Season 6, Episode 6

Bible Suite, Movement 5

Guest Host – Rev. Wesley Sun, Director of Field Education and Community Engagement at the University of Chicago Divinity School, and one of the minds behind Sun Brother Studios.

Can you believe that Jonathan actually believes that reading comic books can help with faith? Or maybe it is just a different approach to reading scripture. Or maybe Jonathan is just not very good at letting go of his childhood and needed to have someone else validate his strong desire to keep looking at comics. Regardless, it is a good thing that Wesley Sun was willing to be the guest on the show.

As we hear, Wes comes with a good amount of experience and knowledge about comic books, what goes into making them, and what kind of paper they should be printed on. One of the things that comics do is engage the reader in a number of different ways. The story is told with pictures and words meaning that there are different ways of telling and showing the story.

Think about this with scripture. When we read scripture we are engaging words only. Yet what if we were to have pictures to offer a different approach or perspective to the story? We would have an interpretation of sorts, but it would be one that would add another dimension to the story. This is important because the truth of the story transcends just the words. The truth of the story goes beyond the reading and the hearing. While it the pictures are added by people after the fact, they can deepen the story and thus add more room and opportunities to encounter the divine.

Check out these books:

The Art of Biblical Narrative, by Robert Alter

The Eclipse of Biblical Narrative, by Hans Frei

What is Narrative Criticism, by Mark Powell

Also check out:

Understanding Comics, by Scott McCloud

Rialage –

Jonathan hates Christmas. Actually, he hates Christmas music and decorations and all that stuff. Good thing this didn’t go up until after Christmas.

Wes is against electric lights. Actually, he is against substituting electric lights for candles when you want to light one in memorial for someone. Keep it real!

Scripture-

Habakkuk 2:4 – if you can find it without using the table of contents then you are a true Biblical scholar

Watcha’ Into

Jonathan is reading The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert. Even though he has never read Eat, Pray, Love, he is sure that this book is better.

Wes is reading Real Stuff by Dennis P. Eichhorn. Shocker, it is a graphic novel, but very real.

Again, thanks for listening. Check out the new website: www.twelveenough.com Send your comments and questions to twelveenough@gmail.com (new e-mail address), and don’t forget to rate the show on iTunes.

Next episode: the negative, angry side of God with Phineas Marr