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
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