[Television Thursday] LOST and Religion
I’m a devoted fan of LOST, and have been since the first season. A lot of my friends think I’m nuts to have stuck with the show so long, and one of them even asked me the other day, “what’s it going to take for those people to just get rescued?”
I was taken aback by the question — do I really want to explain that the latest season is about those who were rescued trying to get back to the island? — but it led me to think about why this show continues to be so compelling to so many people despite the many twists and turns it’s taken into the realm of science fiction. And then suddenly, the answer hit me.
LOST is religion.
Don’t misunderstand me here — I’m not saying the show is a religion. I’m saying that it’s a metaphor, a thorough look at the ideas of mysticism and the supernatural, but through a lens that doesn’t require a Bible, a priest, or even a church.
I’m going to talk about things that may be spoilers if you haven’t been keeping up with the show, so if you want to continue to be surprised, don’t read the rest of this article until you’ve got yourself caught up. (But since you can watch the entire run for free on ABC.com, why not get started now?)
I’m pretty well-read on religion, particularly the Judeo-Christian faiths. I’m also interested in ancient Egyptian, Sumerian, and Babylonian religious mythology, and I can explain how these faiths tie in to the Judeo-Christian tradition fairly well. I would tend to argue that many of the Judeo-Christian ideas about religion come from ancient Egypt, that the pharoah Akhenaten bore some relationship to Moses, and that the book of Genesis is retelling myths from the Egyptian and Sumerian mythologies with a monotheistic twist.
Therefore, it’s no surprise to me that LOST, which takes place on an island that has ancient Egyptian temples and remnants of a statue of an Egyptian deity (probably Anubis), has a lot of religious themes, like life after death, judgment, penance and resurrection. These themes are all central to Western religious traditions because they derive from Egypt, and the Egyptians themselves were very concerned with death, and the passage to the next world.
So, let’s look at all of the Biblical elements first. The Island is a lush, beautiful place where death does not have a hold on people and where sickness and health do not exist. This ties in to two Biblical locations — the Garden of Eden and the land of Caanan, described as “a land of milk and honey.” Since Canaan is a real place out in the Middle East, it’s probably safe to assume that the Island is closer to the Garden of Eden. This is fitting, since the skeletons found in the cave in the first season are nicknamed “Adam and Eve” — a potential nod and wink from the producers.
The Island is patrolled by a defense mechanism that is unique, and possibly spiritual — a smoke monster nicknamed “the Cerberus.” In Greek mythology, the Cerberus was a three-headed dog that guarded the gates to the afterlife. More on the Greek connection in a moment. But the Bible indicates that the Garden of Eden was blocked off on the east side by the Cherubim, and that the tree of life was guarded by a flaming sword. Cherubim are angels that are a tetrad of beings, with faces both animal and man. They are mysterious creatures that often seem to change shape in the Bible. It could be that the smoke monster is a representation of the cherubim, which explains why it appears as both people and animals at different points in the show.
But the smoke monster has another tie to the Bible — in the book of Exodus, the Israelites are escorted out of Egypt by a pillar of cloud during the day, and a pillar of fire at night. It guides them at first, and then gets between them and the pursuing Egyptians so Moses can part the Red Sea. The Smoke Monster, with its cloudy appearance and its constant flashing, could be interpreted to be like this manifestation.
The Island has an exit to Tunisia, a country in the middle of the African continent, not far from the Mediterranean Sea. It’s also one of the places where Paleo-lithic humans are known to have lived. If we think of this as being an exit from the Garden of Eden, a place where the Semitic peoples described in the Bible began their lives, we can see a definite connection between the mythology of the Island and the mythology of the show.
Moving on, another major Biblical connection in the show relates to the mysterious “Jacob” and the equally mysterious “Christian Shepherd.” In the Old Testament, Jacob is the name of Abraham’s grandson, the man who literally wrestles with God and becomes known as Israel. Jacob is the man who sees a literal ladder to heaven, with angels ascending and descending on it. He is also the father of the twelve tribes of Israel, the last of which is Benjamin.
The Biblical Jacob is an interesting character — he begins life fighting his brother Esau in the womb, and while his brother grows up to be a mighty hunter, covered in red hair, Jacob is slender and cunning, with a smooth face and (it is traditionally believed) black hair. Jacob deceives his father, Isaac, to gain a birthright that rightfully belongs to Esau, and is forced to leave before he is killed. This story actually alludes to two places in ancient Egpyt — the “Red Land” and the “Black Land” — but it also plays an important role in religious tradition. In the Bible, Jacob goes on to be repaid for his bad decisions in life; his uncle deceives him and costs him seven years’ labor, and his favortism towards his son Jospeh results in ten of his sons faking Jospeh’s death and selling the boy into slavery. But God is faithful to the covenant made with Abraham, and takes care of Jacob and his family through Joseph. Thus while Jacob is not the best role model in the Jewish Torah, he is an important character whose struggles with God characterize the nation.
On the Island, we can see that Jacob’s people clearly consider themselves set apart from everyone else, and they follow his ways and his traditions without question. In the Bible, from the time of Moses and Aaron, the people of Israel needed a mouthpiece so they could speak to God directly, and assigned their leaders to do just that. Though the priests and the politcal leaders were supposed to serve different functions, the desire to be a nation like all others led to putting some really terrible kings in power who essentially led the people of Israel into idolatry and eventual exile. The Benjaminites, in particular, were responsible for some pretty heinous atrocities. (See Judges 19 for more.)
And yet we also have Christian Shepherd (notice the name!) appearing on the Island and guiding people. Christian was not a good person in life — he was an adulterer and a drunk, emotionally distant from his son and in a constant state of lying and denial. Somehow, he has been resurrected into a being with great power and presence, seeming wisdom and knowledge. This relates to the Christian idea of baptism — Christian’s sins died with his body, but he has been brought back from the dead in a perfect form, following some higher path. He interacts with Jacob, and perhaps has the same goals in mind as Jacob. But he is different as well, and seems to also have some relationship with the Smoke Monster. By the same token, Christianity and Judaism have many similar goals, but only Christianity teaches that the dead are resurrected now; Judaism teaches that the dead will be resurrected later, in the end. Christianity is concerned with the perfection of heaven; Judaism is concerned with the struggles in the present world.
The concept of judgment at the hand of the smoke monster has been a central theme of two episodes. It appears that the monster seeks repentence, and that it cannot tolerate those who sin in the name of self-preservation. This is very much in line with the Biblical sense of judgment, and it explains why Mr. Eko is destroyed by the Smoke Monster, but the coniving Benjamin Linus is not. Several times in the Jewish scriptures, the “Angel of the Lord” administers judgment and slaughters those who are being punished by God.
LOST has recently turned around the relationships of several characters, making Jack a follower instead of a leader, Sawyer a man of the law instead of a man of crime, and Juliet a willing inhabitant of the Island instead of an unwilling one. This could just be the writers sensing the fun in irony, but it also relates to the book of Matthew, chapter 19, where Peter asks Jesus what reward the disciples will receive. Jesus replies that eventually, those who follow him will be rewarded in heaven, but that “many of the first will be last, and the last will be first.” This also echoes the beatitudes in Matthew 5, just before the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus teaches a theology of opposites, where the meek will inherit the Earth.
How appropriate that this theme should arise in season 5, when the “messiah” character, John Locke, is resurrected! And the relationship between John and Ben is also interesting, as it mirrors the relationship between Jesus and Satan to some extent. Ben is a liar who makes false promises, and who ultimately is concerned only for himself. Even he is not more powerful than Jacob, but he often breaks the rules. John is not entirely Christlike (he is imperfect and makes mistakes), but his faith is in the pattern of Christ as he gradually realizes who he is meant to be. I would argue that John represents the RELIGION of Christianity better than he represents the PERSON of Christ.
I mentioned that I would return to the Greek mythology connection, and I think it’s important to bring up the point that the DHARMA initiative has been tied into several Greek mythological concepts. We’ve had the DHARMA people who nicknamed the smoke monster the “Cerberus,” we’ve had a Cyclops (Mikhail) in a DHARMA uniform, we’ve had a station called “the Hydra” on “Hydra island,” and we’ve had a shipwrecked sailor in the pattern of Odysseus (Desmond) with a girlfriend named Penelope. DHARMA also includes ideas from Eastern Religion (its name, DHARMA, and its greeting, “Namaste”) and allusions to literature (such as the Looking Glass station). Simply put, DHARMA represents the religious traditions of the rest of the world, primarily those of the Hellenized world (an empire that extended from Europe to India) and the Romanized world (which also included the British Isles). Once again, there is a Biblical connection here, since the book of Daniel describes empires that will rise and full, culminating in a beast with seven horns. Rome was known as the city of the seven hills, and its impact upon the world has been huge. Christianity itself is a religion that could not have existed without the influences of several other religions, including Greek mythology and Zoroastrian ideas.
This Greek connection is also evidenced by the fact that the DHARMA initiative engages in logical and philosophical experiments and that it does not view the island in a mystical way, but a scientific way. This is a very typical approach for one with a classical upbringing. DHARMA represents not just religion and mythology, but Western culture.
So, where does that leave us with LOST? The story is wrapping up, and it’s fairly apparent that the Island has been a part of history. The literal truths about it are sure to be far less high-minded than the themes around the Island. But it will be interesting to see if these Biblical and religious connections continue until the end… or if they will be replaced by something far less metaphysical when the show is over.
[Television Thursday] | SeanJJordan | 
April 16, 2009 12:40 am
2 Comments
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By LifeArrow, May 7, 2009 @ 11:15 pm
Hi, you had some nice ideas here (not of them, no. and lack of Eastern mythology knowledge).
how did I find your blog? well, today I was considering connections between religion and LOST, had some ideas and checked the google.
.
ok, some things I thought of and would like to share (more like John has real connections to Jesus):
1. Jesus father sent him on purpose to sacrifice himself to turn non-believers into believers. Christian said John has to sacrifice to bring people back. John died, was dead for three days and then ressurected in the island = paradise.
2. John’s father put him into a wheelchair. it’s obviously could mean the cross Jesus was nailed to. when he revives, he goes free to heaven. John, when came to the island, was no longer in wheelchair, purified and free.
3. Jesus was called the herd, and his followers were sheep he was protecting and showing the way. In the last episode John brings all people to follow him.
4. In Trinity stuff, there is John, there is Christian (Father) and there is Holy Spirit (Jacob).
5. If there are 12 deciples among the people in The Island, then Jack is the one that didn’t believe Jesus has ressurected until touching his wounds.
6. Ben is such a snake.
By SeanJJordan, May 8, 2009 @ 10:56 am
Hi LifeArrow… thanks for the comment! Those are some good points too.
I noticed after I wrote this commentary that the producers credit “The Bible” as being on of their sources for show ideas, along with “The Stand” and “Star Wars.” They’ve obviously worked some Eastern thought in there as well (The Dharma Initiative, Alpert’s test for young Locke, and so forth), but I’d say 90% of the religious analogy ties in directly to Judeo-Christian thought.
I am finding myself having a hard time accepting Locke as a Christ figure, but I think the show would be boring if he was. In light of this week’s episode, it appears that he’s up to something unfathomable to the rest. We’ll see where he’s going in the finale, I suppose!