Category: Art
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Jesse Hamm, Cartoonist’s Cartoonist
Comics artist Jesse Hamm has died. Jesse worked in comic books at all levels: from the self-published days of photocopied zines, up through small presses and indie/alternative publishers, to Marvel & DC. Click through to the obituary at comics.com for a list of his most notable projects, and see what names you recognize (currently, for…
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Shraga Weil’s Ram in the Thicket
Shraga Weil (1918-2009) was an Israeli painter who also did a lot of printmaking throughout his artistic career. I know he made prints because late in 2020 I came across one of them in an antique store at a deep discount price, and my family got it for me as a Christmas gift. This blog…
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Lenten Reflections: The Temptation of Jesus
Day 24 – Friday, March 9 Scripture: Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry. And the devil said to…
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Achieving a Luminosity: Henry Ossawa Tanner’s Biblical Paintings
A few years ago I was looking for paintings to use as background images for a lecture. I wanted some biblical imagery that featured scenery over characters, added some beauty and atmosphere without taking over, and was all by one artist so that there weren’t jarring shifts of style. I figured I’d probably end up…
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Cross in Pompeii and Ancient Theology
In case you weren’t paying close attention, 2015 was a bad year for an old thesis. You may have heard or read the claim that Christians in the first three centuries of the church didn’t use the cross in their art or worship—that it was a brutal symbol of persecution, and that they focused instead…
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Adjusting the Soundtrack of the Atonement
When we think about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we often do so with an image or a set of biblical passages and categories in mind. Much like the score in a movie, those categories help us make sense of Jesus’ death. For that is what doctrine is about—helping us make sense of…
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Nate Butler: Lecture on the Biola Christian Comics Collection
The Biola University Library is the home of the largest and most comprehensive archive of Christian comic books gathered anywhere. It is a deep, diverse, and unusual collection, which was established in 2015 when two major caches passed from private collections into the safekeeping of this permanent archive at an academic research library. One was the…
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On Traveling
Traveling has not always been a big deal but for the past two centuries it has become fashionable to travel. In the early Middle Ages it was difficult to get a lot of places. The old Roman road system had collapsed under the weight of “barbarian” invasions and it was only in the High Middle…
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“Every Shepherd Soul” and the Invisible Mission of the Son
The Christmas carols have a peculiar way of talking about the birth of Jesus. A number of them –especially the Victorian ones, though earlier examples exist– talk about Bethlehem here and now, making room in the inn of your heart, hearing the angel’s message of peace and welcoming Jesus in. The most famous version of…
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Theodicy of Woodworking: Hope in Change
I recently wrote about the theology of woodworking, giving a theological case for the joy we have in craftsmanship. Recently, however, I realized a rather grave omission on my part, which I would now like to remedy. In general terms, my omission had to do with the nature of sin: any theology that leaves sin,…
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Olivuccio de Ceccarello’s Works of Mercy (Part 1)
Not much is known about the late fourteenth century painter named Olivuccio di Ceccarello. What is known is that he worked in Ancona, a seaside town on the central eastern coast of Italy, from at least 1388 and was probably born before 1366, dying ca. June 3, 1439. His paintings are characterized by sharp definition…
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A Theology of Woodworking: The Creative Joy of Oak
I would like to introduce you to the newest member of our furniture family: a mid-sized oak bookcase. And more importantly, of course, I would like to introduce you to the theology behind it. A Bit About the Case The bookcase is built from white oak, which I purchased from the man who milled it…