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Superhero fans know the Bible is full of heroic characters. But today’s guest, Chase Replogle, points out the plot twist: Scripture rarely presents them as truly role models.

Chase Replogle pastors Bent Oak Church in Springfield, Missouri. He hosts the Pastor Writer Podcast, interviewing pastors and authors such as Max Lucado, Philip Yancey, and Karen Swallow Prior. His podcast has been featured by The Gospel Coalition and his writings have appeared in Christianity Today. A native of the Ozark woods, he enjoys being outdoors with his wife and two kids.

With Chase Replogle, we explore questions like:

• Why do we love superheroes who are drawn to reveal our deepest desires?
• What are our favorite superheroes and/or superhero stories?
• Why are we so fascinated with these stories?
• What does Samson’s story reveal about our own flawed view of heroism?
• What “heroes” in our culture exemplify our unique notions about identity and self-fulfillment?

Quotes and notes

From Chase’s article “Why Every Millennial Man Should Reread The Samson Story”:

We’ve been told our entire lives that you can be anything you want to be, but by thirty the truth has finally started to set in. It’s not entirely true, at least not the way we imagined it would be. . . .

We think we can choose our way to discovering our identity. We think we can keep choosing and continue to refine our destiny. The great enemy of our day is any restriction on our free choosing. . . .

Individuality and the pursuit of your own way have become the new hero’s journey. There is no calling higher than self-discovery. There is no greater adventure than the pursuit of originality. . . .

The pursuit of who you uniquely are is the American dream. . . .

Samson is everything a man might imagine becoming. I like to imagine him in Ray-Bans, a man bun, and a CrossFit t-shirt, hiking through some remote red stone canyon, documenting his adventurous life on Instagram. He is the model man, driven by passion and restless for adventure and romance. . . . His ultimate destination was the furthest imaginable experience from the ideal that drove him to pursue it. His desire cost him the very thing that compelled him.”

Next on Fantastical Truth

We’re asking a big question: what about “PG-13 content” in fantastical fiction? This time we have a different sort of episode, thanks to friends and allies at Realm Makers. That organization and annual conference for Christian authors had a panel last year about this topic. Stephen was on that panel along with several novelists, including Brent Weeks and Terry Brooks (yes, that one). So we all got to explore this together, and now, courtesy of Realm Makers, so can you.