- Jan 25, 2009
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Shalom
I was writing this due to how it seems that there seems to be a shift/trend I've noticed in the world of comics....and that shift that I never picked up on was how many of the comics, be it DC or Marvel or others, have had worldviews heavily pushed in theme that are very much focused upon theology discussions which make it seem as if those theologies of the Old Ways/Paganism are normal and to be considered alongsie Christianity as if they are simply ways of expressing the world that are valid. There was a book I read recently on the subject that really had me processing, entitled The Barbarian Conversion: from Paganism to Christianity--
For more, one can click here or here. Fletcher's history covers the years from the 200's AD, beginning with the earliest European missionary, Gregory Thaumaturgis, until 1386, when Lithuania was brought into the fold--just 1100 years to convert all of Europe from Iberia to Greenland, Iceland and the British Isles to Scandinavia and the Baltics from their tribalism, provincialism, and paganism to Christianity, kingdoms, Latin, Roman law, and a sense that the entire region was a whole. It was truly brilliant to consider the ways in which Paganism tended to fade away as Christianity took more influence in converting the kings of the nations and making Christianity more wide-spread legally....while the pagan views either adapted by taking the names of their gods/changing them to fit "Christian" ones or choosing to lay low until a time they could spring back forth again....subverting things subtely under the radar before anyone would notice and see how there was transformation from the inside out. For when it was about survival, it was best to find ways to co-opt the dominant religion by saying that all of those involved were akin to the minority religion in small ways.
Some seem to have extended this principle/supposed that prominent aspects of Christendom have been effectively "borrowed" from other cultures, such as whenever people say things like the Virgin Mary shows how the Mother Goddess isn't dead and has reincarnated herself in the form of Mary (seen even in film series such as "The Midsts of Avalon" when describing the development of Camelot and Christianity in competition with Paganism).....or saying that the Christ story was a reinvention of older legends. Neither seem to hold much weight when studied very closely, of course...especially in regards to the Virgin Birth, despite the many differing stories with similarities to it in other religions (more discussed here). Nonetheless, there was an historic principle with paganism in reimagining oneself in order to transition into a new era where one can come out of hiding/regain what they had in another time before they were pushed underground...as occurred with many of the gods/idols other nations followed.
And in many ways, it seems like this is happening again in an era where Christianity used to be dominant around the world and yet has been slowly losing influence...with the pagan view seeming to reinsert itself in differing ways we all grew up with.
In example, the film "Thor" that recently came out is something to consider. Over the centuries, Norse mythology, like its Greek and Roman counterparts, has been appropriated by artists seeking to enlighten as well as by those with the more modest goal of providing entertainment. Based on the exploits of the titular Marvel Comics superhero, "Thor" (Paramount) falls satisfyingly into the latter category.
For the Christian audiences who too quickly dismiss the film for its focus on pagan mythology, they should be aware the movie very clearly explains its Norse pantheon is made of neither gods nor angels nor demons. In fact, there's almost nothing pagan about "Thor" at all.
Instead, the characters Odin, Thor and Loki are portrayed in the film as an alien race of superior technology who visited Earth 1,000 years ago and whose "powers" were only mistaken for divinity. When the aliens returned home, they became objects of worship, myth and legend among the Norse people.
"Once mankind accepted a simple truth," the movie states, "we are not alone in this universe." The quote carries a double meaning here, both in the idea that there are aliens out there, but also, as the aliens are Norse "gods," that there is God out there too. It's a clever line, for it sets up a recurring theme of the clash between believing in the supernatural and our more modern, "scientific" insistence on only accepting the natural, empirically provable as truth. Along those lines, one of the women in the film quotes, "Magic is just science we don't understand yet." Thor later explains, "Your ancestors called it magic. You call it science. I come from a place where they are one and the same." Is she right? Or are there things naturalist "science" can't explain?
As said best in one review called CCAS MOVIE REVIEW: Thor - Christian Comic Arts Society:
For other good places for review:
I greatly wish to get involved in the world of comics and using them for the glory of the Lord--but I do feel that it seems to be a bit dangerous at times when it seems like there's so much theology being pushed through the comic world...where science, magic, aliens, and even God/angels co-exist in a way that says all things are equal/can be explained in natural ways. Growing up, it was something I never really considered since it was always about the artwork and the love of imaginary heros that got my attention---but again, there are some things which are hard not to notice as you get older....and see the ways some comics can actually open you up to other things you're normally against.
If anyone here has had some of the same battles, I'd greatly appreciate it
I was writing this due to how it seems that there seems to be a shift/trend I've noticed in the world of comics....and that shift that I never picked up on was how many of the comics, be it DC or Marvel or others, have had worldviews heavily pushed in theme that are very much focused upon theology discussions which make it seem as if those theologies of the Old Ways/Paganism are normal and to be considered alongsie Christianity as if they are simply ways of expressing the world that are valid. There was a book I read recently on the subject that really had me processing, entitled The Barbarian Conversion: from Paganism to Christianity--
For more, one can click here or here. Fletcher's history covers the years from the 200's AD, beginning with the earliest European missionary, Gregory Thaumaturgis, until 1386, when Lithuania was brought into the fold--just 1100 years to convert all of Europe from Iberia to Greenland, Iceland and the British Isles to Scandinavia and the Baltics from their tribalism, provincialism, and paganism to Christianity, kingdoms, Latin, Roman law, and a sense that the entire region was a whole. It was truly brilliant to consider the ways in which Paganism tended to fade away as Christianity took more influence in converting the kings of the nations and making Christianity more wide-spread legally....while the pagan views either adapted by taking the names of their gods/changing them to fit "Christian" ones or choosing to lay low until a time they could spring back forth again....subverting things subtely under the radar before anyone would notice and see how there was transformation from the inside out. For when it was about survival, it was best to find ways to co-opt the dominant religion by saying that all of those involved were akin to the minority religion in small ways.
Some seem to have extended this principle/supposed that prominent aspects of Christendom have been effectively "borrowed" from other cultures, such as whenever people say things like the Virgin Mary shows how the Mother Goddess isn't dead and has reincarnated herself in the form of Mary (seen even in film series such as "The Midsts of Avalon" when describing the development of Camelot and Christianity in competition with Paganism).....or saying that the Christ story was a reinvention of older legends. Neither seem to hold much weight when studied very closely, of course...especially in regards to the Virgin Birth, despite the many differing stories with similarities to it in other religions (more discussed here). Nonetheless, there was an historic principle with paganism in reimagining oneself in order to transition into a new era where one can come out of hiding/regain what they had in another time before they were pushed underground...as occurred with many of the gods/idols other nations followed.
And in many ways, it seems like this is happening again in an era where Christianity used to be dominant around the world and yet has been slowly losing influence...with the pagan view seeming to reinsert itself in differing ways we all grew up with.
In example, the film "Thor" that recently came out is something to consider. Over the centuries, Norse mythology, like its Greek and Roman counterparts, has been appropriated by artists seeking to enlighten as well as by those with the more modest goal of providing entertainment. Based on the exploits of the titular Marvel Comics superhero, "Thor" (Paramount) falls satisfyingly into the latter category.
For the Christian audiences who too quickly dismiss the film for its focus on pagan mythology, they should be aware the movie very clearly explains its Norse pantheon is made of neither gods nor angels nor demons. In fact, there's almost nothing pagan about "Thor" at all.
Instead, the characters Odin, Thor and Loki are portrayed in the film as an alien race of superior technology who visited Earth 1,000 years ago and whose "powers" were only mistaken for divinity. When the aliens returned home, they became objects of worship, myth and legend among the Norse people.
"Once mankind accepted a simple truth," the movie states, "we are not alone in this universe." The quote carries a double meaning here, both in the idea that there are aliens out there, but also, as the aliens are Norse "gods," that there is God out there too. It's a clever line, for it sets up a recurring theme of the clash between believing in the supernatural and our more modern, "scientific" insistence on only accepting the natural, empirically provable as truth. Along those lines, one of the women in the film quotes, "Magic is just science we don't understand yet." Thor later explains, "Your ancestors called it magic. You call it science. I come from a place where they are one and the same." Is she right? Or are there things naturalist "science" can't explain?
As said best in one review called CCAS MOVIE REVIEW: Thor - Christian Comic Arts Society:
In addition to being a fun action movie, Thor also contains underlying spiritual themes for those who are looking for them. Though Thor and the other Asgardians have often been seen as pagan deities, the Marvel comics and the film tend to treat them differently. The comics have described the Asgardians simply as aliens who are so advanced that their technology is indistinguishable from magic, even to themselves. The movie echoes this sentiment when Thor tells Jane that he comes from a place where science and magic are the same thing. Thor and the other Asgardians in this film do not necessarily consider themselves gods; rather, the universe in which they exist tries to blend science and the supernatural together. In this day and age of intellectualism and faithlessness, Jane's fellow scientists are initially skeptical that Thor could actually be supernatural. However, Jane's encounters with Thor stretch the limits of her belief, and at one point she finds herself arguing that the existence of the supernatural isn't such a foolish idea and doesn't necessarily have to contradict intellectualism. She is later proven correct when Thor's full godlike powers return to him on display for all to see. Thor is a film which advocates a reasonable belief in the supernatural and in things or beings which we cannot see or fully explain.
- Religion ofThor (Donald Blake )
- The Mighty Thor! | The American Catholic
- The Kenosis of Thor & The Kenosis of Christ | The Two Cities
- Random Musings from a Doctor's Chair: Movie Review on Thor (2011
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As a big comic books fan growing up, it really bothered me to see how much it seems there was truly a heavy amount of worldviews being pushed via comics that seems to slowly indoctrinate others to going back into things akin to what occurred with Christianity when encountering Barbarian peoples..with the viewpoints of the Barbarians being reinterpreted to seem as if they're valid.
And for any of those who are avid lovers of comics, I'm curious if you've noticed the same. Do you feel that within comics there is a push toward barbarianism and the Old Gods of Myth/legend----with Neo Paganism coming back into view as opposed to Christianity having dominance in the media? Or are those seeing such reading into things? And if it Barbarianism being pushed, is it appropriate for believers to use such things like the media outlet to make room for discussion to occur?
I greatly wish to get involved in the world of comics and using them for the glory of the Lord--but I do feel that it seems to be a bit dangerous at times when it seems like there's so much theology being pushed through the comic world...where science, magic, aliens, and even God/angels co-exist in a way that says all things are equal/can be explained in natural ways. Growing up, it was something I never really considered since it was always about the artwork and the love of imaginary heros that got my attention---but again, there are some things which are hard not to notice as you get older....and see the ways some comics can actually open you up to other things you're normally against.
For some excellent sites documenting the many religions depicted within the world of comics (including worship of other deities) and how even Christianity has been touched by them, one can go here to the following:
- God in Marvel Comics
- Jesus in the Marvel Universe
- Norse/Teutonic Paganism comic book excerpts
- religion of deities, gods, goddesses, demi-gods in comic books
- Norse/Teutonic Paganism Superheroes, Villains, Other Comic Book ...
The Christian community must do a better job of showing people how to ask the questions that make a person media literate. If we are indeed the "royal priesthood" that we are described as, then our job description includes the command of Ezekiel 44:23, "They are to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean."
We must live not as passive sponges but as mindful agents. As Bill Romanowski (author and Calvin College professor) says, "There's some good stuff out there and lots of bad stuff and, if people are going to live as mature Christians, they're going to have to learn to tell the difference."
Every book has a perspective. Every TV show was written, directed and produced by people with perspectives and worldviews. Every article of every magazine that sits on the shelves of our local bookstore or airport gift shop has a perspective. And yes, every movie that hits the silver screen has a worldview driving it.
Our call is not to abandon the media, but to make ourselves "priests" of the culture and help our brothers and sisters in Christ understand that "it's never just a movie."
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