1 Corinthians 1 - 2 Roads

Posted 20 Aug 2010

I drew this cartoon on holiday in Northumberland, but had to re-draw it at A3 (420 × 297 mm) in order to get all the figures in! Below is the greyscale picture I created to work out the tonal variations and where the focal points of the picture should be. The simple coloured version came out very well indeed. I haven’t used much cool blue in my cartoons before, and it seems to work well here. I like the cool/warm colour contrasts in this illustration.

The 4 close ups of the figures below give you a better view of them.

1 Corinthians 1 – 2 roads – greyscale

1 Corinthians 01 – 2 Roads SIMPLE

Follow this link to see this Bible Cartoon on the BC Gallery page, with download & purchase options:
Bible Cartoon: 1 Corinthians 1 – Two roads

1 Corinthians 01 – 2 Roads PARTIAL 01
Close up of people on left of cartoon, walking up to the cross & the two preachers.
Notice the young woman & bearded man looking at themselves in the hand mirror. They represent our preoccupation with beauty & self-image. The man with the book who is laughing & pointing at the preachers represents many people’s reaction to the Christian Gospel: ridicule & derision. I imagine the book being one on evolution!
To the right of him we see a young couple holding hands. They are so preoccupied with each other that they are “deaf” to anything else, including the warnings from the preachers. The next man is deliberately covering his ears; he doesn’t want to hear about Jesus.

1 Corinthians 01 – 2 Roads PARTIAL 02
Close up of people in centre of cartoon. Notice the woman with her back to us. Is she listening? Is she taking notice of the preachers? I hope so, for her sake! Next in line is a man who is dropping his scroll & looking concerned… perhaps the Christian gospel message is making him think? Will he continue on the road to destruction, or will he respond to the gospel message, give his life to Jesus & walk up the path to heaven? In my cartoon, dropping a scroll or book represents throwing away the human wisdom that we tend to believe.
There are 2 women next in the scene: we can see the back of one woman, as she begins her walk in Christian life – she is beginning to walk the pale road to heaven. We can see another woman (reading a big book) who has ignored the gospel message, preferring “human wisdom” over the “foolishness of God”.
Moving up the steep slope we see 2 more figures: a woman in a head scarf, holding her middle, & someone happily reading a scroll.

1 Corinthians 01 – 2 Roads PARTIAL 03
Close up of people on right of cartoon, walking up slope & arriving at the top of the cliff.
Notice that the figures stand between 2 horns of rock, & that the rock has a laughing, mocking face: that’s the Devil, laughing as he deceives people into falling (literally) for his lies. The cliff edge represents the end of our mortal lives, here on earth. As people physically die, so they fall into the flames of hell & find themselves trapped & separated from the love of God for ever. That’s a chilling, scary thought.
Notice the man, second from right, who is pausing at the very last second of his life, his foot lifted to take is last step over the brink of the cliff. He is looking back at the cross & is wondering about it… he is re-considering the claims of Jesus, ever at the very end of his life. He represents the opportunity we all have, right up until the very last moment of life, to turn around & believe in Jesus. If he does, he will be able to walk the road up to heaven. We all can.
Lastly, notice the man falling into the flames, calmly reading his book: maybe it’s a self-help book, or a new science theory, or a psychology book, even a religious book… it doesn’t matter what it is, because it has done the job Satan intended it too: to keep the readers mind so engaged that he/she didn’t want to consider Jesus, & didn’t want to turn away from man-made “wisdom.” Too late now to turn back.

1 Corinthians 01 – 2 Roads PARTIAL 04
Close up of people falling into the flames. This is just incredibly sad. Four figures plunging headlong into the flames. They’re blissfully unaware of what is about to befall them & deceived by Satan to the bitter end… don’t let that be you.

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