Latest X-Men Apocalypse Trailer Hints At Atheistic Agenda?

 As believers, we should not be quickly angered (James 1:19) or go out looking for things to be offended about. We also shouldn't be shocked or take judgmental action when non-believers do things that stand in opposition to the will of Christ.(1 Corinthians 5:12-13) So this is not a call to get angry and run to facebook to vent our frustrations.

But I did want to call attention to the latest trailer for X-Men: Apocalypse, which even more than in previous trailers seems to include the "Chariots Of The gods" hypothesis (that ancient civilizations who thought they were encountering gods were actually encountering aliens).

In this trailer, the ancient mutant Apocalypse says that he has been called many names, including Ra, Krishna, and Yahweh. In another clip, a protagonist suggests the possibility that "the Bible" got the idea of "The Four Horseman Of The Apocalypse" from this ancient mutant, who is known for empowering four servants to do his work.

Despite at least one positive portrayal of faith in X-Men 2, the assumptions and language of the X-Men film scripts lean significantly toward a naturalistic worldview, which itself has strong ties to atheism.

Granted, one could possibly watch this trailer and say, "Yahweh is real and did what the Bible said, but the mutant Apocalypse was simply confused for Yahweh and was happy to take advantage of that." But if Apocalypse's "four horseman" pre-date the writing of Revelation, audience members will have strong reason to discard the truth of the Bible as it exists in the X-Men film universe.

Not a big deal, as fiction is fiction. And perhaps those who worship Ra and Krishna today will have less difficulty with doing that, given that both gods come from polytheistic traditions and Hinduism in particular holds to a relative view of truth. But I wonder if the writers considered the difference between Yahweh and the other two gods mentioned.

Both orthodox Judaism and Christianity hold to the claim that there is no other god in existence. Yahweh alone is God of all reality. Perhaps demoting Ra and Krishna to "powerful mutant" isn't so massive a leap. But dethroning the God and Creator of all reality to "a really powerful guy" is an immeasurable drop in status.

In recent years I've been letting go a little more of my "love" for geek entertainment. I enjoy it no less, but I "love" it less. (For the distinction, you can read my thoughts here.) So I'm not losing sleep or having a bad morning because of this. But I'm betting that, unless the context of the movie back-pedals the issue a bit, many Christians and Jews who see this will be pretty angry. I could be wrong, but it wouldn't surprise me.

So IF that time comes and this movie stirs up controversy, the REAL issue I'm curious about is whether or not the writers and producers were aware that they would offend people by creating a fictional universe in which the Bible is filled with untruth. Why not make the dialogue more general and have Apocalypse simply say "I've been worshiped as a god" and not actually call his four servants "The Horsemen Of The Apocalypse"? I suppose doing that might upset a number of fans who would want to hear them called "The Horsemen" by name, but many superhero movies and shows have toned down character concepts and left out code-names for the sake of being a little more grounded. Why not do that here? Or is the outrage of fans more likely than the outrage of Christians and Jews? Is this simply "controversy to stir controversy" in hopes of selling tickets? (I don't think the film needs that. They've been doing great in the box office.)

Again, I want to stress that this is not something worth getting angry about, even if every hero in the story verbally rejects the teaching of the Bible about who Yahweh is. Non-believers are naturally going to teach and promote ideas that are not compatible with the truth claims of the Bible. (Although I think there is room for mourning, if this is any indication of the popular views of God in America.)

In the end it all leaves me very curious about the conversations behind closed doors and on sets of the movie regarding these challenges to the veracity of the Bible. Hopefully the creators of the film will be brave enough to be open and honest about those decisions when it's time to release the blu-ray.

In the meantime, I'm certainly waiting to see the film itself before making any real guesses about the potential "message agenda" the movie might have.

What are YOUR impressions from the trailer?