Chick Tracts discussion

[elliestar11]

Hi all,

I recently joined a Christian teen group in my area. They are all Bible-believing Christians and they are such nice and wonderful people! Anyway, in one of our discussions today, the subject of Chick Tracts came up. I have heard of these tracts but I've never actually read them or handed them out. Our opinions of them were mixed though. Like I said before, I've never really had any experiences with them so I don't know what to think. There was one boy who said that he uses Chick Tracts all the time when he witnesses, and that they have encouraged the lost to ask questions and inquire more about God. But another girl said that Chick Tracts are the "butt of jokes" to the lost when it comes to evangelism, and a lot of people are offended by them because they see it as nothing more than poorly-drawn cartoons threatening eternal hellfire. Of course, Christians know that Christianity is about God's love and how Jesus died on the cross for our sins, but most people just see "You'll burn in eternal hellfire if you don't accept Jesus" and do a spit-take.

Are Chick Tracts accurate? Are they good tools to use in spreading the Gospel?

Sincerely,

elliestar11

[Meg]

Here's a link where you can review the tracts themselves and see for yourself what you think

Complete list of Chick cartoon gospel tracts

[Robert]

Ellie, you need to look at each tract; there are really good ones and not so good ones. I have my personal favorites.

[elliestar11]

Thanks for the link, Meg!

Looking through them, I can easily see that they were probably drawn by multiple people. I like that they get straight to the heart of the matter, but a lot of them seem to have a very condescending tone to the unsaved. I can see why people would not like these tracts. Also, although some tracts are heartfelt intelligent pleas (like "Who Murdered Clarice?"), others seem to get basic facts about other religions wrong.

For example, see "Are Roman Catholics Christians?" That tract was directed towards Roman Catholics, but it's inaccurate in several ways. For instance, this part:

Now, we all know that Roman Catholicism is a false religion and that it is inspired by Satan. Yet I have talked to a lot of Catholics about why I know Christianity is true, and they are not nearly as "militant" in America as this tract is making them out to be. In fact, for a tract that seems as if it was intended for Roman Catholics, it seems to only inspire hate against them, and hate is NOT a Biblical value. We are supposed to hate the sin, NOT the sinner.

My conclusion is that Chick Tracts as a rule are good introductions to controversial topics, but the evangelist should tread carefully in which tracts they spread.

I read "This Was Your Life", which is a Basic Gospel tract. It definitely hits home on the concept of how we are all sinners and need Jesus's gift of eternal life!

But that's just my two cents. What do you guys think? Was there something I missed?

[elliestar11]

Ellie, you need to look at each tract; there are really good ones and not so good ones. I have my personal favorites.

I just noticed your reply. I agree with you 100%. And even if the message is pure in some of them, I can't help but notice the... uh... creative liberties they took with the art. Some of it is kind of over-the-top. Like the one with the vampires. I'm not sure what it's called, I was browsing through the tracts and I saw one about a vampire trained by a coven of Satanist vampires from birth in a castle at the top of a hill. I understand it was for Halloween, but there is a real vampirism phenomenon where people actually feel the need to cut others and drink their blood, and I think that there should be at least one tract discussing that terrible practice and the dangers it poses.