Religion in the Marvel universe. (An observation)

[dikran]

I find it funny how a character in the MU can actually be a christian... I mean, you have Norse gods, Greek gods, demons, and all the other mythologies all proven to exist in front of your eyes yet still no sign of Jesus with an Avengers ID badge... If Greeces ancient gods are ''real'', wouldnt it make sense to them?

 

No, I'm not a religious zealot just thought it might be cool for a book to explore this aspect of the Marvel U. Marvels-style.

[nickwire]

as long as they let liefield design his outfit..IM IN!

[Ares]

gods, demons, devils, angels etc are all facets of what is considered The Creator (One Above All [not the celestial with the same name] in Marvel all representing a physical aspect of the emotions and energies that flow throughout the universe.

 

Cosmic beings in Marvel for example, Eternity (Necessity), Galactus(Equity) and Death (Vengeance), are all their own entity, but at the same time, are all represented by the 3 shown faces of the Living Tribunalmeaning that he embodies them as a whole, but they are still seperate entities. Even he is just an embodiment of the judgement side of the One-Above-All, who has been alluded to as God.

 

So for ALL of the religions to be practiced and represented in the Megaverse that is all of Marvel's multiverses, isn't really a stretch, since like I said, they are ALL singular facets being represented one or multiple entities.

 

As for the Norse gods such as Thor and Odin. They are NOT the creators of the universe, they aren't even immortal, they do eventually die (Ragnarok), they stay alive for so long by ingesting the Golden Apples cultivated by Idun, without them, they would grow old and perish. So, even though they are relatively nigh omnipotent in their own right, they aren't technically god-like. As for the realms of these gods, Niflheim, Muspelheim, Asgard etc, they are just names they give to places that exist both inside and outside of the human (midgard) reality. Same thing with Greeks and Mt. Olympus, it is a physical place contained both inside and outside of our world.

==

In Avengers issue #171, when the team enters a Catholic convent (looking for Jocasta):

 

Wanda: You seem a bit uncomfortable, Thor?

 

Thor: (who has taken off his winged helmet) Aye, Wanda, verily! This house of Christian worship hath no regard for the Asgardian god of thunder!

 

Wanda: Should it?

 

Thor: Nay, milady! E'en my father, mighty Odin, who is called all-powerful, doth lay no claim to supreme divinity

 

In teh Marvel Universe handbook Thor Referse to the one who created the universe

=====

And Mephisto DOES refer to the creator of all things, who he hates, in the comics from time to time. Even when making a deal with Parker.

 

[dikran]

Awesome post! Thanks for clearing a lot of my misconceptions up.

 

But since we are living in a time where scepticism is rampant, why would someone decide to become a priest (or rabbi, etc.), for example, in the MU, when he is faced with a myriad of gods walking around. I just find it weird that this is hardly addressed, even though religion is a pretty touchy topic.

 

 

 

[llll-migration]

In the Jack Kirby Collector magazine (#26)

there are several articles about comics & religion.

 

Jack Kirby on: Storytelling, Man, God and Nazis

 

Judaism & Jewish Influences on Jack Kirby’s work

 

Theology of The New Gods (Fourth World)

 

Christianity and the Church of Stan Lee & Jack Kirby

 

Judeo-Christian doctrine and the New Gods

[the blob]

.

[gaz973]

This topic has been addressed in different issues of Thor and other titles. The Asgardians, Olympians, etc don't claim to be the ultimate power in the universe and were proclaimed as "gods" by mankind.

Other powerful entities such as Eternity, Death, Order, Chaos, etc are manifestations of the forces of the universe and therefore are not necesarily the ultimate power in the universe.

There have been times in the MU that "God" & "Heaven" have been mentioned. Most recently in the current Ghost Rider series where Ghost Rider is trying to get to Heaven to face a rogue angel. I somehow doubt that we'll be getting direct guest appearances from god or Jesus though. Be interesting to know what a christian would make of the story. No religion for me.

[gaz973]

BTW, there's a good scene in Avengers # 171 where Thor respectfully removes his helmet when entering a church and in discussion states that even Odin lays no claim to supreme divinity. (Shorly afterwards they are attacked by a robot nun, great stuff).

[gaz973]

D'oh, Ares beat me to it.... and said it better.

[Mephisto]

read your old testament. when moses's snake/cane eats the snake/cane of the pharoah's wizards I'm pretty sure there is a reference to other gods, but that the God of moses is the mightiest, the creator, etc....even the old testament seems to accept other gods, just that they're weak and their snake/canes will get eaten.

 

sure, this sort of thinking is pretty much gone by the new testament.

 

No worshiping Golden Calves, or Moses will get mad and smash stuff.

[BlowUpTheMoon]

In Avengers issue #171, when the team enters a Catholic convent (looking for Jocasta):

 

Wanda: You seem a bit uncomfortable, Thor?

 

Thor: (who has taken off his winged helmet) Aye, Wanda, verily! This house of Christian worship hath no regard for the Asgardian god of thunder!

 

Wanda: Should it?

 

Thor: Nay, milady! E'en my father, mighty Odin, who is called all-powerful, doth lay no claim to supreme divinity

 

 

Did you take that from memory?

[joker-fish]

read your old testament. when moses's snake/cane eats the snake/cane of the pharoah's wizards I'm pretty sure there is a reference to other gods, but that the God of moses is the mightiest, the creator, etc....even the old testament seems to accept other gods, just that they're weak and their snake/canes will get eaten.

 

sure, this sort of thinking is pretty much gone by the new testament.

 

No worshiping Golden Calves, or Moses will get mad and smash stuff.

 

 

Mooby the Golden Calf

[Ares]

In Avengers issue #171, when the team enters a Catholic convent (looking for Jocasta):

 

Wanda: You seem a bit uncomfortable, Thor?

 

Thor: (who has taken off his winged helmet) Aye, Wanda, verily! This house of Christian worship hath no regard for the Asgardian god of thunder!

 

Wanda: Should it?

 

Thor: Nay, milady! E'en my father, mighty Odin, who is called all-powerful, doth lay no claim to supreme divinity

 

 

Did you take that from memory?

Nah.. I looked it up.. I knew I had read something like this before I joined these forums

[PokerKid]

Maybe it was the occasional DC crossovers. In the 1970s, Jesus or Jesus types popped up about as often as talking apes.

[CAP Freak]

I always wondered how Ben Grimm keeps his faith. I bet he often feels like Joab.

[ashrael]

This reminds me of an episode of Highlander where someone asks Duncan MacLeod if he things Jesus was an immortal (in the head-chopping sense) and says he "No". When asked how he knows, Duncan replied "Faith".

[Ijiwaru Sensei]

I believe this has been posted here before, but still a neat site: Comic Book Characters' Religions.

[joe_collector]

I somehow doubt that we'll be getting direct guest appearances from god or Jesus though.

 

Check out the early-BA Ghost Rider series.

[AtlasFan]

There was a very interesting storyline in Dr Strange's 70s run in Marvel Premier. The story, with art (fantastic) by Frank Brunner, dealt with the origin of God -- a magician from the future that gained more power as he traveled backwards in time.

 

Seems that the forces of magic are allocated to magicians across the universe -- the less magicians, the more power those fewer mage''s have. As this mage travels before the Creation (and with no other sorcerers around), he becomes God.

 

Was it an hallucination? Was this character God or did he just become drunk with power and assume he was God? Al these answers were (rightfully) left unanswered. I don't believe the character ever resurfaced, but it is quite an interesting read!

Bill

[Ares]

I somehow doubt that we'll be getting direct guest appearances from god or Jesus though.

 

Check out the early-BA Ghost Rider series.

I read about that but

(Ghost Rider II#19) - After triumphing over the difficulties set before him by the Challenger, Ghost Rider confronted the being, only to discover the Challenger (who had previously appeared to be a costumed super-villain) was actually a demon. The Challenger revealed to Blaze that the Friend was nothing more than a demonic illusion used to instill in him false hope. False hope or not, Ghost Rider still managed to defeat the laughing demon.