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A review by arthuriana
Judas by Jeff Loveness
4.0
THE STORY IS BROKEN.
this will be a rambling incoherent mess but as someone who always, always, had the predilection towards religiosity but could never fully carry out the motions of faith—which is a whole other can of worms that i'm not to keen to get into right now—i found this to be very resonant and touching, tackling a question that i've long since asked myself, and keep asking still in truth. i have always loved god (or perhaps the idea of him) and have even served him for who even knows how long when i was a child; but even then, even when i called myself a believer (an epithet i can no longer use in good conscience), i always had this niggling doubt: what is it for? why believe in a loving god? why god?
and if god is, then why is there evil?
of course the problem of evil has a storied trajectory in history. theodicy is something that has been talked about for millennia, and this graphic novel—good as it might be—does not really seek to be an exegesis on the history of one of theology's (and perhaps even humanity's) long enduring questions: for why would a loving god allow for the existence of evil?
this is, of course, a very weighted question, and it's difficult to ever have a rational and calm debate regarding this. still, this graphic novel—with its artful depictions of jesus' guilt, judas' desperation, the extremities of hell—comes close to giving us an answer that ought to endure for millennia. there are shades of feuerbach in this, beautifully wrought out into judas' climactic refrain, encapsulated in a full-page spread of stunning beauty and crimson haze bleeding into black, into void:
—which is to say, in every faith, every religion, every tradition: this is not really about god, but about us and about what we could be and about what we aspire to be but never could. we ask why does god allow evil to happen? because the real question that we're asking is why do we allow evil to happen? when god's silence greets us, it is our silence that rings in our ears. simply put, god is a reflexive image for the ideal that we strive for but could never be, because we are human and petty and warlike, and this is the story that never ends.
the story is broken because; but—and this is a wonderful thing that this comic has shown, through expert brushstrokes and quasi-minimalist narration—there is always faith.
there is always love.
this will be a rambling incoherent mess but as someone who always, always, had the predilection towards religiosity but could never fully carry out the motions of faith—which is a whole other can of worms that i'm not to keen to get into right now—i found this to be very resonant and touching, tackling a question that i've long since asked myself, and keep asking still in truth. i have always loved god (or perhaps the idea of him) and have even served him for who even knows how long when i was a child; but even then, even when i called myself a believer (an epithet i can no longer use in good conscience), i always had this niggling doubt: what is it for? why believe in a loving god? why god?
and if god is, then why is there evil?
of course the problem of evil has a storied trajectory in history. theodicy is something that has been talked about for millennia, and this graphic novel—good as it might be—does not really seek to be an exegesis on the history of one of theology's (and perhaps even humanity's) long enduring questions: for why would a loving god allow for the existence of evil?
this is, of course, a very weighted question, and it's difficult to ever have a rational and calm debate regarding this. still, this graphic novel—with its artful depictions of jesus' guilt, judas' desperation, the extremities of hell—comes close to giving us an answer that ought to endure for millennia. there are shades of feuerbach in this, beautifully wrought out into judas' climactic refrain, encapsulated in a full-page spread of stunning beauty and crimson haze bleeding into black, into void:
Spoiler
This is my story.
—which is to say, in every faith, every religion, every tradition: this is not really about god, but about us and about what we could be and about what we aspire to be but never could. we ask why does god allow evil to happen? because the real question that we're asking is why do we allow evil to happen? when god's silence greets us, it is our silence that rings in our ears. simply put, god is a reflexive image for the ideal that we strive for but could never be, because we are human and petty and warlike, and this is the story that never ends.
the story is broken because
Spoiler
we are brokenthere is always love.