Superman is Catholic

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And Jor-El (sp?), aka Superman’s biological father, stands up against the evil of “Artificial population control” on Krypton in Man of Steel.

No more spoilers but I thought it was kinda cool, being Catholic and all… 😃
 
SMA_12 said:
And Jor-El (sp?), aka Superman’s biological father, stands up against the evil of “Artificial population control” on Krypton in Man of Steel.

No more spoilers but I thought it was kinda cool, being Catholic and all… 😃
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Is he really Catholic in the movie? Interesting! 👍
 
Well, at one point in the movie he speaks to what appears to be a Catholic priest (He was in a nice-looking Church and wearing clericals. I figured Catholic because I don’t believe Episcopalians are common in rural Kansas, and I’m unsure if Lutherans in that part woud wear clericals).

People at DC usually identify Superman as Methodist.
 
curlycool89 said:
People at DC usually identify Superman as Methodist.
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Yes. There is a list complied by geeks like me out there in the internet which lists the religion of comic book characters. And Superman is listed as Methodist, at least by what is evidenced by the comic books.
 
ConstantineTG said:
Yes. There is a list complied by geeks like me out there in the internet which lists the religion of comic book characters. And Superman is listed as Methodist, at least by what is evidenced by the comic books.
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Wait . . . comic book characters have denominational affiliations? For some reason, that blows my mind. :eek:
 
ltwin said:
Wait . . . comic book characters have denominational affiliations? For some reason, that blows my mind. :eek:
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Some of them have past histories that do include religious affiliations. With Superman, he was adopted and raised here on Earth, in Kansas, was it? So his earthly parents were evidently Methodist, at least in the comics. Do Methodist ministers wear a collar?
 
TheRealJuliane said:
Some of them have past histories that do include religious affiliations. With Superman, he was adopted and raised here on Earth, in Kansas, was it? So his earthly parents were evidently Methodist, at least in the comics. Do Methodist ministers wear a collar?
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Perhaps one of his super powers was super reasoning power. Then, no doubt he would have figured it all out and converted to Catholicism despite his parent’s religion.
 
I am pretty sure the actual creator intended that he somewhat represent Jews. His father is Ka-el. He was a prodigal son who was floated on a basket down the river to be retrieved by a new family and escape death.

He really does sort of symbolize the Jewish people. Look at what happened to the nations who adopted Jewish refugees from Europe in the twentieth century. They got most of the greatest minds on Earth. Jews for whatever reason represent a huge portion of the Nobel prizes. They came to America and gave built a lot of things here that make it what it is today.
 
Just to add to this, I think the particular scene in Man of Steel that you’re referencing was brilliantly shot - with the stained image of Christ behind Clark Kent while he was talking about surrendering himself to save Earth to show the obvious parallels between both Superman and Jesus Christ.
 
Rete said:
I am pretty sure the actual creator intended that he somewhat represent Jews. His father is Ka-el. He was a prodigal son who was floated on a basket down the river to be retrieved by a new family and escape death.
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Which river was that? The milky way?

j/k

Btw his father was Jor-El.
 
VeritasLuxMea said:
Nightcrawler (from the X-Men) is definitely Catholic.
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Hes a priest in fact.
Aphraxus said:
Just to add to this, I think the particular scene in Man of Steel that you’re referencing was brilliantly shot - with the stained image of Christ behind Clark Kent while he was talking about surrendering himself to save Earth to show the obvious parallels between both Superman and Jesus Christ.
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Dont… don’t go there.

I’ll never understand why people revert to the concept of ‘compare’ when they are presented with ‘emulation’’.

There is a vast gully my friend between God and us. There is in fact no comparison you can draw aside from the fact that God took on human form so we can relate to him.

Now there are things we can do that are Christ like but if you start comparing instead of seeing Christ as a goal to achieve to be like Your putting us/superman/green lantern/Your dog anything really lower on the scale as if you can check off some list and go 'I’m/This person is like Christ!"

God in short is perfection. He is a goal we strive for and the template we seek to be like. He is not someone you can compare to and since comparing is another form of judging that’s something you best keep to yourself for only you know your actions before God.

Now more importantly The only beings who are ‘Christ like’ in literature are allegories. Now I say this with due caution because people like to make their favorite good guy hero an allegory.

Gandalf is not an allegory but people make him like Christ anyway. JRR Tolkien flat out said he detests allegory because it puts the character it is based on farther away from the audience.

Besides the only true allegory of Christ are characters who are (and this is important) ***Flawless ***. And I can’t stress that enough. Gandolf makes several human errors in the lord of the rings from getting lost to snapping at people and generally losing his temper justly and unjustly at times.

Aslan makes 0 mistakes/false judgements/bad advice or generally isn’t godly amazing at everything he does.

Now lets apply this idea to other characters. superman gets creamed several times, need guidance, can be rendered useless against his will and has a slue of other flaws I don’t care to go into.

That in mind carry on.
 
Kithrus said:
Hes a priest in fact.

Dont… don’t go there.

I’ll never understand why people revert to the concept of ‘compare’ when they are presented with ‘emulation’’.

There is a vast gully my friend between God and us. There is in fact no comparison you can draw aside from the fact that God took on human form so we can relate to him.

Now there are things we can do that are Christ like but if you start comparing instead of seeing Christ as a goal to achieve to be like Your putting us/superman/green lantern/Your dog anything really lower on the scale as if you can check off some list and go 'I’m/This person is like Christ!"

God in short is perfection. He is a goal we strive for and the template we seek to be like. He is not someone you can compare to and since comparing is another form of judging that’s something you best keep to yourself for only you know your actions before God.

Now more importantly The only beings who are ‘Christ like’ in literature are allegories. Now I say this with due caution because people like to make their favorite good guy hero an allegory.

Gandalf is not an allegory but people make him like Christ anyway. JRR Tolkien flat out said he detests allegory because it puts the character it is based on farther away from the audience.

Besides the only true allegory of Christ are characters who are (and this is important) ***Flawless ***. And I can’t stress that enough. Gandolf makes several human errors in the lord of the rings from getting lost to snapping at people and generally losing his temper justly and unjustly at times.

Aslan makes 0 mistakes/false judgements/bad advice or generally isn’t godly amazing at everything he does.

Now lets apply this idea to other characters. superman gets creamed several times, need guidance, can be rendered useless against his will and has a slue of other flaws I don’t care to go into.

That in mind carry on.
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All of that is easily summed up with the sentence “Jesus was real, Superman is a comic book character” :p:p
 
Aphraxus said:
All of that is easily summed up with the sentence “Jesus was real, Superman is a comic book character” :p:p
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I think It is a little bit more complicated than that. Like Kithrus said, Aslan makes sense as an allegorical Christ-figure, since he is perfect despite being a character in a novel. I don’t really see an issue with “comparing” fictional characters to Jesus, as long as we understand that the comparison can only go so far. Almost every analogy breaks down at some point. 🤷

The difference between Aslan and Superman or Gandalf is that while all are fictional, Aslan is the only perfect one. The others are not as similar to Christ because they are flawed.

I think the important thing, really, is to make sure that in drawing parallels between fictional characters and Jesus, we do not cast our Lord as something less than he really is. Some characters really are meant to be a messianic archetype, so even though they are not really comparable in terms of perfection or power, I think it is OK to acknowledge the obvious parallels. 🙂

That said, I’m ultimately with Tolkien. I’ll take stories about flawed humans over epics about God and Satan stand-ins any day. Allegories bore me. 😉
 
My take is that since Superman isn’t a human being, it is therefore impossible for him to be baptized and become a Christian.
 
Kithrus said:
Hes a priest in fact.
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Was. They undid it by having a plot where it is revealed he was never really ordained. Part of some evil groups plot to destroy the Catholic Church. In the process the writer showed he didn’t know the difference between different Christian churches. (Apparently the Catholics in the story believe in the rapture, and all churches use communion wafers, wine, and holy water. :rolleyes:) He’s still a devout Catholic though.
 
In Man of Steel, Superman is definitely Christian, and most likely Catholic.

The moral values Kal-El displays in the movie are those found in Catholicism. I especially enjoyed the part where Superman talked with the priest, and actually “confessed” a sin he did earlier in the movie.

The fortitude of Kal-El to master his passions is clear in the movie, and that I really liked as well!.

Man of Steel is a nonchristian movie that is a breeze of fresh air for a movie from Hollywood… These days is so hard to find movies without many sexual sins, and other craziness… There are 3-4 scenes that are just secular relativism and useless, and that’s it.
 
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