I love this cartoon because it’s both kindly and theoretically true.
The only way someone could possibly “turn water into wine” would be this way: indirectly and very, very slowly by affecting a natural, material process, such as watering grape vines until the grapes they hopefully produce one day can be squished, fermented and processed into wine.
Voila!
You can’t do it instantly as a magic trick at a Galileean party on the third day after Nathaniel became a follower of Jesus, no matter what the Bible tells us.
Nonbelievers in all things supernatural, such as wine alchemy, know that such stories in sacred scripture are absurd if fairly analyzed in the real world, so it’s important to point out these discrepancies of fact whenever they arise.
But no need to be mean about it. I appreciate that the criticism embedded in this cartoon is both good-natured and fair.
Note that in some Islamic theocracies, even this gentle cartoon could get you beheaded. God bless America, so to speak.
Cartoon/Thanks to Baptised Atheist/Stanfill/Friendly Atheist
Please sign up (top right) to receive new Godzooks! posts via email, Facebook or Twitter
“Erudite yet readable … very illuminating”
— Richard Dawkins, author of “The God Delusion,” in praise of “Holy Smoke”
Buy either book on Amazon, here (paperback or ebook editions)