Odd (or Ood) title, I know, just hang in there with me for a bit. I’m a big Doctor Who fan, and am especially fond of Russell T. Davies’ version of the time lord. I frequent one of the largest Doctor Who message boards, mainly as a “lurker,” and it is interesting that several themes keep being discussed. One is the messiah-like qualities of The Doctor, another is faith, and another is atheism. This interests me. Why? Because the two main writers of the show, the ones that write the episodes where these topics come up, are both atheists; Steven Moffat, and Russel T. Davies himself (executive producer as well).
Now, what really floored me was that there are usually two opinions most prominent; the atheists on the message board acknowledging the fact that faith, and a messiah-type figure (The Doctor) are main themes of the show, and they have actually claimed a theistic storyline that they don’t understand given the atheistic beliefs of the dynamic duo; Moffat and Davies. The other opinion is usually expressed by Christians bemoaning the fact that there is an atheistic agenda because of the fact that Moffat and Davies write a messiah-type figure, that is not Christ, and write about faith in something other than God, or just about vague faith (they are atheists, why should we Christians be surprised on that score? We should be delving into why they write these things…).
What I see, with Doctor Who as an example, is the fact that if one doesn’t believe in God, one will try to find a way to fill that gap…and what one imagines, or writes, or experiences, will usually be similar in nature to the Truth, it resembles the Truth, but isn’t actually “it.” How many times do we see messiah-like figures? Godlike, miraculous powers through science, magic, mutation, etc… I believe there is a craving in every human heart, soul, and mind for these types of things, but only one thing can really fill that craving; the actual Truth. Studying psychology and philosophy is interesting because the two intertwine (not surprisingly), and what I’ve noticed is that people also crave perfection. They either crave perfection in themselves, or in other people, or in relationships…and that can be a problem. Why? Because nobody’s perfect. So where did we ever get the idea of perfection in the first place?
Live with someone long enough and they will let you down in a mild way, or a major way, intentionally or unintentionally…be it spouse, parent, child, friend, etc… we are human we cannot be perfect, but we crave perfect people, people that are reliable, and we are hurt when we are let down. We crave messiah-like heroes, and miraculous happenings…why? Because we all crave the Truth and are drawn to God. People crave to know, and rely on a perfect person, there’s been only One; Jesus. Same with a true Messiah for everyone, the whole human race; Jesus. Miraculous happenings and powers; God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Anyone that doesn’t have it, wants it, craves it, thirsts for it…and if they reject the True answer to these things, they try to fill that gap in other ways, including making it up in fiction form. These false answers relieve it for a while, but that urge comes back, so they try to fill it in different ways; food, sex, drugs, false gods, intellectualism, even music, art, dance, etc… but only when one embraces and come to accept the Truth is one finally satisfied on a deep spiritual level.
John 4:7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. 8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) 9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. 10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? 12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? 13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. 16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. 17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: 18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. 19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. 25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. 26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
One way or another, humans try to quench that thirst, and when you drink of the Living Water, it is quenched for good, and your motivation is no longer thirst, but true faith, love, and hope. Even if fictionalized faith, and messiah-like figures, and magical types of powers are fun to kick around in fiction, there’s nothing like believing in actual reality; the reality of the Truth of God, and Jesus Christ. Again, I’ll point out that this faith we have is not blind faith, it isn’t just because we wish it to be true, or read about it in a book, or would like it to be true; it is because the evidence is there, both personal and public, and because of the grace of God.
Things like a beautiful painting, or music, or even a great story can touch us on a spiritual level, but we have to acknowledge what that means; there is indeed a spiritual aspect to our human existence. I do believe everyone experiences this at some point in their lives, even if it is only as a child. The key is not to try to latch on to a shadow of the truth, but to the Truth itself; so get to know the real Messiah, the real Lord of Time, it’s definitely worth it, and makes all other experiences richer; even watching our favourite shows like Doctor Who…
18 Comments
July 8, 2008 at 1:41 pm
“What I see, with Doctor Who as an example, is the fact that if one doesn’t believe in God, one will try to find a way to fill that gap”
As an atheist I think the brilliance of the show is that it demonstrates incredible faith in people. While the Doctor is the hero of the show, with all that entails, his greatest ability is bringing out the best in the people he meets. Now that may very well be a Christian idea, but it isn’t unique to Christianity nor, necessarily, did it even start with Christianity.
The real heroes of Doctor Who are the ordinary people who are put in extraordinary circumstances. The Doctor puts HIS faith in those people, in humanity (or the given alien species), and I think that is the strongest message of the entire show.
July 8, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Welcome!
It does indeed demonstrate incredible faith in people, from the Doctor’s perspective. His role in pulling out what is “better” in others isn’t his only role, however. Even the atheists that I’ve conversed with say that he fulfills a messiah-like role, and one in particular also noted the prayer-like aspect of several of the storylines, and also the ideas of immortality in the character, and the show; in short, it is the totality of the themes that I am referencing.
It isn’t unique to Christianity by any means, as Christianity owes its existence to Judaism, in which the Messiah was foretold; He, Jesus, is their awaited Messiah. While not being unique to the Judeo-Christian faiths, it finds it’s ultimate and True fulfillment there, in reality; Messiah impacts our lives to improve the human condition through faith; mental, emotional, even physical (esp. in time to come), and primarily spiritual, betterment. Again, yes there is a relationship component, but that is what our belief hinges on as well; a relationship between us and God; He helps us to fulfill our role as humans in a better way, which you point out is paralleled in the series.
Keep in mind, a shadow of the Truth cannot match the Truth perfectly, that is why it is a shadow. I’m observing that the themes of the show indicate a desire or craving on the part of the writers, for certain things that can only truly be fulfilled in Christ. We wouldn’t expect non-believing, or secular writers to make it line up perfectly, and in fact they’ve written lines that are clearly atheistic in nature, but the underlying themes, and the “heart” of the issues are there, even if at an unconscious level.
Again, the craving that I talk about isn’t always blatant, it can be subtle…I chose Doctor Who, first because it is my favourite show, and second, because both atheists and Christians have caught on and commented on the themes in the show.
July 8, 2008 at 2:45 pm
I wouldn’t deny for a second that there are many Christian themes in the show, or that the Doctor is a Christ-figure in many ways.
What I love about it is that it takes the outline of the Christ story (which is a good story, no denying it, even if I happen to think the story isn’t real) and alters it in many ways that succeed in making it more interesting. For example, the Doctor being mortal (he only gets 13 regenerations, though an intrepid future writer may find a way around this), part of a race of people with similar characteristics, his reliance on the scientific method, and his greatest strength being his mental power as opposed to an emotional or faith-based power.
I don’t, however, agree that the writers are desiring or craving for Jesus. Or at least, they might (as I’m not a mind reader, I can’t say for sure), but I don’t see the use of the messiah-ish nature of the Doctor as indicating it. First of all, the current writers didn’t create the character, and so many of his qualities existed before they came along. So they are merely expanding on what other writers have done before them.
And secondly, as I said, the Christ story is a good story. There’s no reason anyone can’t take a good story and adapt it for their own uses, even if they think the story is fiction to begin with.
And thirdly, the Christ story has many common elements with the standard “hero story”. So while the Doctor does have many characteristics in common with Jesus, he also has many of the same characteristics in common with Apollo, Hercules, Superman and Harry Potter. The Christian story happens to be the most well known, so of course we’ll read that into almost anything.
Still, Doctor Who is a great show, and I’d watch it whether it had atheists, evangelicals or scientologists writing it.
July 8, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Think of it as “The Doctor died for your sins… repeatedly”. Yeah- it is the Christian cultural background.
On a more serious note, the reason they have the theme (Faith and people and messiah like attributes) is because that is how are heroes tend to be- Superman for example has the same attributes.
This should help explain- although a word of warning, it is EXTREMELY addictive.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Heroes?from=Main.Hero
July 8, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Morse, A lot of what you are saying is actually underscoring the issue. Different writers have continued these earlier themes (that means viewers have been hooked by them, feeling that they resonate on some level, or several levels), but everyone agrees that the different executive producers and writers have placed their own ideas into the character; right now it is/was RTD’s turn, now it will be Moffat’s turn soon.
The pull is to find something that humans attempt to harness to quench this spiritual-level thirst in place of real spiritual matters. You pointed out faith in your first comment, although you focus more on the intellect in your second. Faith is both an intellectual matter and a spiritual one; as is contentment, peace, etc… Also, if we do not accept the reality of Jesus, many often attempt to redefine, or rewrite the story into one that they can feel comfortable with or accept, but they only wind up with a man-made version. The idea is so strong, and the longing so strong, that man does make up a lot of Heroes…I believe there is a basis in reality for that longing, and only Christ truly answers that longing.
As for the story of Christ, it is a story indeed, a wonderful story, but it is also a true one, a factual one. Christ is someone you can truly trust; emotionally, spiritually, and also with your mind. Take your time, do some serious research; study the evidences for the resurrection, study the validity of scripture, they have been found to stand up to historical scrutiny, are archaeologically accurate, inherently consistent, prophetically accurate, hold up to legal scrutiny, etc… When one come to Christ in faith, everything truly becomes more interesting, not just religion itself…it adds a new dimension to life, that’s for sure!
July 8, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Welcome to you as well, SS! Thanks for the interesting link, there are similar sites for heroes in literature too.
And, again, I do agree that these attributes are what are heroes usually have, I just believe that there are reasons why we are so attracted to the idea, and to the themes. I’ve seen the show Heroes as well (can’t wait til the new season!), and it too shows that we long for those types of things, even when we know that there is going to be a villain, or “evil,” or a wrong to right, just look at the title of the show. I just think there is a reality behind the themes, and that is one of the reasons we have the themes and the attachment in the first place.
As for The Doctor and his regenerations, yes the parallel is pretty obvious, and I have the suspicion that they will indeed get around his “limited” regens…they have also found ways to push the idea of souls, prayer, and immortality without blatantly committing to a spiritual realm, although I believe it is written in, almost at an unconscious level.
July 8, 2008 at 6:47 pm
We will just have to agree to disagree, kliska. Which is fine, as I had no intention of converting you.
I just happen to think that the appeal of this type of story is why people came up with the story of The Doctor and the story of Jesus. You obviously think that the story had an origin with Jesus, which is where we differ.
Either way, I will say it one last time. It’s a very good, very entertaining and often uplifting story.
July 8, 2008 at 8:30 pm
Morse, I do realize we will and do disagree, I’m writing my blog to make people think, and there will always be agreement, and disagreement. I appreciate your feedback.
I agree with you that the story of Doctor Who has an appeal, and that the story of Jesus does as well…we should at least give thought as to why they have that appeal, and since one story claims that it is True, it is worth looking into. I think the appeal comes from God, that it is a spiritual part of us, and predates Jesus’ life on this earth, although it does always point to Him, and the fact that we respond and are drawn to watch, write, read, and makeup similar stories, with similar themes is that we are attempting to respond to that thirst…if anyone truly wants it quenched in a meaningful and fulfilling way, they can turn to God, that story is the ultimate story, and has the advantage and excitement of being true.
Yes, I look forward to the Who specials next year, and a new season in 2010! Hopefully Tennant sticks around a good long while…
July 9, 2008 at 12:08 am
I would be interested in hearing what people, atheist or christian or other, think of the latest episode of Doctor Who to air in the U.K. and the underlying idea that the Doctor now has the power to decide how people will live their lives even against their expressed wishes? Also, in this same vein, earlier in S4 we deal with the idea of predestination in the story of River Song. River wants her predestined life…she asks the Doctor not to change a thing…and so he must follow through on points “such as giving her the sonic screwdriver” to make sure that she still feels “special to him.”
Assuming the Doctor is NOT God…is there a line he has crossed in his assent into the position of God? Are we at last saying that humans really can’t make life and death decisions for themselves when we are happy that the Doctor has arranged everything for everyone with out consulting anybody else?
July 9, 2008 at 1:17 am
First, a general heads up; anyone who wants to comment on specific episodes, and plot lines, make sure they contain no spoilers for episodes that have not aired in the US yet. Rabid, you squeaked by in that you didn’t give any specifics away, and I feel that the Doctor has already been caught imposing his will in past episodes. (BTW, yes, I live in the US and am spoiled rotten; but I stop before actually watching the full episode…so those who have seen the rest of this season have me at a disadvantage.)
Here’s some thoughts; there have already been people pointing out that at various points The Doctor (Nine and Ten, at least) has began acting more along the lines of thinking he knows what is best in a situation, and acting on it despite the wishes of others, even though he is a limited being. I have a feeling that this is a plot point about his character that will be explored in the future. As the Doctor isn’t God, nor even a god, I would argue that he has crossed the line, though he may believe it is for the right reasons…
As for the predestination angle, it is only truly “predestined” if the outcome cannot be any different, and if the Doctor abides by River’s wishes…and he does those things that will ensure the outcome that he believes is the correct one; but again, we know so little about River that it is hard to tell where they are going with this. I personally believe it isn’t predestined, that the outcome can be different, and that will be part of the storyline at some point in the future.
In general I can’t help but to feel that the writers (this may all change when Moffat takes over) are pushing these ideas intentionally to make the viewer question whether the Doctor has too much power, or is abusing his power, or if it always defaults to him doing the right thing… I dunno, but it is an interesting discussion, and I look forward to see what the writers do with these different themes.
July 9, 2008 at 3:50 pm
[...] About Doctor Who, Atheism, and God, pt. 1… [...]
July 9, 2008 at 4:14 pm
Given that superheroes- or sometimes just plain old heroes- have the power beyond that of normal people, religious comparisons and imagery are inevitable.
The Doctor and Superman are unique in that they are literally super powered- one can alter the course of time and fate and the other is almost indestructible. Superman fits better for Moses comparisons though.
This happens often enough in fiction though DS9 anyone?
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CrystalDragonJesus
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CrucifiedHeroShot
Why is this so common? Do people- even anti theists- desire religion? Maybe. Or maybe by adding in religion you can make everything more serious. Or maybe people rip of cultures and decided to borrow from religion too.
As for the popularity of Dr Who… no idea. That show refuses to die- and has spawned too others. Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures.
July 12, 2008 at 2:06 pm
[...] T. Davies. I’ve discussed the overall themes of Doctor Who from a religious perspective here, and this episode provides more discussion opportunities from the Christian perspective. There [...]
July 14, 2008 at 2:29 pm
[...] come from a secular source (by this point all my readers should see that plainly by my enjoyment of Doctor Who, amongst other things). There are “secular” songs, for instance that are written [...]
July 17, 2008 at 8:25 pm
SS, while I agree that they are inevitable I believe there is indeed a deeper reason as to why they are inevitable.
July 19, 2008 at 2:20 am
[...] the irony of some of his plots and quotes, just as I did with Russell T. Davies and S. Moffat with Doctor Who), nor with his political leanings, but the man can write some humorous dialogue and scenes. Be [...]
July 24, 2008 at 1:26 pm
[...] concentrate, to be strong…so too does turning to the word and The Word of God. I’ve mentioned before that I find it interesting that those who do not have a relationship with God; those that [...]
July 26, 2008 at 2:25 pm
[...] As I said I look forward to the second part, to see if these themes persist. I do feel the Messiah-like concept is still full force in the Who ‘verse, but we again see the limits of a limited being like [...]