Baptizing the New Mythology: Superhero Evangelization

 From Word on Fire:

I attended a small traditionalist Catholic high school that emphasized classical education. My humanities teacher instilled in me an enthusiastic delight in the epics of Greco-Roman literature—the Odyssey, the Aeneid, the Oresteia, and others—as well as a profound respect for the education in virtue these tales could impart. Although the example of the pagan demigods and heroes—not unlike that of comic book superheroes—is often imperfect, they can serve as powerful models of courage, honor, and loyalty. It would be folly to discard such sagas as worthless or obsolete. Christian commentators down the centuries have sought to “baptize” the pagan myths, seeing in them allegories of the Gospel. J.R.R. Tolkien took all that was good and noble in his beloved Norse mythology and transfigured it into his fantasy masterpiece The Lord of the Rings, a novel he described as “fundamentally religious and Catholic.” Tolkien’s close friend C.S. Lewis, a master Christian apologist, believed that mythology offers a powerful means of imparting spiritual and moral truths. These truths can act as signals beckoning us toward the fullness of truth in the Gospel, which Lewis referred to as the one “true myth.” (Read more.)