Page - 69 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 06/01

However, alongside its evident focus on scientific solutions aimed at saving hu- manity in the face of an impending catastrophe, we also find a significant number of religious motifs, chief among them the apocalyptic narrative of the End of the World and the salvation of humanity. This narrative, rooted in religion, dominates Western culture and provides inspiration for art, literature, and cinema, especially in the genre of science fiction, but it is also of interest to scientists and researchers in various fields. Bertrand Russell lamented that we cannot preserve life and that all the majesty of humanity is destined to be extinguished with the death of the solar system.27 Although religion and science are fundamentally different, it is possible for the rational, the mathematical, and the observational to encounter the emotionally powerful myths that provide an explanation for the impenetrable and the mysteri- ous in cases where the attempt to understand scientific data is based on patterns derived from religious worldviews. Human thought proceeds according to patterns that we have grown into, but because they are often invisible to us, we are unaware of them. Our attempts to understand the physical world around us may be made in keeping with patterns that we have absorbed through our culture. Western culture has assimilated many of the religious thought patterns that characterize the Judeo-Christian narrative and that manifest themselves in numerous cultural productions, among them the film at the center of our discussion. In our analysis of the film we have discerned four major biblical motifs: apocalyp- tical time and the End of Days, the story of the spies and Noah’s ark, present time and the ability to influence the future, and being chosen to fulfill a mission. There are other religious motifs alluded to in the film which we have not discussed here, such as the name given to the “Lazarus” mission – a clear allusion to the Lazarus story in the Christian tradition, found at John 11:39–44 – and the fact that the mis- sion is composed of twelve volunteers, reminiscent of the twelve apostles of Jesus. We might also mention that Murph is first presented to us as a 10-year-old child, and since the climactic scene in the tesseract takes place 23 years later, we can surmise that she is 33 when she saves the world, Jesus’ age when he was crucified. Finally, and most significantly, we cannot ignore the fact that in the end it is love that tri- umphs over space and time. As Paul puts it in his First Epistle to the Corinthians: “and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing […] Love […] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, en- dures all things. Love never fails” (13:2, 7–8 NKJV). 27 Kaku 1994, 302. 68 | Bina Nir www.jrfm.eu 2020, 6/1, 53–69