While writing about the Twilight series, while thinking about how Edward Cullen is the perfect man, I realized that the only truly perfect man who ever existed is Jesus Christ. And I started to realize how the two of them are alike, from a woman’s point of view.
1. THE ULTIMATE ROMANTIC. Jesus Christ is the ultimate romantic: the love of his life is the Bride, all Christians who have ever lived, the church. The whole story is about how Jesus fulfilled his Father’s plan to bring forth the Bride and win her over. He went through her rejection, torture and death to win her over. The only focus of romantic love and intention for him is on his girlfriend. All of us who belong to him have been persecuted by him personally and won to him. His love and devotion is singular and intense. Edward Cullen embodies these traits as well, albeit on a human level. His search and devotion to Bella is singular and intense. He can’t stay away from her. He takes care of her and can’t take his eyes off her. He chases her, protects her, puts all her focus and thoughts on her. He is willing to die for her, or live the loneliest life he can imagine, a life without her, if it’s what’s best for her (Twilight 2). There is no doubt that neither Jesus nor Eduardo will ever stop loving her love, the very reason for her existence.
2. A FATHER, A LOVER, A BROTHER, A FRIEND. Both Jesus Christ and Edward Cullen embody these roles. Like a father, Edward lifts Bella up onto her toes to help her dance. He is protective of her with her, takes care of her, lifts her up on a porch when her foot is in a cast. Jesus Christ is one with the Father, God, who is a father to all of us. He also provides for our needs, protects us, and is absolutely responsible and trustworthy. Both Jesus and Eduardo also play the role of lovers. Edward waits until the right time to be Bella’s lover, through marriage. Jesus is the Bridegroom of his beloved Bride, the church everywhere. The Biblical book of Revelation describes how at the end of time, there will be a great wedding feast when this holy lover joins his Bride in the Other Realm. Both men end the loneliness of her girlfriend, filling her with fullness. Both are also sometimes a brother or a friend. Someone who you can absolutely trust and trust. They both listen intently to whatever she wants to talk about, for as long as she wants – a perfect best friend.
3. AN IMPRESSIVE ATTRACTION. Both Jesus Christ and Edward are designed to draw you, to draw you to him, forever. Both have a magnetism that makes them irresistible. When he’s in the room, everyone notices him and is drawn to him, whether they realize it or not. Everyone knows who this man is, everyone is affected by his attraction. He really sees you and knows you. You can’t stay away.
4. HE IS IN YOUR HEAD. This one is obvious, with one flaw: Edward can’t read Bella’s thoughts. But he can read everyone else, just like Jesus Christ does. Both are in your head. They know what you are thinking and they understand you. Still, they both want you to share everything with them, all your thoughts, hopes, and dreams. Edward, of course, needs Bella to do this because he can’t read her thoughts. Jesus loves to sit intently as he listens to every detail of our lives and thoughts.
5. HE IS UNPREDICTABLE. This is why both Jesus and Edward keep the woman on the lookout for him. You may know the man, but you don’t know what he’s going to do next. They both come from such a different culture, and their behavior is totally based on pure and selfless love and devotion for their lady. Edward is addicted to Bella. The Bride of Christ is Christ’s, He is in her, she is in Him, there is not an atom of separation, they are one. Jesus follows the voice and direction of his Father, and guides his bride in the same way, expecting her to trust him completely. Edward lives only for Bella and hopes that she understands her total love for her in all of her actions.
6. HE IS FROM ANOTHER WORLD. For Bella, discovering Edward was discovering a whole new world, a world she could barely conceive of. She wants to know everything about it. Jesus brings us his world, the spirit world, the Other Realm. This is his world and he can bring something of his to his Bride on this earth, which she drinks as eagerly as Bella. Of course, Edward’s world is dark, dangerous, and full of evil. The world of Jesus is pure light and love, containing no evil (although it also tells us about the place in the spiritual world where evil dwells). In this section we can also mention that both Jesus and Edward live forever (unless Edward kills himself) and are intimately familiar with the story, having lived through it (Edward only since 1918).
7. HE KNOWS HOW TO HAVE FUN. Both Jesus and Edward know how to play, laugh, have fun. Jesus liked to play with the children and he was full of joy. Edward dedicates time to fun (baseball games), leisure (books and music), and beauty (enjoying nature, making music). Both carry the weight of the world, but both know how to relax and have fun once in a while.
8. TREASURE THE SILENCE. Both Jesús and Eduardo know how to be still, treasure solitude and silence. They know how to speak and move deliberately. Neither of them is in a hurry or hyperactive. They embody strength, wisdom and stillness.
9. DANGEROUS. Both Jesus and Edward are extremely dangerous. Edward can easily kill if he needs to. While Jesus was on earth, he had the ability to call legions of angels to fight for him if he so desired. Although they keep careful check on this ability, the very fact that they are so dangerous (but under control) strongly appeals to a woman’s sensibilities.
10. HOW ARE THEY DIFFERENT? There is a big difference between the two, and that is that Edward has the ability to be bad, while Jesus can only be good, because He is goodness itself. Edward admits that he has killed before and presumably also drank the victim’s blood from him. He is very careful to keep this under control, and he strives to always be and do good. Jesus, on the other hand, is goodness itself, yet he willingly took all the evil that ever was or ever will be into Himself so that he could destroy it for good. So I guess you could say that at that point even Jesus was bad, because he took it all on himself, which is why God had to abandon him on the cross. So actually this is another similarity: it is possible that man is evil. With Jesus it was a one-time thing, with Edward it’s a constant struggle.
There you have it, an interesting comparison of two perfect men: one real and one fictional. We can only dream of Edward in our imaginations, but Jesus is real and can belong to each one of us. He is the last real perfect man.