Four Fascinating Spiritual Messages in Wonder Woman

Gal Gadot in Wonder Woman, photo from Warner Bros. trailer

And a Tasty, Christian Center

Now before we go further, I’m not saying that the makers of Wonder Woman intended to tell a Christian story. But for a Christian, there are still some resonant undercurrents here.

For instance, Wonder Woman’s Zeus seems to share some commonalities with a more typical, monotheistic Creator God than his classical namesake. For instance, he created mankind. (The classical Zeus, in most stories, didn’t.) And I find it interesting that Diana was fashioned from clay, and that Zeus breathed life into her—not so far removed from God fashioning Adam from dirt and breathing “into his nostrils the breath of life.”

But it’s when we examine Ares that things get really interesting.

When Diana and Ares finally face off, we get a better insight into her adversary’s thought process. Turns out, he rebelled against Zeus because Zeus loved humanity so much. Ares just didn’t get Zeus’s affection for such flawed, problematic creatures.

That affection for humanity is what theologians like Thomas Aquinas believed contributed to Lucifer’s downfall, too. Like Ares, Lucifer once rubbed elbows with the Almighty; indeed, he was once considered to be the highest of all the angels. But Lucifer wanted more, and he wasn’t about to “serve” humankind. So he fell and has been in constant rebellion since.

Ares goes on to tell Diana that—unlike she’s been taught—he didn’t make humanity go all bad and petty and violent. Oh, sure, he’d perhaps suggest certain ideas and whisper certain thoughts. But mankind has an  innate instinct for evil. Their actions are their own.

And so it is with us, right? Sure, the Bible tells us that Satan has influence over us. But he doesn’t make us do anything. Even in the Garden of Eden, the serpent didn’t stuff a piece of fruit down Adam’s and Eve’s throats. They made their own bad choice, just as we sometimes make ours. The responsibility ultimately lands at our doorstep

Wonder Woman’s characterization of Ares is leagues away from the Classical god of war, but almost point-on-perfect depiction of Satan.

So what does Wonder Woman do with this devil of an opponent?