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Is Jesus my Superhero?

Is Jesus my Superhero? This paper considers an implicit trend in youth ministry to present Jesus as the archetypal superhero and asks if this is a valid and a helpful approach. The paper examines the relationship between the biblical category of hero and the contemporary notion of superhero and a broader appreciation of the use of myth for communicating Christian apologetics as seen in Lewis and Tolkien. The starting point for the paper is that an arguable starting point for the creation of Superman is in the epic character of Hercules and the biblical hero Samson. Through an examination of biblical and other Near East material the paper calls for a deeper and more nuanced appreciation of the relevance of modern western myth in the task of communicating theological narratives and concepts. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Philosophia Reformata Brill

Is Jesus my Superhero?

Philosophia Reformata , Volume 7 (1): 64 – Jan 27, 2008

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© Copyright 2008 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
0031-8035
eISSN
2352-8230
DOI
10.1163/24055093-90000169
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

This paper considers an implicit trend in youth ministry to present Jesus as the archetypal superhero and asks if this is a valid and a helpful approach. The paper examines the relationship between the biblical category of hero and the contemporary notion of superhero and a broader appreciation of the use of myth for communicating Christian apologetics as seen in Lewis and Tolkien. The starting point for the paper is that an arguable starting point for the creation of Superman is in the epic character of Hercules and the biblical hero Samson. Through an examination of biblical and other Near East material the paper calls for a deeper and more nuanced appreciation of the relevance of modern western myth in the task of communicating theological narratives and concepts.

Journal

Philosophia ReformataBrill

Published: Jan 27, 2008

There are no references for this article.