Comment

Comment by Stephanie Stuckwisch on 9th mo. 10, 2011 at 12:10pm

I just finished reading Douglas Gywn's latest book Conversation with Christ: Quaker Meditations on the Gospel of John.

In my experience, most people either skate along on the surface of this gospel or get lost in it's "gnostic tendencies". Gywn does neither. His approach is both intellectual AND experiential. Writings from early Quakers are used extensively. Each chapter ends with a guided conversation to draw the reader into their own conversation with Christ.

My multi-meeting Bible study will be using this book.

Comment by Stephanie Stuckwisch on 4th mo. 11, 2011 at 9:31pm

Thanks for your comments, Paula. These authors interpreted the early art a bit differently. They saw the images as indicating a very thin veil between the earthly and the spiritual. I can't say which is correct, but it's intriguing.

Comment by Paula Deming on 4th mo. 10, 2011 at 9:36pm

Hi, Stephanie,

If I recall correctly from my one art history course, early Christian images often dealt with themes of Christ as shepherd, or as the Lamb of God. Medieval art also divorced images from reality, painting figures floating in the air rather than in proper perspective and governed by gravity, indicating that the Christian was not to focus on the world. Because eyes are considered the mirror of the soul, the eyes were also painted extra large. In other words, art captured the condition of the soul rather than what people looked like on the outside. 

I also remember there were loads of paintings and Byzantine mosaics featuring the infant Jesus on his mother's lap, with both blessing the viewer. 

I look forward to checking out this book. ~Yours in the Light, Paula

Comment by Stephanie Stuckwisch on 4th mo. 10, 2011 at 8:05pm

I just finished "Saving Paradise: How Christianity Traded Love of this World for Crucifixion and Empire". It's a fairly daunting 400+ pages. Since the writers manged to write an academic that does employ astounding long, convoluted sentences, it's doable.

 

The writers started with the observation that early Christian art did not show images of Christ crucified. The earliest art celebrated resurrection and images of earthly paradise. From that they tell a part of church history that was very new to me and shows a different way of living in this world.

Comment by Rodney Guy Pharris on 6th mo. 3, 2010 at 5:37pm

I've been reading Spencer's "Holiness, The Heart of Quakerism", and it is affirming to read something that approaches a subject from similar angels and comes to similar conclusions. So far, very thorough.