I can't quite let go of this subject. I find it so interesting, because religions are very influential in the world of today.

The most important similarity between Jesus and Superman is that both are "saviours". They are, of course, very different kinds of saviours. Jesus is a "spiritual saviour", because the New Testament says that Jesus sacrificed himself so that the faithful ones could live forever in the Kingdom of Heaven, which is an otherworldly paradise.

Superman, on the other hand, is very much a champion of this world, even if he was not born on it. Superman puts out fires, catches plunging airplanes, digs out people buried underneath collapsed buildings and landslides, and nabs criminals.

Indeed, Superman makes the Earth a better place. Which again reminds me of Siegel and Shuster, the two Jewish boys who created Superman when they were seventeen years old. I have no idea how religious Siegel and Shuster were or how much they knew about Judaism, but I do know that there are prophesies in the Old Testament which describe the awaited Messiah as an earthly champion, someone who makes the world a better place. Remember that the Messiah was supposed to be the Son of David, and David had been a hugely successful warrior king. There are verses in the Old Testament which speak of the Messiah as the Son of David who will liberate Jerusalem and the promised land, and from this land, once the Messiah has gained control of it, will come forth a blessing that will change the whole world.

Superman, unlike the Messiah, has never been depicted as a warrior and never as a king. He has never been any sort of ruler. But surely you have to agree with me that Superman is the very essence of the idea of the benevolent champion who makes the world a better place, by using his great powers to force it to become better, if persuasion doesn't work.

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Superman versus Hitler in the 1940s. Hitler's "pal" in this comic, if I remember correctly, was Stalin.

So in conclusion, we might say that Superman is more like the Messiah of Judaism than he is a true Christ figure.

Ann