Lord Acton, a British historian, once said: “All power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Throughout human history, the Church has been at the center of much criticism, including its relationship with the state, the persecution of heretics, the Crusades, the Inquisition, and homophobic beliefs. In Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series, the author seeks to convey the true nature of the Church and its effects on the world of men. It is influenced by John Milton's Paradise Lost, notably the Fall of Lucifer and the Fall of Man. The fall of Lucifer freed Satan and his fellow angels from the will of God. The Fall of Man granted free will to men. Pullman favors another "Fall" against the Church, or rather against men who oppress other men by using religion as a cover to promote their own corrupt motives and commit evil deeds. Additionally, Pullman believes in the power of analogies. In a rare interview, Pullman said: “If you want your children to be smart, read them fairy tales. It’s about thinking by analogy. And analogy is an extremely powerful tool in science” (Jukes). Pullman uses this power of analogy to express his own opinions about the Church while advocating that men think for themselves through science, or rather evidence. And although Pullman criticizes the Church and its dictatorial power over the world, he is not necessarily criticizing religion itself, but rather the way religion is used to cover up the immoral motivations of men. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essayThe first in the At the Crossroads series, The Golden Compass chronicles a world under the international theocracy of the Magisterium, also known as the Church. Pullman writes that “since Pope John Calvin had transferred the papacy to Geneva…the power of the Church over all aspects of life was absolute” (The Golden Compass 16). The Church seeks to suppress all kinds of heresy and to dominate the lives of men. As shown by the Master poisoning the wine intended for Lord Asriel, who seeks to research "Dust", a mysterious particle attracted to adults, the Church is willing to act illegally and without limits in order to protect its own interests and to eliminate anyone. in his own way. However, we find that it is the members who make up the Church, and not the religion itself, who threaten the free will of men. A similar desire for total domination is found with God in Paradise Lost. God does not give free will to angels, believing that angels are his servants. Milton writes that “Of Providence, Foreknowledge, Will, and Fate, / Fixt Fate, free will, absolute foreknowledge” (Milton 559-560). Presumably, God did not want humans to have free will, preventing them from eating from the Tree. of Knowledge. Satan, the most beautiful of all angels, desires this free will for himself and for his fellow men. Milton writes that “at what hour his pride / had cast him out of heaven, with all his host / of rebellious angels, by whose aid he aspired / to place himself in glory above his peers” (Milton 36 -39). Satan also desires to rule like God, unwilling to bend to God's will and arguing that his father is a tyrant. This desire ultimately leads to the Fall of Lucifer, in which Satan is banished to Hell after waging a failed war for control of Heaven. Satan is best described by his own quote: “It is better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven” (Milton 263). After his failure in theconquest of heaven, Satan sets out to corrupt humanity. Ironically, his action in convincing Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge leads humans to gain free will, which Satan so desired for himself and his fellow angels. By comparing his novel to Milton's, Pullman is not questioning the existence of God or the feasibility of religion, but he is criticizing the Church for its corrupt desires and its actions taken to pursue those desires. Similarly, Milton portrays Satan as a tragic hero, who seeks the freedom to choose his own life, while depicting God as an authoritarian lord, who seeks to control the lives of his angels and his new creation, humans. To better understand the Church, we must analyze its actions in more detail. The Golden Compass also explains that human souls exist outside of the corporeal body as demons that accompany and aid their humans. Interestingly, children's demons move freely and have the ability to change their appearance into any creature, becoming a permanent form once their humans reach puberty. The main plot concerns the Church secretly separating demons from kidnapped children through a process called intercision, thus breaking the bond between demon and human. Pullman explains that “that was all he had, a piece of dried fish; because he had no demon…it was an intercision, and he was a separated child” (The Golden Compass 107). The Church believes that this process frees the subject from "dust", which is considered the physical manifestation of sin. . However, the "liberated" children are lifeless, appear to have no free will, and are therefore easier to control by the Church. Once again, the Church is compared to the God of Paradise Lost. The Church and God seek to dictate the future of all sentient beings. Similarly, in order to seek out and destroy the source of the "Dust", Lord Asriel, a scholar, cuts the demon of Roger, a friend of Lyra, in order to release enough energy to punch a hole in a universe parallel. Apparently the Church and Lord Asriel are sacrificing children for their own motives. However, the Church seeks to imprison all humans to its will by "liberating" them from their demons. On the contrary, Lord Asriel seeks knowledge and desires to save all humans; he is not motivated by corrupt desires. In this context, Lord Asriel is a tragic hero like Satan, acting immorally to do good in general. Pullman uses the power of analogies to compare the objects and characters in his novels to those in Paradise Lost. However, in doing so, it is almost as if Pullman acknowledges the existence of God; Pullman disagrees with the tyrannical presence of the Church but understands that God can be real. Pullman continues the next novel, The Subtle Knife, in a parallel universe, introducing the notion of parallel universes and dark matter. These notions are controversial because they both lack solid evidence to support them. In fact, they are like religion, requiring people to believe in them more than facts to support them. Pullman may have included these topics to show that religion should not be followed blindly, but rather faced with resistance and questioning. It should be noted that Pullman is not denigrating religion but trying to promote healthy, reasonable doubt rather than blind faith. However, the most important fact we learn from this novel is that Lord Asriel is raising an army to fight the forces of the Church and that Lyra is prophesied to bring about the second Fall of Man. Additionally, the Church also "assembles the greatest army ever known" in order to silence Lord Asriel andto assert his reign (The Subtle Knife 26). In Paradise Lost, Satan fails to win the war against God, who has also assembled a large strong army, and is unable to free himself and his fellow angels from God's rule. Eve causes the first Fall of man by disobeying the rule set by God and eating from the Tree of Knowledge. This choice leads humans to acquire free will to choose their own life. Pullman attributes Lord Asriel to Satan and Lyra to Eve. If Lord Asriel failed in his rebellion against the Church and the Authority, he would have failed his fellows by allowing the Authority to tyrannically rule all universes. Its failure would also undo the effects of the first Fall of Man, since the Church would separate demons from all humans and leave them without free will. If Lyra succeeds, then she causes the second Fall of Man, which frees humans from the dictatorial presence of the Magisterium and Authority. Mrs. Coulter, an agent of the Church, comments, "Well, I'll have to destroy her [Lyra] to prevent another fall" (The Subtle Knife 189). Additionally, Mary Malone, a physicist who studies dark matter, or "Dust", is tasked with finding Lyra and "playing the serpent", or the role of Satan (The Subtle Knife 150). This revelation further supports Lyra's role as the second Eve. The amber spyglass further exposes the corruption of the Church and recounts its fall. The novel begins with Mrs. Coulter, Lyra's mother, keeping a drugged Lyra in a secluded cave hidden from the Church. Pullman writes: “A drugged and deceptive sleep! Ama saw a white streak materialize on the girl's throat as her demon effortlessly transformed into a long, sinuous creature with snowy fur” (The Amber Spyglass 50). Mrs. Coulter seeks to protect Lyra from the Magisterium and bring about the second Fall of Man. In a sense, Mrs. Coulter is compared to God, as she hopes to protect her child from outside forces. Furthermore, she deprives Lyra of her free will, just as God deprives his creations of free will. Just as Satan visits Eve in a dream, Lyra is visited in a dream by Roger, promising to help her. Meanwhile, as Lord Asriel gathers forces to fight the Authority and the Church, he "shattered the worlds, all the ice in the Arctic had begun to melt", causing the armored bears to migrate to the south (The Amber Spyglass 100). means that the coming war affects all sentient beings, not just humans; even armored bears can be subjugated if the Authority wins the war. Interestingly, the Authority is an angel who thinks he is God. This revelation expresses Pullman's opinion that although God is real, he is not as great as the Church portrays him. Balthamos explains that “the Authority…was never the creator. He was an angel like us – the first angel, it's true, the most powerful, but he was made of Dust like us (The Amber Spyglass 33). The Authority is fragile and easy to kill, betrayed by its own servant, Metatron. This betrayal further illustrates the corruption within the Church, as the Church's leaders all have corrupt personal motives. After defeating the Authority and the Church, Lyra sets out to build the Republic of Heaven. This ending suggests that Pullman does not believe that religion is bad. Religion is an ideology defined by those who believe in it. The Republic of Heaven is the new moral interpretation of God and his teachings. However, there is always the risk that this new interpretation will also be corrupted, as shown by His Dark Materials' constant theme of "Dust" being attracted to adults (age is associated with sin). Keep in mind: this is just one..