Dr. Strange — Invitation to the Occult or Gateway to a Biblical Worldview?
[image error]In a recent Unbelievable podcast, pastor Tim Keller debated atheist Jeremy Rodell about whether humans “make sense without God.” At one point in the show the host reads from Keller’s latest book in which the author makes the claim that “Christianity is the only truly cross-cultural religion” and that unlike Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, which largely exist within specific geographical boundaries, Christianity is represented in every major cultural/geographical center. Christianity is truly “a world religion.”
What makes Christianity so culturally accessible? In his new book, Making Sense of God, Keller references African writer Lamen Sanneh who suggests that “Christianity is less culturally imperialistic than secularism.” Whereas the existing African worldview — one of belief in spirits and invisible powers — would need be jettisoned in order to embrace a materialistic worldview, Christianity allows for the existing African framework to be “reconfigured without being overthrown.”
A reading of the Bible shows that it respects the African belief that there is a vast supernatural realm, full of evil and good spirits, but it also tells us that there is one who by the cross has ‘defeated the principalities and powers,’ because he has procured forgiveness and the favor of God (Col. 2:12-25)…
So rather than condemning “African belief” because of its spirits and magical systems, Christianity embraces and “reconfigures” the pagan worldview.
Likewise, it is its belief in “a vast supernatural realm,” and the humility one takes to access it, which makes director Scott Derrickson’s new film Dr. Strange so compelling. The only thing Derrickson requires of his viewers to enter the fantastical universe of the crippled brain surgeon / Sorceror Supreme is to jettison their belief that “matter is all there is.” In that, Christian audiences should find much to like about Marvel’s latest superhero incarnation.
In his interview with Relevant magazine The Complex Faith of Dr. Strange Director Scott Derrickson, the director provides a key to the worldview behind his iteration of the comic:
To Derrickson, the allure of Doctor Strange doesn’t spring from a desire to conform the story to his perspective, but rather comes from the places the source material’s view of the universe syncs up with his own mindset. “I can’t help but view the world mystically,” he reflects. “It’s how I see it. I’m not a strict materialist. I think there’s much more to the world than what we see with our five senses. I think I’m a good choice for this material because I see the world that way.” (bold mine)
Throughout the article, Derrickson’s Christian faith is mentioned. This should, I think, be a cause for celebration among believers — a professing Christian directs the #1 movie in America which challenges a strictly materialistic view of the universe.
However, as is sadly par for the course, some Christians are denouncing the film as a gateway to the occult. Perhaps most prominently is Dr. Ted Baehr of the Christian Film and Television Commission who issued a press release stating:
[Doctor Strange is] a dangerous introduction to demonic occult deception. … The Bible clearly warns against the kind of occult practices and sorcery the hero in this movie learns to do, in Deuteronomy 18:9-12 and Galatians 5:20. Also in the movie, the hero’s New Age, occult guru teaches there may be no afterlife, that death is truly the end, and that this is a good thing.
Make no mistake, the good doctor — Baehr, that is — has a point. Not only does the Bible warn against sorcerory and occultism, but Dr. Strange could actually be “a dangerous introduction to demonic occult deception.” By discussing things like chakras, astral projection, and the third eye, the film is without question appealing to “real life” mystical jargon. Unlike Iron Man or the Hulk’s attempt to explain the fantastical through science or physics (imagined, for sure), Dr. Strange uses contemporary esoterica as a springboard for the character’s powers. In fact, the source material specifically tapped into the then culture’s drift from a Judeao-Christian worldview. From the Guardian:
The character rose to prominence just as the American counterculture was beginning to dabble in forms of spirituality outside of the Judeo-Christian establishment. The adventures of Stephen Strange tapped into eastern mysticism, psychedelic trips into alternate realities, and the absolute certainty that there is more to existence than what you can see with your eyes.
Isn’t this enough grounds to legitimize Baehr’s condemnations? How can Christians enjoy a film whose central devices appeal to Black Magic? Allow me to provide several reasons why Christians need to step back and take a breath.
In their fantastic expose, The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings, authors Philip and Carol Zaleski highlight the role that fantastical literature, myth and fairy tales, played in C.S. Lewis’ conversion.
Lewis “was open to the preternatural, but remained deaf to supernatural claims. This could not have been a comfortable position. Those who delight in mythology and fantasy already have one foot in a spiritual cosmos.” (pg. 77, bold mine)
However, it was Lewis’ “delight in mythology and fantasy” that awakened something inside him — “the possibility of worldviews beyond strict materialism.” (pg. 84)
First let me suggest that films like Dr. Strange serve not as a template for orthodoxy, but as a gateway to a worldview “beyond strict materialism.” In the same way that “the Bible shows that it respects the African belief that there is a vast supernatural realm,” so the world of Dr. Strange embraces and invites viewers into a world beyond the strictly material. No, there is no savior awaiting us in this world. There are no winks at Scripture to remind the viewer that the director is guided by a biblical worldview. And there is no open renunciation of occult elements. Rather, the gateway into Dr. Strange’s fantastical, supernatural world is humilty. The access point for Doctor Stephen Strange into the world(s) of the fantastic is not occult technique, but first and foremost, an ego-crushing accident that maims his hands and sends him soul searching. We are reminded throughout the story, as we watch the brain surgeon’s quivering hands, that surrendering our egos and embracing our woundedness is often the gateway to something transformative.
This idea of Christianity allowing for an existing philosophical framework to be “reconfigured without being overthrown” is a key to how Christians should approach films like Dr. Strange. Yes, there are references to non-Christian and occult elements. However, in a world where Science and quantum physics has materialists now questioning the nature of existence, even reconfiguring their calculations to include a supernatural world outside us is a nudge toward a biblical worldview. In the same way that Lewis’ belief in mythology and fantasy were a gateway to a belief in a biblical worldview, Dr. Strange’s jettisoning of strict materialism — even though it springboards off the mystical arts — is a step away from the dead end of Scientism.
In his interview with Relevant magazine, Derrickson is clear about not forcing his own religious perspective into the film’s narrative. Rather, he seeks to appeal to traditionally opposing camps where “religious ideas and scientific ideas overlap.”
When pressed to consider how his Christian faith influenced his work on Doctor Strange, Derrickson observed that he’s gotten away from the impulsive need to express his own point of view as he’s matured as a filmmaker.
“In this age where the word ‘Christian’ conjures up angry, vocal, closed-minded Christians and the word ‘atheist’ conjures up images of angry, closed-minded atheists and all of these terms just become fighting words,” Derrickson says, “I really liked the idea that the comics and the movie therefore could just be a third thing where we’re talking about magic and we’re talking about mysticism and we’re talking about possibilities and other realities and places where we all know religious ideas and scientific ideas overlap, even though we’re not really playing with either in this movie.”
In the simplest sense, Dr. Strange can work upon viewers in the same way that Norse gods, fauns, and water sprites worked upon C.S. Lewis… by helping the seeker place “one foot in a spiritual cosmos.” Articulating that cosmos, its nature and constraints, is another story.
A second rebuttal to the condemnation of Dr. Strange is this: The fictional portrayal of ANYTHING evil or questionable can be dangerous.
Can Dr. Strange lead one into the occult? Absolutely! But ANY film or work of fiction that depicts ANYTHING evil, weird, different, or questionable can lead just about ANYONE into something unhealthy. Films that include the use of guns might influence someone to use violence. Films that include drug use might influence someone to use drugs. Films that include sexual immorality might influence someone to lust and pursue an immoral lifestyle. Films that include suicide might influence someone to commit suicide. Films that include depictions of street racing might encourage someone to street race. Films that include racism might encourage someone to be racist. Films that… oh, you get the point. At what point is the artist free to depict evil, immorality, and spiritual misalignment without being responsible for the viewers’ interpretations?
In fact, in my article 7 Ways “Clean” Fiction Can Hurt Us, I concluded:
The desire to keep our minds focused on what is “pure, lovely, and admirable” is a great thing. Heck, it’s biblical! Nevertheless, that same Bible says that Satan disguises himself as an “angel of light” (II Cor. 11:14). In other words, Satan is more likely to deceive us with something that looks good (“clean”), than something that looks evil. Just because some stories are free of profanity, violence, and nudity, does not make them impervious to spiritual deception. In fact, the desire to read only what is “free of profanity, violence, and nudity” may itself be a spiritual deception. (bold in original)
Even films/fiction that are portrayed as “safe,” “clean,” and “family friendly” can depict an image of life or people that is absolutely unhealthy. Perhaps this is why some have even described Christian romance as “emotional porn.” Point being, “God’s Not Dead” might be just as spiritually deceptive and dangerous as “Doctor Strange.”
This is why we need discernment.
Here’s one final thing about Dr. Strange that, I believe, keeps it from being a gateway to the occult — the powers on display are completely and utterly comic book in nature. This is a freakin’ superhero movie, folks. I mean, we’re talking about dissolving worlds, creating time portals, and using universal energy to spontaneously create whips and shields. Taking my grandson to this movie would not require a follow-up lecture on why he should not try to levitate. It’s the broader lesson, the one about not swallowing anything whole, about discerning an artist’s worldview and seeing past the obvious, about not require paint-by-number fictional narratives, that is the lessons many Christians appear to struggle with.
So in the same way that Keller sees Christianity as “less culturally imperialistic than secularism,” Dr. Strange offers many viewers the chance to to have their beliefs “reconfigured without being overthrown.” While some might cite the references to mysticism or an absence of overt biblical references as an indictment, the film offers a portal into a world where “a vast supernatural realm” is at our fingertips. If only we can surrender our trembling, broken hands to the possibilities.
