Superman, without a doubt, is our best-known superhero, but here are some things you might not know about the Man of Steel.
- Superman had a thing for women with the initials L.L. Of course, there was Lois Lane, but in high school, Clark’s heart belonged to Lana Lane. In university, Clark had his eyes on Lori Lemaris. And once, when visiting Krypton (via time-travel), he met Lyla Lerrol. The Supe just loves those LL’s!
- Long before Lex Luther became Superman’s archnemesis, they were good friends. In fact, Lex was working on a potion to help Superman resist kryptonite. Unfortunately, there was an accident, and Lex’s lab became engulfed in flames. Superman blew it out, but there was severe collateral damage. Lex’s beautiful hair was burned off, leaving him forever bald. And that’s how archenemies are formed!
- While we all know kryptonite is Superman’s true nemesis, it was not part of the original story. It wasn’t until 1943 that kryptonite was introduced into the storyline (five years after Superman premiered). And it was introduced, not in the comics, but on the radio show. Apparently, the actor playing Superman on the radio wanted some time off, and so the writers created kryptonite. It took another six years for kryptonite to make it into the comics.
- Superman was once bitten by Dracula, but because Superman’s cells hold so much solar radiation, Dracula imploded.
Here’s the thing about Superman: You don’t have to mention his name, and people know who you are talking about. If someone talks about running into a phone booth to change or a particular thing being their kryptonite or being able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, you don’t need to name drop. We all know they are all referencing Superman. It’s obvious.
One of the major criticisms of my contention that Artemis is hidden in plain sight throughout the books of Ephesians and 1st and 2nd Timothy is that Paul never mentions her by name. My response is predictable: Paul doesn’t have to. We don’t have to explain our “run into a phone booth” comment, because everyone understands it is a Superman thing (they know it is a Superman reference, even if they don’t understand what a phone booth is!). All Paul needed to do is provide a slight hint and his audience would be able to connect the dots.
The German scholar, Michael Immrndorfer, writes:
“The author of Ephesians adopts local Artemis terminology and infuses it with new meaning or defines it in relation to Christ, so that cultic term is said to criticize the cult, i.e., the author uses the language of the cult of Artemis to polemicize against Artemis. As readers were familiar with this language, it is very likely that they recognized the author’s allusions and could comprehend the intended associations. They consist of direct attacks on the cult and of indirect polemic. As Paul often uses the words and cultural concepts of recipients, it is reasonable to suggest that the use of these words was not random, but deliberate.”
And that is how the whole book works. Let me give you a few examples (all of these can be found in Sandra Glahn’s book, “Nobody’s Mother,” InterVarsity Press, 2023).
Artemis was often called, “lord.” Glahn has found thirty-one inscriptions in Ephesus alone dedicated to Artemis as ‘lord’ (page 86). Paul ignores that and proclaims another as Lord. Four times in Ephesians 1, Paul tells us that Jesus is Lord. We see it in verse 1. Paul says, “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” He follows that up with verse 3: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” He says in verse 15: “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people. . . .” And he writes in verse 17: “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.” Now, that may sound coincidental, but I happen to agree with Ian Fleming who said: “Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action.”
Again, Artemis is described as having “renewed all the mysteries of the goddess.” Then Paul comes along and says (Eph. 1:9-10):
“[God] made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.”
Artemis was often called, “Savior.” And then Paul comes along and says in Ephesians 2:8: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. . . .” Again, in 1 Timothy 1:1 we see this same emphasis: “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope.” Now, the original audience would hear this and see that Paul was deliberately contrasting the one true Savior, Jesus, with Artemis, who was only called ‘savior.’
We see this pattern repeatedly. Glahn writes (p. 117):
“Artemis’s main titles are as follows: throne, queen, lord, savior and god. Another was manifest. These are of particular interest when considering their overlap with titles Paul attributes to Christ in 1 Timothy. Four out of the six appear almost immediately in 1 Timothy 1, which has only twenty verses. And ‘manifest’ appears in 1 Timothy 3 (verse 16): ‘And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.’).”
Another example. Artemi and her followers were devoted to chastity. They had a strong aversion to marriage and preferred singleness. That’s why when Paul gives instructions to widows in 1 Timothy 5:14, “to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander,” it’s hard not to see Artemis in the background. Glahn writes:
“This might explain Paul’s advice that young Ephesian widows should marry—counsel that stands in contrast with his advice to Corinthian widows, who he thought should remain single (1 Cor. 7:8). Might a strong virginity mindset explain why the church in Ephesus, influenced by Gentile converts, was so full of single females that Paul needed to divide widows into three groups—younger women and two groups of older women, divided according to financial need (1 Tim.5:3-16)?”
We can go on, but the point is clear. Again and again, we see in Paul’s words a polemic against Artemis. It is never direct. It is always quiet. It is never heavy-handed, but it is always intentional. Artemis is hidden in plain sight, and you can’t see her until you start to listen to what Paul says very carefully. As Glahn says,
“In the same way that kryptonite evokes thoughts of Superman without uttering his name, Paul could refer to Jesus as the/our Savior in Ephesus and listeners would know he was exalting Christ over their local deity.”
As such, it is super important to read with one eye on the page (which contains the truth of Jesus and the hope of our salvation) and one eye looking around for Artemis because she is always there. She is just hidden in plain sight.
