Jack Chick

[hkalchemy]

Anyone got any thoughts on Jack Chick? Is he just a harmless lunatic? Is he really doing God's work? Why, in his latest 'tract' does he have to define the word 'euphoria' for his readers? Mmmm, most telling ....

[Cran]

Hamless? Probably.

Doesn't stop him being quite hateful at the same time, imho.

God's work? Probably not, not even from the perspective of most Christians. Reason: Hateful.

His world is very simple: Black and white. People who are confused (and often simple-minded), want to be sure on which side they are, he (not Chick alone, but this particular brand of Christian "leaders") gives thema a way to know and that's superb for them, so they will support and defend him up until a apoint where it seems rather ridiculous, like when they're trying to defend his comics about the origins of Islam (which was, in Chick's opinion, cooked u by the catholic church to stop the true christians).

[hkalchemy]

Yes, I find Chick's work very entertaining, but also very sad. As a Christian myself, I hate to think that the rather simple message of Jesus of Nazareth has been so twisted and misrepresented by insecure and hate-filled people.

[mercuryrising]

Didn't particularly like the criticism of the Pope and Catholicism.

[fellowtraveler]

Originally Posted by hkalchemy

Anyone got any thoughts on Jack Chick? Is he just a harmless lunatic? Is he really doing God's work? Why, in his latest 'tract' does he have to define the word 'euphoria' for his readers? Mmmm, most telling ....

I always wondered who drew/wrote those stupid tracts that people leave in phone booths so you'll be "saved".

I'm so glad I never bought into the Christian thing even as a child...what kind of spirituality can be based on fear?

[schola]

I think they're pretty amusing.

But these parodies of chick tracts are even funnier: The Jack T. Chick Parody Archive

[shnu]

Originally Posted by Cran

His world is very simple: Black and white. People who are confused (and often simple-minded), want to be sure on which side they are, he (not Chick alone, but this particular brand of Christian "leaders") gives thema a way to know and that's superb for them, so they will support and defend him up until a apoint where it seems rather ridiculous, like when they're trying to defend his comics about the origins of Islam (which was, in Chick's opinion, cooked u by the catholic church to stop the true christians).

His world has been around for a while: the whole "faith not deeds" thing is from Luther, and Chick's bleak take on it is Calvinist.

He comes across as a pretty spiteful expositor of his view, though some of his jokes are intentional...

[Cran]

There is quite some difference between Luther and Calvins views on sola fide and what Chick makes out of it....

As one example, both didn't hold it with "once saved, always saved"-

[Matthew Shea]

Originally Posted by fellowtraveler

I always wondered who drew/wrote those stupid tracts that people leave in phone booths so you'll be "saved".

I'm so glad I never bought into the Christian thing even as a child...what kind of spirituality can be based on fear?

That's just the thing: it's not based on fear. At least it's not supposed to be. This guy Jack Chick is unfortunately one of many who choose to exploit fear of going to hell to try to force people to conform to their world view. Like anything else, though, there are always those who make the right choices for the wrong reasons. Fear of punishment is not what Christianity is supposed to be. Creating God's kingdom here on earth is.

Mercuryrising, I took exception to that, too, but I can at least take comfort in the fact that I know better.