You're a Good Man, Mankind?

I just started reading an excellent book called "Superheroes and Philosophy". It's a collection of essays about the philosophical ideas presented in superhero comics, comparing them to Socrates, Aristotle, the Bible, etc. Sounds silly, I know. But superheroes, whether in comics, movies, or Saturday Morning Cartoons, do present a lot of topics for discussion. Some of these are the nature of man, the idea of good vs. evil, and the concept of friendship. The book addresses why Batman, though surrounded by allies, doesn't seem to have anything consisting of a true friendship, or why superheroes even decide to fight for justice.

Some of the chapters are silly or poorly written, and initially, the use of Greek philosophers raised my eyebrow (metaphorically), as it may have for you. But the editors, who do most of the writing, have sound ideas, and seem to even have a correct understanding of theism. The main editor may even be a Christian.

In any case, this post is not meant to be a review, so I'll get to the point. One of the biggest issues is why anyone with superpowers would decide to fight for good, especially when it meant giving up so much. One philosopher cited in the book claims that justice only exists as a way for weaker people to protect themselves from stronger people--and thus any intelligent stronger person would overrule justice and take what he wants for himself. But superheroes don't do that--and neither do most people. The conclusion is reached that most people do have some inclination to good that draws them to do the right thing.

But wait! Doesn't this violate everything we know about Total Depravity? Isn't that humanistic propaganda, saying that mankind is inherently good?

Well, maybe not. This is a big topic is superhero media, and one of the reasons I think people like superheroes. Superheroes are a fantasy about incorruptible people--realistic people who go through struggles, yes, but also people who inspire us because in the end they do the right thing.

But how fantastic is the idea of human good? Take the first Spiderman film, where the citizens of New York, though usually antagonistic to the wall-crawler, stand up against Green Goblin in the name of New York Pride. Look at The Dark Knight, when the two ferries decide to risk their own lives in not destroying the other ship. Would this really happen? Well, even if it wouldn't, I don't count this as a point against the movies, since unrealistic idealism is part of the point of superheroes.

But let's go back to the original question--Is mankid inherently good? Usually our first answer is an adamant "no". We are marred by the sin nature and incapable of good without Christ. This is true. But is the sin nature, our "nature"?

Ultimately, no. Never forget that humans are created in the image of God. It is never natural for humans to sin. Our inherent nature is perfection, innocence. Sin is a disease which corupted that. A man with cancer is not cancer. A man with leprousy, though he be called a leper, is not leprousy incarnate. He is an otherwise healthy man marred with an external disease that has infected him.

In many ways this quesion is pointless. Since the sin nature dictates our actions, for practicaly purposes we are sinful creatures. But our inherent nature is one of good. This is how even the unregenerate sinner knows that what he does is wrong--he simply has no ability not to do it. Mankind, even unsaved mankind, does have an inclination to good, they just practice only evil.

Granted, this means the scenes from Spiderman or Dark Knight may be unrealistic, but I wouldn't call them humanistic. They acknowledge that there is an unchanging idea of good and evil behavior, something humanists deny.

And the most important thing is this--we must never forget where we came from. Too often we see only the sin nature and forget the image of God. When you look at a lost person, do you see someone God fashioned with His own hands in His image to be perfect, or do you only see the sin nature marring that perfection? Never forget that the sinful person you are witnessing to is a man or womn Christ died for. While we may be covered in cracks and burns, we are pots made by the Expert Potter--and so are the lost world.