Let me warn you from the outset: this post deals with uncomfortable subject matter. So, if you don’t get in these kind of things and you don’t like controversial subjects like this, I suggest you skip this post.
I know that there will be people will be cringing reading this post. They just want me to write my books, write about my world, and leave all the uncomfortable subjects off the table. But some of that stuff matters which is why people are talking about it. It’s why people are still debating it to this day after millennia of going back and forth. It matters. It’s important. Though I enjoy writing and telling stories in my world and creating those kinds of things, the most important things are the things I have to deal with reality.
That being the case, when it comes to my particular area of expertise that someone is distorting, I’m going to say something about it. That might make people feel uncomfortable. That’s why I suggested from the beginning to skip this post if you are one of those people because I am compelled to do this because of who I am. I am a servant of the Most High God first and foremost and this kind of distortion cannot go unanswered.
As I’ve mentioned before, I love me some superheroes. Comics, novels, movies, you name it. Last week, I was sent a message from a friend of mine here locally. In that message, he had a link to a new comic book series that was coming out from DC comics on their Vertigo line. For all intents and purposes, it is a series about how Jesus Christ did not know what he was doing and has to be taught how to do things by a fictional character called Sun Man. Let me give an excerpt from an interview with the writer of the limited series:
“Witness the return of Jesus Christ, as He is sent on a
Now for anyone who knows me, they know I’m disturbed by this already just from that statement though not surprised. There is a high possibility they’re writing the series just to be offensive to Christians covering it in a cloak of “for mature readers”. That normally means profane. However, it doesn’t stop there as the writer of the series, Mark Russell, explains a little bit more in-depth about what his theology is all about.
“God was so upset with the fact that he got crucified last time that he wouldn’t even let him look through the celestial keyhole at earth to keep up,” said Russell in the Bleeding Cool interview. “He doesn’t know how sideways things have gone until he’s come down to Earth and sees it himself.”
When you get into these kinds of situations as far as writing, you better make sure you know what you are talking about. There are multiple problems with Russell’s theology just from that statement. So many that I won’t address them all. Suffice to say, he should quit while he is behind.
The problem with people who like to put together stories in this vein is that they have no idea. It is quite clear Russell is clueless about what he’s talking about. He doesn’t know anything about theology and he doesn’t know anything about Christ in the sense of His mission.
Looking at the author’s admission and description, this is a distortion of who Christ is and the truth he proclaimed.
He has no frame of reference of what the actual issue is about.
The whole idea that Jesus Christ was a failure because He was crucified is a clear sign that Russell is beyond clueless. This is an attack on the atonement, a cornerstone of Christianity. He is simply trying to peddle a broken, tore-up-from-the-floor-up theology that has no basis in truth. It is the delusion of his own mind.
There are
other problems with the position Russell is taking for this story.
Number one
is that Jesus laid down His life on purpose. The
Bible is very clear that Jesus was the One who laid down His life
and He did it because the Father told Him to. We see this in the
Bible itself:
For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father. (John 10:17-18)
So, in essence, Russell is calling Jesus Christ, the Son of God, a liar.
Number two is that God is not pleased with His Son. God refutes that from His own lips:
Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. (Matthew 12:18)
He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” (Matthew 17:5)
Jesus reiterates this by making this bold claim:
And He who sent Me is with Me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him. (John 8:29)
I’m saddened that a company which I grew up loving many of the characters that they have created would stoop so low as to rubber-stamp an offensive project like this. Whenever you start talking about Jesus, the son of the living God, God in the flesh, and you begin to make claims about who he was that is contradictory to the Bible, you are quite frankly heretic. And that is what we are dealing with here just in a comic book medium. The only thing I have to say to Russell is that you should never bring a knife to a gunfight. There will be many people who will call him out on the horrific theology that he’s going to set forth in this book. I’m just one of them.
All of that being said, I will say this. I agree with Russell on at least one point. That point is how Christ is betrayed in these so-called churches today. Let me quote Russell and what he said specifically:
“[Second Coming] is about Jesus coming down and being appalled by what he sees has been done in his name by Christianity in the last two thousand years. He goes by a megachurch and they have a billboard of this Tom Brady-looking Jesus Christ throwing a football and he doesn’t even recognize himself which is a metaphor for him not recognizing what’s been done with the religion that bears his name.”
On that point, I concur. The kind of nonsense being done in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is just as blasphemous as this comic series. Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
This is one of the reasons I do not collect modern-day comics (I collect back issues). They have gone off the deep end in terms of their political agenda in their stories. Though every writer is a preacher, every writer doesn’t preach the truth. People need to be discerning which is one of
I will continue the write the stories I write with the themes and premises I put forth. I have no qualms about that and I will be willing to defend it. I also don’t have any qualms about writing a post similar to this one. I’m not going to shy away from something as important as this simply because it makes people feel uncomfortable. I don’t write these things to offend but I write these things because I believe that truth is important. I believe the clarion call should go forth from people who have the discernment to warn others of this type of garbage.
The series comes out in March of 2019. I know what you’re saying. “Why don’t you wait for it to come out first before you begin blasting it?” Because from the writer’s statements, I know what it’s going to be about. He just told me in his own words which are enough to keep me away from the series. I don’t have to taste feces to know it’s awful. All I need is a whiff.
Happy Monday.
