religious ties

yes, good things can happen...like if you have a "good christian heart", then you would pray to the Lord, and if something bountiful happens, then you would say it came from Him because you believed. Our world is some kind of matrix, but not in the literal sense of the movie...

and a little something about Gnosticism - a pre-Christian and early Christian religious movement teaching that salvation comes by learning esoteric spiritual truths that free humanity from the material world, believed in this movement to be evil.

ommes: the christian belief DOES expect a messiah to, in respect, return to the christians, the so called 'second coming' of the messiah is reffered to alot throughout the Bible.

i think when morpheus gave the speach about the ONE returning to the matrix and that meaning the 'salvation' of Zion it sounded alot like he was talking about a 'second coming.' when neo returned to the matrix and found himself to be the one, the second coming occured. this is just like christianity in a sense, for the christians believe the ONE (the messiah) will return one day, just like morpheus thought.

Ref: ... the christian belief DOES expect a messiah too ...

Are you serious? I mean, I am interested in religious subjects, although I don't see any proximity of any of them with myself, but if this is true, then I would have ignored a a very important aspect of Christianity.

Could it be true for one of the churches, catholic or protestant, or do all churches expect the messiah?

im pretty sure that the catholic church does, not sure about the protestant though.

also, remember in the beginning of M1 when neo answers the door to his apartment and give the red haired guy that cd? he says to him "thanks man, your my savior, my own personal jesus christ..."
i think the brothers were clueing the audience to the religious ties.

Today I checked on whether the Christians do expect a messiah by some friends, one of them being Christian herself, they were surprised as I was. One of them even told that it would be absurd, since Christians don't need a new messiah, unlike Judeans, which have been an oppressed community throughout most of the history, and had to cling to a hope, which they reflected to the idea of a saviour. I also think that's logical, Christians never have been an oppressed minority, apart from their early centuries at the times of the Roman empire. Anyway, whatever, perhaps I'll read some more on this, but you should also verify whether or not you actually are expecting a messiah. Nevertheless it's your religion, and one can observe that it's important to you.

I remember the "follow the white rabbit" conversation, good catch, but I'm not sure if it's a direct hint to Neo's future role, or a casual allegory. The savior is gonna be Neo, so he will take over the role of whomever you believe in. The important thing that I've seen is that humanity in the film, is in a state of mass oppression, of which the most popular resemblance is the oppression the Judeans have undergone in history. If the film would be taken by the Saudi Arabian film industry (I don't know whether there is a SAn film industry, let's say there is), then the wording would be "you're my personal Mohammed", but the role Neo plays would still be "the messiah of the oppressed people" (of course, it wouldn't come that far, most probably, since the writer would've been hanged, or his head cut off because of some crime like alliance with Satan, years ago). On the other hand, religious motives, in this film, are material in the context of the argument. They don't stand there for themselves, they are there for to support and diversify the argument. This movie says something, even something no one would be pleased to be said.

Imagine yourself at your 60's, and an old wise man appears in your dream, and says: "the purpose that you were striving all these years was a lie, you missed the truth completely." What would you do? You wouldn't have neither the time, nor the energy for a restart. Most people would go mystical and convince themselves, if their purposes had been a lie, then their lives would be lies either, and this would reestablish their inner peace. And they would remain to be connected to the Matrix.

ommes> speaking as a christian, we do not expect A messiah, we expect THE messiah (aka Jesus Christ) to return to earth and set up his kingdom on earth. This is written throughout the Bible, including BOTH Old and New Testament. And as far as i know, ALL christians believe this, except perhaps the Orthodox christians, i do not know much concerning their beliefs. The Jews are expecting the messiah also.

and, just to clarify, i believe, and i might be wrong here, but wouldn't the SAn movie industry have Neo say "you're my saviour man, my own personal Mujaheddin"? i think that would be a better parallel...

As the name of the Christian prophet is Jesus Christ, the name of the Islamic prophet is Mohammed (or Muhammet, or officially Hazreti Muhammet (Sallallahü Aleyhi Vessellem)). Mujaheddin, or Mujahit are those that make the Jihat, the holy war. It's the general name given to the soldiers that fight in the name of Allah (which is the name of God in Islam).

Originally posted by Ömmes
Ref: ... the christian belief DOES expect a messiah too ...

Are you serious? I mean, I am interested in religious subjects, although I don't see any proximity of any of them with myself, but if this is true, then I would have ignored a a very important aspect of Christianity.

Could it be true for one of the churches, catholic or protestant, or do all churches expect the messiah?

go to muslims thread and have a look at the link in top I think that forum would be ur kind of forum

How are religious leaders handling the Matrix. I read one article that it was banned in some countries (Egypt I think) for its religious views. However, anyone who believes that this is a religious movie has gone too far. It's listed a sci-fi/action/war/martial arts/ect, but not religious or other wacky themes.

speaking as a christian, we do not expect A messiah, we expect THE messiah (aka Jesus Christ)

-thats exactly what i meant....... being a christian also, it is true that the bible states that THE mesiah will return one day for the salvation of the christians.

Yesterday I asked a friend of mine at the Russian embassy to check for me at the Father of the Istanbul Saint Antoigne church.

I have to apologize if my insisting on the subject of the Messiah offended and/or annoyed the members of the forum.

no no, this IS the time AND place, believe me 😉