WHY JAMES GUNN’S SUPERMAN IS NOT SO SUPER!

I was really looking forward to seeing James Gunn's Superman (2025). I bought two pre-release tickets weeks before the opening night to view it at the Hoyts, Forest Hill (the one with the Gold Class electric recliner seats). I left the launch screening on Thursday July 10th utterly disappointed — and I really didn’t want to be. 

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THE SUPERMAN STORY

The two creators of Superman were two Jewish teenagers, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, both born in 1914. Their creation of a 'superman' was inspired by their challenging experiences as immigrants in the United States who also had to endure the harshness of the rising global antisemitism. 

Siegel and Shuster could not afford to go to college, but found financial success by creating comics (including increasingly popular newspaper comic strips). In the early 1930s they began drawing on their Jewish heritage and the aspirations of their messianic hope. By 1933, they published their first Superman comic strip - presenting to the world an ultra-immigrant (from the planet of Krypton), who came to America as a baby, who looked like any other American, but was secretly different because of His Krypton physiology. Surely if the world could accept and embrace such a character then surely Americans could open their hearts also to their Jewish immigrants. 

The creators of Superman clearly defined the world of Superman. It was our world. But like the fiction of C. S. Lewis’s mythopoeia (his Trilogy and Septet), Siegel and Shuster created a “Supposal”. That is, they framed their Superman story in an imaginative way founded on the on the idea: 

“Suppose there was a planet within our universe in which its people resembled earth’s human beings - yet had certain other supernatural powers or abilities. Suppose that for some reason this planet was about explode and the parents of a newborn child were able to send their child on a journey to our earth where he would be able to blend in but use his powers for great good.” 

Siegal and Shuster have the space-craft with the infant Kal-El crash-land on a farm near Smallville, Kansas, owned by John and Martha Kent. As it turns out, the effect of the gravity of earth is something that the young Kal-El is able to manage so that he can fly at will. The radiation of the earth's Sun has the effect of giving Kal-El extraordinary strength. This was something that his Father, Jor-El (note the Hebrew implications of these names — “El” means 'God' or 'mighty one' in Hebrew) anticipated and sent his son, Kal-El, to earth with a message embedded into a crystal telling his son that he was to be a “savior of the helpless and oppressed” to the people of earth.

SUPERMAN AS A JEWISH MESSIANIC-LIKE HERO

The original concept of Superman could be seen as an embodiment of the Jewish hope of all that the Messiah was expected to be. That is, Siegel and Shuster’s Superman was a Christological figure. He grew up respecting his earth-parents - especially his mother. He was to be an example of courage, humility, masculine strength and moral purity — without ever being a show-off or braggart. He was to look ordinary so that no one would ever imagine just how strong, powerful, or fast, he was. In this way he could just fit into society and blend in with other ordinary people. Jor-El had told him in his crystalized message that Kal-El was to use his extraordinary strength to uphold truth, justice and “the way” of the people of earth. 

I like the idea of a super-hero who selflessly helps the helpless and rescues the oppressed in virtual anonymity thanks to his Clarke Kent disguise and has hypno-glasses (which hinder people from perceiving that Clark Kent was Superman). There are many parallels between this original concept of Superman and Jesus Christ! Jesus the Christ, the True Desire and Hope of Israel, was omnipotently strong - yet looked ordinary (note Isaiah 53:1-2). Jesus was the epitome of humility, like Siegel and Shuster had imagined the Messiah to be and had their Superman exhibit. And these traits are why I was so disappointed with James Gunn's 2025 Superman. 

WHAT I DID NOT LIKE ABOUT THE 2025 GUNN SUPERMAN

The meta-narrative of James Gunn’s Superman over-looked several non-negotiables in fictional story-telling. The first of these is that fictional stories, especially mythopoeic stories, require a 'world' where there are rules. Unlike the world of Siegal and Shuster, the world in which James Gunn’s Superman is not set in this world. It is part of a multiverse - rather than our universe. In our universe there are governing physical laws. For example, “ex nihilo nihil fit” - from nothing, nothing comes. Yet in James Gunn's multiverse, Lex Luther not only creates things apparently out of nothing, he creates entire universes from out of nothing and does so in a previously non-existent dimension as well.

Secondly, James Gunn's Superman was not a model of moral excellence. Perhaps we could overlook the foul language that he used (although this is the first time that anyone playing Superman has used expletives). This is the first time a Superman has killed human beings. This is the first-time that a Superman has spouted ontological nonsense about what a human-being is - and virtually renounced his own ontological identity (this happens in the final exchange between Kal-El and Lex Luther. 

Thirdly, then there is the introduction of Kal-El’s cousin, Kara-Zor-El. She is the epitome of a wild-child who is unable to get drunk on earth and is now forced to travel to a planet with a red-sun which is the only place in the multi-verse where she can get drunk! It seems to me that James Gunn’s Superman, and his Supergirl cousin, are a far cry from what Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster had envisaged for their concept of Superman — especially their Jewish messianic hope. 

CONCLUSION

Superman is my favourite superhero. As a Christian thinker who has an appreciation for the redemptive use fictional literature and especially mythopoeia, I would like Hollywood to give more consideration to superheroes who reflect Jesus Christ - especially since Christ was the Ultimate Superhero! I would also like to encourage other preachers to consider how culture's ache for a virtuous hero is actually an intuitive ache to be reconciled to God the Father through the work of the eternal divine son of God. 

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

PHILIPPIANS 2:5-11

Amen.

DUMB PRAYERS THAT I HAVE PRAYED AND GOD HAS ANSWERED OVER THE YEARS

Over the past nearly 29-years of pastoring Legana I have occasionally mentioned that one day I would write about “the dumb prayers that I’ve prayed.” It’s not really that they are all ‘dumb’ prayers, it’s that they are the kind of prayers that are guaranteed to be answered by God (because they are “surrendered” prayers) but have not been fully considered what God’s answer might entail. I do not consider the more well-known and obvious “dumb” prayers – such as praying for revival to bring in hundreds of lost/lonely/broken souls into the kingdom and then being surprised by God’s answer resulting in exhaustion, burn-out, over-stretched resources, spiritual attacks, and the inevitable pride. Neither do I consider the even more obvious “dumb” prayer for patience and humility and the resultant means (difficult people and obvious trials!) by which such a prayer can only be answered. Instead, I begin with a prayer I prayed as a teenager then others that I prayed down through the years which have led me to this unexpected point. What I hope, and pray, you might discover after you have read this is something which will might benefit you in your knowledge of God and how He often answers prayers.

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WHAT’S THE POINT OF PRAYING THEN?

There a different ways to pray. Some prayers can be verbalised. Some prayers can be silent. Some prayers are spontaneous. Some prayers are prepared. Some prayers are prayed in private and are clumsy. Some prayers are prayed in public and are clever. Some prayers are long. Some prayers are short – even just one word. Whatever way you pray, there are three things you need to keep in mind.

¶ “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. ¶ “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.
JESUS THE CHRIST, Matthew 6:5-7

Firstly, when we pray, we are talking to God. When praying at a public occasion we are still praying to God and we are praying on behalf of those present. Out of respect for those who are present these public-occasion prayers should be well considered. This is why I recommend writing such prayers out and reading them with passion when prayed in public. Otherwise, the pray-er often sounds confuddled with mindless phrases such as this prayer I have heard many times:

“Father God, oh Father God, Father God Lord, I [pause] I come to You to pray Father God, Father God Lord. Yeah [pause] Amen.”

(Perhaps this should go in the obvious dumb prayer category because I have no idea what is being prayed for.)

Secondly, when we pray, particularly in private, our words don’t particularly matter. There are not ‘right’ words to use in prayer. Prayer is not magic. Prayer is not like a Harry Potter spell. Prayer is coming from your spirit to God’s Spirit (Rom. 8:26; 1Cor. 2:11). God hears your heart when you pray.

Thirdly, God always hears our prayer but does not always answer our prayer/s they way we want. Prayer should be an expression of worship for God and trust in Him. When we pray we should also trust God with the timing of His answer not just the ‘how’ of His answer. One of the most inspirational books on prayer that I ever read — which had an enormous influence on my life — wasn’t even a book on prayer! It was the story of Dawson Trotman. As a young man he came to Christ and together with a few other guys they began praying for people, then nations, to come to Christ. Before his tragic drowning death as he rescued a young drowning girl, he had remarked that nearly everything he had prayed for some twenty-years earlier had been answered positively by God. “I now have” he said, “one regret – not that I didn’t pray enough, but that I didn’t pray for enough!” Dawson Trotman became one of Billy Graham’s intercessors and the founder coordinator of evangelism follow-up ministry called the Navigators. 

The point of praying is that we are invited by our heavenly Father to extend the reign of His Son over the earth through the ordinance of prayer. When we pray “Thy kingdom come!” we may not fully grasp either importance or the impact of our praying. 

 

WHAT’S ‘PRAYING IN THE SPIRIT’ THEN?

Christianity is the only ‘religion’ that regards prayer as a God-focused and God-empowered conversation. Jesus taught that after He had ascended back to the Father that it was imperative for His disciples to wait for the outpouring of the promised gift of the Holy Spirit who had been with the disciples up until that point, but when He would be poured out into the earth He would be in the disciples (Jn. 14:17). Other religions regard prayer quite differently. Some religions teach adherents that prayer is like meditation and needs to be mindless, while other religions teach their adherents that prayer involves the recitation of certain words sometimes in a language unknown to the pray-er such as Latin or Arabic. But Christianity teaches worshipers of the Creator and LORD to pray “in the Spirit” (Eph. 6:18; Jude 20). This can be (i) praying a Spirit-gifted language that involves the Spirit-baptised believer speaking in tongues to God in prayer (1Cor. 14:2); or, (ii) praying in your heart-language in a way that the Spirit leads you to pray (1Cor. 14:15).

¶ Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
Romans 8:26

 

WHAT’S GOD DOING IN ME WHEN I PRAY THEN?

When C.S. Lewis’s wife, Joy, was dying of bone cancer, Jack (C.S.) was seen praying everyday in the nearby Anglican chapel. The Rector asked him if he was praying to change God about Joy’s prognosis? Jack replied, “No, I’m praying for God to change me!” Since prayer is a worshipful conversation with God, there is a high likelihood that when we pray throughout our day as our spirit communes with God that our spirit is also ‘hearing’ unconsciously from God. This perhaps is even more pronounced when we pray in tongues to God. Therefore, what may surprise praying worshipers is just how much they positively change as they wait on God in prayer seeking His face rather than His attention (Jn. 15:7). 

 

MY DUMB PRAYERS

I consider a ‘dumb’ prayer to be one that the pray-er had not fully considered the implications of how God might answer that prayer. The unconsidered implications are especially its cost, discomfort, inconvenience, and potential suffering. At one point I was prayerfully begging God to redeem and rescue the hurting, lost, lonely and broken people of my community. Those who have experienced my pastoring will be aware how God answered that prayer and how at times it was overwhelming. Then I developed a deep concern for the unwell. Again, those who are aware of my pastoral journey will know that I began a season some time ago, when for every significant health issue that someone came to me for prayer, was actually put on me. On several occasions this resulted in me being hospitalised. The list of ‘dumb prayers’ below are only the first half of these answered prayers. I am leaving the second-half — the implications — to your imagination. These are some of my ‘dumb’ prayers over the years that God has answered and as a result I have been transformed and become more responsive to God’s will:

🥺 Father, send me wherever You want – but please don’t make it an easy place. Make it a really hard place spiritually. Make it a place where few of Your servants are prepared to go! [Prayed before Kim and I moved to Tasmania.]

🥺 Lord God, fill me with Your love. Give me Your compassion for the hard-to-love. Help me oh God to truly see people and to truly hear them! [Prayed after Kim and I moved to Tasmania.]

🥺 Jesus, help me to understand Your Word. Show me what Your Word really says and to see past what I have been taught and told Your Word says to see what Your Word truly says! [Prayed regularly while in Tasmania.]

🥺 Holy Spirit, please rescue the lost, the lonely, the broken, the hurting, the confused, and the unloved! Holy Spirit, please bring them into the Kingdom of Christ through Your church! Help me to love them, heal them, and care for them. In the meantime, please fill Your people with Your love and power to be the hands and the feet to offer the love, the care, and the Father’s adoption to these needy people. [Prayed very recently while in Tasmania.]

🥺 Lord GOD, give me the time I need to complete this PhD with Monash and help me to navigate each of the challenges that will arise in doing so! [Prayed very regularly in Tasmania at the moment.]

🥺 Father, help me to hear Your voice and to heed Your Word! In fact, help me to make a difference both now and for the next four centuries by what I will leave behind [Prayed presently while preparing to depart Tasmania for wherever God will lead us.]

🥺 God, have Your way in my life! Make me, shape me, and break me, to be conformed to Your will! [Prayed presently while preparing to depart Tasmania for wherever God will lead us.]

 

PRAYING FOR GOD’S WILL TO BE DONE IS NEVER DUMB

I am a Pentecostal, but I do not hold to the Word-of-faith / Prosperity-gospel. As a Pentecostal I believe that the gifts of the Spirit are still available and will be so until the eschaton (“the Last Day” referred to in John 6:39-44, 54; 11:24; 12:48).Thus, I believe that the Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit still performs miracles – including transforming lost souls into saved saints. But I also believe – not because I am a Pentecostal, but because I am a Bible-believing Christian – that God is good and always does good. This means that God has a good will and that I need to pray according to His will — even when I do not like His will! My ultimate example to pray according to God’s will is the record of Jesus in Gethsemane just before He went to the cross. And therefore, so should we.

Again, for the second time, He went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”  And again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So, leaving them again, He went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again.
Matthew 26:42-44

Thus, praying for God’s will to be done in your life is never dumb!

Your Pastor,

Andrew

Let me know what you think below in the comment section and feel free to share this someone who might benefit from this Pastor’s Desk.

WAS JESUS EVEN A CHRISTIAN?

 AS my pastoral ministry at Legana rapidly draws to an end it is my hope that I leave a deposit in your soul that encourages you to also Love God with all your mind as well. Using your mind in your worship involves being thoughtful about what you read and hear; and, it also involves being sceptical. It may surprise you that these qualities are exhorted in the Bible for all believers (as I will point out in a moment). It is my contention that with increasing screen addiction to social media — where viewing “memes” and watching celebrity YouTubes — are being confused for factual information, that even believers maybe susceptible to deception. I want to offer some ways to guard what might be being allowed into your soul.

Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.
Second Timothy 2:7

 Normally I would not discourage anyone from dismissing someone’s claims or ideas merely because they belonged to a different group to them. Philosophers refer to this as “the genetic fallacy” (based on dismissing the origin or ‘genesis’ of where the claim or idea came from). However, I do want to point out that even though someone claims to be a Christian, it is not their claim which verifies that they are a Christian – it is based on what they are claiming or the ideas they are expressing which verifies it or not. For example, someone could say, “I am a Christian” but then they dismiss that the Bible is God’s authoritative revelation, or that Jesus was the incarnate eternal God! Someone else may claim that they are a “progressive Christian” which may sound like they are a ‘contemporary’ Christian – but this actually means that they are a “theologically liberal Christian”. This is someone who does not believe in the authority of God’s Word, the miracles of the Bible, the deity and virgin-birth of Christ or Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. I am not encouraging you to necessarily dismiss someone out-of-the-gate who introduces themselves as a ‘progressive Christian’ (this would be committing the “genetic fallacy”). Instead, I encourage anyone to consider another’s claims or ideas for its truthfulness despite how they identify. This is applying First Thessalonians 5:21.   

But test everything; hold fast what is good.
First Thessalonians 5:21

HOW TO TEST ANY CLAIM OR IDEA FOR TRUTHFULNESS

  To “test” a claim involves asking three questions: (i) How do you know that?  (ii) How did you come to that conclusion?  (iii) How do those who disagree with you see this differently? These questions are important to distinguish between an ‘assertion’, which could simply be someone’s unfounded opinion; and, an ‘argument’, which is more likely based on facts and sound reasoning. It is important to remember that all people are equal; but, not all ideas are equal.

 

CASE STUDY #1,
A PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIAN DECLARES THAT THE CHRISTIANS HAVE GOT JESUS ALL WRONG ABOUT SEXUALITY, REPRODUCTION RIGHTS, AND SALVATION, BECAUSE JESUS WASN’T EVEN A CHRISTIAN!

  Alisa Childers, (the daughter of Chuck Gerrard who was featured in the film, Jesus Revolution) was a member of the Christian girls’ band, Zoe Girl. When she married her husband and came off the road to settle in Nashville and raise their family, her and husband connected into a local church. Touring for so many years and travelling the world to perform, Alisa was unable to enjoy a college education. The pastor welcomed the Childers family into the church and asked Alisa to join his weekly Bible study where, he claimed, she would be receiving the equivalent of degree-level theological education. Alisa was naturally excited about this opportunity but as she went each week she became increasingly disturbed by what she was hearing from her pastor. One night after coming home from this Bible study, she was particularly disturbed and told her husband. What the pastor had been teaching was undermining Alisa’s faith in Christ and His miracles, the authority of the Bible, and even the gospel itself. Alisa’s husband announced that they would no longer be attending this ‘progressive’ church. After leaving this church and finding another more theologically sound church, Alisa began to research what progressive Christianity actually taught. I strongly recommend reading her book which resulted from her research – Another Gospel.

Last week I was sent a link to a 2020 YouTube video featuring James Talarico who is a charming, popular, and very likeable American politician who described himself as progressive Christian. Oddly, his claim that “Jesus was not a Christian” has been repeated by many other social media influencers who are opposed to classical Christianity and have persuaded some to abandon the traditional beliefs of Christianity. I know that many godly Christian thinkers have responded to Congressman Talarico’s rather odd claim that most Christians are wrong about their traditional values because: Not even Jesus was a Christian. I would like to reiterate many of these responses and add my perspectives as well.

What is a Christian? Before someone makes an attempted ‘gotchya’ claim like Jesus wasn’t even a Christian – we should ask for a definition of a ‘Christian’. Put simply, a definition of a Christian (based on the Bible) is – A person who has been redeemed by Christ through their trusting-faith and is now metaphysically connected to Christ in which they are now “in Christ” and Christ is in them. Note Galatians 2:20 and Romans 8:1 which undergird this definition:

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Galatians 2:20

¶ There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Romans 8:1

  Once we establish the biblical description of a Christian as one who has been redeemed by Christ and now lives in Christ with Christ in them, it should become immediately obvious that the ‘gotchya’ meme that Jesus wasn’t even a Christian is literally a nonsense because Jesus was the Redeemer and not ever the One in need of redemption! And since Christians are those redeemed by Jesus who follow Him it is simply not true that being a Christian is opposed to what Christ taught! Perhaps some may object that there are people who claim to be Christians but don’t seem to live like one? In which case, I share their concern. But if their objection comes from a genuine Christian upholding the genuine moral teachings of Christ which are largely objectionable in today’s licentious culture (as it also was in the Greco-Roman culture of the first-century in which Christianity was birthed), then I do not share their concern. We should not shrink back from the uncomfortable teachings of Christ (Matt. 15:19-20; 6:15; 7:26-27; 16:27-28; 19:4-6; Mark 16:15-18; Luke 13:3; John 6:65; 14:6) — instead, we should lean into them!  Do not be embarrassed by Christ’s weird supernatural acts or revelations. Ponder C. S. Lewis’s encouragement not to be persuaded by liberal (‘progressive’) Christians (written over 60 years ago) :

Don’t, however, misjudge these “liberal Christians.” They genuinely believe that writers of my sort are doing a great deal of harm. They themselves find it impossible to accept most of the articles of the “faith once given to the saints.” They are nevertheless extremely anxious that some vestigial religion which they (not we) can describe as “Christianity” should continue to exist and make numerous converts. They think these converts will come in only if this religion is sufficiently “de-mythologised”. The ship must be lightened if she is to keep afloat. It follows that, to them, the most mischievous people in the world are those who, like myself, proclaim that Christianity essentially involves the supernatural. They are quite sure that belief in the supernatural never will, nor should, be revived, and that if we convince the world that it must choose between accepting the supernatural and abandoning all pretence of Christianity, the world will undoubtedly choose the second alternative. It will thus be we, not the liberals, who have really sold the pass. We shall have re-attached to the name Christian a deadly scandal from which, but for us, they might have succeeded in decontaminating it.
C. S. Lewis. 2015 (1963). Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer (Lewis Signature Classics). Distributed Proofreaders Canada. Kindle Edition. Chapter 22, pg. 69.

 

CASE STUDY #2,
A BLOGGER CLAIMS THAT CHRISTIANS HAVE GOT JESUS ALL WRONG, AND  JESUS NEVER SAID TO FOLLOW CHRISTIANS, HE SAID “FOLLOW ME.”

Did He? There are many things that Jesus the Christ told His original disciples that He has never told us. Consider His statements to His disciples about seeing Him crucified to death then three days later seeing Him risen from dead (Matt. 20:18-19). It would be poor exegesis if such a passage was interpreted as if this was said to all generations of believers everywhere. Consider Christ telling His original disciples to go into Jerusalem and find a donkey for Him (Matt. 21:2) – no-one would suggest that every Christian down through every age should make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to find a donkey for Christ! Christ told His disciples to literally follow Him (Matt. 4:19; 9:9), as a test of another man’s declaration of allegiance to Christ (Matt. 8:22), and to a rich young noble (Mtt. 19:21). Christ certainly gave His disciples the cost of following Him which they were to preach as part of their gospel message:

¶ Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.
Matthew 16:24

It is mischievous to claim that Jesus didn’t say “Follow Christians.” Jesus appointed His messengers (called apostles) to have His authority (Matt. 28:19; John 15:16). This authority given by Christ to those He calls within His Church includes the responsibility to rebuke and correct (1Tim. 4:11; 2Tim. 3:16; Titus 2:15). And if these Scriptures are not emphatic enough, then consider Hebrews 13:7, 17, which reveal that Christ has placed shepherd-leaders within a church who must be honoured. Naturally, Christ expects and requires that these appointees do so with gentleness, care, and love. Over the past twenty-nine-years, this is how I have striven to pastor those that God has placed in my charge. Please pray for me to continue to do so in an even greater way over these next seven weeks until finish up at Legana and hand the shepherd’s mantle over to Harry.

 

THE NEED FOR GODLY & LOVING DISCERNMENT

An aspect of my pastoral prayer for you and our church is that you each continue exercise and grow in your love for the Lord and each other, with a heart for those in our community who are in darkness. I am supplementing this prayer with the petition to the Lord for you to be discerning about what you hear and watch on social media, and on your guard about celebrities who are mistaken for experts, and memes which are mistaken for trustworthy. Remember to ask the three discernment questions mentioned earlier. Strive to follow Christ prayerfully, thoughtfully, studiously, and don’t be intimidated by those who appear to confidently denounce the Bible and Christ’s Church with empty slogans and witty internet memes. 

Your Pastor,

Andrew

Let me know what you think below in the comment section and feel free to share this someone who might benefit from this Pastor’s Desk.