What happens to you when you die? Does your life end, or does it go on? And if it goes on what does it go on to become?
Well, being a born-again Christian I hold to the belief, that, yes, our spirit goes on. Our mortal body decays, BUT when we die our spirit separates from our body. We inherrit a new spirtual, perfected body that our Heavenly Father has prepared for us. If we gained His favor we take this body with us and go on the Heaven. But if we did gain his favor we STILL take our perfected spiritual body, only we go on to hell a place of toment.
THIS is a Godly way of viewing the afterlife. A perfected, body. Gone is the physical body. You're free from its limitations, and now you get to enjoy the freedom a spritually perfected body.
So how do "zombies" fit in to the Christian outlook? They don't. BUT they do attempt to provide a worldview of the afterlife--albeit a completley horrific one.
Why bring this up? Why be a killjoy? Heck, some people actually even LIKE "zombie" movies. AMC's "The Walking Dead" is a popular series, and now it even has a spinoff series, "Fear the Walking Dead".
For the past two weeks I have actually watched the first two episodes in this series, "Fear the Walking Dead" and have been pleantly surprised by how strong its batch of characters are, and it's initial set-up for later episodes. NEVER really like "The Walking Dead", didn't like the survialist characters, and the undead usally bored the shit out of me. BUT as I was watching and kind of enjoying "Fear the Walking Dead" I kept having the nagging feeling that the whole "zombie" thing is just worng.
Well, I bring this up because I believe zombies and after-theology they inherently implore are a devilsh bastardizaion of the reserection.
What re-aminates people that have died to become mean-sprited canibals? Sure isn't a loving Holy Father I'll tell you that! My God is great God of beauty. He is God of the living and not of the dead.
So what's with all these "zombie" series and movies? Sure, I get the attraction factor of these movies. It's the thrill element. The thrill of being chanced and facing death. Horror of all kinds have that as their main source of attraction.
As for me, I've ALWAYS had a weird kind of interest in post-apaclyptic movies and books. Remember one of my favorite movies of all-time is "Planet of the Apes" (1968). Now talking apes aren't nearly as abomimdable as re-antimated, crazed cranibals, but the whole talking ape thing clearly is a pro-evolution, anti-creationism themed movie. Hence, it's more anti God rathter than pro God. And back when I was a young teenager I was very worried about nuclear war and what would happen after that. "The Day After" TV series freaked the shit of me. Then of cource there's "The Road Warrior" another guilty pleasure of mine.
I thought you were Christian, E.C.?
I am. I just also have a bend towards kinda dark material. Gotta watch that. Because some of that dark material is definately anti-God theology and that SHIT does sit well with me.
Let's get back to the whole "zombie" thing, and what's so wrong with that. The real harm with these shows is that they sow the seeds that death and ressurection are to be feared, when in fact that was God's plan all along. Live your life, make a choice and prove yourself to be lovers of God or not. The whole zombie thing makes you want to cling on to this life more than God intended you to do.
What animates people to become zombies? You should ask yourself that question. Sure isn't a loving God. Rather, it is some demonic thing. Which leads to the initial kernal that got me thinking on issue. The crux of this post came from a comment I read off a thread on a Scriptshadow post that gave a review of the AMC's pilot for its new series "Fear the Walking Dead" where a commenter said that the creators of both "The Walking Dead" (on AMC, 2010 - present) and "Fear the Walking Dead" (on AMC, 2015 - present) would never give an explaination of how the zombies came to be in the first place. And why wouldn't they? Because clearly this is the realm of the demonic; people being born again into a utter corrupt state where the stagger about and try to bite and eat other people.
Okay, so I'm a bible-believing Christian AND I've seen a lot of zombie movies, does that make me a bad person? Sure doesn't help me make that case that I'm not! But in watching these movies and knowing the truth about God, I start to understand that there really a war for our souls out there. There is a movement that seeks to takes something beautiful and make it vile and ugly. I'll take the truth of the Christian ressurection over the sick falseness of zombies any day of the week and twice on Sunday!
The truly harmfull thing about the zombie thing is a false seeds those shows subliminally plant in the hearts and minds of those who don't know God: the afterlife is ugly and should be avoided at all costs, their is no God active in this world and you're on your own.
We were never meant to be on our own. Life is better when God is part of your life. Thank you, Jesus, for the truth. He is the way, the truth and life. Their are sections in the gospel where Jesus does indeed talk about His blood being true drink, and his flesh being true food. The complete IDIOT, who is unreasoning and has bend to justify demonic things, MAY try to make an offhanded comment about this and zombies. Don't be that fool. Realize that when your dealing with Jesus you are dealing with One of the Three members of the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. What Jesus is really saying in claiming His blood is true drink, and His body is true food is that He is all you need to survive. He is God. He is Spirit. And He can do things that we in the flesh have a hard time comprehending.
Zombieness in totally ungodly, a bastardization from the devil. Don't let it's sublimal message stop you from serving a loving God.
The whole zombie thing is gross. A perverse form of entertainment that can only exist in world where God has left the scene.
I'm glad I know enough about it to see how perverse zombie theolory is. Of course the creators of "The Walking Dead" and its spinoff don't want to explain how the undead became that way, because in doing so they would have to explain the afterlife and what spark re-annimates people. The whole zombie thing is a corruption of God's view of the ressurection.
You can be a good or bad person, but don't fear the afterlife. There is a God in Heaven and He is a good God. A God that already has disclosed to us how this world will end. Don't believe me, read the Christian book of "Revelation".
Anyway, I love God and I hope you do to. It might be fun every once in a while to get a "thrill" from the shows you watch. But beware, don't let dark fiction get a hold of you. Instead, read the bible and let God start a work in you so that you can discern good theology from bad theology. And ALL ZOMBIE theology is BAD theology.
- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA
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