a minor point but we need to make sure when we represent the other side that we are accurate. Making errors in representing their materials may cause dismissal of our entire effort and arguments. When someone who likes Harry Potter would begin reading the above statement, they would say, "What does this person know? If they think the Weasley's are the bad family, they obviously didn't even care enough to read the book? The Weasley's are good! They certainly don't know what they're talking about." I can't really blame them for thinking this way because there is some truth to their sentiment. I also admit that I have been very guilty of making rash assumptions and trying to defeat something before I even really know the system they believe. I've also made the mistake of assuming that because they are an X then they believe as an individual precisely what the organization or group X teaches systematically, which is also not necessarily true. We need to be careful when reaching those that don't accept the Bible as our source of most authoritative truth that we accurately start with "where they are at" before we start showing the error in it and what God's Word would say. I need this reminder as much as anyone. 10. Filtering with explanation -OR- censorship and "bubble-boy" syndrome We generally have two modes of approach when trying to protect from evil non-Biblical world-views and anti-Christian thinking in a leadership type role. We can either censor or filter. Obviously where it is physical, like the actual seeing and visualizing the error is the problem, like with pornography, or if just imbibing/eating the error (the fruit in the Garden of Eden or drugs) will be the cause of the destruction, then the approach should be censorship. However, where it is a thinking thing based on thoughts written on a page or ideas and world-views presented in a movie, should censorship be the solution? I propose that when there is time and effort put into the filtering the error with explanation of the truth, this will be a much greater discipleship method. If we choose censorship, how long can we keep it up? How long can we keep those books and materials away from someone? If we can't for their entire life, then won't they be able to view them eventually anyway? Why not let them view or digest them at a time while your Christian worldview can be applied to the error with an explanation showing the difference? Also, what happens when someone tells you that you can't read or see something? Exactly, you become curious and desire even more to see it or read it! This puts divisiveness between the censor of the book and the one censored from reading the book. Now the one censored from reading or viewing will simply go out and try and read or view behind the other person's back or when they're not looking or paying attention.is this the kind of reaction we want? Probably not. If we take effort and time to learn about it and discuss it together, this sifting truth from error discipleship time that we spend with them can be a great unifying event rather than dividing. We show we want to know what they think and how they think rather than shutting down their thinking on the subject. Ideas and thoughts come out into the open and are discussed rather than hidden deep down inside ourselves. Error is shown for what it is and truth is proclaimed to defeat it. Also, if our answer is well thought out and stated, this answer will go with that person when we are not around and they encounter the same error later on. The bible says to "train up" a child. What kind of training is involved in simply censoring everything from them. When you train armed forces for combat you simulate and study the obstacles and foes/enemies they will come up against. We are meant to have answers according to God's Word and to present them with love and a right attitude. 1 Peter 3:15 (NIV) "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." Let's not stick our heads in the sand and avoid this responsibility or be so lazy we don't want to put forth the effort it takes to research or read. Most of all let's spend time talking with the person on the subject or materials at hand rather than avoiding it, censoring it, and being silent. Let's never stop speaking the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15) because love rejoices in the truth (1 Corinthians 13:6).

THOUGHTS ON FIGT CLUB
Subject: fight_club
Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002 17:52:20 -0500
From: David S Smith

Thoughts on the real meaning behind the movie.."Fight Club"

"IT'S TOO FAR FETCHED" (THINK AGAIN..NOT FOR A PARABLE)

My friend mentioned while we were discussing the movie, how it's too far fetched.especially the end. "I mean, how could he shoot himself in the mouth and still live? It's stupid." I agree. This scene, where he shoots himself and then walks around saying "I'm OK. It's alright", more than anything, should make you think that this movie must have and be something more than just the events and scenes that you've seen on the screen. I would propose to you my theory that the movie's intent, though not stated, was not to be a depiction of an actual life and actual events but that the whole movie is a parable explaining a Christian message. The events of the movie explain a real message that has to do with real events and issues in life but the events of the movie are only there for the message and therefore not restrained by limitations of real events. Within the parameters of the parable, Jack shooting himself in the mouth and staying alive makes perfect sense which we will eventually explain.

FIGHT CLUB = SIN -and- TYLER DURDEN = SIN NATURE

I believe that the "Fight Club" is a metaphor for sin within the parable of the movie. Although the movie portrays different aspects of sin throughout in other ways, the "Fight Club" itself stands for sin within the framework of the parable. Also, the alter-ego type character Tyler Dirden (played by Brad Pitt) also represents every person's "Old Person" (Romans 6:6, Ephesians 4:22, Colossians 3:9) and/or sinful nature along with temptation and the influence of Satan, or "The Devil", in our mind and lives. Like sin, it's causes, and it's results are everywhere, you recall Jack narrating, "It was right in everyone's face, Tyler and I just made it visible. It was on the tip of everyone's tongue. Tyler and I just gave it a name." Ironically, the name they give to it makes it sound honorable.that it's a "club". The first two rules of fight club reveal how honorable it really is."Do not talk about fight club!" In reality, deep down we are know our sin is the problem and so we are stuck between two needs. We don't want people to know about our sin because we know deep down it is evil and revealing it will make us "look bad" and we can't have that and live in the normal society with it's moral law and moral pretense. But, we need to feel more comfortable in our sin that we're not alone in it so we try to sin with others as a group.as a "club".misery loves company. Our group dynamic of sin starts off with subtle peer pressures in the "club".."If this is your first night at fight club, you have to fight."

JACK

The name Jack applied to the main character without a last name implies that this is a parable that is applicable to "any old Joe" or "any old Jack"..namely, any person. We are all 'Jacks' in a way. (Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God). Jack is you. Jack is me. We all have a sin nature. We may indulge in it with different names and types of sin. Jack in the movie names his own sin nature "Tyler Durden" and indulges in his own sum of sin, which he calls "Fight Club".

SIN ALSO ON DISPLAY OUTSIDE THE "FIGHT CLUB" ANALOGY

Within the movie, as a sideline to the analogy of the Fight Club [as sin], the message of sin's hold on Jack's [a metaphor for any person's] life and other of the movie's character's lives is alluded to throughout. The reality that Tyler Durden [the sin nature] is there even before he becomes visible is clearly shown when you see Brad Pitt (Tyler) going the other way on an airport escalator without Jack even noticing and possibly that he sets the explosives up before he leaves his condo. The affects of sin and the types of sin appear in the following forms:

--Insomnia: a lack of peace his life and true rest. Jack comments "nothing's real..everything is a copy of a copy..and you're never really asleep [resting] and you're never really awake [understanding life's purpose and joyful]. He wants to just take a pill and make it go away but the doctor tells him."You just need healthy natural sleep."

--Materialism: Before Jack indulges in the full fledged sin and sin nature (of Fight Club and letting Tyler out), Jack tries to live in the seemingly innocent life of materialism. He tries to live in the world's view of success with the good job and using his pay to acquire all the fashionable things and stuff (i.e. the ying-yang coffee table) to fill his meaningless life. This is retold in a flashback from after he had changed and the sarcasm with which he describes his materialistic pursuits is obvious."I had it all".."If I saw _______, I had to have it."

--Pornography: Tyler's fun on his night job is to splice pornography slides into family movies. When contrasting his materialistic goals by ordering trinkets and home items out of mail-order catalogs he says ".we used to read pornography." When talking retroactively in the extended flashback about Bob's large breasts, he sarcastically uses an almost exaggerated vernacular that he would have talked in "back then". The problem of lust and it's pervasive nature is later hinted at within project Mayhem by the pretty blonde guy who get's his face smashed when he says, "Wow.she's hot" about even a news reporter on TV.

--False Religion: Many are mentioned.Tibetan philosophy, Zen Buddhism, Transendental meditation, Secular Humanism (in references to evolution). Fight Club, however, becomes the ultimate representative of all that is counterfeit religion for Jack. At one point when Jack is leaving his job he says, "I was the Zen Master" and "I am enlightened." After one of the basement gatherings of Fight Club, Jack compares the cheers and groans of the crowd to the worshipful exclamations at a Pentecostal church and says about the fight sessions "..afterward, we all felt saved." Great analogies to what false religion is all about are some of the trappings of the "Fight Club" as well. Jack and Tyler put up the front of a "Soap" business. Soap is what is used to wash our external self. The Bible calls self-righteous people "white painted tombs" which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness (Matthew 23:37). Soap is a perfect symbol for false religion and false cleanliness. Another great analogy in the picture is the final ambition of "Project Mayhem". Their goal is to blow up all the credit card buildings. The explanation is that this will remove everyone's debt and "bring everyone back to zero". Of course this shows the recognition of guilt and debt of sin. But it presumes that we can by our own "works" or "projects" attempt to remove that debt of sin we "owe". Only trusting the payment of Jesus Christ on the cross for our sin-debt (in the past, present, and future) where he took all the debt of sin and paid it in full on each of our behalf if we are willing to simply put our complete faith and trust in Him for our life. "Fight Club" portrays it perfectly. Instead of "In God we trust.", Jack explains, "In Tyler we trusted." It is really a very elementary choice.trust in Self or in God.

--Sexual Sin (adultery, fornication, and sexual abuse): Jack's father left him when he was 6 years old to sleep with other women and start other families which, depending on his father's heart attitude and reason's for leaving, could have been adulterous. Tyler and Marla's sexual activity was fornication in that they were not even close to committed or married in any way. Marla, after their first time having sex, exclaimed "I haven't been f*&$ed like that since grade school".this could have been referring to other fornication very earlier life for her or possibly some sort of sexual abuse from a parent or much older person/adult. The latter is surely possible and perhaps the thing eating at her sense of worth and meaning in life thus perhaps a cause of her attempted suicide.

--Lying and false witness: The faking/pretending to be suffering with something and to be someone else at the "suffering groups" (i.e. testicular cancer) under false names (Rupert, Cornelius, Travis) just to get what he needs to put a quick fix on another effect of sin (insomnia), though seemingly innocent on the surface, is really rather despicable. Also, Jack gains twisted comfort in making his life seem not quite as bad by associating with those worse than him. He especially hated and was uncomfortable when someone else pointed out his own wickedness by doing the same thing. When Marla becomes another "tourist" in the "suffering groups", he can no longer ignore his own sin of lying and false witness.

--Suffering: A result of sin is physical suffering, disease, and death. All the groups (i.e. testicular cancer, etc.) Jack and Marla attend are a result of sin. The bible says the wages of sin are death (Romans 6:23). In fact, the whole creation is groaning in bondage to the corruption resulting from sin and groaning in anticipation of redemption (Romans 8:21-22)

MARLA THE CHRISTMAS TREE THAT IS THROWN AWAY

One role that a woman can play in men's lives is a reminder and wake-up call to meaningfulness. Perhaps when you watch the movie the first time, Marla seems, like she did to me, downright insane. Her comments to Jack seem random, bizarre, and pointless.until you realize that Jack and Tyler are the same person. When you think on her statements, after the understanding of Jack and Tyler being one, they become a plea for real meaning in life and real relationship.not just meaningless physical sex. She becomes a person seeking meaning in life herself. She does "Meals on Wheels" trying to find meaning by helping others. Or perhaps a little bit into the movie, she becomes someone who knew back then that she liked & wanted Jack from the first "suffering group" meeting she saw him at and then possibly attending the other "suffering groups" because she knew he would be there.pursuing him subtly. Playing hard to get and pretending you don't care is a common tactic or psychological game played in dating. Perhaps when they split the "suffering groups" up 3 for each person, she was in this playful, playing-hard-to-get, mode. One can't say for certain. Regardless, overall she becomes a simple frustrated girlfriend going out with a real jerk who pretends he cares one minute and treats her like crap the next minute. She uses some really rather profound metaphors and illustrations to hint to Jack and try and get this across without being obnoxious too. She leaves the Paper St house one time singing "got to get off this merry-go-round" implying the futility in this lifestyle and their fake relationship. At one point she wears a bride's maid's dress implying the need and desire for a marriage-type commitment she isn't getting. She talks about the bride's maid's dress saying that she got it for only $1 at a garage sale. She says the dress is like a Christmas tree that is used for a day and then thrown away like garbage. In this way she implies to Jack that SHE is the dress and that one day/moment he treats her as useful (at least for a showy celebration-sex) but when the moment is over she is just a useless decoration to be thrown away-like the Christmas tree. Marla also challenges him outright too on several occasions. She mentions to Jack that Chloe (cancer patient that looked like Meryl Streep) had died. Jack seems to show interest and she mocks surprise and challenges, "Do you actually care?" She in a sense is astounded that his heart is not completely dead and numb to all suffering of others due to the way he acts toward her. At the end when Jack is realizing Tyler is simply part of himself, he calls her and asks her if they had "made love". She again makes him self examine the meaning in it all by asking if they have "made love" or actually just "had sex", implying one without real meaning is simply the other. In one sense, they are together searching for meaning. Though maybe rhetorical or an attempt to dissuade Marla from continuing to pursue him (Jack), he asks her "What are you getting out of this?" I would like to add here that it is certainly possible that Marla in one sense is a type of God the Holy Spirit and a type of Jesus Christ. God draws us to Himself by trying to show us our need for meaning in life and our lack of it. He tries to convict us of sin and show us that sex is different than real love. He calls our spirit when we are prodigals like she called him on the phone when he had "gone astray" to the run-down house on Paper St. God tries to give us hints that sacrificial love of commitment is different than animal type lust and that lust by itself will never be completely fulfilled. She is calling out to him on the phone while dying, willing to die in order that he might understand his need for meaning in life somewhat like Christ died for us so that we might have life. Lending credibility to this typology are three things. (a) It's no coincidence that she uses the Christmas tree, a representative of the celebration of Jesus Christ's birth. (b) Marla is multiple times pictured as Jack's "power animal", replacing the penguin. Jack wanted to ignore it and run from the truth that God is the source of true power. The one time Marla appears as Jack's "power animal" is when Tyler is burning his hand and telling him that we're all God's unwanted children. How much better if Jack would have run to God than believe the lies about God that Tyler spouted off to him in that scene. (c) Tyler makes Jack promise not to tell Marla about Tyler (sinful nature). All God really asks of us is that we bring our sinful nature to Him and admit it. Once we admit we are lost to God and trust Him to rescue us, then we can be found. Once we know we're blind we'll cry out to the Lord and He will help us to see. In a sense Satan was telling Jack not to admit his sin to God because Satan knows that acknowledging our sin before Almighty God is the first step leading to salvation and freedom from sin.

"I AM JACK'S BROKEN HEART"

We learn about Jack's problem's growing up.that he was without a Dad after the age of 6. He left wives multiple times setting up franchises [of sin]. Tyler explains before one "Fight Club" session a problem in our country of broken homes that we are a ".generation raised by women." Tyler builds on this social problem of divorce and builds a clever deceptive case against God the heavenly Father based Jack's father's (and his-the same one) performance. He says, "Our fathers were models for God. If our fathers bailed, what does that tell you about God? You have to consider the possibility that God does not like you - he never wanted you. In all probability, he hates you. We don't need him. F*%k damnation. F&$k redemption. We are God's unwanted children.so be it!" Tyler is correct in making an analogy between their earthly Father and the Heavenly Father. Jack's father SHOULD have been a model for God but he certainly wasn't, by leaving him when he was 6 and not keeping his promise ('til death do you part? I do). God always keeps His promises and will never leave you nor forsake you. Tyler also lies about God's love by saying he doesn't want you or like you. God loves you so much He gave up Himself on the cross in your place. Jack's father was selfish and did what he wanted and not what others (wife & child) needed and deserved from him. Tyler was outright lying about God's love and desire for us as children in the kingdom of heaven. God wants all men to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4) and to save those which are gone astray and lost (Matthew 18:11) and for us to be His sons and daughters with Him for eternity (Revelation 21). We do need Him. No one can come to God except by faith in Jesus and His death on the cross. He is our bridge across the chasm of sin back to God. In John 14:6 Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no one comes unto the Father, but by me." Tyler speaks as if damnation and redemption are not worth considering or that they are not a reality. They are very real and ignoring them or disbelieving in them is a very dangerous thing to do. They are real and worth seeking out answers. Seek and ye shall find.

"SELF IMPROVEMENT'S A BITCH.SELF DESTRUCTION."

The majority of people go through life trying to do what their conscience, parents, and/or society tells them is right.at least, at first. At first, we learn what is right and wrong and we try to do it. We know in our conscience that we shouldn't be violent or angry. We know in our heart deep down that our sexual lust for the opposite sex is wrong except in the context of marriage. We know we should tell the truth. Despite these things we know we should do, we end up indulging in these sins at least in the seclusion of our minds and in our most private secret lives as if we are powerless to keep from thinking them and sometimes then acting on them. Our efforts at some sort of psychological self-improvement are false and ineffectual.accomplishing nothing. Eventually, a transition takes place. We get sick of trying to be good because it doesn't work on the inside. Time is the enemy because we know we won't be able to keep it up for much longer.the false exterior, that is. We see a kind of "deadness" inside ourselves. Though we may put on good appearances, we start to realize that we're just putting on more and more coats of paint to cover what we're really thinking and feeling in our hearts. At that point, some may realize they need something more and seek after it. Perhaps in their search they will find God right away. Perhaps not. If they don't find God soon, then they will soon begin to try more and more self-destructive things in rebellion against the system of self-improvement that has failed us. The thoughts inside of us we held back before start to come pouring out. We're sick and tired of keeping it in. This progression over time towards self-destruction is bad but eventually it can help us to see what the true end result to the evil of what we're thinking and feeling in our hearts. That true result is death, the logical conclusion to our growing affinity for self-destruction.

In the movie, Jack shows us that he is realizing the "deadness" in him and in the world around him. This occurs to some extent in the insomnia and the "suffering groups" but he and the view both see the "suffering groups" as a band-aid fix at best. He then allows pessimistic views regarding his job flow forth. Discussing the frequent travelling he says, "gain an hour, lose an hour, dying one minute at a time." He sees the horrible accidents that he is forced to investigate and comments, "The survival rate is zero." Life and death itself seems to be determined by an equation (used to see if the company sees the car defects as worth fixing)."A times B times C equals X" resulting in "no recall" of the cars. He talks on the plane of dreaming of his physical death by plane crash. Ironically, when he wakes up from this dream is when he first meets Tyler (stops holding his sinful nature inside). So perfect is the question that Tyler asks, "How's that working out for you?" The attempt to be good on our own does not work and our sinful nature can't be cleansed by our own ability to live a good life. Eventually, right as it is coming to the surface, we will ask ourselves "How is trying to live a good normal life working out?" The true answer is that it's not working out at all. If we really look inside ourselves deep down we'll see that there is no true joy or fulfillment. Then upon acceptance of our failure, we simply give up trying to hold back our sinful nature by our own strength and it comes to life. Symbolic of this is when Jack blows up his condo with all his efforts to live the normal "good" life. Then, Tyler starts to come out and play. You know how I said someone may find God right away? Well, Jack does try to call Marla (a type of Jesus/Holy Spirit) first if you recall. Unfortunately he realizes he doesn't have the nerve to really share his predicament of sin and false good works with God and hangs up the phone. To share our failings with God and others takes a lowering of ourselves and humility. It is an offense to our pride and therefore we avoid it. He looks upon Tyler's business card which pictures two angels facing each other.a testimony of the spiritual struggle he is going through at that very moment of who to call upon.God or sin and the Devil. He then dials Tyler and hangs out with him a while. Soon after they leave the bar, he "jumps in" completely and they are living together a life of sin, beginning the fervent self-destruction and release of sin to soon be seen through the "Fight Club". It's no coincidence that he does all this after getting drunk. Drinking can be a trigger to allow our moral inhibitions to dull and we begin to numb ourselves and our conscience. "Fight Club" is like this too Jack explains it this way, at first you are soft and are hurt by sin but ".after a few weeks you're carved out of wood." We are numb and stiff.we stop listening and searching for answers or even looking on morality as something to be followed. He begins to completely forget God (Marla) even exists. Jesus is clear about the moral standard in the Bible, "Be perfect even as your heavenly Father is perfect." He knows we can't be perfect on our own power through false religion (see above) yet that is the standard.only through faith in Christ can we be perfect through His righteousness.not our own. Also clear in scripture, God is the Creator. After Tyler comes on the scene, the following contradictory statements come out, "Stop being perfect" and "Let's evolve and let the chips fall where they may." The sin starts to escape into the world at first in small ways. The first fight with Tyler that will eventually become "Fight Club". The night jobs, probably while Jack should be resting and sleeping, are mild vandalism (peeing in food, hitting golf balls into windows, splicing split-second porno frames into films) which eventually develop into "Project Mayhem". His immersion into sin has blinded him to truth in all forms. He even glosses over the fact that he saw Tyler jump into a new convertible Mustang at the airport yet when he mentions the automobile, Brad Pitt responds, "What car?" Jack is loving the pleasure of sin so much he doesn't even notice that he is living in a complete dump of a house. He and Tyler explain it away by claiming to be denying the importance of material possessions. Buddhism and the cult of Christian Science are world views that prop up a false sense of self-righteousness in denying material possessions and connectivity to things in the real world. Christianity doesn't deny the material world or our need for material things.the Bible only speaks against the love of money and material things of this world over the love towards God and towards people and toward heavenly things. Tyler is a great proclaimer of half-truths just like Satan. He takes those who are sick of trying to live right and have turned to lives of sin and says "Our great war is a spiritual war." This is true, but look at what side of the war he's encouraging the "Fight Club" members to be on.the evil side. And he makes them feel like they're fighting on the right side too.so clever and deceptive. Sin in our lives is a progression. James 1:14-15 describes it this way: "But every one is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it brings forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death." Before sin leads to death, however, it becomes more and pervasive in our lives. The wounds on Jack's face at work grew more and more obvious. We dream about it during the week when we will be able to go back our life of sin on the weekend. We begin to drag others into our sin. We encourage friends to drink more and more. We don't want to go to a strip club by ourselves so we'll rope others to going with us. We might become a little clique leader and a fountain of peer pressure to further sin in others lives. Soon within your group the moral standard is gone and those within the group boast about their sin.how much they drank last weekend or how many women they've slept with. We justify it and make it sound better. We call hatred and anger "stress relief". We hear about statistical health studies "proving" having a few drinks per day makes us healthier. We might even reason that masturbation helps us relax or focus.that it relieves tension in our natural reproductive cycle. We could explain that LSD will help me discover my true self. We see a great example of this masquerade when Tyler puts a gun to the head of Raymond, an Oriental store clerk, demanding that he go fulfill his dreams of becoming a Vet or die by his hand. Peer pressure leaders in sin that I've seen will do this.they are experts in manipulation games to see how much power and control he can exercise on the more "innocent" (beginners in sin) around them. It becomes public. The movie describes, "Now it's moved out of the basement...now it's project Mayhem." The war of trying to do what is right is over. Now a new struggle exists. How can I keep sinning without getting into trouble because I'm disrupting and harming people and the world around me? How can I keep pursing these pleasures of sinful living without getting arrested or made a spectacle in a moral society. Once deep into a life of sin, one will do anything to continue in it without being stopped.I should know, I did. The movie depicts this nicely in Jack's scheme to fraudulently implicate his boss as beating him up to get funds to be able to [have Fight Club] sin full time. The icing on the cake was threatening and kidnapping the chief of police. Some of those in Project Mayhem are wearing masks and some aren't which illustrates the new difficulty in the desire to still keep sin secret but also allow it to continue in it's natural increasing strength and progression. Satan and sin will eventually become downright sinister when fully revealed. When Jack pummels into oblivion the very blonde haired member of project Mayhem, he walks away uncaring and says, "I felt like destroying something beautiful." Seemingly, death itself is the only effect left from sin that has not come to fruition. It's strange to think about it in this way but death and the effects of sin are tools that God can use to wake up someone. Pain and suffering can be effects of sin that are wake up calls to the fact that sin is not part of the perfect plan of God. A sexually transmitted disease could make one realize that maybe this is a repercussion of my sex habits. A hangover can be a message that what you did wasn't the best thing for yourself. Sometimes however we have to get close to death before we realize the seriousness of what we're doing. Perhaps a drug overdose or a drunk driving accident. We might see someone else die as a result of our sin or leading into sin. Robert Pulson is the obvious parallel. The movie uses a car accident to illustrate the close call for Jack himself; a close call to death of our physical bodies. It is an amazing pictorial that "overlaps" two things: (1) the imminent danger of physical death before the car crash with (2) another analogy of the closeness of death to Jack's will. Death is God's only weapon or punishment against sin yet death is also the result of sin. It is a strange paradox that can be explained only in Jesus Christ. Death is the penalty/wages for sin but it is also how God provided the solution for sin...the cross. God uses death as his tool for victory over death itself. Similarly in the car, Tyler is the sinful nature, sin itself. Tyler is the same person that urges Jack that he "must give up. Stop trying to control everything and just let go." Tyler is yelling at him.just like God is proclaiming the truth of the cross throughout all the world throughout all time. So in a similar way to God using sin's eventuality, death, to solve the problem of death itself, Tyler is the solution to Jack's problem, which is Tyler. In a practical analogy, the possibility of physical death awakens us to our need to die to ourselves. Our solution to our looming physical and spiritual death is to die to our own will and our desires which we've come to learn are evil and sinful in their very nature. When we realize we can't live life on our own and that life on our own isn't really worth it and are willing to give up living our way and die, then we can finally let Jesus Christ into our life to live through us. "Losing all hope was freedom." When Jack says this to Tyler that he doesn't care and let's his hands off the wheel and says "I am Jack's wasted life" then he is ready to give up trying his own thing and let God take control. At that point, Jack experiences salvation and is born again unto everlasting life in heaven with God.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE HE'S STANDING"

He wakes up from true rest and is without Tyler [sin] for the first time. He realizes that sin [Tyler] was there in him all along, as the bartender in another city says, "You're Mr. Durden." He also realizes that it and it's effects all over the place.it isn't just in one location as he looks in (not a coincidence) clubs and bars around the country. As we mentioned before, the whole creation is groaning in bondage to the corruption resulting from sin and groaning in anticipation of redemption (Romans 8:21-22). God says He will give us a new name (Revelation 2:17, 3:12). Similarly, "in Project Mayhem we have no names...". For the first time, Jack realizes his own guilt and tries to turn himself in. He has gathered around himself so many peers that don't believe in the absolutely true moral right and wrong anymore that they don't find him guilty but try to restrain him within the confines of the full life of sin [Project Mayhem]. He flees which is what the Bible instructs to do (1 Corinthians 6:18, 10:14, 1 Timothy 6:11, 2 Timothy 2:22). It is probably not a coincidence that he fled without his pants almost exactly like Joseph did from Potiphar's wife (Genesis 39:12). Their threat to cut off his "member" and the way they smirk at him as he runs is allegory to the psychological/emotional and possibly physical persecution that all Christians will face for their change of heart and belief. He tries to undo the effects of his sin like Zacheus attempts to pay back four times what he had extorted from people (Luke 19:8). He actually cares about Marla now, though she can't understand or accept it. Similarly, people have a tough time accepting our words and claims when we first become Christians yet eventually they will see a changed life if we are truly saved and this will be the real proof (Matthew 7:20, James 2:18). The can't see it because it's happened inside. They don't understand why we would choose this life as seen when one of Jack's old Project Mayhem buddies comments in the end, "You look awful." The kingdom of heaven is within you, Jesus said. It's a change heart. Jack explains, "It's called a changeover.you go to sleep and the audience doesn't know the difference." You reading might be saying, "But Tyler isn't gone! Your analogy doesn't work!" Ahhh. True. Tyler isn't gone. But this is exactly what the Bible teaches. We have a new direction, not perfection. We desire to do God's will and live for Him like we never have before but often we don't do what we want to do (Romans 7:16+). Even after we are born again, we wrestle against the flesh and our old sin nature tries to tempt us still. But now we know the truth and the truth has set us free (John 8:32). Satan and our old ways/nature may come back to haunt us, laugh at us, call us insane, harass us, and make us doubt who we are in Christ just like Brad Pitt did. He accuses too.as Tyler points out that all those bad things that Jack did was Jack and not Tyler. Jack humbly admits the guilt. He says, "I am responsible. I accept responsibility for everything." We might be tempted with fear of boredom as Tyler yells out that he will not go back to just sitting around watching sit-coms. Also, our old self will try to convince us that we had more fun before or that we were more free before. Tyler says, "I'm free in every way you're not." Freedom isn't freedom to sin.that's bondage. Freedom is freedom to do what is right and freedom from sin. If you notice in the movie also, Brad Pitt looks much different after he returns. He has different sunglasses, a new haircut, and a furry vest on. I'm not sure what significance the specifics have but our sinful nature sure does look different after we come to know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. He's cool no longer and we don't desire to be with him anymore.as Jack tries to run from him, ignore him, and shoot at him to no avail. We can't defeat Satan.only Jesus can. Our only defense against Satan is to kill our own will. Jack realized this eventually when he realized that he needed to point the gun at himself in order to be victorious over his sinful nature [Tyler]. Jesus says in Luke 9:23-24 "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it." Romans 6:11 "Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Perhaps, as depicted in this movie, we have/had a girlfriend or wife that stuck with us through the transition of "Before Christ" to "After Christ". Marla did with Jack. His comment shows his mixture of regret for the past but thankfulness for the fact that she stuck it out.."you met me in a very strange time in my life." Finally, we are able to stand proud (despite our sinful past) and boast in Jesus' greatness.not in ourselves. We can watch the explosive affects of past sin and the circumstances of life crashing down around us and have faith that God will preserve us and has purpose (Romans 8:28). Regardless what the world thinks God will be glorified through us in this present life. People should see a difference in us and how we live and the joy and peace we have through the struggles of life and the desire/ability to flee sin. Some will scoff but others will be amazed. We see this amazement in the movie as one of Jack's old Project Mayhem buddies comments after Jack has shot himself and is still alive, "I can't believe he's standing." In effect saying, "I can't believe he's living this way?" or "I can't understand how he has such peace through trials?" We are a lamp to be put on a hill so others can see the light of Jesus Christ. We are salt so that people will become thirsty for His truth and His Word. Not only will we glorify God in this life but also in the next. Revelation 20:6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him. Rev 21:7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. Job 19:25-26 For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth; And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God.

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