Percy Jackson and Christianity

So a few of you enjoyed my “Harry Potter and Christianity” post, so I decided that I would turn that into a little series here on No Guts No Glory. Today I’ll be talking about another demonic, cultist, heretical young boy: Percy Jackson.

Again, moderate to severe spoilers below this line. You’ve been warned.

Percy Jackson & The Olympians is a series of juvenile fantasy novels similar in many respects to Harry Potter. Percy is a demigod, the child of an Olympic Greek god and a mortal, and is taken to Camp Half-Blood when he and his mother are attacked by a Fury and the Minotaur. During his first week at Camp, Percy discovers that he is, in fact, the illegal offspring of Poseidon, god of the ocean. This is somewhat problematic because the Big Three Olympians -- Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades -- made an agreement centuries ago that they would not have any more half-blooded children after one of Zeus’s sons caused a cataclysmic chain of deaths. Percy is trained to hone his elemental abilities and his skills on the battlefield under the guidance of his mentor, a centaur named Mr. Brunner. After Percy’s first couple weeks at Camp Half-Blood, Hades appears at the bonfire karaoke night and, enraged, informs everyone that Zeus’s ancient superweapon, The Master Bolt, was stolen by a powerful demigod and that it must be returned by the Winter Solstice if order is to be maintained in the world. Everyone initially suspects Percy, a newcomer with impressive divine heritage, but these thoughts dissipate when The Oracle prophecies Percy’s victory on a quest to find the Bolt. Without much choice, Percy selects his best friends Annabeth and Grover to accompany him and they set off for Las Vegas, which is, obviously, where Hell is located in the series. Along their journey, they encounter Medusa, a Chimera, the other two Furies, Ares the god of war, and other fearsome mythical beasts and entities, but they ultimately reach Vegas and descend into the Underworld. Percy, Annabeth, and Grover sail down the River Styx and confront Hades, asking that he would release Percy’s mom who had been killed by the Minotaur and that he would hand over the Master Bolt. Hades laughed at their naive presupposition that it was he who had stolen the Bolt and pointed out that the ancient weapon was actually in Percy’s backpack.

Shocked, the three demigods scamper out of the Underworld and make their way to New York City. Again, this makes perfect sense, but Mt. Olympus is located at the top of the Empire State Building. Percy and Annabeth present the Master Bolt to Zeus just before the Solstice and order and peace are restored. They return to Camp Half-Blood as heroes and Percy is congratulated by a counselor named Luke. Luke opens a case of Coke with Percy and they sit down to talk about Percy’s adventure. After feigning interest in his tale, Luke drops a pit scorpion on Percy’s neck attempting to kill the demigod and make his escape. Percy is saved by Mr. Brunner and Luke dashes away as a fugitive.

Alright, so that’s the basic gist of The Lightning Thief. We’ve got some theological issues to unpack so let’s dive right in.

First off, let’s address the Greek gods and the concept of half-blooded teenagers. In the series, Riordan never outright denies the existence of a “big-G” God, preferring a more universalistic approach where the Greco-Roman gods have always been around and have evolved alongside modern society. This is why Mt. Olympus and the Underworld moved to America; our nation is the center of Western civilization, so the gods decided to pack up and immigrate. I can understand having a problem with worshipping and sacrificing to false gods, but in Riordan’s series, the demigods never go much further than muttering a quick prayer to their godly parent. There is only one scene in the Olympians series where a sacrifice is made: The child of Hades (yeah, the god of the Underworld had an illegal kid, too) offers a Happy Meal to a bunch of dead people so that he can receive their help and win a mystical battle. If there were more instances where sacrilegious worship stole the spotlight, I could understand why a Christian mom might not want her homeschooled pre-teen to read Percy Jackson. This is simply not the case. Mr. Riordan is tasteful with his usage of Greek mythology in a modern context and focuses on telling engaging stories rather than having believable theology.

The only other major problem I can think of with the series is that the demigods are able to go back and forth between Heaven, Hell, and Earth. This is clearly impossible, but, again, Riordan places well-defined restrictions on how mortals can interact with the afterlife and makes an effort not to offend Believers.

If there’s something else that you’re offended by or that you think I should address, shoot me an email. I know this post is a bit shorter than the other ones I’ve done, so let me know if you like this more condensed feel. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this new series I’m doing and pick up Riordan’s young-adult classics. Happy questing, Seaweed Brain.