The Manga Bible

[fremontdenver]

have you heard of the manga bible? it is a graphic novel style bible drawn in japanese manga. i thought these are so sweet!

http://www.culch.ie/2009/06/18/just-when-y...-be-any-cooler/

[OneLight]

It's a comic book! Nothing more can be said.

[Matthitjah]

Grace to you,

This part right here concerns me the most;

He

[Believer1997]

This manga series is "based" on the bible - and produced and created by people who are probably not Christian in their faith. I think that the premise that these depictions and series are Christian are deceptive and dangerous.

[fremontdenver]

He

[Silver Shadow]

Manga in general is not really made for the more serious Bible stories that we all know. From what I saw when I flipped through it (I love different mangas), They did a so-so job on bringing out the stories, as it is done in a slightly lighter manner to bring interest toward it from teens and such. There is also added humor based on different events. No, it is not a perfect rendition, but for manga, it is really not half bad. If they get an artist that drew more serious panels, then teens would find that a turn-off, since most manga-readers like some humor, and light-heartedness in their manga. Trust me, better the way they described the Bible events there, than in a worse way. I'll let your imagination fill in what I mean.

Me? It may be something to buy just to compare with what the real Bible states.

[OneLight]

Seriously ... what the audience of this needs is the truth, not a cartoon. They can not get the truth through a cartoon that depicts Jesus as a modern day "dude". Even a 3 or 4 year old with their version of bible stories are more mature then this comic book version. This is just too seeker friendly for my taste. I have a hard enough time with the perversion of paraphrased bibles.

[Guest HIS girl]

This style of cartoon artwork is VERY popular today amongst the young crowd - from children to teenagers and even young adults...even computer games have this particular artist featuring his artwork via the games etc..I can see why they have used this style of art - to get the attention.

HOWEVER, I agree with others here...I am not for it at all.

And another thing, the characters do not portray any Jewish look at all...but that's part of this particular artwork look - check out Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z and Poke Mon - you will see what I mean.

[nebula]

When I was around 7-8 years old, I read a comic version of the Bible. I thought it was great! And I still think it was great. At that age, it is a little difficult to read through and absorb the Bible. That comic version opened the door for me to learn more about the Bible. Plus it added some cultural explanation points to help make sense of what was going on.

Now when I started looking through this article, I was turned off by the presentation "Making Jesus cool." But as I looked at the sample pages of the Manga Bible, I looked at it differently.

For one, presenting the Gospel through Jap anime, I believe, is a great way to introduce children and adolescents to Jesus. (The artistic style is typical Jap anime style - Jap anime being what the majority of "cartoons" these days are made of.) A great number, if not the majority, of our youth have never been to church, weren't raised to know the Scriptures, don't have a clue as to what "the Lamb of God" means. If a Jap anime comic will introduce them to Jesus in their language, then great! You fish with whatever bait works, right? So what if it's a little unconventional?

Secondly, I was very impressed with their use of Hebrew culture - people calling Jesus "Rabbi" and using the term "Messiah" rather than "Christ." I also noticed they called Mary "Miryam." How cool is that?

[nebula]

And another thing, the characters do not portray any Jewish look at all...

Neither do our classic images of Jesus.

(In fact, I can't think of any image of Jesus that gives Him a Jewish look.)