Spider-man Theory on Theology

A Collision of Faith & Logic 

Any mention of a comic book character in the realms of theology makes fodder for excellent discussion in my book. When I came across the “Spider-Man Fallacy”, at first I was intrigued hoping to find an analogy of Peter Parker to my own struggles with faith. Instead I found an argument against faith in general and the existence of Christ with no logical foundation.

The concept is explained in a narrative format. Let’s suppose that archaeologist unearth a collection of Spider-man comics a 1,000 years in the future. Aside from striking literary gold, they notice that much of the scenery within the context of the story lines presented around the life of Peter Parker takes place in 21st century New York City. Having graduated with a degree, the archaeologist know that the city did in fact exist at one point in time. There was a Central Park, Statue of Liberty, etc. Based upon this observation, then perhaps Spider-man existed as well?

Proponents of this theory take the same thought process and apply it to Christian theology, questioning the validity of Christ’ existence. But can this theory really work?

Historical Accuracy

I honestly can’t imagine anyone using that as a valid argument, but let’s entertain the idea for a moment. It would not hold up against the historical evidence presented not only in the Scriptures themselves, but in extra-Biblical sources as well.

A historian by the name of Flavius Josephus wrote a work around the time of Jesus Christ entitled Jewish Antiquities. This work was broken up into multiple volumes of which one, namely Book 18, contained a passage on Christ:

Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us, had condemned him to the cross , those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named for him, are not extinct at this day.

There were other sources as well, including Cornelius Tacticus. In fact, most scholarship concludes that Jesus Christ was a real, authentic person, regardless of the religious stigma attached to him.

Genre

Another argument against the Spider-Man Fallacy is the concept of genre. Historical scholars would understand literary works within the frame work of their intended genre. A comic book is written in vivid detail with many fantastic, extraordinary story lines, super powers, etc.

The New Testament is clearly a different genre than Comic-Book fantasy. Even if you remove the theological embellishments that skeptics beleive were imposed on the text, you are still left with a rich, ancient biography of the lives of men inspired by the teaching of Christ.

Faulty Analogy

I would also argue that the analogy is a weak one based on the nature of both sources. In order for an analogy to have any creditability, there must be strong similarities with minor, non-essential differences. The differences between a comic book and scriptures are too vast and thus leaves the fallacy theory much to be desired.