Critical Biblical Studies in a Comic Book Format

Professor Bart Eherman is an innovator who is relentless. He has a background in scholarly study of ancient texts in their original languages. He has many publications in peer reviewed scholarly journals. He is constantly on speaking and lecture tours. His field is critical Bible study. He studies the Bible as a work of literature, not as a book to be used in worship.

As time went on he discovered the ideas in theology and the history of Christianity can be explained in lay-person language. He began publishing what he had learned in work as a scholar but written in language accessible to the general public. One of his defining publications was featured on the cover of Newsweek. It was about the forgery and false authorship in the Bible. I believe Ehrman is a large force in the downward trajectory of Christian identity.

His college textbooks have remained popular through several editions. He is now embarking on another genre. He is about to start writing a textbook which communicates using a minimum of writing and lots of drawings. This is not unlike a comic book. Both the writing and the pictures will be based on scholarly work.

This style of textbook is used in other parts of universities. It is aimed at the generation which does most of its reading on smart phones and has a short attention span. Young people need to master subject material somehow and this is the new reality.

We know, of course, that religious indoctrination has used this technique for generations. Sunday school materials start with cartoon-like drawings of Noah's flood and the risen Jesus. It was only a matter of time before critiques of the faith would start using the same method. What is a surprise to me is that it is aimed at young adults.

I've always believed communicating in short sentences of simple words is necessary to reach wide audiences. That this technique to reaching secular studies of the Bible in a new and interesting development.