Friday, February 26, 2010

Comic Translation of James 5:1-6




This scene depicts the words of James in 5:1-6 in the setting of 19th century Mexico. The greed and corruption of many landowners, and their oppression of workers seemed like a fitting picture for this passage in James.


3 comments:

Rob said...

Some very nice artwork, although I'm curious why you'd use the designation of "C.E." as opposed to "A.D" for a comic about the book of James? For me, that sort of thing immediately takes the theological edge out of the comic, since it's the very first thing you read. Maybe it's just me, but I read a wikipedia article and see BCE/CE and I instantly assume that whatever I'm reading is from a liberal/secular perspective.

Earnest Graham said...

Hi Rob,
It's a good question. I did consider both options. I decided to go with B.C.E./C.E. largely because when I worked on my bachelor's degree in History, it was the standard notation. I do find that it is the more common practice in schools today, but that may be regional. I don't feel like the dating on the story has to be a statement, I would rather let the text of James have the theological edge (And boy does it ever.)
Thank you for asking.
Earnest

Rob said...

Well, thanks for the explanation. One of the reasons I bring it up is that I know it is one of those hotly debated topics online (on Conservapedia, for instance, its the standard for most of the articles).

The dating might not seem like a statement to you, but I wonder if, as the first thing read in the first panel, if that would be a turn-off for anyone who holds to the historical precedent of the BC/AD notation? Like they read that first panel and think, "oh, so that's the direction he's coming from" sort of thing - you see what I mean? But whatever works.

(and just as ironic personal side note, just this morning I was reading about an MP3 entitled "History of the World B.C" (with the BC in massive font...! :)
http://bluebehemoth.com/album/51650/