Christianity in 'A Wrinkle in Time'

Debate over Christianity in ‘A Wrinkle in Time’

By Gkaidan (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons
By Gkaidan (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons
The book and the movie are essentially science fiction with theological aspects mixed in

Contrary to the general perception that the movie A Wrinkle in Time is a science fantasy plus a Christian movie, only the first part is true[/tweetit]. The Disney produced movie at first brings to it all the Christian notions of love, darkness, and light. The description announced by the Disney company confirms the same, describing the flick as it will take the audience across the dimensions of space and time. It analyzes the nature of darkness and contrasts it with light. The film also extols love's triumph over all others.

Christianity in ‘A Wrinkle in Time'[/tweetthis]

The movie is slated to be released in March 2018 and was adapted from the novel bearing the same name written by Madeleine L'Engle. The book was first published in 1962. The book literally is a journey across the universe, with the protagonist a tween named Meg. She lives with her mother, who is a scientist, her two handsome and well-adjusted younger brothers, and also a baby brother who is only five years old. The adventure starts when Charles Wallace, the baby brother, wanders off to a mysterious house near their countryside home. The reader is told that the family has a father as well, but he has not returned home for about a year. The adventure gathers pace when Meg and Charles meet a series of strange characters with unique names like Mrs. Whatsit. An idyllic planet named Uriel comes into the picture and another character named Mrs. Which.

The characters are tessered to yet another planet modeled on the authoritarian regimes of the time when the book was written in 1962. This planet was named Camazotz, a grim habitation with a capital city of the same name. The whole planet was controlled by a gargantuan entity named CENTRAL Central Intelligence.  Camazotz has everything but creativity. The planet is also deficient in love, the one element which generates the creative urge. Central Intelligence is controlled by an entity named IT who gets to control Charles after the latter mistakenly believes that he can save his father by bonding with the entity. The children, after a series of twists and turns, locates the father, and takes him to a safe planet. She breaks IT's spell on her brother by the power of love. It is the only force in the world which IT cannot break or have control over.

Devout Christians have a problem with the book, and by extension, the movie, as the A Wrinkle in Time clearly mentions Christ in same league as Einstein, Gandhi, and Buddha fighting evil on earth. Many have objected to the mystical powers depiction, saying that the occult is referenced in the book.

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