People of all kinds love superhero movies—Christians, Muslims, Hindus, atheists, and everyone else. This is not surprising because they have enormous power to entertain and communicate important messages all at once. I like them as much as anybody else. As superheroes go, I really like the Avengers. The last movie, “The Age of Ultron” came out in May, 2015 and I saw it three times that year. Once I saw it with my German movie buddy Josh, then with my son, and then with my wife on DVD. I enjoyed it a lot but I heard harsh criticisms from others. In this review I'm pretty fixated on one thing. There was a particular line from a conversation toward the end of the film that has been ringing in my ears: “There’s grace in their failings.” Through my lenses it struck me as a very profound theological statement, because grace is a very profound theological idea, especially in the Christian frame of reference. Of course, grace can mean different things in different contexts, but this grace could only make sense in biblical terms. It was not the kind of grace that proper ladies have, nor the kind exhibited at formal affairs or when ballroom dancing. This grace had a much deeper meaning, I contend, one which addresses the universal need of all humanity for help and forgiveness from a greater source. Yes, a lot of inference is required.
For those who haven’t seen the movie yet, or who will never see it, a little context is in order. The basic plot is typical but one we love every time—the salvation of the whole world against a diabolical enemy who is bent on destroying it. Why we love this theme is always interesting to me. We seem to imagine and re-imagine this kind of scenario in which something immensely more powerful than humans sets out to destroy, enslave, or colonize humanity or all of those together. At the height of the plot we are always at the edge of doom if not for a superhero or a team of them who will fight for our survival and even for the world as we know it. We seem to agree that humanity is worth saving despite the mess we’ve collectively made of things; that there is value in humanity and in individual human beings.
But Ultron does not strongly agree. To him, humanity is quite expendable.
...This reminds me of somebody else.
That, of course, is what makes Ultron the supreme enemy which must be defeated at any cost. (And fortunately for us, almost by definition of what they are, the Avengers are willing to pay it.) He, or it, is an artificially intelligent computer program, for lack of a better term. It is caused by the hybridization of Tony Stark’s JARVIS with a supernatural power that flows from the gem in Loki’s scepter which the Avengers retrieved from a Hydra outpost at the beginning of the movie. Apparently creating a superior form of A.I. has been high on Stark’s agenda since the previous film. Once Ultron begins to exist (cf. the cosmological argument) he invades the internet and becomes almost omnipresent (cf. the 2014 film “Transcendence”). He can go anywhere there is internet all at once and he gains enormous power. His mission is to take humanity to the next level of evolution by creating a new “humanity” consisting of non-human (and non-sinful?) A.I. beings like him.
In his own defense, Ultron claims that humans will be given every opportunity to evolve but if they fail to comply they will be annihilated. In that scene he makes interesting allusions to Noah’s flood and to God as justification for his plan. In the same scene we learn of his goal of creating an invincible hybrid body for himself to complement his “software”. But that did not work out well for Ultron, and the new superhero called “Vision” was brought into being. Vision was a good guy and a self-proclaimed advocate of life, not non-life of which he and Ultron were examples. It is Vision who makes the statement about grace that I am trying to highlight. Oh yes, he was also the key element to Ultron’s demise because he extricated him from the internet which rendered him mono-present.
Let me try to streamline this a bit. Ultron was well on his way to achieving his goal, but the Avengers stopped him and destroyed all his robot cronies who fought for him. At the end of the epic battle Ultron is thrown out of a plane by the Hulk, but he does not die. And in the very last scene Ultron has one last conversation with Vision in which he states, “Humans are doomed”. Vision replies, “Yes, they are, but there is grace in their failings.”
This brings us back to the point. What did Vision mean by, “There is grace in their failings”? For that matter, what did Ultron mean by, “Humans are doomed”? I suppose the real question should be what did the scriptwriters mean?
They meant something, but they do not tell us. It should be clear to us that they were speaking of what we may call ultimate things: All of humanity—its present condition and its bleak future. Both characters seem to agree on that, but not this thing about grace—“There is grace in their failings.”
It would be very interesting to hear various interpretations on this statement especially. Right now I would love to be part of a discussion group about this with people from various worldviews. It seems to me there are a few options and I want to explore them.
First, what is grace? I don’t know off-hand how other people would define it, at least not the deeper meaning that I think must have been intended by the writers. To distinguish between them let’s call this Grace with a capital G. Again, the more common meaning of grace would make no sense at all. The thing is, this deeper kind of Grace is a theological idea that is inherent to some religions, especially Christianity. Actually, it is core belief, the essential notion (or doctrine) that God did something for humanity that we could not do for ourselves, out of benevolence. Not just forgiveness, though it includes forgiveness. Not just mercy, though it includes mercy. And not just kindness, though it includes kindness. It is the broad and supreme idea of benevolence from a higher source toward a weak recipient fraught with interminable failings. According to Vision, humans are the latter.
Here’s how dictionary.com defines Grace. Especially note #4:
3. favor or goodwill.
4. a manifestation of favor, especially by a superior:
It was only through the dean's grace that I wasn't expelled fromschool.
5. mercy; clemency; pardon:
He was saved by an act of grace from the governor.
In Christianity that higher source is none other than Almighty God. Throughout the Bible, but especially in the New Testament, God bestows Grace on a humanity that is otherwise “doomed”. Vision does not identify the source of Grace, but given the context, I wonder what alternatives there are. What alternatives could there be? Other humans? Aliens? The list is short.
It’s also curious to me the grammar Vision used in his statement. He used the preposition, “in”—Grace in their failings. As I contemplate this I wonder what the writer meant. Actually we can only guess. But I doubt he could have meant anything other than, “There is Grace for their failings”. Because humanity is “doomed”, they agree, some kind of favor from a superior source is needed: Grace. Humans have many failings, we would all agree. As we look at the world and its problems we see these many failings, and as we look at ourselves we see our personal failings in every category of life. The Bible calls these failings “sins”, or sin collectively. (A dear Muslim friend of mine referred to this as the “state of sin” in which all people find themselves unless they can rise above it or break free from it.) But whatever we call them we all recognize our persistent failings and those of others. Could it be that without some kind of favor from a superior source humanity really would be doomed, propelled by avarice down the path toward self-destruction as the writers clearly imply, or would already have perished?
Christianity’s message offers an explanation that, I assert, no other religion offers. This message is called the gospel. It first declares that Ultron and Vision are right. Humans are doomed. The writers, if there was any intentionality in what they wrote, seemed to have a sense of that, or an intuition. Many films contain this theme that humanity is on a path toward self-destruction, or perhaps destruction from an outside enemy that sees and detests our failings and wants to cleanse the earth from us. Isn’t that what Ultron wanted to do and why he wanted to do it? Yes. That is precisely why we need Avengers and other superheroes to fight for us and prevent our destruction, or save us from it. That is partly why we flock to these kinds of movies, because we recognize things that Ultron and Vision recognized.
Second, the gospel declares that there is such an “Avenger”—a superhero sent by a superior source to give us “Grace in our failings”. Or, more accurately, for our failings. That Avenger is Jesus Christ. As any real Avenger is willing to do, Jesus entered the battle himself, and fought and died for us. He was willing to sacrifice himself for us, on the cross. This is Grace personified. And, like some superheroes do (but only some) he came back to life to fight for us some more and give us more Grace for our failings.
In one of the books of the New Testament called Romans it is explained like this:
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life [i.e. his resurrection from the dead]. Chapter 5:6-10
It has been said that 80% of all human problems and suffering are the result of our own “failings” (C.S. Lewis). But despite them and our bent toward self-destruction, God values us, as a species and as individuals. This should be the most paradoxical thing of all. Through His benevolence He has sent The Avenger to give us Grace for our failings; to forgive us and extend His benevolence to us if we only we will accept Him. Our response should be one of humble repentance, thankful acceptance, and loving allegiance to Him.
Through this act of Grace by this Means God has demonstrated his love for humanity and for each of us in this difficult life, for all time and eternity. And in your personal life as well there is Grace for your failings through Christ, the supreme Avenger.