Another Comparison Between Superman and Jesus

A while ago, I wrote a blog for another page, comparing Superman with Jesus, just after Man of Steel came out.  That blogging page no longer exists, but I thought it would be nice to repost this blog I wrote for it, so here it is:

With quite a few religious overtones in Man of Steel, many people have commented on a not-so-new topic, the comparison of Superman and Jesus.  I first heard the Pastor for my grandmother’s church make that comparison.  More recently, I read an article from Mark Sandlin talking about the differences.  The big difference people notice seems to be that Jesus existed, while Superman was written as fiction.  However, that’s a no-brainer.  One of the issues here, however, is that it does depend on how you interpret Jesus’ story and message, and which version of Superman you’re talking about.

The difference that my grandmother’s Pastor saw was that while Superman, sent down from a higher world, is an alien looking at humanity from the outside, Jesus was a human with us.  Of course, in the latest movie, there is a little bit about how Superman is, in many ways, a human.  In many other versions, there is a moment where Superman interacts with a Kryptonian.  Sometime during this interaction, Superman is criticized for having become too much like a human.  Also, is Krypton even a higher world?  In an episode of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Lois doesn’t seem to think so when Kryptonians make her a concubine, and Clark doesn’t find the Kryptonians to be much greater than humans either.

The difference that Mark Sandlin commented on is violence; while Jesus was a pacifist, turning the other cheek, Superman fights against the villains.  In the original Christopher Reeve movie, however, the closest thing there is to a fight scene is Lois kicks a guy who then shoots her and runs away.  Similar things could be said about many episodes of Lois & Clark, some of the animated cartoons, and possibly a few episodes of other shows, maybe even some of the comics.

There are a few differences that I see.  While Superman wins against the enemy, the enemy crushed Jesus.  Superman is more of a deus ex machina, Jesus came down, not to intervene, but to experience what we experience and to teach us how to make a difference.  Superman seems to fit the old idea of the messiah that people had before Jesus.  Jesus presents a new idea of the messiah, not as a triumphant leader, but a suffering servant.  Superman is what we fantasize being, while Jesus is what we strive to be.  Of course, this is just my view.  Others may say otherwise and give good reasons behind it.

The big difference, however, is where we look at the stories.  If someone wants to know Superman’s story, there are many places to look.  You can watch the latest Superman movie or TV show, one of the older ones, the latest comic book issue, earlier issues, etc.  When people want to know about Jesus’ story, they’ll immediately go to the gospels in the Bible.  How many people look at Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ or Martin Scorsese’s Last Temptation of Christ instead of the gospels?  When was the latest issue of The Adventures of Jesus released?

Superman does seem to hold Christian values.  He stands up for the oppressed, helps those in need, and strives for truth and justice.  In many versions, he is a Christian, like most people raised on a farm in a small town in Kansas.  However, to say that Superman is a modern Jesus might make sense at first, but it isn’t the most accurate thing to say.  Superman and Jesus are both very different.

Shalom!