I'm kind of like Jesus, but not in a sacreligious way..."

From today's Daily Free Press, BU's student daily:

Bread and wine turned into doughnuts and beer last night and youthful pop culture met age old scripture as Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship, a Boston University group sponsored by the Assemblies of God, held its second lecture to discuss how Jesus Christ was similar to Homer Simpson.

The larger group split up into four smaller groups to discuss questions the group posed about the episode it had just watched. This session's episode was "Homer's Odyssey," in which Homer attempts to make all of Springfield safe by putting signs up throughout town.

David Hill, a School of Management senior, said Homer Simpson is a character most people can relate to.

"We kind of like the way he lives, he has a simple life," he said during the discussion. "Homer strikes me as a purposeless person. He wants to provide for his family, drink beer and have a good time."

The discussion looked into the character of Homer Simpson in regards to "finding a purpose," as well as comparing the ways both Jesus and Homer would react to a situation.

"I think that they are pretty much polar opposites," Hill said. He said, however, that Simpson was like Jesus because, "he was always overcoming obstacles."

Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship sponsored this event as a way to mix popular culture with Biblical studies, basing its discussions off the book, "The Gospel According to the Simpsons," by Mark Pinsky.

"The book opened the door for us," said Scott Miller, the director of Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship and a university chaplain. "The concept is working."

The last meeting had a "full house," according to Miller, and this meeting saw a large turnout as well. "The Simpsons" allowed for a more youthful audience, which is less religious at times, to take a look at the Bible.

"I think there are some people who are apathetic, but I think some people are looking for something that is real," Miller said. "They aren't finding it [elsewhere]."

Miller also said it was interesting to see how many men came out to the last meeting, and while women do show up to the meetings, the majority of the group was primarily men. This time, however, there was almost an equivalent number of men to women.

Previous discussions had examined how Lisa Simpson cared for others, and whether or not she spoke for Jesus. The discussion is based on one episode of the show, which the group watches in its entirety before making comparisons to the Bible.

Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship is an SAO group that tries to "represent Christ on our campus through our lives, activities and relationships," according to the group's website. The group is interdenominational and open to everyone.

Chi Alpha plans on holding more events in the future including a discussion session this Friday, and more "Simpsons" discussions, which have yet to be scheduled, according to Miller.