Читать книгу The Doctor and the Apostle - Jeffrey A. Nelson - Страница 9

I sometimes say that I was a Doctor Who fan before I realized it.

When I was in elementary school, I was hanging out with a friend at his house. Our relationship had begun thanks to a mutual love of science fiction and fantasy, especially Ghostbusters. But that day he was eager to show me some episodes of a show he’d recorded, which featured a strangely dressed man who could travel through time and space in a blue police call box that was noticeably much bigger on the inside.

The man only went by the name The Doctor. In these particular episodes, his most defining sartorial choices were a long tweed coat and an even longer multicolored scarf. He was joined on his adventures by a young woman named Romana and a robotic dog named K-9. The episode I most clearly remember, and which I have long deemed my definitive first experience of the show, was a series called “Meglos,” during which The Doctor tries to foil a shape-shifting alien cactus in its efforts to steal a powerful glowing element known as the Dodecahedron and use it for destructive purposes. My friend showed me other adventures, but this one stood out for reasons that are lost to me.

I do remember loving the fantastical elements of the show, especially The Doctor’s ship and the fact that he could regenerate into a new form in order to avoid death. This earliest introduction to the world of Doctor Who made a lasting impression, and its mythology found its way into my playtime in many ways.

Given the influence of this show on my imagination, however, I never made much of an effort to watch more than what my friend had on hand at his house. Even more inexplicably, I didn’t make it a point to watch when I was older and had easier access to it via reruns on TV or through the library. I didn’t even get into the series when it was first revived in 2005, although I can recall a tinge of joy in reliving old memories when its return was announced.

But once I finally decided to delve back into the world of The Doctor a few years later, I remembered everything that I loved about it. When your show’s central character can go to any planet and any point in time that they want, there are very few limitations that can be placed on the potential for the predicaments they can get into and the strange figures they can meet. I was past due to get to know the boundless possibilities of action and excitement that Doctor Who offered, and just as I had back in my most formative years, I was not disappointed.

All of this is to say that I consider myself a genuine Whovian. I am also a minister with an interest in how popular culture and faith may interact with each other. I’ve been a fan of Jesus for at least as long as I have been of Doctor Who, although I like to think that I’ve been more committed to the former than the latter over the years.

From a spiritual perspective, the potential for learning about faith through the exploits of The Doctor is rich and deep. The show often reflects on the power of kindness, peace, love, endurance, and working together over and against the use of violence, hatred, intimidation, and destruction. It has explored themes of inequality, racism, oppression, creation care, the interaction of religious belief and science, genocide, fundamentalism, and ethics, among so many other issues that a life of faith should have something to say about, if it is to be in any way useful and relevant.

And that is the premise of this book. There is so much that Christians may be able to learn from Doctor Who. I have long thought that pop culture can sometimes be a more accessible onramp for exploring important truths about God, life, service, and community than Sunday worship or Bible study can be. Sometimes this is because the former is just more interesting and engaging. Sometimes it’s because the former is more willing to talk plainly about life’s complexity and struggles. And sometimes it’s just because the former is easier to understand. That sounds like a critique of more traditional expressions of faith, and I suppose that it is. But whatever helps us connect more deeply to the truths that my belief system professes, there seems to be more sense in making use of it than avoiding it.

All of that is why I decided to write about one of my favorite shows in this way. Christians can cull a lot of insight from Doctor Who that pertains to their faith journey. Whether you’re already a fan or this book is your very first brush with the show, I hope that this is true for you.

Our Principal Players

I’ve already begun to explain why I see value in exploring the Doctor Who universe for its relevancies to faith. It touches on many subjects that parallel what it means to be a Christian—how to love God and love neighbor in the spirit of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. The Doctor encounters situations that, while set in fantastic times and places with strange and often non-human characters, nevertheless have the basic questions and dilemmas of life at their core. These include how to treat those who are different from us, whether to solve disputes using violence or more peaceful means, what it looks like to trust or hope when you can’t clearly anticipate an outcome, what it means to rely on others and live in community, and how it looks to believe in others’ redemption even if they are unable to do so themselves.

There is also the figure of The Doctor him—or herself, and the growth, conflict, change, failures, and successes that the viewer is able to watch them experience. Far from being an omniscient or all-powerful character, The Doctor experiences many flaws and struggles. In more than one instance, The Doctor describes themselves as just a traveler who stops in and helps people the best that they can, while learning along the way as much as any other character on the show.

As will be explored throughout the book, these lessons do not often come easily. Part of what makes The Doctor such a compelling character is that they are completely immersed in the situation. They choose to insert themselves in mystery, conflict, and danger, and they react to it with as much fascination, frustration, anger, joy, curiosity, and wonder as anyone else would in a similar predicament. They have the benefit of having lived so long and seen so much that they usually have the knowledge and wisdom to eventually get themselves out of it, but not before deepening their understanding along the way.

For those less familiar with the show, a few basic facts are appropriate to share about The Doctor and the universe in which they reside. The Doctor is an alien from the planet Gallifrey, who is able to travel through time and space thanks to their ship, the TARDIS, which looks like an old British police box. They often travel with one or more companions who are usually human, although there have been some rare exceptions to that over the years.

The Doctor has had at least fourteen different faces since the show’s debut. This is due to a special power that The Doctor’s species, the Time Lords, came up with known as regeneration, which is triggered when one of their kind suffers a fatal injury. Rather than dying, they morph into a new body with a fresh lifespan, although the length of that lifespan is mostly undefined.

As a result, The Doctor has taken on a variety of personalities and stylistic choices. At times The Doctor has been more gruff and standoffish, and at times more whimsical and compassionate. They have been more grandfatherly and they have been more of a peer or romantic interest. They have been more inquisitive and they have been more confident, even arrogant, about their own intellectual ability.

For these reasons and more, fans of the show often have their favorite incarnations of The Doctor. Viewers gravitate toward certain mixtures of personality and physical traits, and may prefer one or more Doctors over others. Since The Doctor does not have a known name besides this title, the common way to refer to each version of the character is by numerical order, beginning with William Hartnell as the title character in the show’s debut: he is The First Doctor, Patrick Troughton The Second Doctor, and so on through the current Thirteenth Doctor, played by Jodie Whittaker. The one exception is when John Hurt was introduced as a non-sequential version of The Doctor for the fiftieth anniversary episode, “The Day of the Doctor”; he is known as The War Doctor.

That should be enough to get the reader started. Much more about the character and the show will, of course, be explored in the chapters ahead.

That brings us to our other main figure in this book, the Apostle Paul. Some may be wondering why I might choose to focus on his specific contributions to the Bible and to Christianity rather than a more generalized exploration of Christian faith. I have a few different answers to that.

First, I think that Paul is a much richer and fascinating person than some may give him credit for being, and that includes both devotees and detractors. The former tend to see him as a sagely and steadfast keeper of the faith, with wisdom that can be lifted from his writings to apply to modern situations just as cleanly as it was when he first composed them. Entire theological systems have been constructed with his thoughts as a foundation. But this view is always in danger of minimizing his flaws, which he is often honest about in these same writings.

The latter are more prone to see those flaws, as well as how problematic it can be to apply some of his ideas to present-day situations. Some of what is attributed to him concerning the place of women in the church and in society in general have been especially damaging throughout the centuries, and many have left him behind as a result. The ways in which Paul’s writings have been used to bully, suppress, exclude, and discriminate have brought him much scorn and dismissal.

I think that the real Paul lives somewhere between these two views. He was certainly far from perfect, and he admits this about himself more than once. His words were also contextual, written for specific situations that were playing out in real time in the communities to which he wrote. While this does not excuse ideas that still may cause harm so many centuries removed, it at least helps us better understand why he said what he said.

Paul is credited with having written thirteen letters contained in the New Testament. Scholars have disputed whether at least some of them actually came from his pen or were written by people either familiar with his ideas or who wanted to add credibility to their own. Due to this dispute and for the sake of simplifying things, this book will focus on those letters considered to be genuine: Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and Philemon.

The second reason why I am focusing specifically on Paul is because, for reasons already mentioned, I have not always had a good relationship with Paul’s writings myself. I have my own stories of having his writings used in abusive ways, as well as the stories of beloved and trusted friends who have been on the receiving end of weaponized Pauline words, and so I have not always trusted these parts of Scripture as much as others. I have come around on that in more recent years, and this book is the latest step in my own journey to reclaim Paul as part of my own faith tradition.

The final reason why I chose Paul is because I see some similarities between him and The Doctor. They both believe in the potential of the people they’re trying to help. They are both travelers who do good as best as they know how, although they’re just as prone to getting it wrong while learning from their mistakes. They rejoice with people in times of success and encouragement, and they become angry when they think that people can do better. They both live in some median existence between the legend that others have constructed about them and the imperfections that people hold against them.

The more I thought about this comparison, the more interested I became in writing about it. So that, in a nutshell, is why this book exists.

A Few Assumptions and Disclaimers

Before we proceed, I want to mention a few assumptions with which I’m approaching this book. The first is one I’ve already mentioned: I’ll be working with the letters of Paul that have been deemed authentic by biblical scholars. A further explanation about that will be provided in another chapter.

Second, I am not a big fan of books that explore faith and pop culture that are heavy on the former and only use the latter as an incidental prop. My view is that if you’re going to compare and contrast a system of spiritual belief with some piece of film, television, music, or other art, you need to respect the piece enough to let it speak for itself and then see where it leads as a result.

That is why I use the word “intersections” in the title rather than something like “parallels” or “similarities.” This book will explore both Doctor Who and Paul each on their own terms, identifying where their respective themes align but also identifying where they differ. I aim to put them in conversation with each other, rather than try to shoehorn one into the other in ways that are uncomfortable or inappropriate.

Third, I must describe my method of using pronouns, which you might have picked up on already. The Doctor has been a man through most of the show’s run, but the most recent incarnation is a woman. One of The Doctor’s primary antagonists, The Master, has also been a man and a woman at various points. Due to this element of gender fluidity on the show, there will come times where I will use the singular “they,” “them,” or “their” to refer to these characters, mostly when I am speaking about them in the most general terms as they have existed throughout the show’s history. When I am writing about a character’s specific incarnation within the context of a particular episode, series, season, or actor or actress’s tenure, I will use gender-specific pronouns.

Finally, this disclaimer is more for readers who are already fans. Because Doctor Who has had such a long existence, this book will not be an exhaustive treatment of the show. It is very likely that I will only make passing reference to, or ignore entirely, somebody’s favorite Doctor, companion, adversary, episode, or season. It was not intentional: I had a manuscript deadline and I only had so much time to watch the show while also writing about it. I did attempt, at least, to get as broad an experience of the show as I could, from both the classic series and the revival that began in 2005. I’m sorry if I end up omitting something that you were hoping to be mentioned. If it helps, I couldn’t find a way to work in all of my favorites, either (for instance, there’s no mention of the episode “Blink,” except this parenthetical note).

The Journey Ahead

Now that we’ve dispensed with introductory disclaimers and explanations, here is where we will be going next.

In chapter 2, I will look at the traveling habits of The Doctor and Paul, as well as their relationships to the institutions that spurred their journeys. In the case of The Doctor, this will be a closer look at the features of their ship, the TARDIS, and how it is often a key factor in their adventures beyond giving them the ability to go from one place to another. For Paul, this will be his profession as a tentmaker and his sometimes tenuous relationship to other church leaders and apostles.

Chapter 3 will explore The Doctor and Paul’s struggles with their own sense of identity. The Doctor often has to step back and evaluate who they are, most notably after a regeneration, but at times when they are faced with their own overconfidence and failure as well. Paul’s case is similar, as he carries his past as a persecutor of the church with him, as well as other weaknesses that at times hinder his ministry with others.

In chapter 4, I will further explore Paul’s admissions of weakness, but also how he drew strength from his sense of God’s presence and work in the world as well. Likewise, The Doctor often approaches problems while avoiding conventional solutions such as the use of violence to solve them, which some other characters see as weak. This chapter will ask what true strength looks like, and whether it always has to follow the path that many prefer.

Both The Doctor and Paul had moments when they became frustrated with the behavior of humanity. They both wonder at times why they keep bothering to help people when they often end up acting in such disappointing ways. Chapter 5 will explore this frustration, as well as how they deal with it in order to continue in their respective missions.

Chapter 6 will analyze the question of whether anybody is truly beyond turning their life around from one that is harmful to oneself or others to one that is life-giving. For The Doctor, this question was most often personified in his longtime nemesis, The Master. For Paul, this played out in his ongoing argument with others concerning who got to be part of the new Jesus Movement. As we will see, the answer that each come up with is similar to the other’s.

The Doctor and Paul also each dealt with the question of what unity looks like if everyone in a group doesn’t all look, think, or act exactly alike. For The Doctor, this question usually came up while dealing with their foes the Cybermen. For Paul, this often centered on the issue of whether non-Jewish believers needed to follow parts of the Mosaic law in order to be considered part of the church. Chapter 7 will focus on how each made room for diversity while seeking a common goal.

One’s life and faith journey is not meant to be one traveled alone. The Doctor often has a companion who balances them out and helps them see aspects of a situation that they otherwise would be blind to. Paul also had multiple companions who supported his work in different ways. Chapter 8 will focus on the importance of having fellow travelers to help us do what we can’t do by ourselves.

As mentioned earlier in this chapter, one of the biggest causes of Paul’s notoriety is some of what is included in his letters concerning the place of women in the church. However, there is much more evidence to suggest how much he valued the voice and work of women alongside him, most notably how often he mentions women as coworkers in his ministry. Likewise, The Doctor has had many indispensable women in their life, including their thirteenth incarnation. Chapter 9 will highlight the importance of women to both figures, as well as the continuing critical role that women play in the life of both the world and the church.

Chapter 10 will explore the concept of regeneration in Doctor Who, while comparing and contrasting it with Paul’s presentation of how resurrection works. There are similarities between the two, but also major differences. One thing that they have in common, however, is the ongoing hope and assurance that they provide for others.

My hopes for you as you continue reading are multiple. I hope that fans will discover something new about this incredibly imaginative show that we love, and that those less familiar with it may be inspired to give it a chance. I hope that those seeking a greater understanding of Christian spirituality and faith will receive that in even a small way. I hope that fans of Paul may be able to approach him more realistically and that non-fans may find something redemptive. I hope that more than one of these things happens for every reader. And I hope most of all that I’ve done right by both of this book’s main subjects, and that as a result they may each have something to say to you.