The Dark Knight Devotionals: Finding Biblical Truth in the World of Batman is an exploration of principals found in both the Bible and in various stories featuring the World’s Greatest Detective! It is a book well-suited for a variety of people! Are you a Christian who is also die-hard fan of the Caped Crusader? Or perhaps you are a comic book fan with questions about just what the Bible says or who Jesus really is? Either way, this book is for you! This book spans many different adventures featuring Batman and connects them to different parts of Scripture. Read of how Bruce Wayne’s struggle to do the right thing in a harsh, evil world reflects our own lives! See how villains such as the Joker, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, and others all reflect Satan and the various ways he attacks us! Learn how to look to God through the prism of these adventures! Daniel Debs has been a Christian since childhood, but was finally baptized in 2017. He is also a lifelong comic book fan and has been collecting them for many years. He has a Bachelor’s in Psychology as well as an Associate’s in Information Technology. Currently, he works with the visually impaired and resides with his wife in Central Florida. The Dark Knight Devotionals Finding Biblical Truth in the World of Batman By Daniel V. Debs Thomas Nelson Copyright © 2018 Daniel V. Debs All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-59555-865-7 Contents Introduction, xi, Gotham City, 1, Batman Returns, 5, Two-Face, 9, Mr. Freeze, 13, Poison Ivy, 15, "His Silicon Soul", 17, Scarecrow, 21, Harley Quinn, 23, Barbara Gordon, 27, "I am the Night", 29, "It's Never Too Late", 33, Andrea Beaumont, 37, Robin, 41, Mad Hatter, 45, Bruce Wayne, 47, Thomas Wayne, 49, Bruce Wayne, 51, Ra's al Ghul, 55, Rachel Dawes, 59, Two-Face, 63, The Joker, 67, Two-Face, 71, Bruce Wayne, 73, Catwoman, 77, John Blake, 79, Jim Gordon, 81, The Joker, 83, Bruce Wayne, 85, Batman, 89, Batman: The Long Halloween, 91, Afterword, 93, References, 95, CHAPTER 1 Batman Gotham City A story is often only as good as its setting and perhaps there is no better example of this than in Batman. A character like him could only exist in a place such as Gotham City, a representation of civilization at its ugliest. Often depicted as an urban nightmare, Gotham is a place full of corruption, despair, and anguish. To put it simply, it's a tough place to live. In the afterword of the novel Batman: Knightfall, legendary comic writer Dennis O'Neil referred to Gotham City as being akin to "Manhattan below 14th street at eleven minutes past midnight on the coldest night in November." One of the most memorable depictions of Gotham is seen in Tim Burton's Batman, released in the summer of 1989. A landmark film in many ways, the portrayal of Gotham as a complicated urban landscape filled with back alleys, gothic architecture, and enormous statues has influenced many subsequent comics, TV shows, and movies since. The opening shot of the film is a wide angle view of the island in its entirety, a dense and sprawling concrete jungle, which somehow still seems pitch black in spite of the numerous lights across the skyline. However, much like how a person's personality isn't determined by their outward appearance, Gotham's intimidating atmosphere stems from its soul. Rotten to its core, Gotham's citizens live in constant fear of criminals and evildoers. Corruption flows throughout; crooked cops are everywhere, the politicians live off the fat of the land, and ordinary people are preyed upon. It's no wonder this place needs a hero like Batman. Continuing after that opening scene, a family of three are trying to make their way home. Unable to get a cab, which in this city is a lifeline, they're forced to walk. Wading through the seedy elements, they're cornered in an alley by a pair of pickpockets. They club the father over the head and steal their money, leaving the mother and son to fend for themselves. Later in the film, the Joker is riding through the city on a parade float, shooting cash bills into the air. People are going ballistic, scrambling to grab as much of the money as they can. Gotham is truly a depraved place at times. It can be easy to watch the movie or read any Batman comic and brush this off as a ridiculous, over the top comic book fantasy. But without the guiding principles of God, this is what humanity looks like. Think of what kind of evil was running rampant prior to the Flood. Things were so bad that God had to drown out the entire planet to put a stop to the evil behavior (Genesis 6-7). Elsewhere in Genesis is the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, two cities so wicked that God smoked them from the face of the earth. Genesis 19:24-25 (ESV) says, "Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground." These were cities