Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Lois & Clark Analysis of Superman as a Christ figure

Hello all,

I debated whether or not to start this thread, since it is pretty controversial. But the topic fascinated me so much that I decided to go ahead and do so, but also to issue some warnings in order to try to avoid offending anyone.

It is not my intent either to proselytize or to blaspheme; but I could see where readers might perceive the post as an attempt to do one or the other. I apologize in advance for any offense that may be caused by the post. I do not wish to cause offense in either direction, but simply to conduct a semi-scholarly analysis comparing what C. S. Lewis called the "true myth" of Christianity and the LNC mythos; specifically, to consider Superman as a type of Christ-figure. If you find such a topic offensive, please stop reading here. I will leave some blank lines so that anyone who does not wish to read more can avoid doing so accidentally.

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There. If you are reading this far into my post, then I will assume that you find this topic interesting and are not put off or offended by the topic itself.

Although I certainly do not presume to have a mind anywhere near as sharp as that of C. S. Lewis, I do aspire to follow in his footsteps in some regards. Like him, I am a believing Christian who does not feel threatened by the similarities between stories found in the Bible and those outside of it. Nor do I consider it blasphemous to exam the Bible critically as literature. The more I thought about it, the more similarities I found between Superman and Jesus. I'd be interested to read if others have found additional ones, as well as any other thoughts you may have on the matter. Some of the similarities are clearly stronger than others; a few might be considered a bit of a stretch.

For the purposes of the analysis, I will write as if both the Bible and Lois and Clark were true. Whether you consider either one, both or neither to be true in RL is entirely up to you.

Similarities (presented in roughly chronological order) :
- Neither Jesus nor Superman came into the world in the way every other sentient being did.
- Neither had a human biological father.
- Both Jesus' and Superman's arrivals were heralded by a light in the sky which was followed by people (Magi, the Kents).
- Both were able to "pass" as mere humans, but each was much more than just a human.
- Both were able to heal people using extraordinary measures.
- Both were able to perceive things about others that no one else did.
- Both succeeded in "hating the deed but loving the doer" -- both were civil, to the extent possible, even to people who flagrantly violated the L/law. (Yes, there were exceptions to this in both cases -- to people who threatened Lois or who had Kryptonite, or to the scribes, Pharisees, and money changers. But in each case, these were the exceptions rather than the rule.)
- Both used their powers for the good, to help others, even to the point of being willing to die for people who didn't even know them or who sought to do them harm (Ching is the clearest example I can think of from LNC).
- Both also realized and utilized the power of words to try to try to work good in people's lives.
- Both showed their true natures to only a few people during their lifetimes (Jesus on the mountaintop, and only the Kents and Lois knew Clark's alter ego and saw him doing Superman-type things as Clark).
- There was a death-and-resurrection with both of them (although Clark's was, admittedly, staged, in TOGoM).
- Both were able to travel through objects others could not cross, although neither displayed that ability often (Jesus, post-resurrection, suddenly appearing to the disciples in the locked room, and Clark in DToSC going through the force field).
- Both were able to fly (Jesus during his ascension).

Differences:
- Superman only saves people's bodies; although Jesus did heal people physically, his primary concern was to save people's souls. Consequently,
---- Superman's salvation is temporary; Jesus' is permanent.
---- Superman may need to save a given individual (especially Lois!) multiple times. Jesus' act of salvation was once and for all people.
- Neither Clark himself nor anyone else ever claimed Superman to be God or the son of God; they realized that he was a mere mortal, with all the limitations inherent therein.

If you wish to reply in the same vein as this post, by all means do so here; but if you wish to veer into a discussion of religion per se, I would be happy do to that, too, via PM or e-mail.

Cheers,
Lynn