Book Review: Superheroes Can’t Save You, by Todd Miles

We are easily enamored with escaping our normal everyday lives to enjoy watching our favorite superhero destroy the evil villain, bring justice to the oppressors, and save the day. Whether you are a Marvel or DC fanatic, most people cannot resist seeing the newest superhero movie that seems to drop every few months. The connection and love we have with superheroes seem to highlight a deeper truth that as humans, we all desire someone who is more powerful and stronger than us to come and save us from the difficulties and sufferings in our lives.

All superheroes are attempts to create a savior-like figure who can rescue us from our depravity. Yet as Todd Miles demonstrates in his book, Superheroes Can’t Save You, every superhero is an inadequate picture of the true hero of the story of reality: Jesus Christ. The book associates our beloved heroes with a Christological heresy that can be traced back to the early church.

It is important to understand these heresies because these “bad ideas about Jesus” undercut the gospel and lead others away from embracing the true gospel. Therefore, each chapter of the book provides an explanation of a superhero; how that superhero displays an incomplete view of Jesus; and how Jesus is much better than what is represented by each superhero (p. 7). Each chapter is divided up into five sections: an introduction of the superhero, the heresy that the superhero represents, how this heresy is still practiced today, what the Bible teaches to combat this heresy, and why these truths about Jesus are important for our lives today.

Miles covers most of the heresies about the person of Christ from the early church, which includes Docetism, Modalism, Arianism, Adoptionism, Apollinarianism, Nestorianism, and Eutychianism. The only heresy that Miles covers that cannot be traced back to the early church is Liberalism, which he argues, was birthed in the 18th century by Friedrich Schleiermacher.

Due to its focus on the heresies of Christ and the four famous councils of the early church, Superheroes Can’t Save You strengthens the reader’s understanding of the church history and Christology of the Patristics. The book is robustly grounded in theological studies but is easily understood by the general Christian or skeptic who has an interest in learning more about the person and work of Jesus.

Four commendable aspects of the book can be seen in its readability, the relatability of each heresy as represented by a familiar superhero, the linear progression of the author’s thought, and the practical application and discussion questions at the end of each chapter. Throughout the book, Miles uses big theological terms but always defines and provides helpful examples to further the reader’s understanding. One example can be seen when Miles explains how to understand Docetism through the example of the cape crusader, Superman. Docetism teaches that Jesus was fully God but not fully human; instead, he only had the appearance of a human but did not become flesh or have a human body (the word “Docetism” comes from the Greek word dokein, which means to seem or appear). In the same way, Superman is an alien from Krypton and not a human being, but when he came to earth he disguised himself as a normal journalist named Clark Kent. Just as Jesus only “appeared” to be human, Superman only “appeared” to be Clark Kent. The Docetic view of Jesus is simply “God in disguise” just as Clark Kent was Superman in disguise.   

Another example can be seen in each of the sub-headings of the chapters. Miles provides a short statement that describes each heresy in a way that is embodied by the superhero that is the subject of each chapter. For example, Modalism is described as Jesus being simply one of three “costumes” that God puts on, just as Ant-Man shifts into Giant-Man and Yellowjacket in the comics. The heresy teaches that God is not three in one but one God who shifts into different modes during different times of history. The complexities of Eutychianism can be arduous to comprehend for most people, but relating this heresy to Spider-Man, knowing Peter Parker is part human and part Spider is much easier for the reader to understand Eutyches’ claim that Jesus had a hybrid nature in being part human and part god.

The similarity of the structure and organization of each chapter allows the reader to easily understand Miles’ argument and flow of thought throughout the work. The framework of each argument also helps teach readers how to approach, understand, and combat false ideas that undercut the gospel. For example, Miles starts each chapter laying the background information by describing the superhero, how they emulate the heresy, and then the historical information of what the heresy is and how it originated. Once a charitable explanation of the heresy is given, he expounds on how we can still believe this false idea today and how it leaves a picture of Jesus that cannot save us. Miles then confronts the false idea with the truth of God’s Word, demonstrates who the Bible proclaims Jesus to truly be, and then concludes with why believing these truths about Jesus are important for our lives today. This is a good example of conducting sound historical research and biblical exegesis to demolish strongholds or any lofty thought that is raised up against the knowledge of God.

Lastly, the personal application sections and discussion questions are what make this book a user-friendly and a practical resource for youth workers. When considering ideas that were espoused in the third and fourth centuries, students can easily revert into thinking these ideas have nothing to do with them today. Yet, Miles provides everyday examples of how we can still fall into these heresies.

For example, when looking at Modalism, most Christians understand the common fallacy of comparing the Trinity to H2O or a three-leaf clover, but very few realize they are falling into Modalism during prayer when they ascribe to the Father things that only the Son did (i.e. dying on the cross, Patripassianism). Miles then explains how having these false ideas about Jesus can have serious consequences. Using the Modalism example, if Jesus is just “one of three costumes God put on,” then he cannot answer our prayers because the Bible teaches us to pray in a trinitarian way: praying to the Father, in the name of the Son, and through the Holy Spirit. More importantly, this view of Jesus cannot save us because it was the work of all three persons of the Trinity that was necessary to accomplish our salvation.

One critique of the book is the lack of scholarly contributions. There are few, if any, footnotes and there is no bibliography section. In Miles’s defense, it does not appear that a scholarly and in-depth magnum opus of the heresies of church history and a thorough exegesis of Christology was his intention in writing this book. Rather in this work, Miles seeks to provide a practical resource for students of theology, youth workers, and avid superhero fanatics that provides sound historical theology, biblical exegesis, and Christology in an easy-to-read format and everyday language.

Miles’s creativity should be extolled in the way he exquisitely expounds how each heresy is emulated by superheroes that are easy to relate to and remember. Therefore, this book is for any Christian or skeptic who wants to take a deeper dive into understanding the false ideas about Jesus that are still being propagated today and how the Bible confronts those lies to demonstrate who Jesus truly is: two natures, one person, fully God, fully human. Superheroes can’t save us, but praise God that Jesus can!