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The Visual Commentary on Scripture is a free, online resource that provides material for teaching, preaching, researching, and reflecting on the Bible, Art, and Theology.

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A lack of diversity among translators of the Bible can skew its passages to white out differences, a professor wrote Monday in an article for The Washington Post.

Esau McCaulley, an Anglican priest and assistant professor at Wheaton College in Illionois, said that in his study of the New Testament, he has discovered that most groups that have translated the Bible have not included people of color or women.

He claims that the lack of diversity affects how passages are translated, using the example of Exodus 12:38. The King James Version (KJV), favored by many black churches in the United States, reads, "And a mixed multitude went up also with them." However the New International Version (NIV), one of the most common translations besides KJV, says, "Many other people went up with them."

In this instance, the NIV translation erases any reference to diversity from the passage, instead shifting focus to the size of the group. McCaulley argues this interpretation may cut out a fundamental intended meaning of the passage.

"Nearly all scholars agree that the original Hebrew meant to highlight that an ethnically diverse group of people left Egypt with the Jewish people," he noted, adding that although the translations are not wrong, they "simply (do) not communicate the power of this simple verse in a way that would be understood by those reading today."

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Lack of diversity among translators affects Bible's meaning, professor says

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A lack of diversity among translators of the Bible can skew its passages to white out differences, a professor wrote Monday in an article for The Washington Post. Esau McCaulley, an Anglican priest and assistant professor at Wheaton College in Illionois, said that in his study of the New Testament, he has discovered that most groups that have translated the Bible have not included people of color or women.

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This amazing collection of Indigenous art tells many stories from the BIble/

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This amazing collection of Indigenous art tells many stories from the BIble/

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every Lutheran school would benefit from a copy of this!

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Seven years in the making, Our Mob, God's Story is an exclusive, award-winning art book that celebrates the impact of the Bible on Australia's First Nations People, along with Bible Society's 200 years in Australia.

The art book, compiled by award winning author Christobel Mattingley and Bible Society Australia's Louise Sherman, showcases over 115 paintings by 65 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists from across Australia.
Cover artwork: Sacred Place by Safina Stewart

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Our Mob, God's Story - Bible Society Australia

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Seven years in the making, Our Mob, God's Story is an exclusive, award-winning art book that celebrates the impact of the Bible on Australia's First Nations People, along with Bible Society's 200 years in Australia. The art book, compiled by award winning author Christobel Mattingley and Bible Society Australia's Louise Sherman, showcases over 115 paintings [...]

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the bible paraphrased

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Search and read Bible verses using the popular MSG translation. Take notes online, highlight verses and save notes!

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Put yourself in the story

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BibleGateway.com- Audio Bibles, commentaries, dictionaries, and Bible study tools.

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For less than $5/mo. gain access to 50+ premium resources to enhance your study of Scripture. Start your free trial today!

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The second Ignatian exercise that’s easy to introduce to children is imaginative prayer. St Ignatius recommends that the pray-er read through a gospel passage and then place him or herself in the scene, letting it play out, interacting with the characters, and noticing their senses and feelings. What could children be better at than pretending? I once had a first grade class close their eyes as I read a simplified version of the gospel story of the storm at sea. They were told to imagine that they were in the boat. I even had them make the sounds of the wind and the sea. And then the calm. Silence. By engaging their senses and pretending they were really there the kids were able to tell me about their feelings as they were “sitting in the boat”. Some were “scared” or “sad” and when Jesus calmed the storm they felt “glad” or “safe”. And what a God who can take away fear and bring safety!  https://godinallthings.com/2012/07/31/ignatian-spirituality-for-kids/

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description of Ignatian approach - modify as it suits the context.

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description of Ignatian approach - modify as it suits the context.

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scroll down to find a simple description of the steps of Ignatian praying with scripture.

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By Douglas J. Leonhardt, SJ
Lectio Divina and Gospel Contemplation are two ways to pray with Scripture. Fr. Leonhardt explains these two forms of prayer for those new to the practices.
My Seventh Day Adventist paternal grandmother was very faithful to reading the Bible every day until cataracts dimmed her eyes so she could no longer read. My Catholic maternal grandparents faithfully prayed the rosary every evening. Up until Vatican II these prayer forms were often the practices which designated people as Protestants or Catholics. But the Council urged all Catholics to return to Scripture as a way of "learning the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ." (Phil 3:8)

Over the past forty years some Catholics have hesitated to read Scripture privately because they did not feel they knew enough about the Bible. But this reason for avoiding the reading of Scripture is a temptation because it puts the focus on the individual and not on Christ. The truth is that we have a teacher in the Holy Spirit whom Christ promised and we received at Baptism. "I have said these things to you while still with you; but the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you." (John 14:25-26)

There are two easy ways to pray with Scripture. One is called in Latin, Lectio Divina, (Holy Reading) and the other is Gospel Contemplation.

Lectio Divina

This method of prayer goes back to the early monastic tradition. There were not bibles for everyone and not everyone knew how to read. So the monks gathered in chapel to hear a member of the community reading from the scripture. In this exercise they were taught and encouraged to listen with their hearts because it was the Word of God that they were hearing.

When a person wants to use Lectio Divina as a prayer form today, the method is very simple. When one is a beginner, it is better to choose a passage from one of the Gospels or epistles, usually ten or fifteen verses. Some people who regularly engage in this method of prayer choose the epistle or the Gospel for the Mass of the day as suggested by the Catholic Church.

First one goes to a quiet place and recalls that one is about to listen to the Word of God. Then one reads the scripture passage aloud to let oneself hear with his or her own ears the words. When one finishes reading, pause and recall if some word or phrase stood out or something touched one's heart. If so, pause and savor the insight, feeling, or understanding. Then go back and read the passage again because it will have a fuller meaning. Pause again and note what happened. If one wants to dialogue with God or Jesus in response to the word, one should follow the prompting of one's heart. This kind of reflective listening allows the Holy Spirit to deepen awareness of God's taking the initiative to speak with us.

Lectio Divina can also be an effective form for group prayer. After a passage is read, there can be some extended silence for each person to savor what he or she has heard, particularly noting whether any word or phrase became a special focus of attention. Sometimes groups invite members, if they so desire, to share out loud the word or phrase that struck them. This is done without discussion. Then a different person from the group would read the passage again with a pause for silence. Different emphases might be suggested after each reading: What gift does this passage lead me to ask from the Lord? What does this passage call me to do? The prayer can be concluded with an Our Father.

Whether one prays individually or in a group, Lectio Divina is a flexible and easy way to pray. One first listens, notes what is given and responds in a way one is directed by the Holy Spirit.

Gospel Contemplation

The early Christians did not waste a lot of energy looking back and wishing they had been born a hundred years earlier so they could have walked with Jesus. Instead they focused on coming to know Christ in three powerful ways: through the sacraments, especially the Eucharist; the stories and emerging writings about Jesus; and his powerful presence when they gathered in his name.

Saint Ignatius Loyola invited a person when an individual made a retreat in the pattern of his Spiritual Exercises to pray to come to know Christ so that one may love him in a more real way and following from this knowledge and love become a more faithful disciple.

In order to grow in this faith knowledge, Ignatius invited the retreatant to engage in a prayer method called contemplation. This is not some kind of mystical prayer but a prayer form in which one uses his or her senses in an imaginative way to reflect on a Gospel passage. One uses the senses, seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, and smelling to make the Gospel scene real and alive.

Here is a way of engaging in this prayer form which is relaxing and rather easy.

1. Select a passage from one of the Gospels in which Jesus is interacting with others.

2. Recall what one is doing in engaging with the Word of God and what one desires from this encounter. God is present and because God is present one relies on God.

3. Read the Gospel passage twice so that the story and the details of the story become familiar.

4. Close one's eyes and reconstruct the scene in one's imagination. See what is going on and watch the men and women in the scene. What does Jesus look like? How do the others react to him? What are the people saying to one another? What emotions fill their words? Is Jesus touching someone? As one enters into the scene, sometimes there is the desire to be there. So a person can place oneself in the scene, perhaps as an observer, as one lining up for healing, or as one helping others to Jesus.

5. Some people's imaginations are very active so they construct a movie-like scenario with a Gospel passage. Others will enter the scene with verbal imagination, reflecting on the scene and mulling over the actions. Vividness is not a criteria for the effectiveness of this kind of prayer. Engagement is and the result is a more interior knowledge of Jesus.

6. As one finishes this time of prayer, one should take a moment to speak person to person with Christ saying what comes from the heart.

From Finding God in All Things: A Marquette Prayer Book © 2009 Marquette University Press. Used with permission.

Related Links
Ignatian Contemplation dotMagis blog post with video
Pray with Your Imagination by David L. Fleming, SJ

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Praying with Scripture - Lectio Divina & Gospel Contemplation - IgnatianSpirituality.com

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Lectio Divina and Gospel Contemplation are 2 ways to pray with Scripture. Douglas J. Leonhardt, SJ, explains these 2 forms of prayer.

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A comparative story by Rachel Held Evans

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A comparative story by Rachel Held Evans

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Marduk & Tiamat cf Genesis creation account...

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Terence Fretheim Commentary on Genesis 1

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Jonah Swallowed and Jonah Cast Up, commentary by Victoria Emily Jones: My latest visual meditation for ArtWay was published Sunday-it's on two third-century Jonah sculptures from Asia Minor that likely decorated a family fountain. Early Christians read the story allegorically (at least on one level), as pointing forward to the death and resurrection of Christ. The "great fish" is portrayed as a ketos, a sea-monster of Greek myth.

Run by Marleen Hengelaar-Rookmaaker, the faith-based website ArtWay has been publishing a new visual meditation every Sunday for years, as well as a lot of other content from a variety of contributors. To subscribe to the weekly email, click here. Here are just a few VMs published in the past year that I particularly enjoyed:

Manu-Kahu by Brett a'Court, commentary by Rod Pattenden: Pattenden begins, "This striking image of an airborne Christ is from New Zealand painter Brett a'Court. It is part of his investigations into a way of bringing together the spiritual insights of the indigenous culture of the Maori people and that of Christianity brought to New Zealand by British settlers. In cultural terms it is a hybrid image. This is something that occurs when two cultures are in a process of mutual re-assessment. That sort of conversation is full of conflict and critique but also allows for the potential for new forms to arise that express the best of both traditions. A Christ figure flying in the sky like a kite, is such a form. It is a new thing, a potential heresy or aberration, but one full of potential for new insight and spiritual refreshment."

Knife Angel by Alfie Bradley, commentary by Rachel Wilkerson: This twenty-seven-foot-tall sculpture, welded from 100,000 knives collected in confiscations and amnesties around the UK, confronts the issue of knife violence. The artist cleaned and dulled the blade of each knife he received and engraved personal messages on all the wings' "feathers," messages sent by families affected by knife violence.

Cathedra by Barnett Newman, commentary by Grady van den Bosch: I saw this painting in Amsterdam last spring and was surprised by how it compelled me. (I don't typically gravitate to abstract art.) After spending some time up close-I supposed this was a Newman, and Newman says his paintings need to be experienced up close-I looked at the label and saw that it has a religiously inflected title: Cathedra. The word is Latin for "seat," and in Christianity it refers specifically to the bishop's chair inside a church (churches that had a cathedra were called cathedrals). But Newman was of Jewish descent, and van den Bosch writes that Cathedra is meant to represent the throne of God. "And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone . . ." (Ezek. 1:26).

As someone who loves historical Christian art, including its many Christ Pantocrators, I must nevertheless admit that there is something so right about modern artists' often apophatic approach to evoking the Divine. While I do believe God imaged Godself in the person of Jesus Christ and is therefore representable, I understand the argument some make that abstraction is a better visual language for spiritual subject matter or encounter. I accept both/and. Whether God is shown as a rich, blue expanse that invites and envelops, or a heroic nude emerging from the jaws of death, or a Man of Sorrows head with a harrier hawk's body, I think we can learn a little something from the diversity of representations, which are not mutually exclusive. Not all representations need be embraced, but nor do unfamiliar, difficult, or even shocking ones need be automatically dismissed.

Click on the link for more on how to read Newman's color field paintings, including his signature "zips."

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FREE ONLINE COURSE: Watching TV Religiously: Through at least July 1, Fuller Theological Seminary is offering all its online Fuller Formation courses for free! I just finished taking Watching TV Religiously, taught by Kutter Callaway [ previously], author of the book of the same title, and really enjoyed it. It's a series of six self-paced lessons, which includes short video lectures by the professor, audio conversations with TV writer Dean Batali ( Buffy the Vampire Slayer; That '70s Show), TV watching assignments, reflection questions, and more.

The course aims to help Christians develop critical tools for watching television and a vocabulary that is as rich and thoughtful as the medium itself, so that we can engage it constructively. (It need not be mindless entertainment!) Callaway explores television as a technology, a narrative art form, a commodity, and a portal for our ritual lives. He's interested in how stories are told in this episodic, audiovisual format, and what that means for the Story we tell. The course is not about what Christians should watch, but how Christians should watch, leaving ample room for individual viewers to set their own boundaries, ethical and otherwise. (Callaway acknowledges that TV can form as well as de-form us.) He discusses empathy building and access to other perspectives, knowing your sensibilities, how being offended can be useful, watching in community, seeing God in all places, being aware of how your desires and imagination are being shaped, Christians in Hollywood (and Christian characters on TV), and the culture shaping TV and TV shaping culture, among other things.

The course is fairly broad in its approach; it does not analyze particular shows or episodes, though some specific examples are mentioned in conversations, and students are encouraged to form discussion groups with friends or family members and apply what they're learning to shows of their choice. I really appreciated the assigned PBS docuseries America in Primetime (somewhat outdated because made in 2011 but very good nonetheless), whose four episodes explore character types throughout the history of TV, from the fifties to today: "The Independent Woman," "Man of the House," "The Misfit," and "The Crusader." From taking this course I realized how many acclaimed TV shows I've never seen. I've got a lot of homework to do!

Other arts courses offered by Fuller Formation are

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POEM: "My Mother's Body" by Marie Howe, read with commentary by Pádraig Ó Tuama: As Mother's Day is Sunday, I thought I'd share this wonderful, sad-sweet, mother-themed episode of the new Poetry Unbound podcast from On Being Studios. Pádraig Ó Tuama introduces Marie Howe's "My Mother's Body," in which a middle-age woman, caring for her dying mother, thinks back to the time when her mother was just a twenty-four-year-old girl giving birth to her. The speaker in the poem is Howe.

She imagines being in her mother's womb, experiencing the rhythm of her mother's heartbeat. (What an exercise, to imagine yourself as your mother's baby!) Now decades later, her mother is dying-that heart is failing, and the kidneys too. The uterus has been removed. Toggling between the two time frames, the poem is both a celebration of the strength of women's bodies and a lament for its vulnerabilities, especially in old age. Howe marvels at how her mother's body was capable of such a wonder as giving and sustaining life, and now to see that once-vibrant form breaking down grieves her. In some sense their roles have switched as daughter mothers mother, combing her hair, changing her soiled bedsheets.

The poem opens with "Bless my mother's body" and ends with "Bless this body she made . . ." In the progression of pronouns in the last two lines-my, her, our-is a recognition of how our mothers always remain a physical part of us. They are in our cells. "My Mother's Body" is a thank-you and a letting go.

The poem is from Howe's collection The Kingdom of the Ordinary-which I highly recommend.

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ARTICLE: "5 Contemporary Poets Christians Should Read" by Mischa Willett:" There is so much good crop still being pulled from the fertile fields of theologically inflected verse," writes poet Mischa Willett-so don't stop short, content merely with Donne and Hopkins! This is an excellent short list of contemporary poets of faith, with summaries of key themes and recommendations for which volume(s) to start with. Willet was recently on The Ride Home with John and Kathy to discuss this topic, and he wrote a follow-up post on his blog.

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MUSIC VIDEO: "I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger": One of the most poignant scenes in last year's is when, after a harrowing journey across No Man's Land, Lance Corporal William Schofield-exhausted, disoriented-reaches a wood and encounters a fellow British soldier singing the spiritual "Wayfaring Stranger" [ previously] to a battalion that sits in somber attention, for they're about to go into battle. This official music video from Sony splices together clips from the movie with studio footage of the actor and singer Jos Slovick.

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Jonah Swallowed and Jonah Cast Up , commentary by Victoria Emily Jones: My latest visual meditation for ArtWay was published Sunday-it's on two third-century Jonah sculptures from Asia Minor that likely decorated a family fountain. Early Christians read the story allegorically (at least on one level), as pointing forward to the death and resurrection of Christ.

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Imaginative contemplation is best suited to the gospels, and so the first set of reflections we'll be looking at are Jesus and Zacchaeus, Jesus and the woman with a haemorrhage, and Jesus and Bartimaeus. Let the events of Jesus' life described in these reflections be present to you right now.

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© Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes. The Methodist Church Registered Charity no. 1132208

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Various ways to engage with scripture- includes instructions for each method

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This material is copyright © 2014 by Phil Collins, PhD. This material was created in partnership with the Taylor University Center for Scripture Engagement. Many of the Scripture engagement articles were researched and developed with the help of a group of excellent and dedicated Christian Educational Ministries students from Taylor University.

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Everything You Wanted to Know about the Bible Everything You Wanted to Know about the Bible …but were afraid to ask Find Yourself in God’s…

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Helen Cameron

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a great example of what research into a text might uncover...

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a great example of what research into a text might uncover...

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What Does the Parable of the Talents Mean?
Looking at Matthew 25:14-30 with ancient eyes
Biblical Archaeology Society Staff December 20, 2019 56 Comments 57891 views

What does the Parable of the Talents mean?

Jesus tells the Parable of the Talents (or the Talents' parable) to his disciples. It appears in Matthew 25:14-30, and another version of the parable can be found in Luke 19:11-27. The story in Matthew 25:14-30 unfolds as such: A man goes away on a trip. Before he leaves, he entrusts money to his slaves. To one he gives five talents, to the second he gives two talents, and to the third he gives a single talent. The first two slaves double their money; they give the original investment and their profit to their master when he returns. The third slave, however, buries his talent out in a field instead of trying to make a profit; he returns only this when his master comes back. The master is pleased with the first two slaves, but he is dissatisfied with the third's actions. He reprimands this slave and casts him out into the darkness.

Richard L. Rohrbaugh examines the Parable of the Talents' meaning in his Biblical Views column "Reading the Bible Through Ancient Eyes" in the September/October 2016 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review. Although the story itself is fairly straightforward, Rohrbaugh argues that the Parable of the Talents' meaning is less clear. An ancient audience would have interpreted it differently than a modern one.

The Talents' parable has typically been interpreted by the Western church as being about proper investment: Jesus' disciples are urged to use their abilities and gifts to serve God-without reservation and without fear of taking risks. Rohrbaugh, however, argues that the Talents' parable is all about exploitation. Whereas a modern, Western audience would applaud the first two slaves for trading and investing well, an ancient audience would have approved of the third slave's behavior and condemned that of the first two slaves because they profited at the expense of others. Rohrbaugh explains:

[G]iven the "limited good" outlook of ancient Mediterranean cultures, seeking "more" was considered morally wrong. Because the pie was "limited" and already all distributed, anyone getting "more" meant someone else got less. Thus honorable people did not try to get more, and those who did were automatically considered thieves: To have gained, to have accumulated more than one started with, is to have taken the share of someone else.

This interpretation of the Parable of the Talents' meaning casts the actions of the first two slaves as shameful and that of the third slave as honorable.

In the free ebook Who Was Jesus? Exploring the History of Jesus' Life, examine fundamental questions about Jesus of Nazareth. Where was he really born-Bethlehem or Nazareth? Did he marry? Is there evidence outside of the Bible that proves he actually walked the earth?

The scenario played out in the Talents' parable (Matthew 25:14-30)-of a master leaving his property in control of his slaves -was not uncommon. In the ancient world, greedy people who did not want to get accused of profiting at someone else's expense, which was considered shameful, would delegate their business to slaves, who were held to a different standard. Rohrbaugh explains the ancients' reasoning: "Shameful, even greedy, behavior could be condoned in slaves because slaves had no honor nor any expectation of it."

Accordingly, in the Talents' parable, the master leaves his money with his slaves in the hope that they will exploit the system and increase his riches. The first two slaves do just this, but the third "honorably refrains from taking anything that belongs to the share of another."

This slave also does not invest his money at the bank, through which he would have earned interest. The master further reprimands the slave for not doing this, but Rohrbaugh points out: "[S]eeking interest from another Israelite was forbidden by the Torah (Deuteronomy 23:19-20), and, elsewhere in Luke, Jesus says that we should lend 'expecting nothing in return' (Luke 6:35)."

Should then the actions of the third slave be condemned or lauded? According to Rohrbaugh, reading Matthew 25:14-30 with ancient eyes suggests that the third slave is the only one who behaved honorably in the Talents' parable.

Learn more about the Parable of the Talents' meaning by reading Richard L. Rohrbaugh's full Biblical Views column "Reading the Bible Through Ancient Eyes" in the September/October 2016 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

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BAS Library Members: Read the full Biblical Views column "Reading the Bible Through Ancient Eyes" by Richard L. Rohrbaugh in the September/October 2016 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review. Not a BAS Library member yet? Join the BAS Library today. This Bible History Daily feature was originally published on September 26, 2016.
Related reading in Bible History Daily:
Did Jesus Exist? Searching for Evidence Beyond the Bible What Was Life Like for Roman Slaves?

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What Does the Parable of the Talents Mean? - Biblical Archaeology Society

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Looking at Matthew 25:14-30 with ancient eyes Biblical Archaeology Society Staff December 20, 2019 56 Comments 57891 views What does the Parable of the Talents mean? Jesus tells the Parable of the Talents (or the Talents' parable) to his disciples. It appears in Matthew 25:14-30, and another version of the parable can be found in Luke 19:11-27.

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Three Worlds of the Text
Select questions that are specifically relevant to the text being covered.

World Behind the Text
How is an understanding of this text influenced by what we can learn about its context?

What can we learn about the cultural world of the time in which the text was created (for example: the significance of "the land" of Israel; values, customs and beliefs; reference to festivals or heroes; status of individuals; demography; social hierarchy and relationships between characters and peoples; purity codes; moral codes; understanding of God; relationship with other cultures/peoples)?

How is an understanding of this text influenced by the community that produced this text?
How is an understanding of this text influenced by what can we learn about its development and communication across time?

Is there an oral tradition evident? When was the text first put into written form? In what language was the text first set down? Do these factors affect the meaning of the text for its original audience?

Were there any historical or cultural events that caused the text to be edited or translated across time?

World of the Text
How is an understanding of this text influenced by what is actually in it?
How is an understanding of this text influenced by its type and structure?

Is there a particular structure to this text? Why was it structured in this way?

How do different parts of the text relate to each other?

What clues or text features help the reader to identify the type of text (e.g. greeting in a letter; sense of touch in a healing miracle; evocative language in a psalm)?

Why has the author chosen this style or form of writing to convey the message?

How is an understanding of this text influenced by what can we learn about it from its connections with other Biblical texts?

What comes before and after this text?

Is the text attested to in other gospels or books of the Bible?

Is this text used for different purposes in other books of the Bible?

Is this text drawn from or connected to texts in other books of the Bible?

World in Front of the Text
For whom might this text be relevant today?

What are some messages from or about God that modern believers can take from this text in their time and place?

Is there anything in this text that might be open to challenge or questioning by a modern reader?

· What factors make it possible for modern readers to bring to this text interpretations not intended by the author?

How might gender, culture or life experience, including experiences with religion or religious groups, affect the way a modern reader might respond to the text? How can the experience of the reader add to the richness of interpretation?

How might a modern reader gain a deeper awareness of this text?
How might the following help the reader better appreciate the text's relevance and application for today?
Can a line be drawn between reliable and unreliable modern interpretations of the text?
Does the Church have a specific teaching about the meaning of this text?

How might this text be used/applied in contemporary contexts?

World in Front of the Text

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Questions around the Three Worlds of the Text

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﻿ Three Worlds of the Text ﻿ Select questions that are specifically relevant to the text being covered. ﻿ World Behind the Text ﻿ How is an understanding of this text influenced by what we...

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Reading the Bible through Aboriginal eyes

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Reading the Bible through Aboriginal eyes

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Brooke Prentis is an Aboriginal leader and CEO of a Christian organization in Australia called Common Grace. On this episode, she shares with us some Aboriginal perspectives on the Bible and how the Bible speaks to the injustices that Aboriginal people have faced and continue to face.

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Episode 129: Brooke Prentis - Reading the Bible Through Aboriginal Eyes

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Brooke Prentis is an Aboriginal leader and CEO of a Christian organization in Australia called Common Grace. On this episode, she shares with us some Aboriginal perspectives on the Bible and how the Bible speaks to the injustices that Aboriginal people hav...

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from The Bible in the life of the Lutheran Communion

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from The Bible in the life of the Lutheran Communion

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interpreting the Bible amidst a plurality of cultures is an enriching experience, since it enables us to appreciate the value and biases of our own reading and that of others. p19

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A writer's Easter pilgrimage, from Jordan to Jamaica, to find a multiethnic image of Christ.

The Chinese-born artist James He Qi's "Peace, Be Still" (1998) depicts Christ stilling the waters in bold colors that recall stained-glass window. He blends Chinese folk customs and modern western art. Credit... James He Qi

Close your eyes and imagine that Jesus is in front of you.

Is the man kneeling in prayer in the Garden at Gethsemane Chinese? Is the man sitting at the table of the Last Supper Navajo? Is the man dragging his cross toward Golgotha Nigerian? Or is the crucified figure a woman?

Likely as not, the image that presents itself to most Americans is of a lithe, bearded man with shoulder-length, chestnut-colored hair. And whether he is a dashboard Jesus or the nearly 100-foot tall Cristo Redentor, arms outstretched atop a mountain rising over Rio de Janeiro, he is likely to be male - and white.

This confounded me as a young child - the image of a white Christ (in my case, blond and blue-eyed) - printed on the hand-held fans cooling the black congregants of my grandmother's church in Los Angeles.

Even at that age, with only a peripheral awareness of the brutal attacks on civil rights marchers in Birmingham, Ala., and the bombing of the 16th St. Baptist church there that killed four little girls, the youngest not much older than I - even in my innocence, worshiping someone who didn't look like us seemed incongruous.

As it turns out, at about that time, "God" as depicted in the form of Jesus Christ was beginning to look more and more like me. Only I didn't know it.

By the middle of the 20th century, the global center of Christianity had begun shifting away from Europe to Africa, Asia and Latin America. "Christianity around the world was becoming less white, and pictures of Jesus hanging in churches from Jordan to Japan to Jamaica were looking more like the people, instead of the standard white portraits from Europe or North America," said Todd Johnson, co-director of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity, at the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Mass.

Thomas Hastings, the executive director of the Overseas Ministries Study Center in New Haven, Conn., said, "They did their own version of Christianity, to put it simply."

Dr. Hastings, who taught for decades in Japan, recalled how the Rev. Tamura Naoumi, an American-educated Japanese pastor in the early 20th century, sought to change the Western-based Sunday school images of Jesus to those reflecting his culture and that of his students. Mr. Tamura employed local artists to illustrate his books.

"The images of Jesus are Japanese images," Dr. Hastings said. "The images of his disciples are Japanese images. The images of the Old Testament prophets are Japanese images."

Dr. Hastings acknowledges that some of the missionaries didn't like what Mr. Tamura was up to.

"But today," he added, "all Japanese churches would relate to Japanese images of Jesus."

There is also a long tradition of adapted local appearances and iconography to the Christian message in the West. "Early Christian artists appropriated images of the long haired pagan gods like Zeus to symbolize the power of Jesus," said Joan E. Taylor, a professor who studies early Christianity and Judaism at King's College London, and the author of "What Did Jesus Look Like?" The artists, she added, were referring to "other gods the people of that era would know."

"Even with that, over the centuries in the West there have been changing fashions in the way Christ was represented that are as variable as hem lines," she added.

So Jesus, a Jewish man from the Middle East, probably didn't look like the Nordic Messiah portrayed on the church fans of my childhood. But should it make any difference?

"Multiethnic representations of religious symbols of all kinds are important to everybody, but particularly in our communities, "said Dinorah Nieves, a sociologist and author in Los Angeles. "It's important for us to see melanin and sacredness as connected and not opposites."

However, Ingrid Reneau Walls, a missionary who teaches literature and theology in Akropong-Akuapem, Ghana, points out that among many Caribbean and American black people, even if pictures of a blond-haired Jesus hung at home or in church, "The worship was inevitably distinctly African derived."

"The way we moved, envisioned, reached for and cried out to Christ, was not to a Christ who was white, for such a Christ would not have necessary comprehended our groans, moans and shouts, " Dr. Walls said.

As Easter approached this year and the persistence of the coronavirus created a mushrooming feeling of apprehension, I felt the urge to go on a pilgrimage in search of more authentic renderings of Christ - ones reflective of race, but also of gender and sexual orientation. With the help of scholars , I selected 12 images from around the world that are "true" in the way they translate local idioms and sensibilities into the universal ethos Christianity strives to represent.

In ''The Dead Body,'' the Indonesian painter Wisnu Sasongko, born in 1975, said he wasn't aiming for historical accuracy - he rarely depicts biblical events or Christ literally. "I imagine him based on my personal experience," Mr. Sasongko said - an amalgam of everyday people he sees and images from other artists, Western and not.

The artist "restricts his palette to somber colors," said Victoria Emily Jones, who blogs about Christianity and the arts at ArtandTheology.org. "Jesus's lips, discolored from lack of oxygen, blend in with his black facial hair. The strongly vertical orientation is striking. Instead of seeing Christ's body laid out horizontally on a slab or in a coffin, as in most Entombment paintings," she said, "we see this tightly cropped frontal pose. It's confrontational."

This is Jesus and Judas as we have never seen them - extraordinarily buff, dressed to show off their weight lifting physiques. The men's arms seem to almost touch. The drawing is by Richard Bruce Nugent (1906-1987), an African-American writer, painter, illustrator and bohemian of the Harlem Renaissance whose stream-of-consciousness poem, "Smoke, Lilies and Jade," was an ode to bisexuality and interracial sexual attraction.

Stamatina Gregory, the director of curatorial programs at the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, says the drawing suggests a cruising scene. "We always think of the Jesus-Judas encounter as only one of betrayal," Ms. Gregory said. "What Nugent is proposing is essentially the unthinkable - that such an encounter might be sexual, and that the deepest betrayal could only have come from someone who was the closest person to the Christ figure in the world."

The inked strip of parchment from Ethiopia features a black Jesus at the Last Supper, an image ubiquitous in the country.

Modest paintings not much bigger than a letter-sized sheet of paper - like this of the Last Supper - are ubiquitous throughout Ethiopia.

Neal Sobania, a professor emeritus of African History and Visual Culture at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Wash., said there is a small industry of painters there who make biblical settings - like this Last Supper tableau - for the tourist market. In addition to the facial features of Jesus and the apostles, another element marking this as Ethiopian is the mesob - the basket dining surface - and the local custom of taking food with the right hand.

In 1984, when this sculpture of Christ as a nude crucified woman, by the British sculptor, Edwina Sandys, was exhibited at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan, Walter D. Dennis, a bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York, criticized its presence as "theologically and historically indefensible." The work was taken down within days.

Even a decade earlier, when her 250-pound sculpture was first shown, Ms. Sandys (pronounced "sands") - a granddaughter of Winston Churchill - witnessed extreme reactions, pro and con. "Women's Lib was in the air," Ms. Sandys said, quickly adding that's not why she made the sculpture. "I like changing things around, turning things upside down," she said. In 2016, Ms. Sandys, who lives in New York, donated the work to the Cathedral - which happily accepted it.

Greg Weatherby, an Australian of Aboriginal descent, depicts Jesus and his followers as Mimi, spirit beings with elongated bodies who taught the Aboriginal peoples practical life skills and gave them culture. "Jesus is crucified in front of Uluru (Ayers Rock), a place of mystery and magic for Aboriginal peoples," Ms. Jones, the art blogger, said.

"By absorbing Jesus's death into Aboriginal myth, Weatherby suggests that it, too, has sacred significance and is for his people," Ms. Jones said. "Weatherby places it even farther back in time than the First Century, into the Dreamtime, which constitutes the deepest reality and strongest identity marker for Australia's Indigenous people."

In the mid-1930s, students at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago voted a black and white sketch titled "Son of Man," by the illustrator Warner Sallman, the most accurate portrayal of Jesus. Kriebel & Bates, a publisher of religious material in Indianapolis, bought the rights to the image and, in 1940, the copyright to Sallman's color painting, "Head of Christ." An industry was born.

"Wallet-sized versions were distributed to soldiers and sailors during World War II," said Mr. Johnson, of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity. "It made its way to church bulletins, calendars, posters, bookmarks - literally hundreds of millions of them."

Emmanuel Garibay is a social realist painter from the Philippines who expresses the struggles of the common man. "Many of his Christ paintings sharply critique the Catholic Church, with its legacy of colonialism and other abuses of power," said Ms. Jones. This one, however, is on a lighter note. Although Christ is crowned with barbed wire rather than thorns, he is casually wearing a white tank top, and holding a cup in one hand; his other is held in a sign of blessing. "This is a thoroughly contemporary Christ, a Christ of the people," Ms. Jones said. "He looks tired yet approachable. He's here doing life with us."

The Chinese painter James He Qi (pronounced "huh chi") depicts the gospel story of Jesus and his disciples suddenly caught in a storm. As the waves rise, the disciples turn fearfully to Jesus. With outstretched arms, he stills the winds and the water. As in Mark 4:39, "He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, Be still."

"He Qi is influenced by the simple and beautiful artwork of the people in rural China," said Mr. Hastings, quoting from the website of the Overseas Ministries Study Center. "With bold colors, embellished shapes and thick brush strokes, he blends Chinese folk art and the iconography of the Western Middle Ages and Modern Art."

In the gospel-based description of the Transfiguration, a radiant Christ is flanked by Moses and Elijah, who represent the law of God and the law of the prophets.

In this version, created by the Yoruba sculptor Lamidi Olonade Fakeye (1928-2009), Jesus stands between a priest of Osanyin, the god of healing, and a priest of Shango, the god of thunder and lightning. "The meaning is that Jesus came to fulfill - not condemn or destroy - the Yoruba traditional religion," said Nicholas Bridger, author of "Africanizing Christian Art."

This bold, soulful depiction of Jesus is by Sofia Minson, a painter of Swedish, Irish, English and Maori descent living in New Zealand. It shows him as a Maori man with full-face moko (traditional tattoo) and a huia bird, once native to New Zealand but now extinct, as a neck ornament. On her website, Ms. Minson says her goal was "to sense the fluidity and exchange of faith, wairua (spirit), culture, art and religion between people through the ages."

While Christian artists typically depict Jesus's suffering, in Indian art he is often seen as peaceful. Dr. P. Solomon Raj, an artist and theologian, shows Jesus "as teacher, sitting on a lotus flower much like the Buddha, the lotus being a symbol of purity," Ms. Jones said. He raises his right hand in a gesture of reassurance and blessing "whose Sanskrit name literally means 'Do not fear' - something Jesus said many times."

Credit... via Museu de Arte de São Paulo

Djanira da Motta e Silva (1914 - 1979) was a self-taught Brazilian artist who worked in several mediums. Rodrigo Moura, chief curator at El Museo del Barrio in New York, said this 1955 painting, with its solid colors, symmetry and flat perspective, fits in stylistically with her work. But while she often documented working people - farmers, basket weavers - here the subject showed a black Christ.

The painting was controversial among church officials and in the press, Mr. Moura said: "After all, the image of Jesus Christ was (and still is), traditionally that of a white man."

Christ is tied to a post and whipped in the public square in Salvador. Djanira suggests that violence was so common in colonial time that the faceless passers-by are indifferent to it, Mr. Moura said.

"The post bears the coat of arms of Imperial Brazil, the symbol of the European colonization," he added. "Churches surround the scene, signifying the clergy's complicity about violence inflicted on black residents."

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Searching for a Jesus Who Looks More Like Me (Published 2020)

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A writer's Easter pilgrimage, from Jordan to Jamaica, to find a multiethnic image of Christ. Close your eyes and imagine that Jesus is in front of you. Is the man kneeling in prayer in the Garden at Gethsemane Chinese? Is the man sitting at the table of the Last Supper Navajo?

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Godly play is an approach to scripture in the Montessori tradition

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Godly play is an approach to scripture in the Montessori tradition

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What is Godly Play?

Godly Play is a Montessori method of telling Bible stories, developed by Jerome Berryman, using parables, sacred stories and liturgical lessons about religious traditions using simple materials.

Godly Play is used extensively with adults and children in many settings, from schools to hospitals, churches to aged care facilities.

Godly Play can be a way of preparing children to join the worship life of their congregations as they experience sacred stories, symbols and rites and encounter the religious language associated with worship within the context of our faith tradition.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Godly Play is a Montessori method of telling Bible stories, developed by Jerome Berryman, using parables, sacred stories and liturgical lessons about religious traditions using simple materials. Godly Play is used extensively with adults and children in many settings, from schools to hospitals, churches to aged care facilities.

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Mike Moyers allows use of his paintings for ministry purposes - a gift.

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Mike Moyers allows use of his paintings for ministry purposes - a gift.

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It is an honor and a joy to share my work with you. For years, I have illustrated, designed and directed many book covers, ads, logos, commercials and campaigns. However, my deeper side is the life of a fine artist. I love to paint with the palette knife to keep my work loose, textured and bold. You will see that I paint all kinds of subjects. My deepest passion, however, is to use fine art to communicate matters of faith.

I firmly believe that art is a communion with the soul. Through my art, I strive to make known the beauty and wonder of life and faith. The pieces in this exhibit are inspired by things that have touched my life in a meaningful way. They range from plein air and impressionism to abstract and conceptual. My hope is to successfully communicate those inspirations so that you might be touched as well.

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It is an honor and a joy to share my work with you. For years, I have illustrated, designed and directed many book covers, ads, logos, commercials and campaigns. However, my deeper side is the life of a fine artist. I love to paint with the palette knife to keep my work loose, textured and bold.

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Reading an excerpt from 1 Corinthians comparatively...

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Reading an excerpt from 1 Corinthians comparatively...

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Anne Muirhead

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
Luke 9:11-17

Anne has lived and loved, prayed and protested, searched and served in Adelaide, Ballarat, Melbourne, Santa Clara (USA) and Sydney.  Her qualifications range across education, history, liturgy and theology – with a particular focus on the nexus between liturgy, pastoral care and social justice.  Anne is inspired, animated and challenged by her spiritual hero – Mary Ward – and nurtured by the creative and performing arts! Although socially awkward, Anne is fascinated by group dynamics, distributed leadership and reframing of organisational dynamics through the lens of introversion. In 2022 Anne has written material to mark Laudato Si Week for ACBC Office for Justice, Ecology and Peace, arranged stunning floral displays, explored images of God with Year 2 students, run workshops for staff on the transformative potential of liturgy in schools, worked on the campaign of her local federal independent candidate and cared for her 99 year old mum. Anne is moving through her second Clinical Pastoral Education placement at Peter MacCallum Cancer Hospital in Naarm, where she is learning heaps from patients, their families and staff about love and loss, grief and grace, healing and hope.

This podcast is produced by Louise Maher.

The music on this podcast has been created by theologian, musician, songwriter, and teacher Danielle Anne Lynch.

You can listen to more of Danielle’s music on Spotify, iTunes or YouTube.

Copyright © 2021 All Rights Reserved.

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Anne Muirhead The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ Luke 9:11-17 Anne has lived and loved, prayed and protested, searched and served in Adelaide, Ballarat, Melbourne, Santa Clara (USA) and Sydney. Her qualifications range across education, history, liturgy and theology - with a particular focus on the nexus between liturgy, pastoral [...]