Page - 66 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 06/01

A sense of mission and of being chosen for a mission is felt in the movie by Cooper, Amelia, and Murph. That sense of mission is a motif that appears countless times in the foundational texts of the Judeo-Christian narrative. Research into sanctification for prophecy in the Bible presents a clear literary model of an almost fixed sequence of events.24 Even though every sanctification story has its own specificities, it almost always begins with God surprising the chosen one by unexpectedly revealing God’s self to that person in one way or another. Many prophets hear “voices” of instruction, the most famous of which is the voice heard by Moses coming from a burning bush: Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro […] and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed […] And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush. (Exodus 3:1–2, 4) Analogously, in the film Murph receives signs and messages from the bookcase, which appears to be “talking” to her. Another step in the process of sanctification is the stage at which some prophets express opposition to their appointment – the prophets recoil from the task they are chosen for and are reluctant to accept it. So it is with Jeremiah, who says: “Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child” (Jeremiah 1:6). An exception to this rule is Isaiah, who in his prophetic vision volun- teers to accept the mission of prophecy willingly: “Then said I, Here am I; send me” (Isaiah 6:8). Murph, however, like most prophets chosen by God, is opposed to the 24 Simon 1997, 57–82. Fig. 5: Cooper and Young Murph, father and daughter, Interstellar (Christopher Nolan, US 2014), 00:06:18. Biblical Narratives in Interstellar | 65www.jrfm.eu 2020, 6/1, 53–69