Theophilus was a religious comic strip

Comic strip

A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....

 founded by illustrator Bob West that was syndicated from February 6, 1966 through April 19, 2002. The strip primarily ran in church newsletters and related publications, but has also run online, appeared in newspapers, been translated into Spanish and French, and appeared in CD-ROM collections and printed anthologies.

History

The strip originated in a small newsletter of the church West attended. However in December 1967 West was told the cartoons would be dropped because, "Theophilus hurts people's feelings." West sold the strip to a monthly journal with a much larger circulation. Theophilus also went on to achieve publication in local and college newspapers across the country, along with re-publication in a wide range of church bulletins and newsletters. West stopped drawing new cartoons for a number of years, but continued to allow old strips to be re-published various places. In January 1989 West resumed drawing new strips (largely in response to attacks from critics questioning his theology). In 1991 West and collaborator Art Thompson released the book Theophilus and the One True Church. It was followed by a second book, Theophilus and the Powers of Darkness.

West discontinued the series in 2002 in order to work on his new comic strip, Our Father's Children.

Characters

The strip originally featured a quiet, humble man named Theophilus searching for truth amongst a cast of more prideful, arrogant, and holier-than-thou characters. Theophilus interacted with neighborhood gossips and narrow-minded scientists, as well as sanctimonious members of the church. Theophilus attended the One True Church, a Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 denomination

Christian denomination

A Christian denomination is an identifiable religious body under a common name, structure, and doctrine within Christianity. In the Orthodox tradition, Churches are divided often along ethnic and linguistic lines, into separate churches and traditions. Technically, divisions between one group and...

 led by Brother Fairasee. After a number of years, Theophilus was excommunicated

Excommunication

Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...

 from the church over questioning aspects of its dogma

Dogma

Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, or a particular group or organization. It is authoritative and not to be disputed, doubted, or diverged from, by the practitioners or believers...

. However, Brother Fairasee and other characters belonging to the One True Church continued to appear in the strip, usually commenting on how wrong and misguided humble, simple-minded Theophilus was.

In the 1990s, creator West enlarged the role of autobiographical

Autobiography

An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...

 characters Sketch and Honey Drawings, characters in the Theophilus universe representing West and his wife. West produced a three-book series titled Theophilus and the Powers of Darkness, depicting West's own personal and private struggles to find religious truth, save his marriage, become closer to his children, and overcome a self-confessed addiction

Pornography addiction

Pornography addiction, or more broadly overuse of pornography, is excessive pornography use that interferes with daily life.There is no diagnosis of pornography addiction in the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , and as with the broader proposed diagnosis of sexual...

 to pornography

Pornography

Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...

.

The character Theophilus is named for the biblical Theophilus

Theophilus (Biblical)

Theophilus is the name or honorary title of the person to whom the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles are addressed...

, to whom the Gospel of Luke

Gospel of Luke

The Gospel According to Luke , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Luke or simply Luke, is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension.The...

 and the Acts of the Apostles

Acts of the Apostles

The Acts of the Apostles , usually referred to simply as Acts, is the fifth book of the New Testament; Acts outlines the history of the Apostolic Age...

 are addressed.

Themes

The serious, mature themes discussed in Theophilus were contrasted by simple, childlike artwork. All characters (except Brother Fairasee) were depicted as large, bodiless heads with stick-figure

Stick figure

A stick figure is a very simple type of drawing made of lines and dots, often of the human form or other animals. In a stick figure, the head is represented by a circle, sometimes embellished with details such as eyes, mouth or crudely scratched-out hair. The arms, legs and torso are all...

 legs. Rarely were any characters drawn with arms. Backgrounds, likewise, were rarely depicted. Otherworldly characters were not shown – when God

God

God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....

 speaks, an outlined word balloon

Speech balloon

Speech balloons are a graphic convention used most commonly in comic books, comic strips and cartoons to allow words to be understood as representing the speech or thoughts of a given character in the comic...

 comes down from above. When the devil

Devil

The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...

 speaks, a grey-shaded word balloon simply comes up from below.

Through Theophilus, West addressed the topics of faith healing

Faith healing

Faith healing is healing through spiritual means. The healing of a person is brought about by religious faith through prayer and/or rituals that, according to adherents, stimulate a divine presence and power toward correcting disease and disability. Belief in divine intervention in illness or...

, witchcraft

Witchcraft

Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...

, music

Christian music

Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely across the world....

, sex

Religion and sexuality

Most world religions have sought to address the moral issues that arise from people's sexuality in society and in human interactions. Each major religion has developed moral codes covering issues of sexuality, morality, ethics etc...

, legalism

Legalism (theology)

Legalism, in Christian theology, is a sometimes-pejorative term referring to an over-emphasis on discipline of conduct, or legal ideas, usually implying an allegation of misguided rigour, pride, superficiality, the neglect of mercy, and ignorance of the grace of God or emphasizing the letter of...

, adultery

Adultery

Adultery is sexual infidelity to one's spouse, and is a form of extramarital sex. It originally referred only to sex between a woman who was married and a person other than her spouse. Even in cases of separation from one's spouse, an extramarital affair is still considered adultery.Adultery is...

, divorce

Divorce

Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...

, Biblical accuracy

Biblical inerrancy

Biblical inerrancy is the doctrinal position that the Bible is accurate and totally free of error, that "Scripture in the original manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact." Some equate inerrancy with infallibility; others do not.Conservative Christians generally believe that...

 and the role of women

Christian views of women

Frank Stagg, PhD, was a Southern Baptist theologian, seminary professor, author, and pastor over a 50-year ministry career. He taught New Testament interpretation and Greek at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary from 1945 until 1964 and at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville,...

 in the church. While frequently conservative

Conservative Christianity

Conservative Christianity is a term applied to a number of groups or movements seen as giving priority to traditional Christian beliefs and practices...

 in its tone, Theophilus often left these topics with no clear answers, instead urging the characters (and the reader) to seek answers from God through prayer

Prayer

Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...

. On some topics, Theophilus (or Sketch) would even admit in later strips that they were wrong about what they had earlier said or believed.