The story of Frankenstein, originally by Mary Shelley, has been told and retold for generations. It has almost reached the point of being too predictable for adaption. However, a new movie just came out with Daniel Radcliffe, James McAvoy, and Andrew Scott which peaked my attention. I went to see it because of the cast and left wondering about the state of my soul. You see, there are many types of monsters in this movie, and everyone could be one of them. The tagline under the poster on the right states, "Discover the origin of the monster and his creation."
In the movie, Victor Frankenstein (McAvoy) is trying to find a way to bring animate beings back from the dead. He rescues brilliant Igor (Radcliffe) from the circus to help him with his experiments, but a religious Scotland Yard inspector (Scott) is keeping tabs on him. The movie climaxes during the lightning storm which awakens the well-known monster, and the scientist and the inspector debate morality in the heat of the moment.
Frankenstein has seen some of the worst of humanity and does not believe in God. His life's dream is to create life from death and, essentially, become God himself. At this juncture, he screams at the inspector that God is not real, there is only humanity, only him. Man alone exists, and he is responsible for fixing everything which has gone wrong. Victor sets out to better humanity on his own terms, under his own power. This temptation is the first one which seized mankind. The serpent in the Garden of Eden told Eve, "God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat [the forbidden fruit], and you will be like God ..." (Gen. 3:5). Victor believes himself to be God, and he cannot see his own limitations. Often, we as people want to fix our problems under our conditions. Instead of allowing God to have His way in our lives, we put ourselves back together in a grotesque way and try to electrocute our hearts back to life. All this leads to is monstrosity.
On the other hand, the inspector is an extremely religious man. He accuses Frankenstein of being the devil's hand and calls his creations works from Hell. In order to stop the experiments, the man goes on a rampage, mobbing a scientists' home and attempting to kill both Frankenstein and Igor. As a man of God, he resents the idea of Frankenstein flipping the natural order, but as a man, he takes this vendetta too far. Romans 12:19 reads, "Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, 'I will take revenge; I will pay them back,' says the Lord." The inspector claimed godliness as the reason for pursuing his personal revenge on the scientists. How many times have we put God into a box and used Him for our own purposes? We make excuses based on things we "believe," or we pray only when we need an escape plan from trouble. God is real, and He is Almighty. He does not fit into the compartments in which we try to place Him. If we are to give Him our lives, we must surrender fully to His authority, not suppose He will do as we ask.
Finally, there is Frankenstein's creation. He has no mind, no personality; he is only living tissue without thought and feeling. This monster does not realize what he is doing because he has no knowledge of the world around or within him. Everyone is ignorant of God's law at one point in their lives. Even Paul writes, "At one time I lived without understanding of the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life..." (Rom. 7:9). This monster cannot be held responsible for the chaos he creates until he realizes what he has done is wrong. Just the same, people who do not know God's law cannot be expected to uphold something of which they have no knowledge. Once they learn what sin is, only then can they be judged according to the law.
Every one of these monsters is a part of the human existence: becoming God, using God, being ignorant of God. The Lord, like Igor in the movie, taps our shoulder and shows us our faults. It is up to us to recognize His voice and accept His aid. After all, we are not God, nor do we need to be.
In the movie, Victor Frankenstein (McAvoy) is trying to find a way to bring animate beings back from the dead. He rescues brilliant Igor (Radcliffe) from the circus to help him with his experiments, but a religious Scotland Yard inspector (Scott) is keeping tabs on him. The movie climaxes during the lightning storm which awakens the well-known monster, and the scientist and the inspector debate morality in the heat of the moment.
Frankenstein has seen some of the worst of humanity and does not believe in God. His life's dream is to create life from death and, essentially, become God himself. At this juncture, he screams at the inspector that God is not real, there is only humanity, only him. Man alone exists, and he is responsible for fixing everything which has gone wrong. Victor sets out to better humanity on his own terms, under his own power. This temptation is the first one which seized mankind. The serpent in the Garden of Eden told Eve, "God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat [the forbidden fruit], and you will be like God ..." (Gen. 3:5). Victor believes himself to be God, and he cannot see his own limitations. Often, we as people want to fix our problems under our conditions. Instead of allowing God to have His way in our lives, we put ourselves back together in a grotesque way and try to electrocute our hearts back to life. All this leads to is monstrosity.
On the other hand, the inspector is an extremely religious man. He accuses Frankenstein of being the devil's hand and calls his creations works from Hell. In order to stop the experiments, the man goes on a rampage, mobbing a scientists' home and attempting to kill both Frankenstein and Igor. As a man of God, he resents the idea of Frankenstein flipping the natural order, but as a man, he takes this vendetta too far. Romans 12:19 reads, "Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, 'I will take revenge; I will pay them back,' says the Lord." The inspector claimed godliness as the reason for pursuing his personal revenge on the scientists. How many times have we put God into a box and used Him for our own purposes? We make excuses based on things we "believe," or we pray only when we need an escape plan from trouble. God is real, and He is Almighty. He does not fit into the compartments in which we try to place Him. If we are to give Him our lives, we must surrender fully to His authority, not suppose He will do as we ask.
Finally, there is Frankenstein's creation. He has no mind, no personality; he is only living tissue without thought and feeling. This monster does not realize what he is doing because he has no knowledge of the world around or within him. Everyone is ignorant of God's law at one point in their lives. Even Paul writes, "At one time I lived without understanding of the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life..." (Rom. 7:9). This monster cannot be held responsible for the chaos he creates until he realizes what he has done is wrong. Just the same, people who do not know God's law cannot be expected to uphold something of which they have no knowledge. Once they learn what sin is, only then can they be judged according to the law.
Every one of these monsters is a part of the human existence: becoming God, using God, being ignorant of God. The Lord, like Igor in the movie, taps our shoulder and shows us our faults. It is up to us to recognize His voice and accept His aid. After all, we are not God, nor do we need to be.