The Matrix as Reformed Philosophy

With the popular The Matrix movie trilogy as a blueprint, the authors of a new book published by Dordt College Press describe how Christians might view technological advances and science fiction concepts from a Reformed perspective.

Dordt College is located in Sioux Center, Iowa, and is recommended for support by the Christian Reformed Church in North America.

Titled The Matrix Reformed: Science Fiction, Technology, and Christian Philosophy, the book is a translation of a book written by Bart Cusveller, Maarten Verkerk, and Mark de Vries, all college professors in the Netherlands.

The book asks the question: "What can a genre of popular films like science fiction tell us about the culture we live in?"

Using the themes of science fiction, technology, and Christian philosophy, the book depicts how through science fiction films some people view "the origin, purpose, and meaning of their existence."

Starring Keanu Reeves, the first Matrix movie was released in 1999. Called The Matrix, it reflects a future in which most humans live in a simulated reality, created by machines. The other two movies are The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions.

"The culture surrounding us is, in many different ways, drenched in an ever-increasing inundation of technology, and this is poignantly expressed in science fiction," the authors write in the introduction.

Cusveller, Verkerk, and de Vries examine the philosophical and ethical implications of technological changes as well as of science fiction as a genre.

Cusveller is a professor of nursing ethics at the Christian University of Applied Sciences in Ede; Verkerk is a professor of philosophy at Eindhoven University of Technology in Eindhoven, and de Vries is professor of science education at Delft University of Technology in Delft.

“This book goes beyond the usual Christian reading of The Matrix, referencing Star Wars, Star Trek, and Blade Runner alongside (philosophers) Kierkegaard, Descartes, and Dooyeweerd,” says Steven Greydanus, film critic for National Catholic Register.

"The authors' thoughtful reflections are very much of ecumenical interest, as Reformational philosophy is meant to be."

The book published by Dordt College Press is an English translation of De Matrix Code: Sciencefictionfilms als Spiegel van de technologische cultuur, published by Buijten and Schipperheijn Motief in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

The Matrix Reformed is available at the Dordt College Bookstore and from major online booksellers.