Review: Theologygrams: Theology explained in diagrams

Theologygrams: Theology explained in diagrams by Rich Wyld
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is probably a humourous, light-hearted take at something in the vein of the very serious and informative Visual Theology by Tim Challies. From the content, my guess is that the target audience are British Anglican Christians.

I really like the idea and creativity behind it, (and it was great fun reviewing this book after going through other more wordy ones), but unfortunately only two out of all the diagrams in the book were brilliant - namely the Matthew 13 Parable on p46-7 and the 7 churches in Rev. 2-3 on p86-7. The rest in my opinion, were not as insightful or amusing.

It indeed is a great pity, because when I checked out Rich Wyld's blog (theologygrams.wordpress.com), I found that I like many of the unpublished charts that were posted since the book was published. Hopefully in subsequent print revisions, more of these later ones posted in 2016-7 be added. Pop culture perhaps has moved on since the first edition was published in 2014. If however you found this book appealing, I recommend you check out Adam4d's work as well!

I received this book from Inter-Varsity Press for the purposes of providing an unbiased review. All views are my own.

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Review: Implications Abound: A collection of curiously Christian comics

Implications Abound: A collection of curiously Christian comics by Adam4d
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Can I like give 6 stars out of 5? It's been a long time since I have found a book that I like so much and find so very useful for the equipping of the saints to do God's work (Eph. 4:12)! If you have been pulling your hair out, frustrated that the young people simply are not interested in meatier theology, having been content with the baby food, fret not!

Adam4d is a gifted artist with a brilliant scholarly mind. His dedication to the word of God is conveyed through satirical cartoons and lingo of young people today. You probably will not regret buying a couple of copies to keep as standby presents (a pity that at the time of writing, the price went from ~US$10 to about US$12.50 and has not gone down since)!

The content, while deeply serious, is presented in such a light hearted manner (and with accompanying lively illustrations). Youth and young adult leaders/pastors will find that book is a brilliant bridge to these crucial theological and hermeneutical concepts. It will definitely prod the interest of the reader and you may find them asking actually you what the author is trying to convey.

I recommended the book to one of my classmates, and when I passed it to him, we seminary students happened to be on an outing for food and more food. The book was in great demand with much competition to devour the highly engaging content. The friendly snatching back-and-forth and demands of "MY TURN!" is testimony to how Adam4d has put deep theological truths in a language that young people thoroughly identify with. All they need is a pastor-teacher to build on from that foundation to explain the deep truths of the faith and how to keep hold of them (1 Tim. 3:9 NIV)...

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