Skip to main content

Images of God (Artisan)



That image is similar to one found in Timothy Laniak's Finding the Lost Images of God, which I read last week alongside my ongoing reading of Fyodor Dostoevsky's Brothers Karamazov. Lost Images is part of a fascinating series I have begun reading called "Ancient Faith, Ancient Faith" put together by Gary Burge. So far it has six books in it, with Lost Images being the fifth book, but only my first! The series does not require you to read sequentially. 

The book explores how images are used in the Bible to describe God and his relationship with his chosen people. The image above is that of God as the Divine Artisan. A poor grasp of of these images makes it difficult for us to comprehend the profound biblical revelations they communicate. Key to this is understanding the "cultural vehicles" of communication and that requires learning the cultural background of those who created them. Timothy Laniak wonderfully uses his background as an expert in Near East studies to show us some of the big images of God used in scripture e.g. Warrior, Architect, King. The book is aimed at a much wider audience, hence it is fairly short (115 pages or so - with colour photographs, paintings, etc! Great on the Kindle iPad because you can expand them!). Some readers though will feel short changed, though all will undoubtedly profit! In some places it is quite light. There's also some important images left out e.g. Judge, Priests. Its not that he does not discuss these images, but you feel they require a separate showing! To his credit, he focuses on images least understood, so perhaps there's nothing to moan about! In any case the ones he does discuss he does a good job not only of connecting us back to the Old world, but also linking the Old world to the New world of Jesus and then to us. Its can't be perfect, and its worth a read!

Popular posts from this blog

I Am Mother

I think it is true to say that the Netflix film I Am Mother is one the most disturbing movies I have watched for a long time. The film is set in a near future. Human life has been wiped out. An artificial intelligence (AI) called Mother is living inside a bunker where thousands of embroyos are stored. It selects an embryo and initiates a program to grow a baby within 24 hours. The AI then goes on to raise the child as its mother over the next few years.  After 16 years, the girl, who now goes by the name of Daughter (Clara Rugaard) is a teenager. She has never been outside because Mother has told her that the air is toxic. Her time is spend being home schooled in science and ethics so that she can become a perfect human being. The bond between Daughter and Mother is unusually strong. To our surprise there does not appear to be any mental or pyschological trauma of having a machine as her mother.  The strength of the bond between man and machine is tested when a nameless Woma...

Pornography as Occultism

There is a kind of helplessness that a man engaged in pornography exhibits. He often speaks of it in terms of a “struggle” or an “addiction.” Now both of those terms are accurate, I believe, but they distance a person from his sin in a soul-decaying manner. Pornography is not just an addiction; it is occultism. The man who sits upstairs viewing pornography while his wife chauffeurs the kids to soccer practice is not some unusual “pervert”; he is (like his forefather Adam) seeking the mystery of the universe apart from Christ. That’s the reason the one picture, stored in his memory, of that naked woman will never be enough for him. He will never be able to be satisfied because he will never be able to get an image naked enough. I say pornography is occultism because I believe the draw toward it is more than biological (though that is strong). The satanic powers understand that “the sexually immoral person sins against his own body” (1 Cor. 6:18). They understand that the pornographic ...

I am what I am by Gloria Gaynor

Beverly Knight closed the opening ceremony of the Paralympics with what has been dubbed the signature tune of the Paralympics. I had no idea Ms Knight is still in the singing business. And clearly going by the raving reviews she will continue to be around. One media source says her performance was so electric that "there wasn’t a dry eye to be seen as she sang the lyrics to the song and people even watching at home felt the passion in her words" . The song was Gloria Gaynor's I am what I am . Clearly not written by Gloria Gaynor but certainly musically owned and popularized by her. It opens triumphantly: I am what I am / I am my own special creation / So come take a look / Give me the hook or the ovation / It's my world that I want to have a little pride in / My world and it's not a place I have to hide in / Life's not worth a damn till you can say I am what I am The words “I am what I am” echo over ten times in the song. A bold declaration that she ...