Can You Trust Christian Allegories?
Christian Allegories/Hidden-Meanings
Today we examine Christian Allegories in games and movies such as The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, Pilgrims Progress, and games such as Kingdom Hearts. Many of which such allegories are either direct or indirect portrayals of the Gospel and its message. However there does come a danger of associating all things that may portray aspects of truth, or Biblical Messages, as entirely safe for consumption. Not all things presented offer an accurate depiction of what the Bible plainly says, and there is a danger to the individual who replaces time meant to be spent in the Bible and in study of God and his character, with allegories that have a sense of fantasy and adventure to them and can include unbiblical things.
The Bible is truth, not a romantic adventure of magnificent proportions. The irony of it is that the Bible has its own fantastical stories of it’s own such as a Talking Donkey, Miracles performed by God through Moses, and most of all the miracles of Christ himself that people avoid due to its lack of romanticization.
What we make as human kind often exalts all of our sinful desires, such as having great power and ability like superhero’s. Where in contrast the Bible offer that which is pure, righteous, and true where God is the one with Power and ability, not us. We want desperately to have that sort of power ourselves, so we watch movies about Thor or other heroes that give us a sense of what power in the hands of men might be like. This isn’t inherently evil to explore fantasy like this, but it is also not inherently righteous either. In perfect world, we would have all our needs met in the Garden with God in the cool of the day, where seeking out plays, movies, books, and other forms of media would not satisfy as much as being with our Lord. We however, are not in that perfect world anymore, and so it is reasonable that people will continue to produce mediums of entertainment that can also be enjoyed by discerning Christians.
What Exactly is an Allegory?
An allegory in simple terms is something that exists as a retelling of a story and its moral value using sometimes vastly different means and characters. A successful allegory will carry the same weight and impact of the original message while missing/changing some of the details for the purpose of transposing it to another medium. An example is The Chronicles of Narnia which takes the Gospel message of Christ coming to die for our sins, and transposes it to a giant Lion named Aslan who dies for the sins of another. This story from The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis is a retelling/allegory of the true the Gospel. It is not as accurate as the Gospel or perhaps even other allegories like Pilgrims Progess, but still is a good allegory if you understand the deeper meanings.
To continue, an allegory takes a story and strips it of all its events, but keeps the conclusions, while painting a new story to fill in the gaps. Allegories often are religious in nature but can also be political by secular content makers.
Christianity is pretty well explained by the book and film iterations of Pilgrim's progress, Or even the Chronicles of Narnia (book version) and these types of allegories can be used as a form of entertainment that is wholesome and brings forth truth in Biblical doctrine for the individual or the family.
It is important to soberly remember however, that nothing can replace the very sufficiency of God’s word. Oftentimes people will unfortunately prefer these Allegories or fantasy adaptations over the real thing in the Bible. The issue is these Adaptations while helpful, cannot fully cause growth and maturity in Christ like what happens in a believer reading the Word while the Holy Spirit illuminates the text and leads them into all Truth. [1 Corinthians 2:9-16, John 14:26, John 16:13]
In no way should we supplant Gods word with Allegories. This however does not make all allegories bad, they do in fact have their place and can be enjoyed in moderation.
Can Allegories Posses Helpful Truth?
Truth brothers and sisters, ultimately comes from God alone. He is the author and founder of truth and what makes truth true in the first place. God is the one who reveals all truth to us, and it is done by his own Spirit. He reveals truth by the Scriptures he gave us and gives wisdom to those who fear him (Proverbs 9:10).
Now does this mean God cannot use allegories like Pilgrims Progress to teach us things? Of course he can!
God has from all time been using whatever he pleases to open our eyes, and sometimes he has chosen before time to use an allegory to open our eyes. Something very similar to a real life example of what an Allegory does is the event when God used Balaam’s Donkey to speak to him. The truth Balaam needed to hear, was conveyed through unconventional means by something completely different then most of how God had/has communicated to us. Its not truly an allegory if we are being exact, however it does serve as an example of God using unconventional means to give people Truth. Which is exactly what an allegory can do.
Furthermore, truths of God can be made manifest to our consciousness by prior reading of the word and example been given in some movie or TV show. You could be watching a marvel film and understand from a different angle something about what God says about the pride of men, or even in despite of the movie itself, you might see how evil man truly is and the Holy Spirit might bring to mind his word (Job 15:16).
The conclusion I am leading you to is that God can and will use all things for his glory however he chooses. The singular danger in realizing this is then seeking out truth from God, everywhere but in his word. We ought not to try and find truths in other media, but to simply find the truth in his word alone, the source of all truth. His word should be read and meditated upon day and night as a primary form of sustenance in our lives (Matthew 4:4, Joshua 1:8). The Bible is the singular weapon we have of spiritual warfare, and the main method of the Holy spirit to guide us into all truth, where movies, and events, can only bring to our attention the truth the Word has already given us.
We can learn a great deal from the event of Balaam’s Donkey speaking to him, such as how this only occured because Balaam was not listening to God. If Balaam had been listening, such extreme outlandish measure would not be warranted. We learn from this that Allegories, or unconventional means of receiving truth, are a direct result of disobediance rather then obediance. If God is using allegories in your life, the chances you are reading your Bible daily, spending time in prayer, and actually paying attention to God is pretty low. You have to remember Brothers and Sisters, that God’s word is sufficient. Allegories can be incredibly helpful and useful, but they do not supplant the word of God and its sufficiency to teach, and equip us for all good works. (Proverbs 3:5, 2 Timothy 3:16, Hebrews 4:12, Hebrews 13:21)
Safe Allegories Checklist
Now as discussed, not all allegories that exist are safe for the individual to consume. Some may point to biblical truths, while fail in many respects to accurately portray what is Biblical life and godliness. Such as a game where it makes mention of one dying for all, while simultaneously encouraging biblical untruths. This forces you as the observer of the portrayal to sort between what is good and not good, and the love for the franchise might blur some of those moral and Biblical lines for you. Here is how you can judge for yourself if you should be engaged with the allegory in question:
Does the allegory accurately represent the Gospel of Jesus Christ which is repentance from sins and trust in the savior?
Does the behavior exhibited align with what the Bible prescribes as a godly life in Christ Jesus?
Does the artistic representation faithfully represent the events of the Bible in a way that portrays the exact same conclusion as the Biblical text it draws from?
Was it expressly made to Glorify God and his Word and Truth?
Does it blur the lines of what is Biblical truth?
Does it sneak in concepts that are extra biblical and are frowned on in the Bible?
Does it blaspheme or portray characters in the Bible in a completely different light? (Such as Jesus being a creation etc or some sort of super hero such as in the game I Am Jesus Christ on steam)
Does it change or alter the events of the Bible, or the natural proper conclusions of the Bible?
Does it offer an alternative view of the Bible?
Was it made as more of a plagiarism of the Bible?
Does it mock God or the Bible?
Closing Notes
Remember Brothers and Sisters, not all allegories are safe, I have heard Kingdom Hearts is a good allegory, however being unfamiliar with the game I cannot say that it is. If something you find is a good allegory remember that it is primarily just a form of entertainment. It never can compete with the Bible and its sufficiency to deliver Truth and help you grow in maturity in Christ.
Some have said “Oh I just love this game/book/movie/etc and what it teaches about God!” and while it is good to celebrate the things of God, do not make the mistake of allowing any allegory to be your primary source of theology. Do not let in inform your theology, no matter if it’s even the classic Pilgrims Progress or some Marvel Film/Video-Game/book. Your theology and where you get your Spiritual Food must not come from the creation of men, but only God. Which is his word, purified 7 times like that of the KJV Bible.
Games, movies, and books are just that, nothing more nothing less. They are primarily meant to be enjoyed as they are, not to be a replacement for Gods word, and how much more do we enjoy these allegories when we are deep in the word of God and the content proclaims those same Biblical truths we already know!
Remember this one thing: We do not use anything but the Bible to inform upon our theology. The Bible is the Word of God (John 1:1) which we use to inform our view on everything else. Anything extrabiblical can be a danger to you, especially if you view the events of the Bible with the mental imagery of the allegory instead of the Truth of Gods word.
People can do this by watching The Chosen (a series that has highly questionable origins and creators who call Mormons part of the church and have new age people leading different part of their production) and use it to inform on how they think, and feel, about Jesus. This is not okay, and its highly dangerous.
We strongly suggest you stick to the word of God as your source of all Truth, and to simply enjoy Allegories as simple pieces of entertainment. If you see Jesus as a powerful lion, you probably watched too much Narnia. Jesus is God, and he is not an actual lion, he is God of all from before time. And while named the Lion of Judah, he is not an actual Lion.