The hit Netflix sci fi show 3 Body Problem is one of the more heady shows to come out in a while. It has themes that get to the very core of being a human: why we’re here, our place in the universe, and what would happen if we finally discover other life in the ever-expanding vastness of space (or they discover us). There’s also the question of creation thrown around. Does this mean 3 Body Problem is about God? Read on to find out.
While the show isn’t directly about God, there are definite parallels, connections, and religious allusions. Let’s start with one of the more obvious ones: at the end of episode 7, Saul Durand (Jovan Adepo) and Dr Ye Wenjie (Rosalind Chao) sit on a park bench, and Ye tells Saul a “joke.”
It’s a long, strange joke but here are the finer points: Einstein dies and is in heaven with a violin, which he loves more than anything in the world. He tunes up to play and he’s told by the angels that God wouldn’t like it and that God’s a saxophonist, so he better not play. One day in heaven he hears God playing “Take the ‘A’ Train” and because he knows the song, he wants to play along with God, thinking that they’ll sound really good together. He starts to play and God gets so mad he smashes Einstein’s violin and now Einstein has to spend eternity without music. As he’s writhing on the ground, the angels come to him and say, “we told you not to play with God.”
The “joke” isn’t meant to make Saul laugh, but there’s obviously a hidden meaning inside it and she doesn’t want the aliens to know what it is. While the joke mentions God, it’s not really about God at all. It’s a clue on how to defeat the aliens or at the very least avoid a confrontation with them. We’ll learn the answers to that in the next season.
Another parallel to think about is how the aliens are omnipresent and much, much more intelligent and advanced than humans. So much so that a group of humans see them as the eventual savior of civilization. Let’s think about this too: the aliens cannot lie and don’t understand metaphor and tricks. God, as the purest form of truth, also cannot lie, according to the Bible.
In Hebrews 6:18 it says, “These two things cannot change. God cannot lie when he makes a promise, and he cannot lie when he makes an oath. These things encourage us who came to God for safety. They give us strength to hold on to the hope we have been given.”
That sounds like a definite parallel. The aliens in the book do have Godly qualities, but that’s probably just to make things more interesting rather than being a coded religious message. It’s also kind of scary to think that what we know of God and the Bible (for Christians) is simply something planted here centuries ago to prepare people for an eventual invasion. Scary!
Ye herself also prays to the aliens when she realizes they’re not coming to help, but to wipe out humanity. She calls herself “the first liar;” a pretty clear parallel to Eve and the original sin. There’s also the idea that Ye sort of acts as a John the Baptist-type character, ushering in a new age but not being alive to see it. This also happened to Moses. Ye also senses that her “time is up” and when she meets Tatiana at the Red Coast Base, it’s implied that she’s done because she “served her purpose.”
The idea of serving purposes and then dying is also very biblical. Finally, we get the idea of immortality with the hibernation technology, and also the sending of Will’s brain, which is the straightforward idea that human life can be extended beyond the mortal shackles we all have attached to our feet. Almost every religion on earth has some idea of reincarnation or resurrection; it’s one of the best selling points for recruitment actually.
To answer the question, no, the show is not about God per se, but it does have several religious themes and overtones, so it kind of is as well. 3 Body Problem is streaming now on Netflix.