Alternative Culture: The Theology of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

 

[The following post is dedicated to my wife, who loves Frieren: Beyond Journey's End]

One of the most popular anime nowadays is Frieren: Beyond Journey's End. I even see it traction among the Christian community who often regard it as the anime version of the Book of Acts.

In this post I want to explore the theology of this anime. I have watched the anime until season 2's end, so all my information is based on that. Furthermore, the creators of the series are probably not Christian, so any apparent relation to Christianity is accidental rather than intentional.

So what happens after the journey is completed?

Unlike most stories, Frieren: Beyond Journey's End takes place after the main quest have been resolved. The demon king is defeated by the human hero Himmel and his companions (one of whom is the elf Frieren). As a result, the story is focused on Frieren trying to find purpose after her quest is done (which includes finding and defeating the remnants of the demon king's followers)

This is similar to the Christian religion where Jesus had already defeated death and assured the salvation of mankind. All that is left with persuading humanity of the truth of the gospel. This immediate aftermath is covered in the book of the Bible called Acts.

The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah. - Acts 5: 41-42

Similarly, Frieren continues to do good with the mantra "what would Himmel do?".

Maturing over time

After Himmel's death (due to old age), Frieren wept. She had spent a good ten years with Himmel but yet she hardly knew him as a person. She understood his battle strategy, his values and his behaviour, but she did not know his personality, his likes and his philosophy. She had kept him at an arm's length, and only at his death she regretted not treasuring him.

Instead of staying at the stage of grief, Frieren moves on and starts her own journey and begins to understand Himmel better.

Similarly in Acts, the disciples of Jesus who once not understood that he was Messiah became transformed by friendship with Jesus and each other. They grew in their knowledge of Christ and became brave even in the face of persecution.

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all - Acts 4: 32-33

Beware false teachers

Another point that the series make is to beware of the lies from the demon mouth. In one instance, a demon loosely uses the word "mother" to appeal for mercy from humans. However, the demons were shown not to share the same morals -- they do not even have the concept of family.

This parallels the concept of false teachers in Acts. They appear to be fellow Christians, speak the same language or share the same values but seek to lead people astray.

I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.
-- Acts 20: 29-30

Conclusion

In short, Frieren feels like a fantasy "Acts" because it captures the spirit of continuing the mission after the great victory — traveling, forming community, doing good, confronting evil, and grappling with time, loss, and eternity. That's why it resonates so deeply with Christian audiences even without intending to. 

Just bear in mind that:

A) Frieren is not allegory or propaganda. It's a secular Japanese fantasy with Buddhist/Shinto influences mixed in, focused on melancholy, slice-of-life pacing, and appreciating the present.

B) Acts is explicitly evangelistic and theological, centered on the Holy Spirit, resurrection, and salvation through Christ.

C) Frieren is slower and more introspective; Acts is full of dramatic miracles, persecutions, and church growth.

Alternative Culture: Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special Theological Review

 

Mantis and Drax search Hollywood for Kevin Bacon

After the debacle that is Marvel Phase 4, I finally mustered the courage to catch Guardians of Galaxy Holiday Special. I am glad (and relieved) to say that it is one of the better shows of the Marvel Phase 4 (other than Spider-Man: No Way Home). 

In this post, I want to focus on the theological aspect of the movie, rather than just a review. There might be spoilers, so this is your spoiler-warning.

Values are not universal or self-evident
Right of the bat, the movie goes on to show that the values of the aliens (even within the Guardians) differ from each other. For instance, Drax howled with laughter when Peter's sad Christmas memory was shared, much to Mantis's disgust.

Another example is clearly shown later in the movie when the aliens were obviously fine with human trafficking while Peter (who is a half-human) was morally outraged.

This values dissonance is actually draws in attention how much of our modern day morals are drawn from the experiences of our ancestors. In other words, moral values are neither self-evident or empirical. Atheist philosopher John Gray rightly pointed out in his book Straw Dogs (2003) that our values of human rights and individualism come from Christianity, or specifically that we humans all are equal and valuable before the divine.

For instance, modern slavery is not seen with the same outrage in countries which experienced more levels of Western influence (and hence Christianity). In another example, the historic movement to disband slavery globally (within the British Empire) was also Christian-led (by William Wilberforce).

The distortion of Santa Claus and the Christmas message

Another interesting thing that the movie shows is how easily Christmas lore can be distorted. Near the start of the movie, an alien band sang about how Santa Claus "shoots missiles at your toes" and is a "burglar". To us, it is an obvious misunderstanding of "mistletoe" and Santa entering houses at night.

This is should serve as a warning to Christians on how easily the Christian message can be changed. Even within the first century of Jesus's death, the Gnostics rose up to claim that secret knowledge is required for salvation. After the legalisation of Christianity in the Roman Empire, Arianism arose to claim that the members of the Trinity were not equal. In medieval times, the Cathars advocated against reproduction. Even today, there is a promotion of the prosperity gospel which encourages the pursuit of wealth and health at as evidence of spirituality.

Thus Christians must always be discerning about ideas that are presented to them.

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God -- 1 John 4:1-2

An alien band plays a Christmas song to Peter, without understanding what Christmas is

Uniting as family is important
The major thing I think the film does well is the secular presentation of the Christmas message. Christmas is not about gifts or Santa Claus, but rather uniting as one family.

This film parallels the Christian message, which emphasises that the birth of Jesus paved a way for the people to be adopted into the family of God.  

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—  to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. -- Ephesians 1: 4-6

Of course I am not saying Peter's father represents God in any way, but the fact that the movie focuses on the importance of the intangible ties between the Guardians (specially two of them).

The Guardians exchange gifts with each other

Conclusion
I am pleasantly surprised but how a short and simple Marvel film can bring a warm message. I recommend it.

Theology 1.0: What is Nestorianism?

 

Nestorian Mongolian tribe, as portrayed in the game Crusader Kings 2

In recent years, there has been interest about Christianity in Asia during Antiquity and Medieval times. This is because evidence of strong Christian presence (during that time) has been discovered recently in the tribes of Mongolia, Western China, India and in Iran.

These Christians were often referred as Nestorian Christians. So who were the Nestorians?

A tale of two terms
The term "Nestorians" often refer to two group of Christians. They may refer to (A) the people who follow the teachings of Nestorius, or (B) the Church of the East (aka the Persian Church)

A) Followers of Nestorius

Nestorius was a Christian theologian and the Archbishop of Constantinople. Nestorius was removed from his office in 431 AD due to his heretical teaching. Nestorius taught that Jesus was both human and divine, but not at the same time. In other words, Jesus could adopt a human or divine stance, but not both at the same time. Thus Nestorius believed that Mary (mother of Jesus) could not be given the title of Theotokos (God-bearer)

This belief, called Nestorianism, ran contrary to traditional Christian teaching. Traditional belief was that Jesus was always fully human and full divine.

Nestorius was then sent into exile.

The Church of the East (aka the Persian church), however, felt that his removal from office was more political than theological. Thus they did not condemned him.

Ancient Nestorian Christian writings in West China

B) The Church of the East

While The Church of the East did not officially condemned the teachings of Nestorius, they did not officially accept them either. Nevertheless, the Church of the East included some of the rites of Nestorius, and thus earned the name "Nestorians".

After the Muslim conquest of Asian, the Church of the East expanded eastwards to India, Central Asia and China.

Today

The Church of the East still exists today in three forms: the Ancient Church of the East, the Assyrian Church of the East and the Chaldean Catholic Church. The name Nestorian is no longer used to refer to the churches as they do affirm the role of Mary as the God-bearer.