About the Book
What do God and the Caped Crusader have in common? While Batman is a secular superhero patrolling the fictional streets of Gotham City, his story creates multiple opportunities for believers to talk about the redemptive spiritual truths of Christianity. The book touches on Batman’s many incarnations over the last 70 years in print, on television, and at the local Cineplex for the enjoyment of Batman fans everywhere. But it primarily focuses on Christopher Nolan’s two wildly popular and critically acclaimed movies—movies that not only introduced a new generation to a darker Batman, but are also loaded with spiritual meaning and redemptive metaphors.
About the Author
Paul Asay is associate editor at Plugged In, a ministry that reaches more than 6 million people with movie reviews that help people understand popular cultural trends and how they intersect with spiritual issues. Paul is an award-winning journalist who covered religion at The (Colorado Springs) Gazette and whose work has been published by such outlets as The Washington Post, Christianity Today, Youth Worker Journal and Beliefnet.com. Paul has a special interest in the unexpected ways faith and media intersect. He lives in Colorado Springs with his wife, Wendy, and two children. |
Most Recent Blog Post
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I saw Star Trek Into Darkness recently, and I liked it: Probably my favorite movie of the summer so far. And ordinarily, I’d write a lot more about it. The ending was, in its own way, kinda nice and spiritual-y. But to get into that here I’d have to get all nice and spoilery, and there’s no need for that. Plus—and let’s just be honest—I’m tired. A couple of freelance projects have been kicking my keester. I’ve got to run a marathon this weekend and still need to find time to mow the lawn (curse that rain!) ...
Read the rest »
Posted May 17, 2013, by Paul Asay
Batman Book Q&ASo
why write a book about Batman? Why not Superman or Spider Man or The Avengers?
When I was a little kid, maybe 6 or 7, my best
friend Terry and I would pretend to be superheroes every chance we got. He was
always Superman or Captain Marvel or someone impossibly strong and powerful.
But I was always Batman. For me, even though Batman wasn’t the strongest
superhero around, he was always... Read the rest of this answer.
Batman
may be a hero, but he’s a pretty dark one—particularly the hero we see in
Christopher Nolan’s recent movies. Why did you pick him to use as a spiritual
exercise?
God-honoring stuff can be found in really rough
and messy circumstances sometimes. We’re living a world that no Christian
should be comfortable in, just as the Apostle Paul was. But Paul used elements
of the culture to speak into people’s lives. And even today, I believe that
God’s fingerprints can be found on everything... Read the rest of this answer.
Batman’s been around for nearly 80 years now, and he’s more beloved than ever. What’s the secret to his continuing popularity?
Well, he just looks cool, for one thing. One look at the guy, and you know not to mess with him. And then there’s the fact he has so many awesome gadgets, drives an amazing car and could buy a handful of Caribbean islands if he really wanted to. But an even bigger reason, I think, is that he’s recognizably human, just like... Read the rest of this answer.
Is
Batman Christian?
That’s a hard question to answer. In the end, I
think it depends on who Batman’s caretaker is at any given time. Batman’s first
origin story shows him praying to God after his dad dies—praying for the
strength to fight evil and, in essence, become the hero he’d eventually grow
into. But he’s always been a man of... Read the rest of this answer.
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