{"id":32491,"date":"2015-11-29T10:10:52","date_gmt":"2015-11-29T15:10:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?p=32491"},"modified":"2015-11-29T10:10:52","modified_gmt":"2015-11-29T15:10:52","slug":"doctor-who-face-the-raven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/11\/doctor-who-face-the-raven.html","title":{"rendered":"Doctor Who: Face the Raven"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Due to the AAR\/SBL conference and Thanksgiving, I am more than a week behind in blogging about the latest Doctor Who episodes. And so I will get caught up with two blog posts today \u2013 and then will soon get back to finishing off my blogging through the classic series, which I finished rewatching a while back and just need to actually blog about.<\/p>\n

\"FaceThe episode \u201cFace the Raven\u201d<\/a> witnesses Doctor Who going full Harry Potter, with a secret street hidden from muggles \u2013 sorry, I mean humans \u2013 but accessible to wizards \u2013 sorry, I mean aliens. But this isn\u2019t a criticism \u2013 the same ideas have been recycled in human storytelling for a long, long time. And one interesting difference is that the street is not a place to buy a magic wand or a new pair of sonic sunglasses, but a refugee camp, where Ashildr has been\u00a0overseeing the safety of aliens who are fleeing others, where they live disguised as humans.<\/p>\n

Gavin Rumney<\/a> said that he was looking forward to me blogging about the episode, since it features elements that can be compared to substitutionary atonement and the Protestant dichotomy between law and grace. While I often emphasize the need to dig deeper\u00a0than surface-level Christ-figures,\u00a0that doesn\u2019t mean that we ought not to notice such symbolism when it is present. In fact, it is interesting to compare Clara\u2019s action to save her student Rigsy to the way Jesus is depicted as approaching his impending death. We might ask whether Clara would have taken then quantum shade from Rigsy in order to save his life even if\u00a0she had known it would mean her own death, and I imagine that the answer would be \u201cyes.\u201d And that represents a marked contrast to Ashildr, who seems willing to allow Rigsy to die in order to preserve the stability of the society she oversees. One could also compare Clara\u2019s seeking to have the cup pass from her, and her eventual embracing of her fate, with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. And Clara\u2019s plea to the Doctor to not let this change him, to turn him once more into a warrior rather than a Doctor, might be compared to Jesus\u2019 words asking God to forgive those who were executing him, as found in some manuscripts of the Gospel of Luke.<\/p>\n

\"DoctorOf course, things are not as they seem. Rigsy had not killed someone, and it was a set-up to draw the Doctor in. In a similar way, Clara had taken the quantum shade tattoo from Rigsy not as an act of self-sacrifice but as an attempt to move events in a particular direction. And so what we see is less an example of noble self-sacrifice, and more the tragedy that comes about when people create a plan for how to bring about a particular end, and fail to take into account the unpredictability of what other free agents have done or will do. And so, if one is inclined to relate the episode to theology at all, perhaps it works best as an indictment of the idea that God and other forces are\u00a0manipulating events for their own ends, with each tragedy part of a greater purpose. (See the recent post at Geekdom House<\/a> for an example\u00a0from the experience of a DM trying to get players to have a particular kind of adventure experience in an RPG.)<\/p>\n

In other words, if you\u2019re looking for a theological point in the episode, perhaps it is\u00a0to not depict God as like Ashildr.\u00a0Clara is a better model, whether for God or the ethical human being \u2013 one\u00a0who doesn\u2019t know everything and cannot control everything, and who is confident but cannot be certain that things can be fixed and a positive outcome achieved, but who will risk their own death rather than allow someone else to be killed unjustly.<\/p>\n

The focus on maps in the episode is a nice symbol of the points made above \u2013 it is risky to try to see everything, and even then, there are things that are hidden from view. But even if we manage to spot those hidden things, there is still no realistic way to understand everything that is happening, much less control it. Map is not Territory<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

What did you think of \u201cFace the Raven\u201d?<\/p>\n

I plan to\u00a0blog about \u201cHeaven Sent\u201d later today. And see too the article in which Mark Gatiss talks about getting his moral code from Doctor Who<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Due to the AAR\/SBL conference and Thanksgiving, I am more than a week behind in blogging about the latest Doctor Who episodes. And so I will get caught up with two blog posts today \u2013 and then will soon get back to finishing off my blogging through the classic series, which I finished rewatching a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":32498,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[128,133],"tags":[832,880,1918,2522,2765,3101,8892,9817,9985,10406,12017],"class_list":["post-32491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-atonement-theology","category-doctor-who-science-fiction","tag-ashildr","tag-atonement-theology","tag-clara-oswald","tag-death","tag-doctor-who","tag-episode","tag-penal-substitution","tag-quantum","tag-raven","tag-rigsy","tag-substitutionary"],"yoast_head":"\nDoctor Who: Face the Raven<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Due to the AAR\/SBL conference and Thanksgiving, I am more than a week behind in blogging about the latest Doctor Who episodes. And so I will get caught up\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/11\/doctor-who-face-the-raven.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Doctor Who: Face the Raven\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Due to the AAR\/SBL conference and Thanksgiving, I am more than a week behind in blogging about the latest Doctor Who episodes. And so I will get caught up\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/11\/doctor-who-face-the-raven.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-11-29T15:10:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ReligionProf\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James F. McGrath\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/11\/doctor-who-face-the-raven.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/11\/doctor-who-face-the-raven.html\",\"name\":\"Doctor Who: Face the Raven\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-29T15:10:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-11-29T15:10:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf\"},\"description\":\"Due to the AAR\/SBL conference and Thanksgiving, I am more than a week behind in blogging about the latest Doctor Who episodes. And so I will get caught up\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/11\/doctor-who-face-the-raven.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/11\/doctor-who-face-the-raven.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/11\/doctor-who-face-the-raven.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Doctor Who: Face the Raven\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/\",\"name\":\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\",\"description\":\"The Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf\",\"name\":\"James F. McGrath\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"James F. McGrath\"},\"description\":\"Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. BD University of London, PhD Durham University. Author of John's Apologetic Christology, The Only True God, Theology and Science Fiction, and The Burial of Jesus, as well as (with Charles Haberl of Rutgers University) the two-volume Mandaean Book of John critical edition, translation, and commentary. Also author of numerous articles (and a few science fiction short stories) and the editor or co-editor of several volumes.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ge8ul5\",\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jamesfmcgrath\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jfmcgrat\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ReligionProf\",\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/religionprof\",\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/religionprof\",\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_F._McGrath\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/author\/james-f-mcgrath\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Doctor Who: Face the Raven","description":"Due to the AAR\/SBL conference and Thanksgiving, I am more than a week behind in blogging about the latest Doctor Who episodes. And so I will get caught up","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/11\/doctor-who-face-the-raven.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Doctor Who: Face the Raven","og_description":"Due to the AAR\/SBL conference and Thanksgiving, I am more than a week behind in blogging about the latest Doctor Who episodes. And so I will get caught up","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/11\/doctor-who-face-the-raven.html","og_site_name":"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath","article_author":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/","article_published_time":"2015-11-29T15:10:52+00:00","author":"James F. McGrath","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ReligionProf","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"James F. McGrath","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/11\/doctor-who-face-the-raven.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/11\/doctor-who-face-the-raven.html","name":"Doctor Who: Face the Raven","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-11-29T15:10:52+00:00","dateModified":"2015-11-29T15:10:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf"},"description":"Due to the AAR\/SBL conference and Thanksgiving, I am more than a week behind in blogging about the latest Doctor Who episodes. And so I will get caught up","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/11\/doctor-who-face-the-raven.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/11\/doctor-who-face-the-raven.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/11\/doctor-who-face-the-raven.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Doctor Who: Face the Raven"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/","name":"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath","description":"The Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf","name":"James F. McGrath","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"James F. McGrath"},"description":"Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. BD University of London, PhD Durham University. Author of John's Apologetic Christology, The Only True God, Theology and Science Fiction, and The Burial of Jesus, as well as (with Charles Haberl of Rutgers University) the two-volume Mandaean Book of John critical edition, translation, and commentary. Also author of numerous articles (and a few science fiction short stories) and the editor or co-editor of several volumes.","sameAs":["https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ge8ul5","http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jamesfmcgrath\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jfmcgrat\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/ReligionProf","http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/religionprof","https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/religionprof","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_F._McGrath"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/author\/james-f-mcgrath"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}