As time passes, new religions will rise, and the old ones, no matter how strongly they were once followed, will eventually be set aside and labeled Mythology. To name the most common examples, Greek, Roman, and Norse (my personal favorite) theologies all fell victim to the passing eras. In class we’ve been discussing religion and mythology being one and the same, but the word mythology has a certain stigma attached to it that seems to say “false religion from a past civilization.” Put simply, mythologies are stories created by humans to explain the natural and supernatural worlds. Christianity, Hinduism, Islamism, and all other modern religions are mythologies as well, but saying this in a public place is sure to earn the stink-eye, or worse.
Marvel Comics’ successful use of Thor as a superhero shows that after a religion crosses into the realm of mythology, it is fair to use (or abuse) its content without invoking the wrath of the public. Thor was the God of Thunder, Son of Odin the Allfather. To those who worshipped him, he was very real. As real as Jesus Christ, Son of Yahweh, is to Christians today. For the most part, when someone hears Thor’s name in our era, they think of the superhero, not the all-powerful God of Thunder that, for many centuries, inspired fear, respect, and awe in the hearts of faithful Norsemen.
If history is an indicator of what the future holds, the Christian faith will someday be publicly known as Christian Mythology, and Jesus, Adam, Yahweh, and all other characters of the Bible will be open to artistic interpretation. Maybe there will be a Jesus superhero comic book, in which Gentle Jesus, with his Crown of Thorns and Holy Powers, defends mankind against monsters and villains. The idea is sure to offend today, but you can be assured that the brave Norsemen and women of Scandinavia would take offense to depictions of Thor in tights and a silky red cape.
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