Earlier Kevin Yong wrote about super heroes within a consistently Biblically based universe. He touch on some themes such as power. Here is another view of some of the issues he raised.
Natural Power of the Universe.
Another source is the natural power sources that God installed within the universe at creation. Under this would be heat, electro-magnetic, chemical, gravitational, nuclear power sources and so forth which operate according to natural laws that are discoverable by science and harnessed by human technology.
Examples of these power sources are seen in the origins of a great many mainstream superheroes. Superman gained his powers by the lesser gravity of earth and by the yellow sun (his X-ray vision, etc). Many of the Marvel superheroes received their powers via accidents with radiation. The Fantastic Four were bombarded by cosmic rays. The Hulk was zapped by radiation from a Gamma bomb. Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider. Matt Murdock had an accident with a canister of radiation material. The X-men were the children born of parents who were irradiated from nuclear projects.
Another category using natural power sources is high technology. Iron man is an example. Tony Stark devised a suit of armor by his superior intelligence and breakthrough, futuristic technology. The energy that powered of the silver age Green Lantern power battery is a natural type of energy (though perhaps unknown to human science) emanating from the giant power battery on Oa. The concept that the Guardians were themselves as the ultimate power sources was a fairly late concept.
There are problems with these concepts, but not insurmountable ones. There are secondary considerations that follow from these natural origins if you take them literally. In the real world, radiation accidents are almost uniformly deleterious and often fatal to the organism or person involved.
While God ultimately sustains all the energies of the universe, these natural power sources are basically neutral. Christ says, "For he makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust." (Matt 5:45) Likewise both saint and sinner can switch on an electric light. Both are affected by gravity, the laws of motion and thermodynamics.
Occultic or Satanic power: The last power source is that of Satan. Occultic power is condemned in scripture (Deut. 18:9-14, Rev 21:8, 22:15). While most of the originators of these characters would deny it, Dr. Fate, Dr. Strange, Magicman, Nemesis, Ibis, Isis and the other occult based characters ultimately derive their power from kingdom of Satan.
There are some characters that are so fanciful that while they might have myth-magical based powers I couldn't place them into that category. The original Captain Marvel, I would place in a sub-category of pure fantasy. Perhaps his stories are so allegorical like C.S Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia that they could still be placed within a Christian worldview. The stuff of a Captain Marvel story is so different from that of Dr. Fate as to be in totally separate worlds.
Summary: Ultimately, God is the source of all power. (Colossians 1:16, 17). In summary, using God’s power as a power source for superheroes is a possibility, albeit a challenging one to pull it off from a consistently Biblical position. The natural power sources are still a possibility, but a very well worn path. And in a Christian world, occult power is reserved for the bad guys.
From Alpha-Omega #51, 1993
Earlier Kevin Yong wrote about super heroes within a consistently Biblically based universe. He touch on some themes such as power. Here is another view of some of the issues he raised.
In the Biblical worldview, God is the creator and sustainer of the universe. The Bible allows for essentially three sources of power in the universe. The first is the intervening power of God. The second is natural power sources which are spiritually neutral. The third is occultic power that comes from the kingdom of Satan.
The Power of God
The Bible is a record not only of God’s creative acts and maintenance of the universe but also His intervention in the affairs of His creation. God’s post-creation intervention is shown by the acts of His angels, the actions of His prophets, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and answered prayers of His church.
The Bible is full of examples of Godly supernatural power being displayed by His human servants. I would like to address several of these aspects.
There is a sense of divine empowerment that God gives to individuals to accomplish specific tasks. For instance in Exodus 35:30-35; And Moses said to the children of Israel, “See, the Lord has called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; and He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and understanding, in knowledge and all manner of workmanship. to design artistic works, to work in gold and silver and bronze, in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of artistic workmanship. And He has put in his heart the ability to teach, in him and Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. He has filled them with skill to do all manner of work of the engraver and the designer and the tapestry maker, in blue and purple and scarlet and fine linen, and the weaver—those who do every work and those who design artistic works.
Likewise, Samson performed great feats of strength because he was empowered by the influence of the Holy Spirit (Judges 14:6, 19; 15:14-17, 16:28).
Today, God is operative on several levels. First, he answers the prayers of believers. Second, He can gives supernatural or spiritual gifts to believers for the work of ministry, to edify other believers and to glorify Himself. For instance, the Holy Spirit gave members of the early church the ability to speak in known languages that they were not fluent in(Act 2:1-13). We find references to gifts of healing(I Cor. 12:9, 28, 30) and the working of miracles(I Cor. 12:10). There is a debate among Christians as to whether these gifts(or some of them often known as “sign” gifts) ceased at the end of the apostolic age or are still operative in the lives of Christians. Since this is a highly controversial issue I will sidestep that immediate issue.
While the empowerment of God’s Spirit in the Old Testament times was reserved for specific individuals for specific tasks, the filling of the Holy Spirit should be the normal Christian life(Eph. 5:18).
For a moment let’s get back to the power of prayer. The power of God in prayer can be both miraculous and non-miraculous in nature. The power of prayer (in accordance with God’s will) can meet our more mundane needs which we ascribe to God’s answers to our supplications. These answers do not necessarily violate natural law. We pray for food and God in His sovereign will and through His Holy Spirit prompts someone to give us food. However, God can answer prayers that would be considered miraculous or in violation of natural law. For example, again according to His sovereign will, God can choose to answer the prayers of church elders (James 5:14, 15) to heal a person of a life threatening disease. This may be a situation where modern medical science has given up all hope of recovery. This type of power employed within the secular comics only very rarely. I remember one early Avengers where the Wasp was critically ill and her recovery was ascribed to the power of prayer. As a young reader I knew they were talking of the Judeo-Christian God. Today with so much New Age pantheism prevalent I would not be so sure. There have been very, very few super-heroes that have taped into the power of God within a consistent Biblical framework. The only ones that comes to mind that might be a possibility is a minor DC character called the Serpath(Global Guardians) and the black female character in the early issues of Strikeforce Mortiri.
From Alpha-Omega #51, 1993
It is true that most comic book superheroes are freelancers when it comes to the recognition of governmental authority at best, and vigilantes at worse. This is not always the case. During World War II members of the Justice Society of America joined the Armed Forces and served their country under proper military authority. We do have examples of superheroes as policemen. The Green Lanterns Crops is a cosmic police force. The Green Lanterns are under the authority (or have been) of the Guardians of the Universe. They are responsible for their actions to a higher authority. The Hawkman of the 1960s was a policeman from another planet whose activities were sanctioned by an earth police commissioner (Brave and Bold #34). In mid 1960s Tower Comics' flagship title was T.H.U.N.D.E.R. (The Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserves) Agents. The Thunder Agents were super-powerful operatives of a United Nations agency. Again they were responsible to a higher authority. The Justice League International was also under the authority of the United Nations. Even the power-happy Image Comics has one hero (Dragon) who is a member of the Chicago police department.
The question here is: Is the military or police only about “power”? On one level—yes. The power of the military or police is there. But the power is for a specific purpose. It is to maintain order and restrain evil. This use of power is not only compatible with but is approved by Biblical texts (Romans 13:1-7). If superheroes were under a duly constituted governmental authority their existence would be compatible with Biblical mandates.
In conclusion I would agree that in many cases, especially in the current comic book scene, superheroes are about “breaking things with their fists” and “trivializing problems.” However, is there something inherently wrong with superheroes, conceptually, that would make them incompatible with Biblical mandates? No, superheroes differ from normal people in matters of degree, not kind. Superheroes are born, live, marry, display emotions, intellect and will and die. They have heightened abilities (or powerful weapons) that are not found in the rest of the population, however this does not make them more or less human than the rest of humanity. They have a responsibility to use these abilities or weapons to help mankind. Superman is ultimately a rescuer. Is a rescuer (a fireman, paramedic or policeman) a person who often risks his own life to save another just about “breaking things with fist” or “trivializing problems”. No, it has more to do with compassion and a sense of duty in helping one’s fellow man.
In a story portraying superheroes as heroes -- as rescuers, as governmentally sanctioned military or police agents -- surely this does not cheapen or trivialize the Gospel that may also be shared in the story.
From Alpha-Omega #49, 1993
Someone wrote “ Superheroes are about breaking things with fists.” They either “trivialize problems or Christianity” or both. I would like to present a different way of looking at superheroes that are not just about breaking things with their fists or trivializing problems or Christianity. This was originally written in 1993.
First, we live in a universe created and sustained by a infinite personal God. God created man in His moral and spiritual image. The image of God in man is what separates man from the rest of His creation—whether plants, animals or whatever.
Second, man is fallen. That is he has fallen from his initial state of moral and spiritual innocence in which God had created him. Not only is man fallen, but God placed a curse on creation, because of man’s disobedience. Everything is in a state of running down, wearing out and growing old. The fall and curse is now the state of the nature of things. This is an unnatural state—not as God first created or intended. The message of the Bible is one of hope, one of redemption, one that the way things are not the way things always will be. Christ’s first coming is for the redemption of individual sinners. Christ’s second coming will set things aright in the whole of creation(the curse will be removed).
Third, before the second coming of Christ God has instituted human government to regulate the affairs of fallen man and to lessen the impact of the curse on society and on nature. Governments rule by law that is enforces by armed forces or police agencies.
What follows is a Biblically sound rationale for super-heroes doing what they do. They may be lawfully constituted adjuncts to military or police agencies. The military and the police are there to maintain order and enforce the law. These agencies are there as a check on the sinful falleness of man.
The fantasy world of superhero comics is not the world of reality. In our world we do not have human beings capable of the extraordinary things that routinely happen in comics. The only comparison would be the prophets of the Bible who performed miracles. These miracles did not derive from the prophet’s innate abilities, but their power came from God.
From Alpha-Omega #49, 1993
RSS Feed