The Cartoon Gospel of Matthew is unique because it is cartooning of scripture passages instead of scripture illustration or normal Christian cartooning (which primarily lampoons church life). The purpose is to add freshness to the interpretation of the passages. It should challenge the reader to (re-) read these verses and see if it adds a new dimension to his/her understanding.
The Cartoon Gospel of Matthew portrays biblical characters as real people trying to know and follow God's will. It is all too easy to read the Bible and be left with the feeling that they are rigid, perfect, even superhuman characters instead of people with the same possibilities that you and I have. The cartoons are meant to be stimulating and humorous and are based on interpretation of the scripture. Each one is "defensible" theologically (with the exception of minor cartoonist privilege now and then), even though the point is to assist the reader in his/her own analysis of the actual scripture passage. Hopefully, the humor and challenge stand on their own merit.
The scripture passages are excerpted from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, since most of the original research was done from this translation. The Gospel scripture selections usually follow the common lectionary readings for year A.
