Merlin: A Christian Analysis

There is a new show on the BBC about Arthur and Merlin when they were young. There are a number of problem with the show from a Christian perspective.
First, the show is anti-authoritarian. King Uther, Arthur's father, is passionately anti-magic, and all magic-users and use of magic is banned in the land of Camelot. Though he may be wrong in the show's worldview, he should be obeyed because we are to submit to our authorities unless it requires us to violate God's commands. The primary passage that explains this to us is Romans 13:1-7 (ESV):

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Since God has placed all rulers in authority over us, and he is sovereign over everything, we must submit to our rulers unless it is in violation of the Bible. Therefore, even if the people in the show, such as Arthur, Merlin, Morgana, and Gaius, disagree with King Uther, they should still obey his decrees. In the show, these people, with the general exception of Arthur, disobey King Uther in regard to his ban on magic. Merlin constantly uses magic, and Gaius covers this up and occassionally uses magic himself. Apparently Morgana can use a kind of magic also, and she covers this up. There is constant deception by these people throughout the show, which we will address in the fourth point.
Second, the show does not ever address God. This directly is tied to the anti-authoritarian problem. The reason why we must obey the authorities is because God is sovereign and good. He is the reason for everything that we do. The universe cannot exist if not for God creating and sustaining it. Regarding God the Son, Jesus, the first part of Hebrews 1:3 (ESV) says:

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.

King Uther's anti-magic belief is based on his own desire for absolute power and peace, which he does not see as possible when magic-users are in his kingdom. This is perhaps incorrect. The reason why magic is wrong is because God says in his word that it is wrong, as we will see.
Third, the show is very supportive of magic. Writing to Israel, Exodus 22:18 says:

You shall not permit a sorceress to live.

The penalty for magic use was death because magic essentially is a rejection of the true God and an embracing of false gods or forces. Deuteronomy 18:9-15 (ESV) explains that the pagans used sorcery as part of their service to false gods.

When you come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer 11 or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, 12 for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD. And because of these abominations the LORD your God is driving them out before you. 13 You shall be blameless before the LORD your God, 14 for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do this.

Regarding King Manasseh, one of the worst kings of Judah, it says in 2 Chronicles 33:6 (ESV):

And he burned his sons as an offering in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and used fortune-telling and omens and sorcery, and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger.

Note that in both of these passages, the sacrifice of children is tied to the use of magic. The New Testament clarifies that sorcery is a wicked sin, and so Christians are not to practice magic. Sorcery is part of the works of the sinful flesh in Galatians 5:19-21 (ESV) that lead to eternal judgment:

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Revelation 9:21, 21:8, and 22:15 also list sorceries among the wicked sins of unbelievers. In Acts 19:18-20 (ESV), many people who had practiced magic became Christians, and they recognized it as wrong and burned their own magical books. This passage states:

Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.

Fourth, the show is very supportive of lying. All of the characters constantly lie except for King Uther, and their lying is approved tacitly. Nearly every problem in the show would be resolved if the characters told the truth from the beginning regarding all things. If one watches the show carefully with this in mind, the show is very helpful, because it actually shows the destructive power of lying. Unfortunately, this lesson is lost to the authors and probably most of the audience. Various verses indicate that lying is wrong, such as Acts 5:1-11 and Revelation 14:5. God does not lie, as Titus 1:2 (ESV) says:

in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began

The end of 1 John 2:21 (ESV) says:

No lie is of the truth.

In fact, Satan is the father of lies, as John 8:44 (ESV) says:

You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Christians are clearly not to lie, as Colossians 3:9 (ESV) says:

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices.

Additionally, there are a number of virtues in the show. First, many of the characters demonstrate sacrificial love for each other that also upholds bravery and honor. Second, Gaius acts as a wise father-figure to Merlin and to Morgana. Third, King Uther is a strong male leader who does not lie and upholds his promises, such as in his promise to Morgana's father to keep her as his ward. He is gracious in that he allows those under him, such as Arther and Morgana, to have differing opinions so long as they obey him. Fourth, marriage is upheld, and sexual promiscuity is completely absent. Sex is understood as being in marriage alone. Fifth, there is a notion of fate that is similar to providence, though the extent and purpose of this is as of yet unclear.
For these reasons, the show has some problems, though it can be helpfully watched when the virtues are upheld and when these issues are kept in mind to see the profound problems that occur when we lie and disobey our authorities.