Christ-Neo

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Stovenutts
After the first few times i saw the Matrix, i've noticed things probably alot of people have noticed: the similarity of Neo to Christ.
Lets look at Neo's real name, Thomas Anderson. The name "Thomas" can be linked to "Doubting Thomas", in that Neo never really believed that he was The One. "Anderson" is a play on "Son of Man", where the 'Ander-' finds its origins in the New Testament Greek root "andros"meaning man. Christ is the "Son of Man".
"Neo" means "new"
"Neo" Anderson = New Son of Man

Neo_77
Lets look at Neo's real name, Thomas Anderson. The name "Thomas" can be linked to "Doubting Thomas", in that Neo never really believed that he was The One. "Anderson" is a play on "Son of Man", where the 'Ander-' finds its origins in the New Testament Greek root "andros"meaning man. Christ is the "Son of Man".
"Neo" means "new"
"Neo" Anderson = New Son of Man

The makers of the Matrix do not claim the Christian faith at all. Quite the opposite; they claim to be post modernists, meaning that they believe in a universal faith that if there is a Heaven, then all roads will take us there. In spite of that, however, the biblical parallels are too obvious to ignore. Humanity is in bondage, and there are prophecies of an almighty 'One' who will come free them if they accept what he has to offer. Neo dies and resurrects himself. The parallels are all over, but in the end, the overpowering theme is "freedom" as opposed to rules. The Matrix is teaching that rules only bring us down, and that if we truly free our minds, then we will understand that rules can be bent and broken, and we through that can reach our full potential. Why the Christian parallels are there I do not know, but I do know that the creators are not intending to promote Christianity, unless their views have changed since the last time I heard about it.

Kes
They do have alot of stuff from the bible!

princess leia
i agree they have used a lot of stuff from the bible. for instance the name of the hovercraft in the first movie, the name of the city, zion. the idea of an originally perfect matrix then it turned bad.
i think, though, that they may have just used them because they think they are good names and stuff, and i dont think that neo is saying 'new'. i think they just rearranged the letters in 'one'.
although that is very good logic about neo and anderson. i wouldnt have thought of it.

alaba
yep..morpheous teaches about faith..beleiving in oneself 'you have to let it all go neo, fear doubt disbelief, free your mind...thats faith!

Stovenutts
also u can see that the crew of the nebuchadnezzer seems to represent Jesus' 12 desciples. Morpheous also represents Peter, the desciple that Jesus gave the keys to heaven to- even though Neo didn't give them to morpheous, morpheous did have the access codes to the zion maneframe.Zion is a haven to all who are free and in a way he had the keys

trav6612
I think that the W. Brothers put those symbolism in there for a reason. Just like everything else in the matrix, there is something beyond what it seems. I don't think they put it into promote christianity, but I think they put it in for a reason. What reason? I am open for ideas?

Kes
well they could be clues as to what happens next, but not every body is gonne get it! like all I got was the Neo being the same letters for one and that morpheous is the god of dreams from freek mithologi thats about it. Oh and that Cypher sounds kinda like lucifer.

Kes
lol not freek ...greek man lol big grin big grin *laughing my head of*

alaba
trav6612, they definitely didnt put it all together to promote christianity, well not conciously though..you know the bible said god could raise stones to worship him if men don't, so see this as a means to an end..god does work in mysterious ways and he'll get his kingdom preached one way or another.....ha ha!

trav6612
That is one funky way to preach, don't ya think?

Stovenutts
hey princess leia... neo does mean new

Stovenutts
i think Neo will end up dying as a sacrafice in the third movie if all this stuff is foreshadowing.

trav6612
It oculd be, but to what end would he die? To save mankind? or to end the matrix?

Stovenutts
Hmmm, thats a good question trav.

Stovenutts
Does anybody else feel that the architech was sortof like God. God the father, Neo is the son, who represents the other part of the trinity- the holy spirit?

trav6612
I would say, if you want to make that analogy, the oracle, because she was the guide for Neo along the way, as the Holy spirit is for us on the earth, a guide.

Skittles19
The Wachowski bros. use ideas and symbols from a variety of religions and beleif systems... if they intended neo to be a Christ-like figure.. I don't think they're doing a good job... Christ is supposed to be w/ out sin... hmmm Neo harldy fits that description... not that I don't like neo.. I just think his character is not even worthy of a Christ-like parallel smile

Maybe more of a superman :P

The Omega

Stovenutts
Well, you cant just say its Buddhistic because they say "the world is not real". The bible tells us that we are all "not of this world"and that the World is just a temporary place and that if we "free our minds",in that we put all faith in God we will live eternity in Heaven.

The Omega

Metroplex
Here is some other symbols that i picked up from the movie

Merrovingian=the devil (creates evil)
Architect= God (created the matrix)

Could be any religion

Kes
How do you connect Merrovingian (the french dude,right?) with the devil? confused

Metroplex
its quite obvious. He creates evil programs. example the vampires and the cake. He creates evil for pleasure and cheats on his wife.

Kes
lol But his name is from french kings!!! lol yeh I see your point.

alaba
yeah i got one..cypher judas iscariot

GoldenSpike
You people read far to much into the films! confused

All I know is NEO is an anagram of ONE

That's me done for today!

Stovenutts
yea cypher does play the role of judas prettey well

Kes
cypher never felt remorse for what he did.blink

The Omega

The Serpent

Kes
That sucks! Theres nothing good on tv!big grin

The Serpent
My take on the Matrix Trinity:

The Architect = God the Creator. Ironically, also the Devil (the creator of conflict/evil). The Omnigod, the God who created You.

The Oracle = Fate, Fortuna, Maat, Eve, Pandora. The Goddess who generates this Universe, but NOT the entity that created You.

Neo = You.

-----------------------------------------

Morpheous = The Altruist.

Merovingian = The Ego.

The Serpent
Perhaps you should "pray" for some new programming ... ?

Kes
By the way in the Noe (sp) story, the arc with the animals,doesn't god say that he would never interfer (sp) again?!It would be more like we are the show that God is watching! lol this is lame.

Stovenutts
yep hercules is an epic hero just like neo

Kes
yah you right! cool

Kes
His not from christianism or catholicism. wink

The Serpent

Kes
Noooo! I've only seen the Osiris story!
That he/she thing is kinda confusing! lol

svicic
Maybe the clue to the religious symbolism is that there is an actual character called Trinity.Maybe she is the one who brings the whole thing together e.g she's the link between Neo-who she loves,Morpheus who has been her mentor and merivingian who has been kinda devil-like and she's defeated cos she didn't let his wife get to her with the whole "kissing" thing.Just an idea

princess leia
sorry stovenutts-this is late- but i didnt mean you were wrong i just meant i didnt think they they conciously thought of that. i meant that i thin thy just rearranged the letters.

princess leia
of one. to make neo. no offense. smile

Stovenutts
oh none taken princess leia.

princess leia
what do you mean svicic? i dont understand. sorry!

princess leia
hehe i love it...except, if neo is luke and trinity is princess leia-and luke and leia are known to be not only brother and sister but in fact twins-well, i find that vaguely disturbing.
apart from that, it has everything going for it smile wink

svicic
Ok Princess Leia, basically you know how there's the Holy Trinity-Father,Son and Holy Ghost?Well she's the one-like the Holy Trinity-who brings them all together.So Morpheus is the father(her mentor),Neo is the Son(her lover) and then merovingian kinda contradicts the whole thing (sorry this is so confusing) by being like the Devil but she has been "pure" and defeated him cos she didn't let him get to her.Hope that clarifies things a bit if not then I'm really sorry for confusing you.

svicic
Ok Princess Leia, basically you know how there's the Holy Trinity-Father,Son and Holy Spirit?Well she's the one-like the Holy Trinity-who brings them all together.So Morpheus is the father(her mentor),Neo is the Son(her lover) and then merovingian kinda contradicts the whole thing (sorry this is so confusing) by being like the Devil but she has been "pure" and defeated him cos she didn't let him get to her.Hope that clarifies things a bit if not then I'm really sorry for confusing you.

princess leia
oh right i get it. yeah sorry i think it was just the way you were explaining it. o not that it was really bad. just a tad confusing. big grin

The Omega

princess leia
yeah thats cos every religion or story has something good about it. taking from everywhere has to be good smile

bonesxte
i agree...every religion has something good to take from it, but some have way too much bad

AliasNeo15
Well wut happens when ur Jewish?, like me! U can say bad.

Anonymo
Not that I am comparing, but Judas Iscariote really didn't show repent. I mean he recognized that he killed the son of God and tried to give the money back, but then he just went and killed himself. I don't think this is really repent.
When Peter betrayed Jesus, he went off and cried. But he didn't kill himself. He kept on being faithful.

He didn't take the sissy way out like Judas.

big grin

Anonymo
Yeah, this is a bit confusing. Where in the Bible does it say there is a holy trinity? I heard of being baptized IN THE NAME OF the Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit (Ghost???), but never have I read about them being together or all 3 being stuck together acting as one. In fact, I always understood that the Holy Spirit was not a person, but it seems like it is more like God's power that comes onto a person to aid them, like in ACTS 6:8-10 , where it talks about Stephen and how he became filled with Holy Spirit. Do you know the text where it says that so I can understand better where you are coming from?

Seraph
neo is the modern jesus. he died, was brought back to life and made this "skyjump" (i dont know the english word) in the matrix like in the bible.

Ushgarak
This had best not turn into a religious debate, guys. They can get very nasty very quickly!

princess leia
did hitler used to belong to kmc?...

Kes
I think killing yourself shows remorse. remorse to the point you cant go on! and he was the weak one so taking is life seems pretty apropreate.
Otherwise it would be like..oh i kill our savior...sniff sniff...oh i betread (sp) him..sniff sniff!
Please, much cooler story if somebody dies!stick out tongue

Kes
I thought it was something like Holy Eternity!blink

@dam B0mb
Has anyone really investigated the clues to the underlying religious context hidden within the word "Merovingian?" Yes it refers to an Medieval Franco Dynasty, but it also has more cryptic roots. I'd suggest that anyone reading this investigate the Merovingian Order of the Holy Grail. I think it will add some interesting depth to the Matrix's Christian/Buddhist debate. It may also change the context of the religious metaphor that is seemingly so rampant in the movies into something a bit more conceptual and abstract.

Kes
i think thats talked about in other threads. cant really remember anymorestick out tongue

neo_dragon
morpheus is not peter in the biblical reference sense, as peter outlives christ and is supposedly the first pope. a more accurate biblical simile for morpheus would be john the baptist.

Metroplex
I just realized that when Neo was in Zion, a whole buncha a sick looking people surronded him and asked for his blessing. This is almost like all the sick people who followed Christ and asked for healing.

I also agree with neo dragon. Morpheus is similar to John the Baptiste since it was John who baptized Neo thus preparing him for his journey to preach God's word.

bigbadbike2
The W bros. have made a movie like a really good book. They have put symbolism, foreshawdowing and all the other credentials that make a good book. It makes the audience think. They have taken references from the bible and many philosophers. All the main characters names have meaning (Ex. Morpheus, Neo, Trinity, ect. ect.) I do think there is a link to Neo symbolizing Jesus in the movie. However I do not believe they planned to make this a christian based movie. They just made an extraordianrily good movie. Considering we have movies that now do not require any thought (xXx, Fast and the Furious). They went back to how movies should be made. Having action with a lot of involved thought( this may also be why many people do not like the movies.) Neo represents Jesus, Morpheus represents some of the Bible and some Greek mythology, and trinity represents the bible . smile

Metroplex
Hey you mentioned all the Vin Diesel movies when you said the movies that do not require any thinkng. LOL thats a good one.

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