Against Violence

Though Judaism was shepherded through history by many violent military figures like Joshua and David, the Pentateuch had some strong things to say against violence, possibly as early as the 1400s BCE.
The prophet Isaiah, writing around 700s BCE, described a perfected future where "They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore."

- "A History of Nonviolence" in Occupy Comics #3

by Caleb Monroe and Theo Ellsworth

Thursday Morning Theology Hangover

Go read Trillium!

I said the first time that I might not always have the opportunity on a Thursday morning to do this. And that clearly happened for the past several Thursdays. But I'm back! I've got a pot of coffee brewing and some good comic books to briefly talk about. I'll even play a little catch up with issues from the past few weeks that I haven't covered. Are you excited? Are you ready?

Christ's Armies [NSFW]

Caution? With the Lord on our side? What kind of a show of faith is that? Do you fear these devils so much that you forget what it is we're fighting for?
While the holy monastery is raped before our very eyes, you fucking squabble about tactics? We are the Lord's soldiers, his right hand...
...Gabriel's sword itself could not be more suffused with his love!
Such a lack of faith is troubling...and dangerous!
I should be surprised if the Lord himself did not twist your very form into that of the enemy, to be cut down by our own swords!
For all we know this could be the start of the last days, Armageddon itself with us as vanguard for Christ's armies.
So show a little fucking spine, you stupid old man!

- Northlanders Vol Three, "Lindisfarne" Part 1

by Brian Wood and Dean Ormston

Frustration

Father Leone: God D--

- Superman #205

by Brian Azzarello and Jim Lee

Thursday Morning Theology Hangover

Yesterday was, of course, Wednesday. This is what I read:

Invincible #109
I still hold that Invincible is Robert Kirkman's love letter to the superhero genre. It hits all the common plot lines, events, and tropes littered throughout 70 plus years of comic book history. While Kirkman's more popular book, The Walking Dead, is grim and dark, Invincible is just plain fun. Last issue ended with the title character trapped in an alternate dimension. I could easily see this story arc lasting several issues to resolve, but Kirkman ramps up the pace. So, at the end of this issue, instead of continuing to wonder what Invincible will do to get back home, I'm left wondering what he will do when he gets back home to the one who stranded him in that alternate dimension. Things are probably going to get a bit messy in the Invincible family.

In This World

As for the poor... Well! You'd think they'd be honored to suffer as our Lord suffered... But Nooooo!! They want justice! They want equality! They want contraception!
It isn't enough that the church has secured their salvation in the next world. Now they want us to do something about their pathetic existence in this world!

- Ragmop

by Rob Walton

Thursday Morning Theology Hangover

In a perfect world I would have plenty of time to read all my Wednesday purchases that night and give a brief recap the next morning. However, this is far from a perfect world. I mean, really, HBO makes it impossible to watch Game of Thrones online without subscribing to their network. Does that sound like a perfect world to you?

Sorry. That was a tangent. Anyway, these are the books that came out yesterday and that I read last night. I may not be able to do this every Thursday. Honestly, look at my track record for posting things consistently and on time. It's not very good. But we'll give it a shot.

Also, this doesn't mean these titles are full of theological insight. Most of them aren't, but I feel it might be nice to offer a snapshot of what I'm reading for fun. Also, these are really, really good books.