Mr. Richard L Diesslin

The Cartoon Old Testament: Cartoons and Commentary on the Old Testament Mr. Richard L Diesslin

This commentary explores Old Testament scripture passages from the common lectionary through the use of cartoons and musings. The passages are in biblical order by book, chapter and verse, however the lectionary three-year cycle is referenced at the end of the book.

Why Cartoons? A cartoon is somewhat like a visual form of parable. A parable is a short and entertaining story with a message. The idea behind a parable is that the listener will enjoy it enough to remember it and retell it to others (just think if they had e-mail in 800 B. C. E.!). There are parables in both the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and New Testament, perhaps none more well known than those told by Jesus. Humor, in general, goes a long way toward illustrating a point, often more effectively than serious discourse.

Adam and Eve provide a running commentary at the bottom of each cartoon. This idea began in a prior book A Journey Through Christian Theology (Fortress Press) when author William P. Anderson suggested that we needed a way to provide context for the cartoons, in case they were read apart from the text. Adam and Eve became our commentators of choice because of their unique place in human history. In addition, I claim cartoonist's privilege - which simply means that silly things like time, space, history, etc. are all there for me to distort and play with tongue-and-cheek.

The musings section provides some extra context. The goal is to deliver maximum insight in minimum space (per the one-page per passage format of the book). I highly recommend keeping a good commentary or study Bible handy for those occasions when your curiosity is peaked and you would like to have a more in-depth understanding.

Note: this paperback version of the Cartoon Old Testament has a color cover and inside the cartoons are in black-and-white.  The kindle version is full-color depending on your reader.