One God in American Culture: From Captain Kirk to Captain America

The 2011 Blockbuster hit, The Avengers, caused a little controversy when Captain America says, “There’s only one God, ma’am, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t dress like that.” This line comes when a character suggests the Captain sit out a fight between Thor and Loki, Nordic gods revealed to be powerful beings from another dimension.

In today’s America, such a statement is indeed scandalous. It is the height of arrogance, it is supposed, to assert any kind of transcendent truth claim about spiritual things, especially concerning God. Yet in Captain America’s 1940s, it was rather unremarkable for someone to make such a claim. Even near the end of the 1960s the rather progressive and somewhat liberal television show Star Trek makes a similar statement: 

Mankind has no need for gods. We find the one quite adequate.

—Captain Kirk, Star Trek Season 2, “Who Mourns for Adonais?”

In that story, Captain Kirk happens upon the god Apollo, revealed to be a powerful space being who visited earth thousands of years ago and was worshipped by the Greeks. When Apollo demands Kirk’s devotion, he rebuffs him with the statement above. It was likely more of a reflection of the 1960s culture than the personal convictions of the network or William Shatner.

Culture changes. The Roman Empire was largely opposed to Christianity until the conversion of Constantine in the fourth century. With the fall of Rome came new opposition in some areas where it had been embraced. Times change, but the Church should not change, at least, not where it concerns the gospel. Whether the culture loves us, hates us, or something in between, we should always be prepared to testify of the gospel of God’s grace.

Thanksgiving and the Spiritual Effects on Colonizers and Natives

In the United States Thanksgiving Day approaches. Here we celebrate the blessings that God has brought us around a table full of food with our closest family and friends by our side. Even though many thanksgiving feasts were celebrated in the Americas, the American holiday has as its traditional base a celebration of the English pilgrims together with the indigenous peoples of the northeastern United States. Historians know that if it were not for the goodwill of the indigenous peoples, the pilgrims would have died that first winter in Massachusetts colony. The indigenous peoples demonstrated the virtues of love, grace, and goodness that the Christian pilgrims professed. Even though the pilgrims and the natives had a good relationship in that time, a few years later European sicknesses, mutual misunderstandings, and the arrival of more English colonists would result in the extermination of the majority of the indigenous peoples through war and illness.

The plight of the indigenous peoples in the coming years has been ignored for hundreds of years and many people today want to change the holiday, Thanksgiving, into a day of mourning for the native peoples. I, for my part, remember Thanksgiving Day as an example of what could have been—mutual friendship between two different peoples. As a Christian, I know that the plight of the Native Americans is even greater because the great majority of them did not know the gospel and the actions of the English colonists have resulted in distrust of the message of the Bible that those first pilgrims believed. The great loss of souls is the greatest tragedy of this story.

In 1599, decades before the first voyage of the pilgrims, the second edition of Two Treatises was published in London. In a sad passage, Cipriano de Valera, a displaced Spaniard, considered the spiritual consequences of the conquest of Latin America on the souls of his countrymen. 

The discovery of the Indies may, if it is well considered, have done more evil than good to the souls of the Spaniards who went there. Bishop Casaos[1], who was an eyewitness and Spaniard by birth, wrote a book about the cruelties that the Spanish did to the poor Indians. It would have pleased God if those who have gone there would have had more zeal to teach and increase the holy catholic faith contained in the Holy Scriptures than to enrich themselves and, to enrich themselves, kill and rob indiscriminately left and right[2] (as they say) those simple people who had rational souls like us and for whom Jesus Christ died. The Indians said (as Augustine de Zárate tells it in his history of Peru[3]), complaining that the Spanish took their idols and gave them idols, or images, from Spain (the crosses and Virgin Mary’s, etc.) for them to worship. They said that the Spanish took from them many women, saying that the law of Jesus Christ did not permit but one woman only and that they took them for themselves. Would that they had taught them to worship God in Spirit and in truth as he says he wants to be worshiped. Regarding idols, or images, not even the thought of them should they have mentioned, since God prohibits them in the second commandment of his holy Law[4], and especially since the Indians were so given to idolatry. If the law of Jesus Christ does not permit more than one woman according to the first institution of marriage[5], why did our Spanish have many whores and mistresses? What manner of teaching was this? If the blind leads the blind, both fall in the pit[6]. This is what has happened to our Spanish brothers and their Indians. May God send them better teachers.

(de Valera, Cipriano. Dos Tratados. 2nd Ed. 1599. English translation mine)

We should remember that the colonists—Spaniards, English, or any other nation—like the Native Americans, suffered ill spiritual effects from their participation in the destruction of the Native Americans.

 

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[1]Bartolomé de las Casas (1474-1566). He published a number of works describing the barbarous treatment of the American native groups by the Spanish, the most famous of which is his Brevísima Relación de la Destrucción de las Indias [A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies], published in 1552.

[2]Here I use “indiscriminately left and right” as the closest English idiomatic equivalent for the Spanish phrase “de diestro y a siniestro.” Literally rendered it says “right and sinister,” which substitutes the word “sinister” for “left” to emphasize the immoral actions of the Spanish. One might also say, “kill and rob both left and wrong,” to capture the same effect.

[3] Augustine de Zarate (1514-1560). He published his Historia del Descubrimiento y Conquista de la Provincia del Perú [A History of the Discovery and Conquest of the Province of Peru] in 1555. It was later translated into English in 1581.

[4]“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:4-6, English Standard Version)

[5]“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24; cf. Matthew 19:4-6)

[6] Matthew 15:14.

Reading Philippians in light of its historical context: Rome

Embracing Shared Ministry: Power and Status in the Early Church and Why It Matters Today. By Joseph H. Hellerman. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications. 2013. 320 pp. (List price $17.99)

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Joseph Hellerman offers profound insight into power and authority in first-century Roman society and the early church. He also offers some obligatory thoughts on their use in the church today. By far, the most important parts of this book are the first two sections dealing with Roman culture and the historical context of Paul's letter to the Philippians, a full 200 pages' worth.

When it comes to biblical interpretation, context is king. Understanding a biblical passage in light of its textual, historical, and cultural context is vital to achieving a personal understanding of the passage and correctly applying it to oneself and one's congregation. Hellerman's meticulous survey of power and authority, and specifically the honor culture, of Roman society in the first third of the book is solid gold. It squarely places the letter to the Philippians in context and provides detailed descriptions of Roman society that will help shed light on other passages and books in the New Testament. His descriptions of Roman parties and clothing as status symbols, drawn directly from first-hand accounts, will certainly color my reading of Paul's admonition to put off the old self and put on the new as well as James's admonition to not show partiality in the gathering of the church.

Further, his exegesis of key passages in Philippians in light of this historical context indirectly teaches how to apply historical and cultural context to our Bible reading, and directly expounds the Scriptures.

His last section on the church today left me a little disappointed, so I am basing my four-star review on the first two thirds of the book. This section did not have enough positive examples of church leadership to counteract the plethora of negative ones he gave. Additionally, he does not build strong link between this section and the first two, which seems to be a common problem for those of us with teaching ministries. It is necessary to highlight these links so others can arrive at the same conclusions.

Overall, I was blessed by the book, and plan on referencing it again and again for the historical perspective on Roman society.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for the purposes of review.

From the Author of The Pilgrim's Progress

Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners. By John Bunyan. Audiobook by christianaudio. Read by Simon Vance. 2013.

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Next to the Bible, John Bunyan’s classic The Pilgrim’s Progress is probably one of the most widely read books of all time. Generations have been encouraged by this allegory of the Christian life, but few know much about its author. Bunyan was a Baptist minister in the 1600s who spent much time in prison for operating outside the authority of the state-supported Church of England. During this his imprisonments he wrote The Pilgrim’s Progress. Sometime before, in 1666, he wrote an autobiographical account of his journey to faith, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners.

Bunyun’s autobiography touches on his life both before and after placing his faith in Christ, and he gives an explanation as to how he came into the ministry and ended up in prison for preaching the Word. Much of what he writes centers on his struggle to accept Christ, believing that his sins committed after coming to a knowledge of Christ were unforgiveable. He hoped that his struggle, as well as his ultimate rest in Christ, would be an encouragement to others who may have similar worries about becoming a Christian.

Reading a book written three hundred fifty years ago would pose some challenges because of archaic spelling and language, but listening to it read by Simon Vance eliminates or reduces most of these. The spoken word is much more intelligible, and gives a more contemporary feel to the book than you get from just reading it.

Christians should become familiar with the lives of faithful believers from times past. Bunyan’s autobiography is a rich resource giving insight not only into the events of his life, but also his thought processes and inner struggles as well. A welcome insight into the man who wrote The Pilgrim’s Progress.

Disclosure of material connection: I received a review copy of this work from the publisher.