The Matrix
directed by Andy and Larry Wachowski
Reviewed by Matt "The Hack" Limber

Dear Bob,

If you're like me, you don't want to read this review - unless, that is, you've seen The Matrix at least once. From what little I had heard, the film sounded like just another sci-fi/action movie with a plot designed to demonstrate the magic of computer-generated footage at every possible opportunity and would probably have a cheesy "love" story tacked on somewhere. Fortunately, the film was a change of pace and not what I expected, though it did have dazzling effects and that cheesy love interest.

In brief: in the present day, Thomas, a computer programmer moonlighting as a hacker called Neo, is thrust into a new world which he is initially unwilling to accept simply because that world's truth means all he knows is wrong. The new world is actually Earth about two hundred years in the future at a time when machines built and given artificial intelligence by man have all but taken over the world. They have hooked up nearly all men to a giant computer, which plugs directly into the brain providing electrochemical stimuli that make men's minds think they are truly experiencing the simulated reality they perceive. Since all men are thus occupied 24-7, the machines use them as "copper tops," i.e., a renewable energy source. The plot, then, revolves around a group of anti-heroic rebels (hackers, as it were) trying to free the minds of the people from the Matrix, which is the name of the giant simulation.

The audience of this publication will quickly recognize the dominant messianic motif that courses the veins of the entire production. The film is replete with biblical allusions- from the city of Zion to the betrayal, death, and resurrection of the One (the Messiah) to the conversion process wherein a man is freed from the bondage he is born into. However, despite the myriad external parallels we could draw to biblical narratives -indeed, the story and nomenclature seem almost Christian at times - the underlying, interior parallels, which shape the dialogue and ultimately the true themes, point more to an anti-Christian humanism and its whoring cousin, existentialism. God is entirely absent from the picture. Fate rules the land - until, that is, Neo, the new man, casts off his lot, realizing he is truly free. One inauthentic man, the traitor, chooses to return to the false reality where he is comfortable rather than live the hard life he knows to be the true and difficult one.

Despite the violence and vulgar language (to which I am somewhat calloused), I enjoyed the movie much. The story is strong. One is frequently required to piece together the details of the plot, rather than having those intricacies exposited directly. The music is exceptionally well-suited, and the cinematography is most impressive. Technically this film is a masterpiece, and because the sound is so important and because several beautiful scenes will lose their impact without the widescreen, I suggest and hope you can still see this movie on the big screen. Follow the white rabbit ...

The Way Home
by Mary Pride
Reviewed by R.C. Sproul Jr.

Dear Bob,

I not only end up in some pretty weird places, but I usually get there through weird routes. I came to my millennial views not through a careful study of the prophecies of Daniel (though that ever expanding Rock sure sounds,post-millennial) and the apocalypse of John, but through the casual reading of the Great Commission and the Lord's Prayer. In like manner, the wacky views you see expounded in ETC, particularly on family issues, grew not from an in-depth study of the Puritans, or some flirtation with the anabaptists. It started differently, when I was younger, confident that I had a sound world view. I was Reformed in my theology, and Austrian in my economics. That pretty much covered it, right? Soul and body. But then a friend asked me to read a book for her, that a friend had commended to her. That book was The Way Home by Mary Pride. Yeah, I know. It is pretty embarrassing to have this little book cause such a change in one's life.

Here's what Mrs. Pride did. First, she taught me about babies. She explains here that babies are a blessing from God. Now, that did two things for me. First, it taught me that babies are a blessing from God. But perhaps more importantly, it taught me that perhaps I was a tad more worldly than I thought, a tad less Reformed in my thinking and doing than I thought.

It's that second part that was so powerful. I thought, "If I was wrong about this, what other assumptions of the world have I swallowed?" And Mrs. Pride helped me swallow my pride as she showed me more of that I had bought at Vanity Fair.

The book begins with an assessment of the feminist movement, and refutes its underlying assumptions with Scripture. In doing do, she reveals the beauty of homemaking. From there she moves on to babies, and the folly of seeking to avoid God's blessings. Part three looks at child rearing, then the work of mothers and the ministry of mothers. I will not argue that Mrs. Pride argues well. There are noticeable lapses in reasoning. (I told the friend who had asked me to read it, 'Her arguments are atrocious. Her conclusions are impeccable.") But that is more than made up for with the healthy dose of Scripture. The value in the book is in its reminders of what God says.

This is not a book that you use to throw at your wife if she starts to nag about something (for one thing it's only a 200-page paperback). Instead, it will be a step along the way to showing you what your family is supposed to look like. There are other such books, many of them better. Anything by Doug or Nancy Wilson would be great. But this book helped me escape in part because Mrs. Pride had once been a feminist, a prideful Ms..Watching her find her way home helped me find my way home.