The Gospel Truth

For many of us the Bible is impenetrable and really quite dull. For others it is the opposite, a source of great comfort and joy. I tended towards the former until about 15 years ago I had an epiphany and realised that if you just add a little more context (in the form of a cartoon strip and a little bit of creativity) it becomes something terribly engaging. Ten chapters later I found that I'd effectively redrawn the life of Christ, although this time with plenty of chuckles. Not something you really associate with the Bible. So hop on board and enjoy the ride.

Introducing the panel of religious experts (in my head) who have been invited to opine on the veracity of this interpretation of the Gospels and who bookend each chapter with their wisdom.

The Gerasene Swine

This is where our journey with Christ and His disciples begins, with the peculiar tale of his encounter with an Evil Spirit whom he casts out from a local man into a herd of 2,000 pigs.

Yup. That's what it says in the Bible. To read the full chapter, check out the blog here.

Jesus heals a deaf mute

My assumption for this story was that the deaf mute whom Jesus healed was one of the owners of the 2,000 pigs that he sent spiralling off a cliff into the Sea of Galilee and drowned. He was essentially suffering from some kind of pig-related PTSD.

We also go back in time to find out a little about the conception of Jesus and his birth. To read about how Mary learned she would give birth to Jesus, check out the blog here. And then about the birth, check the blog here.

Jesus curses the fig tree

On the face of it, this seems an odd thing to choose as a memorable event given that you don't have many words to get the Messiah's message across. Is Jesus swearing at a fig tree an important thing to recall? Well, here we explore why this story made the cut.

The Parable of the Wedding Feast

Judas reveals that he never really understood what parables were until this story. He originally thought Jesus was trying to tell jokes but found the punchlines thoroughly unfunny. A moment of revelation.

Anointment at Bethany

A classic example, perhaps one of the earliest, of a dinner party going catastrophically wrong. And from hereonin Judas begins to feel Jesus doesn't get him.

Judas seeks to betray Jesus

Judas takes action by meeting Caiaphas the High Priest of the Holy Temple and undergoes a rigorous examination to determine if Jesus is truly the Messiah. We also get to meet some very worried sheep at Passover.

Jesus eats the passover meal with his disciples

Gets to the heart of the matter - how would it have felt to be the chef at the Last Supper? Talk about underappreciation. We meet Charles the Gaul, a very sensitive man who does his best to change the increasingly bad vibe during the evening.

Jesus is sentenced to death

Here the question of free will is explored, albeit not with a lot of depth - without Judas could there have been a crucifixion? Without a crucifixion, how could humanity be saved? Doesn't Judas get a bit of raw deal? And what tipped the hesitant Pilate over the edge to do Him in?

The death of Jesus

The tragic moment that Jesus is crucified has been captured umpteen times throughout history. Even the cruel device to bump him off is worn around devout Christians' necks as a reminder of the torment he went through for his flock. What is less known is that the moment he died, all the dead rose from their graves and wandered back to their homes.

Yup, it's true. It's in the Bible. So what would that have been like? A bit of surprise to all concerned is my guess.

The Resurrection

Just when you thought you'd got rid of Him, He's back. And bigger than before. Jesus II is now on a roll and he's gonna convert your asses or to hell with you.

Some of the key characters

Biblical. Enduring. Daft.

I once hoped to see this lot as little tiny plastic figurines adorning bored looking white collar worker's desktops. Except Covid and WFH has got rid of the desktops and ChatGPT is getting rid of the white collar workers. Oh well. You can still dream.

Check out the latest strips via the blog.

The big man

Jesus Christ

The key protagonist in the Gospels, there's a lot about Him in this story. In The Gospel Truth, Jesus speaks only the words that are written in the Bible. Need to keep the story authentic right?

The fall guy

Judas Iscariot

The chief foil to Jesus in each story, Judas is the guy who doesn't quite grasp what's going on, particularly when it comes to the underlying meaning of Jesus's parables and actions.

A rich man

Joseph of Arimathea

A man who comes to Jesus eventually but takes a little while to get there, Joseph has to course correct a couple of times so that he's on message.

An evil spirit

The Devil

Raw temptation follows Jesus throughout this narrative, in the form of an evil spirit who flips from one body to another, both human and pig.

The experts

Theologians

A panel of diverse theological experts, ranging from evangelical to high church, and academic to frontline nuns, who help us to interpret the true meaning of the story at the end of each chapter.

The women

Various Marys

One of the challenges in the Gospels is figuring out who's who, particularly when it comes to people having two names, or every female being called the same name (Mary). The Mary's get a prominent role in this version.