Question: Are you familiar with the book The Girl Who Could Fly ? It is being used in my daughter's class at her Christian school. The plot involves a girl named Piper McCloud, who was born with the power of telekinesis, which gives her the ability to fly. When we discussed this book, my daughter excitedly told me that this was just like Jesus telling the disciples, "whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith" (Mark:11:23For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.).
Response: In our opinion, there are a number of problems with using a fictional book in a Christian educational setting that features characters with superpowers. The subject matter may motivate the students to read, normally an ordeal for most visually oriented young people these days, but it has a serious downside.
First of all, it endorses the possibility of a condition that is not consistent with God's creation and a biblical worldview. Second, much of the literature that includes paranormal powers connects the abilities to the occult or witchcraft techniques. It may be "just fantasy" for some, but it is very seductive, especially for young people who might dream of being able to exhibit such powers. Furthermore, the bait here is a "socially redeeming" teaching of tolerance. As found in movies such as the X-Men and the Harry Potter series, the heroes and heroines are victims of an intolerant and prejudiced society that only sees their "gifts" as abnormal or even demonic. That "teaching" may well influence a young person to see the tree of intolerance but be blinded to the forest of occultism.
More serious, however, is the attempt to relate biblical miracles to alleged super powers. That's like equating the miraculous to magic; the result reduces miracles to techniques that a person can apply by adhering to occult instructions. The example you give is how the so-called faith teachers turn biblical faith into a technique, or method, that supposedly enables a person to perform signs and wonders. That is a terrible distortion of Scripture and has led many to attempt to use God like a genie in a bottle in order to achieve healing, prosperity, or other false signs and wonders. This is both a distortion of biblical faith and a blasphemous mischaracterization of God.
If someone protests that the superpowers of The Girl Who Could Fly have no connection to the "faith" teachers other than the exception of this one Christian school, he needs to consider Benny Hinn, who stated that before the Fall, Adam could fly like a bird and swim underwater while breathing like a fish. According to Hinn, Adam even went to the moon and walked on water long before Christ. His conclusion was that Adam was the first superhuman being that ever lived. Either Hinn made all of this up, or the Holy Spirit chose him as a vessel to reveal what was not revealed in the Scriptures. It must be the former at least because although Hinn is extremely popular (even though he has a long track record of false prophecies; see TBC 3/97 ), his alleged insights and teachings are contradictory to the Word of God.
