Pastor Tom Newton of Cornwall Ontario – Letter to the Editor: Superman = Jesus

smos posterIn my circle of news feeds, this equation has appeared more than once. The first problem with this equation is the source of the story line: myth, legend, and fiction. In my study of theology and church history, I’ve seen worse equations that have been imagined and passed off as truth as many have tried to grapple with Christology. Some old communist dictator can state “religion is the opium of the people.”  Psychology can, with equal authority and arrogance, state that in humankind’s development, we at first needed a “god-superman”, therefore we created him, her, or it, as the product of our primeval mindset. And now the Hawkings and the Dawkins and many others of our time say it is time to case off this childish notion, myth, and legend. But why do we still come back to the Supermans, Ironmans, etc., the gods of our day? Entertainment makes money? Sells popcorn? No, I believe there is a deeper reason, which must be found in our make up, in our own heart and being: we are created in the image and likeness of God.

 

As created in God’s image and likeness, we still must wrestle as our fore-fathers did to try to answer the deep and profound question of “good and evil”. It used to be that most children imagined being the cop and not the robber, the good guy, even the superhero. But, sad to say, many of our day like being the villain, the bad guy. One has to wonder, in this quest for an answer to the age-old question of good and evil, what these would-be villains are reading and watching.  But the root of the problem goes deeper than just what they’re watching and reading.  The human heart itself is depraved and enjoys being evil.

 

This desire to be “like god”–to play the role of God–has a good and evil side to it. Here is where we must go beyond myth, legend, and fiction, and search the inspired record, the Holy Bible. Those who say “there is light within”, so we must search for the answers from within, are deceived, and are in fact propagating the lie the Devil sold to our first parents in the Garden. Are we not still waiting for someone to stand up and straighten out this mess we are in globally–the false Messiah that is to come, Antichrist? But we must consider the Words of Inspiration and understand what Satan said: that in order for us—humankind–to be wise, to be like god, or gods, we must be able to experience both good and evil; therefore, one must sin in order to be wise. By choosing to sin, Adam confirmed us in the state of this lie and disobedience: thus, the fall of mankind, and the perpetuated lie that we are all born into and live. Though we are fallen sinners, born in darkness and loving darkness, the image of God is not totally obliterated.  A once-enlightened conscience still testifies to what is right and wrong.  It is interesting that primitive societies legistated laws of morality, long before God gave the Ten Commandments to the nation of Israel. Why is that?

 

     Back to our equation, Superman=Jesus. What we see in Superman is someone overcoming evil with good, or, like the step-dad of Superman says, “Someone to believe in.” In our imagined superheroes, we find something good, we find someone standing up for humankind, even though it is a man from another planet. Superman stands for justice, truth, righteousness. In the end, the good guy wins, and, of course, he finds true love and gets the girl. Where did these desires come from? Some mutated genes that the animal world missed out on? We look around on our sin-sick, cursed, mess of things, and we long for something different. Therefore, we fantasize and create our own gods. The Greek, Romans and others have done the same all throughout history. But in fantasizing, are we not really showing our true heart, wanting to back in the Garden of Eden, without sin, and still in fellowship with God? Our fantasizing is telling us that we don’t need a superhero, but a Saviour!  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved” (John 3:16-17).

 

Pastor Tom Newton

Calvary Baptist Church

 

(Comments and opinions of Editorials, Letters to the Editor, and comments from readers are purely their own and don’t necessarily reflect those of the owners of this site, their staff, or sponsors.)

 

James Moak

21 Comments

  1. Wow….. ok i’m not gonna go on a huge atheist rant here…. i’ll keep it short and simple.

    1. Superman was created as a means to entertain people in exchange for money. To this day, movies action figures books games whatever all all here to make money not to teach us about “God”

    2. You don’t have to be religious in order to be a good person. Your acts alone take care of that.

    3. If you want to say Superman is like God or Jesus in the sense that they are all fictional. Then sure, we can agree on that…..

  2. Thank God for Superman!

  3. LOL, the creators of Superman were both Jewish!

    Sorry pastor, wrong messiah 😀

  4. Terra – there is only one Messiah, and it is not Superman. Yes, it is true that many Jews still reject Jesus of Nazareth as Messiah. The is one that is to come, the Antichrist, that Israel, as a nation, will receive as the false messiah in the coming time of Jacob’s Trouble. Here are two simple examples of early Bible prophecy and interpretation solves that problem the identity of the true Messiah:

    #1 – On the Day of Pentecost, the prophecy of Joel was partially fulfilled because of the resurrection/ascension/exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Promise to King David that his Son would reign on his throne has come been fulfilled – Acts 2:31-32 “He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses”.

    #2 – Philip the evangelist in Acts 8 rightly interpreted Isaiah 53 to the inquiring Ethiopia eunuch. The suffering Servant (Messiah) was not, and is not the nation of Israel, but in fact Jesus of Nazareth – Acts 8:34-35 “And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus”.

    The Messiah’s credentials were foretold in Holy, Old Testament Scriptures, and only One fits the bill to a T – the Lord Jesus Christ. To say that the early Apostles, which were all Jews, except possibly for Luke, and for the Apostle Paul were mistaken and deceived is highly unlikely, seeing the Jewish mindset for detail, and having first hand account of the teachings, miracles, and resurrection of Messiah Jesus.

  5. Don’t waste your breath, I’ve been an atheist since the age of reason (12).

  6. The Quran’s fables are actually much more plausible, although I do have a soft spot for the Celtic and Norse mythologies.

  7. All right that does it…. I tried to be nice about it. I tried not to let the atheist take over, but if you’re gonna come over here and start spreading that garbage then it’s time for me to let loose.

    You want to compare Christianity to Superman? I’ll play along.

    Let’s pretend for a minute that we believe in God. Let’s open up that totally factual bible.

    God drowns everyone in the world except for Noah and his family. (Genesis 7)

    Kills all the firstborns in Egypt (exodus 12:29)

    Drowned the pharoah and all of his gang in the red sea (Exodus 14:26-28)

    Sent bears to kill children who mocked elisha (2 kings 2:23-24)

    I can go on. He killed millions if you add them up.

    Even the devil barely kills anyone in the bible.

    I’m gonna write my own article. How about “God= General Zod”, the villlain from Superman. It even fits because the word god is in “General Zod”

    I mean who else kills that many people other than villains?

    Hitler?

    Ok that should hold me for a while.

  8. Author

    Godwin!

  9. what!!!!! “I tried not to let the atheist take over…” Sounds like “what” is facing an Incredible Hulk attack? So “what” – so is the god of atheism your hero?

    Act 17:30-31 “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead”.

  10. I love the censorship of this website. It’s official I will no longer support you!

  11. Author

    oh furtz you are such a drama queen 🙂

  12. That’s funny. While I do occasionally view this site, I haven’t posted for months. Check the IP addresses to verify.
    You made it very clear back in February that I am not welcome here, and that’s fine with me.

  13. So no comment then?

    You don’t want to talk about how you are worshiping a genocidal lunatic? You don’t want to talk about the millions he killed? You just want to change the subject?

    How about dinosaur bones? Did you want to talk about those?
    Oh of course! Dinosaurs are extinct because they didn’t have enough room for them on Noah’s little life raft. 😛 My bad.

    Typical religious behaviour man. “Hey look over here, don’t pay attention to that part of our religion”

    If you want to argue on this thread for weeks while I post logical arguments while you say the trademark ” You can’t prove Jesus didn’t exist so he has to exist” then lets go.

    ” Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead”.

    It’s been almost 2000 years bro it’s not gonna happen…. maybe it’s time to wait for something that might actually happen… like the leafs winning the cup.

  14. What??? -“It’s been almost 2000 years bro it’s not gonna happen…. maybe it’s time to wait for something that might actually happen…”

    2Pe 3:3 -7 “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men”.

    Yes, God righteously judged those in the time of Noah. Why? Gen 6:5-7 “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them”.

    What you should be concern with “what????” is not the judgment that is passed, but the judgment that is to come -“But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men”.

    How shall you escape the damnation of hell?

  15. Ok so is this guy really a pastor, or is this some troll just trying to mess with us? Lol!

    First off, you’re still trying to argue your point of view by quoting a book that the majority of the people posting on this thread do not believe in. That’s not gonna get you far.

    The whole thing is BS. You don’t fit 2 of every animal onto a single boat, there are no people living in the clouds deciding if we live or not. Tsunamis, earthquakes, plagues, none of it is divine. It’s all explained by science. What isn’t explained yet will be in time. Figuring these things out is much more practical than praying to an imaginary friend.

    So enough of your book. Let’s talk about evidence. Logic.

    The big bang theory, possible habitable planets we are starting to find 22 lightyears away.

    Evolution.

    If you come back here with another piece from you book that has no merrit or evidence to support it then you are wasting my time.

    I’ll point out that you made 2 more typical religious comments in your last post.

    You are saying you are ok with your sky friend killing millions which for the record I think is disgusting of you. Does this world sometimes have to resort to violence to protect itself? Unfortunately it does. But a mass genocide just because people don’t believe what you do is pretty sickening. By your logic it would be acceptable for your god to pack all of the atheists, muslims, bhuddists, shinto, etc… stick em on an island then nuke it? Cummon now.

    So typical comment 1: Believe what we say or we will hurt you. One of a thousand ways religion tries to get you.

    Typical comment 2: Do what we say or you will burn in hell.

    Another made up story with no backing bro…. religion tries to pull people in by answering the question so many seem to struggle with. “what happens when I die?”

    You just die. That’s it. The only silver lining is when you die, you won’t have concsious thought anymore so at least you won’t be sad or upset about it. You won’t know you’re dead. You won’t know anything.

  16. What – whether or not you believe the Bible is the Word of God is immaterial. The fact is God does!

    1Pe 1:25 “But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you”.

    John 12:4748 “And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day”.

  17. Yeah we’re done here…

    Just like I said always happens in these “debates”, if you can even call something so one sided a debate. While I bring forward proof and evidence all you can bring up is passages from an old story book. You ignore the facts completely and keep throwing out your nonsense.

    Typical relgious comment 3: ” My fake god is real because my fake god says he’s real”

    “It’s the truth because we say it is and that’s all there is to it”

    Here is my last piece of truth for you pastor. Your religion is on it’s way out the door. As we speak more and more schools choose to teach evolution. New planets are being discovered all the time.

    More and more courts are allowing homosexual couples to be married.

    People are learning that it’s ok to just come out and say that religion is a bunch of crap. There’s nothing wrong with that.

    Laws coinciding with religion are being changed.

    People see threads just like this one here and they are waking up, taking control of their own lives.

    I want you to think about something pastor. Imagine a world with no religion whatsoever. Every single human being was just that. A human living out his or her own life on this same planet. How many people DAILY would not be killed over these squabbles of who’s got the real sky friend or who was the real messiah or who’s story book says “that part of land belongs to them”?

    There will always be murder unfortunately. But there would be so much less without religion.

    This was my last comment in this thread.

    The people can decide who makes sense and who doesn’t.

  18. What “New planets are being discovered all the time” – but no life, right? But we can imagine………….

    “I want you to think about something pastor. Imagine a world with no religion whatsoever” – the late John Lennon wrote of that. Some write that John was seeking God through Christ in his last days, inquiring at least – hmm, imagine!

  19. Lol, ok ok ok, I hate to go back on my own word… (you’ll have to excuse me if I don’t show up on Sunday to ask you to forgive me for sinning. 😛 ) Just oooone last post since you set yourself up so bad….

    New planets are being discovered all the time. The latest one was just a few days ago.

    (CNN) –Astronomers now are upping that likelihood, announcing that they’ve identified a star system with up to seven planets — three of which could potentially host life — 22 light-years away.
    The likelihood that conditions could support life on at least one of those planets, given that there are three terrestrial-mass planets in the habitable zone of one system, is “tremendous,” according to at least one scientist. The “habitable zone” is the area near a star in which a planet can theoretically hold liquid water.

    How cool is that? We can’t prove life just yet, but as I said earlier… in time we can find the answers. It’s soooooo much more plausible to imagine that somewhere out there, in a universe that we can’t even fathom the true size of, there absolutely has to be something that could sustain life somewhere.

    Even though we are 22 light years away from this planet, we are still 22 light years closer to disproving your bible yet again than you are to proving anything in said bible is true. 🙂

    But anyway i’m still wasting time, like everything else you’ve ignored. Dinosaurs, all the other acts of genocide i’ve mentioned, evolution fitting every animal on earth onto a boat one man built. you’re just gonna ignore this too and spew some more sky friend quotes. It’s definitely time for me to move on here before I get accused of not having a life. 😛

    Thank you and Goodnight!

  20. this tom idiot is the guy whos standing on a corner with a bunch of fools chanting god will save you and u drive by and laugh as he takes over ur radio chanting stupid stuff the last time i heard him i drove by and laughed nothing but a joke same as his followers almost on the same level as the westboro baptist church

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