Are Powerful Artifacts Automatically Witchcraft? A Christian Perspective for Fantasy & Superhero Stories

As a Christian comic book creator working in superhero and fantasy genres, one thing that I never really thought about when I was initially creating Zero Hour Epsilon Force was if powerful artifacts are acceptable in a Christian comic universe.

As a child, I loved superheroes (and still do) and they inspired me to make my Saturday Morning cartoon style comic. I'm sure many of us know how some of these superheroes (and villains) may have needed to obtain a certain number of powerful artifacts in order to warp reality in some way, achieve some type of invincible power-up, or get some wishes. I'm talking like Marvel's infinity stones, Sonic's chaos emeralds, or Goku's dragon balls for example. Fun stuff.

Much like those cartoons, I decided that I wanted powerful artifacts in my comic too. However as I was creating my fun fictional universe, a specific question popped into my head that I didn't really think about before: Since my comic takes place in a Christian universe, if my story includes powerful artifacts like many of the beloved cartoons I grew up watching, would Jesus consider these artifacts as some form of witchcraft?

What Exactly Does God Consider Witchcraft?

The Bible clearly condemns witchcraft and sorcery. Deuteronomy 18:10-12, Leviticus 20:6, Galatians 5:19-21 and Revelation 21:8 are some verses that do so. However when Scripture talks about witchcraft or sorcery, I don't believe the issue is necessarily with physical objects like stones, crystals, or gems themselves. If that were the case then God wouldn't let us wear jewelry, have rock collections to study, or even have stones in the new Jerusalem (Revelation 21:19-21).

While rocks are sometimes involved or associated with witchcraft, I believe the real issue is the actual occult practices like divination or something like seeking supernatural power from forbidden demonic sources. An example of this could be like what Saul did with the Witch of Endor in 1 Samuel 28. This is also a theme that Zero Hour Epsilon Force actually speaks on in Issue 2.

So basically in a nutshell, witchcraft is more about spiritually depending on something that isn't God or related to God, not the materials themselves.

So for example, a rock collection is just that. Rocks. Igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks that God created. The rocks themselves are not sinful. What matters is what someone believes the rocks connects them to or trying to use them in some sort of witchcraft practice.

Physical Creation vs. Spiritual Power

God created a physical universe governed by properties like time, space, matter, and energy for example.

Now of course, in real life we can't manipulate these universe properties like heroes and villains often do in superhero fiction, like time traveling for example. But we as humans still harness some forms of these elements such as solar energy, nuclear energy, electricity, gravity, chemical reactions, etc.

Followers of Christ don’t view things like solar energy as sinful simply because they are powerful. We aren't going to say that we don't need the sun because we rely only on God to sustain us. These elements are all part of God's creation that helps keep us alive. Using creation is not the same thing as worshiping it or invoking spiritual forces and this distinction is something I want to make clear in my Christian comic book series.

How This Applies to Fictional Power Artifacts

If an artifact like a powerful gem in a fun superhero story manipulates the laws of physics, alters time, space, matter, or energy (like electricity, not occult), I believe this functions more like an advanced cosmic battery or reactor and that's more like operating at a creation level, not an occult level (unless the series in question says something otherwise). To me this places it in the same category as science fiction technology—just on a much larger scale.

These types of artifacts can be morally neutral and usable by both heroes and villains. But they can be dangerous without being demonic.

However, if the gem stone is more like healing or guidance through mystical forces that aren't related to God for example, that can cross into witchcraft territory because it relies on spiritual power sources, not physical mechanics. Again, the issue isn’t the crystal or gem itself. It’s more so the belief attached to it and where the power comes from.

A Helpful Biblical Parallel

The Bible contains objects that were used powerfully without being magical such as Moses’ staff, the bronze serpent in the wilderness and The Ark of the Covenant for example. They became meaningful only through God’s purpose. But as seen with the bronze serpent later (2 Kings 18), it became dangerous when people began to idolize it and had to be destroyed by Hezekiah.

That theme can actually translate well into comic book fiction.

The Storytelling Principle

For a Christian comic book that is of superhero, fantasy, action and science fiction genres, artifacts can be tools, but not spiritual authorities. They should never replace God as the ultimate source of truth and salvation.

Christian Comic Book Creative Approach

In my comics, as well as the games, there are powerful artifacts called tablet shards that are part of the fabric of creation—extremely dangerous, extremely tempting, but still limited.

While they have appeared and been used by some of the characters already, I haven't gone into them in heavy detail in the comic just yet, so in the story it is still ambiguous as to what they are exactly.

One thing I will say now is that they grant cosmic level abilities such as freezing time or warping reality, but they do not grant righteousness or spiritual authority. This distinction will allow me to explore epic superhero and fantasy ideas while still keeping a clear Christian worldview.

While my initial inspiration for the tablet shards was from all the superheroes that I love, specifically Sonic the Hedgehog and Marvel in this regard, after thinking deeper on some things, I now plan to make them more based on the Bible when I reveal what they are in Issue 5.

I also really dislike retcons in fiction so I'm thankful this thought came to mind before getting too deep in.

Final Thoughts

Summing it up, I believe Christian-based fantasy and sci-fi stories don’t require removing all powerful artifacts from a story. If artifacts are written correctly, they can work well as narrative tools even in Christian storytelling.

Purchase Zero Hour Epsilon Force Today

If you ever wished your Saturday morning cartoons became deeper as you grew up, check out Zero Hour Epsilon Force at Spidercade Studios.