THE LOGAN’S RUN ANALOGIES: # 8 / CONCLUSION
SANCTUARY FOUND
LOGAN’S RUN ends with the System destroyed and the inhabitants of the Underground City brought to the surface to meet with the Old Man. As far as the movie is concerned, the population has been set free from Carrousel.
It’s funny, but the elation we feel at the end of the film, if you look at the situation closely, is over the fact that everybody is finally brought to freedom. But this freedom is only freedom from a premature death at age 30. We are never brought to the point of actually discovering Sanctuary— in fact, we are disappointed to discover that for Logan and Jessica and their friends, there really is no Sanctuary. We are left with the impression that discovering Outside is the climax of the film— that Outside is as good as it will ever get. And, of course, from a humanist point of view, that’s good enough.
But that’s the conclusion of the situation from the humanist perspective. That’s the ultimate climax of the humanist hope. You see, the humanist is satisfied with survival being the ultimate purpose of life. Survival of the fittest, after all, is the humanist motto. And the fittest, from the humanist point of view, is the person who doesn’t need the idea of Sanctuary to survive. So when the film ends with Logan and his friends ready to re-embark on the traditional, historical fight for survival routine, we are satisfied that the film has ended in a victory of sorts.
But this is not the final end of the matter from the Biblical perspective. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anybody on either the writing or the filming team on the Logan’s Run project that understood the Biblical perspective (because, as I have said repeatedly, everybody in our generation has been nurtured on the Humanist Manifesto). But it’s not too late to add the Biblical perspective— in fact, the Biblical perspective can take up where the Humanist perspective leaves off.
Of course, I can’t match what the artists and writers did for the film. But I can sketch a rough picture of where Logan’s Run could have gone[1] if they had factored in all the things I am about to tell you here. In fact, as you will see in a moment, there is enough material here for a sequel to the film, precisely because the film is such an extraordinarily good vehicle for taking all the topics raised in the film to their ultimate conclusion.
The ultimate conclusion to which Logan’s Run can bring it’s audience is that there really is a Sanctuary— and in fact, a proper sequel to the film could actually bring it’s audiences to discovering Sanctuary for themselves!
So I may not be able to rouse you to the edge of your seat by the screenplay which follows, but if you’ll be patient with me and overlook the rough edges, perhaps you’ll be able to benefit personally from this material — which is, after all, what I intended these Logan’s Run Analogies to do for you from the start.
Let us start, therefore, where the film leaves off.
The System computer has crashed. The citizens are free now from the control of the LifeClock. They now realize that there’s an entire world outside that has recovered from the effects of the Great Disaster. They now have the resources of the City to use as they integrate themselves back into Outside.
If the story is allowed to continue from where the present film leaves off, it will naturally lead to Logan and Jessica and the old man leading the entire group back the ruined city of Washington. There the old man will explain the significance of the Washington monument, and the statue of Abraham Lincoln sitting in the Lincoln Memorial, and his own former “headquarters”— the Library of Congress. All along the way, they will continue to ask him questions, so that both the journey to Washington and the tour through the ruined City will give plenty of opportunity for the following discussions to take place.
CONVERSATIONS WITH THE OLD MAN
When they see the empty buildings overgrown with vines, and the city so dilapidated and forlorn, it is easy for them to wonder how the old man would have survived by himself.
“How did it feel to live so all alone?”
“Actually, I was never alone. I had my cats, of course,” he hesitates, then adds, “ and of course the Lord.”
“The Lord?” what do you mean?”
“The Lord God. The God of the Bible. Don’t you know about Him?” he answers, surprised, and then adds, “ But of course—you wouldn’t have had a Bible down there in that City of yours, I suppose.”
“A Bible?”
“Yes of course, the Bible. My mother and father read it to me when I was a child.”
“So the Bible is a book?”
“Yes indeed! In fact, the Bible was the first book. We’ve actually got a copy of it here in the Library!”[2] It’s behind a glass case in one of these rooms. I’ll show it to you later.”
“What is the Bible about?”
“It’s about God— and about heaven.”
“Heaven?”
“Heaven. We Christians call it Heaven.” says the old man, “I heard you two talking about it. I think you call it Sanctuary.”
“You know about Sanctuary?” cried Jessica. She is clearly surprised. “We had hoped to find Sanctuary—,” she is now close to tears, “and now it looks like there never was a Sanctuary!”
“O my, don’t cry!” said the old man, “of course there’s a Sanctuary!”
Logan and Jessica both look at him in surprise.
“You know there’s a Sanctuary?” asked Jessica.
“You know where Sanctuary is?” added Logan “You can take us there?”
“I can certainly tell you where it is— and how to get there, but I can’t take you there myself. You can’t get into Sanctuary as a group— everybody goes in only one person at a time.”
“Why? Is it a door? A very narrow door?”
“Yes, it’s a very narrow door.” The old man reconsiders, “It’s called a narrow door in the Bible, but it’s not a door, actually. Actually it’s a person.”
Logan said, “How can a person be the way to Sanctuary?”
“Well, you followed a person here, didn’t you? You told me you followed a runner who led you to Box, and after you were able to get past Box you found your way Outside. You started out by following a person.”
“Well, we followed him through the labyrinth. Is there a labyrinth between here and Sanctuary?”
The old man is thoughtful for a moment.
“Actually, there is. But it’s not a physical labyrinth of tunnels and secret doors— it’s a labyrinth of ideas. There’s certain ideas you’ve got to accept — and if you believe them, they lead to the next idea, and the next— and if you follow them all, you’ll suddenly understand where Sanctuary is, and exactly how to get there.”
“How do you know this?”
“My mother and my father told me. They started telling me about Sanctuary when I was a boy. It took me a while to understand— years and years— there were a lot of ideas that had to sort of fit together, before the whole thing made sense. But then one day I understood.”
“ You mean it will take years for us to understand?”
“Oh, no,” the old man shook his head, “You’re not children. You already know most of the way. The reason you’ve not found Sanctuary yet on your own is because nobody’s taken the time to explain what the Bible has to say about it. Nobody’s explained to you how the ideas fit together. But because you’re adults now, and have learned to listen and think properly, I’ll be able to tell you the way— and I think you’ll catch on pretty quick.”
“Can you show us from the Bible how to find Sanctuary?”
“Well, I can show you where to start. Come with me. ” said the old man. He led them through the gloomy, cluttered old corridors until they came to a large room with a glass case against one wall. Inside the glass case was a book, lying open to the middle of the book, to a page with the word “Pabola” at the top of the right page.
“This is a Bible. That word Pabola at the top is in Latin— it’s the abbreviation of the word “Parabolae”, meaning “Parables”— it’s the book of Proverbs, in the Bible.” Seeing their puzzled faces, he added, “This is the Gutenberg Bible, the first book ever printed in Europe.” Still seeing no sign of understanding, he explained, “Europe is across the ocean, the Atlantic Ocean” another pause, and then, “Oh my, this is going to be harder than I thought!”
“My mother and father got their ideas about Sanctuary from this book— the Bible,” he explained, “Of course, not from this particular Bible— from a copy we had in our home.”
“Where did your mother and father get a copy of the Bible?”
“Well, everybody had one in the old days. For instance, that old man you saw sitting over there— Abraham Lincoln— was raised on the Bible himself— and he lived by the rules of the Bible when he came to be President of the United States of America. In fact, come to think of it, America was a Christian nation for almost 200 years— at least before The Great Catastrophe.”
“How did a whole country become ‘Christian’? Did they all believe in the Bible?”
“Well, not all, but MOST.”
“Why?”
“Actually, for many different reasons, I suppose. The first Americans came from Europe and they brought the Bible with them. The Bible gave them good rules to live by, for one. Rules like “do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” and “love your enemies”— stuff like that. But that wasn’t all. The biggest thing about the Bible— why it was the most important book in the world— is because it told about how to get to Heaven. What you call Sanctuary.”
“So where is Heaven?”
“The Bible says that Heaven is in the supernatural world.” Seeing their puzzled looks he added, “This world we live in, with it’s lakes and mountains and sky and moon and stars is the natural universe. It’s the one we can see with our eyes and hear, feel, smell and taste with our five senses. But the Creator who created this universe also made heaven, another universe which is invisible to our five senses, but which the Bible actually says is the permanent universe.”
“You mean this world isn’t permanent?”[3]
“Not from God’s perspective. He says in the Bible that one day he’ll fold it up like a tent, when it’s no longer needed.[4] But heaven is permanent. Eternal— everlasting.[5]”
“Why isn’t this natural universe the same way? Couldn’t God have created it to be permanent too?”
“It was at the beginning. The Bible says that God created it so that men could fill it up and enjoy it.[6] He told the first two human beings, Adam and Eve, to “be fruitful and multiply —and rule over the planet and all the creatures in it.”[7] This planet originally was like heaven. It was supposed to be paradise. It was supposed to be like the supernatural heaven— permanent, beautiful, and safe.”
Here the old man looked up at the big hole in the dome over their heads and sighed. “But something very bad happened here at the very beginning of history. It started thousands of years ago in the Garden of Eden— and as you can see by the ruins all around you, it has ended with the almost complete destruction of civilization.”
“What is this bad thing that happened?” asked Logan.
“In the garden Adam and Eve were given complete freedom. But they were told not to eat of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden. God warned them that if they disobeyed and ate this fruit, they would die.[8] Well, they did eat the fruit— and after they ate, they died spiritually. (In fact, this universe began to die too. From that day to this, the “natural universe”, began to wind down.[9] ) And instead of being fruitful and multiplying, the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve have spent thousands of years trying to destroy one another. That’s why all we see around us nowadays is death.”
“But death is a normal part of life,” said Jessica, “And death isn’t bad— in fact, it’s supposed to end in Renewal!”
“No, death is not normal. God didn’t design death. Death is the result of man’s sin.”
“Sin?”
“Sin is wickedness, disobedience. error, rebellion— choosing wrong instead of choosing right. Sin is any choice contrary to the Creator’s design.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“When we act contrary to design, we damage, destroy, and kill things. Look around you. Men pressed a few buttons and started the Great Disaster. The amazing stupidity of mankind!” Here the old man had raised his voice— and now lowered it again. “They had the free will to obey— but instead they used their free will to disobey. Now they have learned by death— and the collapse of civilization— what they needn’t have learned if they had obeyed God: that men have the power to destroy— but not the power to create. They should have listened to God, who has the power to create.”
“So death was not part of God’s original plan? God did not create death?”
“Death was never part of God’s plan. In fact, death does not exist. Death is like cold. There is no such thing as cold— cold is the absence of heat. There is no such thing as darkness— darkness is the absence of light. There is no such thing as death— death is the absence of life. God is the source of life— not of death. In fact, God has promised in the Bible that “the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”[10]
“So if death is not a natural part of life, why do all men have to die?”
“Because of the Curse. God warned Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit— that if they ate it, they would die.”[11]
“Isn’t that a harsh sentence for eating a piece of fruit?”
“It wasn’t the fruit— it was the disobedience. Here are two people insisting that they can disobey the Creator without consequences. For one, they had no respect for who it was they were dealing with. They acted back then just the same way men act today— arrogantly insisting that they can do whatever they want— when in fact they are doing it with somebody else’s property. The earth and everything in it— the whole Universe— belongs to the one who created it[12], and he’s the only one with the right to do whatever he wants with it. That’s just one side of the issue.” Here the old man paused for a moment .”.
“The other side of the issue is that God is Holy. People don’t understand this. The God of the Bible is absolutely pure, clean, righteous, upright, untainted, unblemished — every adjective describing goodness couldn’t possibly describe the absolute goodness of God, so he had to coin a word unique to himself—Holy. The original word for holy in the Bible is the same root word from which we get the words saint, sanctified, sanctification and Sanctuary. The meaning is clear— it describes perfection. Absolutely clean, spotless, and untarnished. So clean and pure, in fact, that in the New Testament God is described as “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” [13]
“No other Pagan god in history has ever been described as Holy. Only the God of the Hebrews— the God of the Holy Bible. And unless you understand this, you will never understand the purpose of Heaven, and why you can’t get there from here by any means but the narrow way I was telling you about earlier.”
“You mean, so narrow that men and women can only get in one at a time?”
“Yes. Every individual must meet God’s standards. He will not let anybody into heaven that doesn’t meet his requirements.” said the old man. “And it ought to be easy to see why. If he’s a holy God, he cannot tolerate sin. He certainly can’t allow it into heaven. If one sin destroyed Earth— and it did— one sin would infect Heaven, and this God cannot allow. Heaven— Sanctuary— is the holy place, the place of absolute purity, absolute peace, absolute perfection— without pain, and sorrow, and fear, and want, and death. Absolute perfection. The place where immortal people can live forever without war, and crime— and the endless battle for survival which the humanists are so fond of fighting.”
“What about God’s standards? Does that mean we have to be perfect to get into heaven?”
“By that standard, would you be eligible?” the Old Man asks Logan.
“Certainly not,” he replies without hesitation.
“Why not?”
“Because I’ve commited my fair share of what you call sin. I’ve lied, and cheated, and stolen— I’ve even killed. There’s no way God would let me into Heaven if good behaviour is the standard.”
“Nor me,” adds Jessica. “I’m certainly not perfect. If that’s the standard, how can anybody get into heaven?”
“Well,” said the old man, “in the Bible a man by the name of Jesus Christ said this: ‘Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.’[14] Jesus is the one who said that the way into heaven— into the Sanctuary— is narrow. But unless you understand what he meant by this, you’ll never be able to find Sanctuary.”
“So what did he mean by narrow?”
“He meant that all those many different ways that people throughout the centuries have preached and taught as the way to get to heaven— they are ALL bogus. All the religions throughout history— the Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek, Hindu, Buddhist, Mayan, Aztec, African Voodoo and Chinese Confucianism , Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc, etc, — all of them, every one of them— never led one man or woman into Heaven. That’s why Jesus said the way is HARD that leads to life. Here you have the whole world up in arms against a man bold enough— or foolish enough— to say that there is only one way in— and that all other ways lead to destruction. This includes such proud religions as Islam, who claim that they have the keys to Paradise. Not true! There is only one key, because there is only one door— and this is a teaching that rankles everybody. It offends absolutely everybody.”
He paused to take a breath. “This is one of the reasons why the Christian religion has been so often despised and suppressed, because it’s founder— Jesus Christ , had the gall to say this about himself: “I am the way, the truth, and the life— no man cometh unto the father except by me.” And the rest of the Bible backs him up. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”[15] Jesus proclaimed himself to be the only Saviour. “ If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.”[16] “I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no [other] saviour.”[17] Such talk, in a world full of men each with their own pet religion— and some without any religion, (like the humanists, who pride themselves especially for what they consider courage[18])— is considered blasphemy. Jesus Christ was himself accused of blasphemy— and unjustly tried because of it, and terribly beaten and eventually executed by crucifixion because of it. All because he claimed to be the only way into the Sanctuary. He claimed to be the only door into Heaven.”
Here the old man paused. It was clear that Logan and Jessica had never heard of such things before.
“But how is it that this Jesus Christ could possibly be the door to Heaven?” asked Jessica.
“Because he was God’s solution to the original problem.” said the old man. “Remember the Garden? And the curse? ‘But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.’[19] Death was passed onto the whole human race because of that disobedience.[20] And since death was the punishment for sin, the solution to the curse was this Jesus Christ.”
“Jesus was no ordinary man. The Bible claims him to be the son of God. In fact, he was God— God in the flesh, God in human form. That’s why the Bible goes so far out of it’s way to document his life. Jesus was born of a virgin, never sinned, lived a perfect life, and was unjustly tried and convicted and executed for sins he never committed— and as a result his death paid the sin debt for the entire human race. He was the substitute— what the Bible calls “the lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world.” He died in our place, paying our sin debt— so that we could be righteously forgiven and have our record wiped clean — so clean that we can be completely forgiven, and “sanctified” — made holy, perfect, completely righteous and eligible to enter into the Sanctuary.”
“But how do we know his death paid our sin debt?” asked Jessica.
“If he hadn’t paid our sin debt in full by his own death, he would still be dead. But God verified that his death paid our debt in full by raising him from the dead. Three days after he was crucified and buried, God raised him from the dead— it’s called the resurrection. God would not have resurrected him if his death had not paid for the sin debt of the whole world.”
“But how can we take advantage of this?” asked Logan, ” We have never even heard of this man Jesus Christ, or of this thing called ”sin”, or this offer of forgiveness. How do you expect us to believe all this?”
“Did you not just admit that you are not eligible for heaven?”
“Yes.”
“And did you not just admit that the reason you are not eligible is because you have sinned— not once, but many times?”
“Yes.”
“Then you admit you are a sinner, that you are under the Curse of death?”
“Yes.”
“This is why I expect you to believe all this— because you already believe the first half of the story, that you’re a sinner under a curse— it shouldn’t be difficult for you to believe the second half— that Jesus died for your sins and stands ready to save your soul.”
“So believing all this is what qualifies us for Sanctuary?” asked Logan.
“No— believing it all should bring you to admit that you will never be eligible for Heaven until you admit your need of a Saviour. You’ve got to admit you need to be saved, and ask Jesus Christ to save you.”
“If we do this, do we qualify for Heaven?”
“You qualify when you to take the remedy offered at the narrow door. That’s why Jesus called it narrow— nobody gets into Heaven by any other way than through Jesus Christ. And that only happens if you admit you’re a sinner in need of a saviour. You must come to the place where you admit your religion can’t save you, and your humanism can’t save you, and your Carrousel can’t save you. That the qualification for entering Heaven is to have all your sins paid for by Christ— and that this is only available at the narrow door. No other religion on earth provides a legitimate way for you to have all your sins forgiven. Only Christ can save you from your sin debt.”
“If this is true, what do we have to do to benefit from this offer of salvation?”
“Do what I did when I was a boy.” said the old man, “Do what it says in the book of Romans to do:
“If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”[21]
The old man quoted this from memory, then looked Logan straight in the eye and took both his hands in his and said this: “Pray to God and admit to him that you are a sinner, and that you can do nothing to save yourself, and that you now understand that Jesus Christ died for you to pay your sin debt— and ask Him to forgive you, and save you, and come into your life and guide from now until you reach Sanctuary.”
Here Jessica interrupted them with a smile and a squeal of delight.
“Jessica, why are you smiling?” Logan asked her.
“Because while you two were talking,” she answered, “I prayed that prayer…and the very moment I finished, I felt a peace in my heart I have never felt before, ever.
Oh Logan, I think I’ve found Sanctuary!”
FOLLOW THROUGH: find Sanctuary for yourself!
Notice: If Jessica can find it by simply overhearing the Old Man’s explanation,
you can find it too. All you need to do is admit you’re a sinner in need of
salvation, and call out the Christ to save your soul. If this isn’t simple enough,
then follow some of the links on this site which deal with the topic in more
detail— but for goodness sake, act while you can still see the light shining from
the narrow door. Remember, LOGAN was looking for proof— you will discover the
proof for yourself if and when you do what the Bible tells you to do: “confess with
your mouth the lord Jesus Christ, and believe in your heart that God has raised
him from the dead, and you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9 to 13)
MORE INFO? CLICK HERE:
1. HOW TO ANSWER LIFE’S MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION
2. What you need to do spiritually to be saved from death.
Want to talk privately and in person with a person who has escaped? Contact JOHN at: analogyman1949@gmail.com