#614 – Biblical Superman

Man of Steel finally opens this week. I haven’t been shy about sharing my disdain for Superman. I think he’s boring, he’s too powerful and his weakness is pieces of his home planet, which can apparently be found in abundance on Earth. That being said, I’m actually looking forward to Man of Steel. In spite of my best efforts the trailers have gotten me excited and I’m ready to see Zack Snyder’s take on Superman.

Since Superman is so completely overpowered, there isn’t one single Bible character that encompasses everything about him. So here are some different Bible characters that display one of Superman’s powers.

Seraphim

One of Superman’s coolest powers is his ability to fly. Who hasn’t dreamed about launching themselves into the sky and flying around the world? The seraphim are some of God’s angels and in Isaiah 6 we’re told that they use their wings to fly. These angels don’t use their wings to fly around the world or anything heroic like that, but they simply fly before the throne of God, constantly praising him. Like the seraphim, the ability to fly would help us constantly praise God. It’s easier to praise God when we can take in the beauty and power of his creation. Instead of having to wait for a vacation that might never come, we could just fly to the Grand Canyon or waterfalls in Tahiti and praise God for his power and creativity.

Samson

Not only does Superman fly but he also has super strength. There isn’t anyone in the Bible stronger than Samson. Superman uses his strength to lift cars and punch evil Kryptonians and Samson uses his strength to tear lions apart and deliver Israel from the Philistines. Both Superman and Samson have great physical strength, but Superman has a much stronger character. I may think he’s boring, but Superman is a really good guy. He always does the right thing and treats people well, which is owed a lot to his human parents Jonathan and Martha Kent. Samson’s parents were God-fearing people but even they couldn’t control their impulsive son. Samson’s character left something to be desired as he often did whatever he wanted, whether it honored God or not.

Elijah

As if flight and super strength weren’t enough, Superman also has laser eyes. Seriously, it’s like Superman is every X-Man rolled into one. As far as I know there aren’t any Bible character with laser eyes, but Elijah was pretty good at calling fire from heaven. It’s impressive that Superman can shoot lasers from his eyes and blow stuff up, but Elijah did that while being a sarcastic jerk. I love that God shows up on Mt. Carmel and shows the prophets of Baal who the real God is, but my favorite part of that story is Elijah’s mocking of his opponents. Superman is too nice of a guy to mock his opponents; he wants to beat them up but not hurt their feelings.

Superman will never be my favorite super hero but that won’t keep me from enjoying Man of Steel. Even though I may not like that Superman is overpowered, I’ll still enjoy seeing him use all those powers to defeat General Zod and defend truth, justice and the American way.

What other Bible characters reflect some of Superman’s powers and characteristics?