All posts by A. David

academic, events

Join Sacred & Sequential’s Mini-Meet-Up at #AARSBL15 in Atlanta!

AtlantaSkyline_SN-smallWith the American Academy of Religion (AAR) and Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) meeting in Atlanta this coming week, Sacred & Sequential is taking the opportunity to hold a small meet-and-greet on Sunday, November 22nd at approximately 9am for all interested parties. This open meet-up is meant both to give current members the opportunity to socialize live and in person and to serve as a casual space for any potential members to come introduce themselves or ask questions.

Aloft Atlanta Downtown

The Sacred & Sequential Mini-Meet-Up will run for no more than an hour in the main lobby of the Aloft Atlanta Downtown, 300 Spring St NW. Food will be available for purchase, and coffee is complimentary. Come say hello!

 

academic, from the Internet

The Marriage of Theology and Graphic Novels

Earlier in the year, the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary’s Rev. Derek R. Davenport proposed a rather intriguing hypothesis: that graphic novels were ideal for theology. He admits that it’s not the most intuitive or necessarily comfortable fit — but it’s a text-and-medium marriage that was meant to be.

As people of faith, we don’t know what to do with art. We surround ourselves with it, invest huge sums of time and money creating it, and then we ignore it.

[…] So let’s do a thought experiment.

Imagine that there was an art form specifically created to address the issue of our relationship with God. Imagine that it was created apart from official church ties, allowing it to maintain freedom from iconoclastic tendencies. Imagine that it could integrate multiple genres like drawing, painting, poetry and literature. Imagine that it had the breadth to explore even questions that some might consider inappropriate or offensive.

This is the graphic novel.

The Reverend is quick to point out that it’s not a direct correlation: not all graphic novels are engaged in theology nor are all graphic novels that could be engaged in theology of high quality. But, nevertheless, the relationship is there (and he nicely tips his hat to S&S at the same time).

Read more of Reverend Davenport’s work on religious symbols and symbology here.

contributors, reviews

Who Gods the God/Men?, Part II (Or, Prepare Ye the Way of the Rao)

WARNING: This is a spoiler concerning JLA: Justice League of America #2, just out this past July from DC Comics.

jla2aSo, immediately on the heels of JLA: Justice League of America #1‘s last-page surprise that Superman’s Kryptonian god Rao has come to Earth, issue #2 provides a full look at the supposed divinity and offers his directives.

“Prepare the way for me, Kal-El. Tell the people of your world who I am.”

Rao sounds much like the voice of the Abrahamic God as chronicled in such places as Mark 1:2-3: “As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: ‘Behold , I send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying in the wilderness, “Make ready the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.”‘”

In that case, then, Superman/Kal-El is Rao’s John the Baptist (or, depending on your reading of the scripture, perhaps Isaiah). At the same time, if Rao is going to speak through Superman with his “way,” then Kal-El could have a (thoroughly un-Islamic) Mohammed-like role.

It could also make Kal-El Moses, depending on one’s translation of Exodus 3:13-14, namely: “Then Moses said to God, ‘Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you.” Now they may say to me, “What is His name?” What shall I say to them?’ God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM’; and He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you.”‘” And a number of writers would be thrilled to have Superman represent Moses instead of Jesus. 

Continue reading Who Gods the God/Men?, Part II (Or, Prepare Ye the Way of the Rao) →

levity, online

Brian Cronin on “That Time the Greek Gods Fought Jesus”

Since there may be little immediate scholarly value to this, Sacred and Sequential offers the following without comment (so we’ll use CBR‘s Brian Cronin’s comments from last year on The Godyssey):

The comic opens with Avengelyne having a premonition that Zeus and the Greek gods are upset with Christianity since no one worships the Greek gods any more.

Now do note – this is a DREAM. This did not ACTUALLY happen in the comic. I suspect that that was something that occurred to the creators after the fact, as it seems kind of out of place as “just” a dream, but to be fair, they clearly DO state in the comic that it is a dream. However, as a premonition it is on point as Zeus IS pissed and it is up to Avengelyne and Glory to stop this war between the Greek gods and the angels of heaven before things went too nuts.

…ok, one comment: In 2013, this property was optioned for a movie development.

We now return to incisive, scholarly analysis.

academic, contributors, online

Comics Alternative Podcast Features Roundtable Discussion on Religion and Comics

Religion-PanelistsOn Monday, the Comics Alternative podcast hosted a “special roundtable” discussion featuring S&S’s own A. David Lewis, Elizabeth Coody, and Jeff Brackett on the subject of religion and comics. One-half of the show’s “2 Guys with PhDs,” Derek Royal, led the animated conversation, spanning all manner of engaging topics:

The subjects that come up during the discussion range from superheroes and myths, manifestations of the afterlife, adaptations of religious texts, biographies of religious leaders, expressions of heaven and hell, the crossroads of faith and ethnicity, and parodic (even heretical) representations of religious figures, doctrines, and practices.

At times on the panel the discussants clash or come at books from different angles — for example, Jeff and David disagree on the usefulness of Craig Thompson’s Habibi and Derek pushes back on the “religiousness” of such comics as Maus, A Contract with God, and Persepolis — but the talk is always lively and insightful. Among the many texts they reference are Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series, Mike Carey’s Lucifer, Justin Green’s Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary, Robert Crumb’s The Book of Genesis Illustrated, Sean Murphy’s Punk Rock Jesus, Mark Waid’s Kingdom Come, Mark Millar’s American Jesus, and Craig Thompson’s Blankets. They even discuss comics as religious propaganda, such as what you’ll find in the Spire comics published by Archie during the 1970s and the ever-present Chick tracts.

A panel from Spire Comics’s Christian-themed ARCHIE.

As Royal noted, there was plenty more to be said, so, based on their audience’s response, a follow-up discussion could well be in the works!

Listen to the episode either on the Comics Alternative website, downloaded to your personal device, or via iTunes.