The Cartoon Gospel is unique because it is cartooning of scripture passages instead of scripture illustration or normal Christian cartooning (which primarily lampoons church life). The purpose is to add freshness to the interpretation of the passages. It should challenge the reader to (re-) read these verses and see if it adds a new dimension to his/her understanding.
The Cartoon Gospel attempts to portray biblical characters as real people trying to know and follow God's will. It is all too easy to read the Bible and be left with the feeling that they are rigid, perfect, even superhuman characters instead of people with the same possibilities that you and I have. The cartoons are meant to be stimulating and humorous and are based on researched interpretation. Each one is "defensible" theologically (with the exception of minor cartoonist privilege now and then), even though the point is to assist the reader in his/her own analysis of the actual scripture passage. Hopefully, the humor and challenge stand on their own merit.
Whenever humor is mixed with the holy, there is a very delicate balance to be maintained. In order to stay within the realm of good taste, a review panel comprised of clergy/ministers from Catholic and Protestant denominations assisted in defining the boundaries (listed in the acknowledgments). Their guidance and suggestions throughout the creation of the Cartoon Gospel have been important to the process. For example, the cartoons were intended to be published stand-alone which may have caused them to be taken out of context. So one idea was to create a cartoon devotional; this is where the concept of the brief message with each cartoon originated. The message allows for the context to be set and some of the background research to be passed on.
The scripture passages are excerpted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, since most of the original research was done from this translation. The Gospel scripture selections usually follow the Common Lectionary Readings for Year C.
The Cartoon Gospel attempts to portray biblical characters as real people trying to know and follow God's will. It is all too easy to read the Bible and be left with the feeling that they are rigid, perfect, even superhuman characters instead of people with the same possibilities that you and I have. The cartoons are meant to be stimulating and humorous and are based on researched interpretation. Each one is "defensible" theologically (with the exception of minor cartoonist privilege now and then), even though the point is to assist the reader in his/her own analysis of the actual scripture passage. Hopefully, the humor and challenge stand on their own merit.
Whenever humor is mixed with the holy, there is a very delicate balance to be maintained. In order to stay within the realm of good taste, a review panel comprised of clergy/ministers from Catholic and Protestant denominations assisted in defining the boundaries (listed in the acknowledgments). Their guidance and suggestions throughout the creation of the Cartoon Gospel have been important to the process. For example, the cartoons were intended to be published stand-alone which may have caused them to be taken out of context. So one idea was to create a cartoon devotional; this is where the concept of the brief message with each cartoon originated. The message allows for the context to be set and some of the background research to be passed on.
The scripture passages are excerpted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, since most of the original research was done from this translation. The Gospel scripture selections usually follow the Common Lectionary Readings for Year C.
