{"id":6402,"date":"2015-11-06T10:09:25","date_gmt":"2015-11-06T18:09:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=6402"},"modified":"2015-11-06T10:09:25","modified_gmt":"2015-11-06T18:09:25","slug":"faith-in-pictures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/faith-in-pictures\/","title":{"rendered":"Faith in pictures…"},"content":{"rendered":"

David Morgan, author of The Sacred Gaze[1]<\/strong><\/a><\/em>, explores the religious perceptions of people and cultures though various art forms.\u00a0\u00a0 The title of Morgan\u2019s book captured my attention. Immediately, my thoughts went to a trip that I took a couple of years ago to Italy and the Vatican. Worship in the Italian culture is vastly different than what I experience here in the U.S. Clearly, images leave a lasting impression in our mind. My mind immediately goes back to the many beautiful basilicas and religious sites that I visited in Italy, and I think about\u00a0their reflection of the Christian experience across history. From the 10th<\/sup> through 12th<\/sup> centuries there were massive efforts, in the Christian community, to build beautiful structures and to commission elaborate works of art. Walking through the Vatican, I was surprised at my own emotional response to the stories that unfolded as I studied the paintings, portraits, tapestries, and murals. \u201cIn France alone, there were 80 cathedrals, 500 large churches, and 10,000 parish churches built between 1050 and 1350.\u201d[2]<\/a>\u00a0The architecture was dramatic and ornate, with bright stained glass windows. \u00a0Through history, much time, care and resources were intentionally put into the visual representation of Christianity. In Eastern tradition, icons continue to be an integral part of the worship experience. Art is embedded in church history, religious practice, and theological views. There is no dispute that art has influenced religious views, and that culture has influenced religious art. Interpretation and perception are at the heart of the visual culture. Morgan remind us that images should be a part of our scholarly observations in order to learn about people\u2019s religious perceptions.<\/p>\n

This year, I visited several temples and monasteries in Hong Kong. Alongside Buddhist pilgrims, I made the trek up the many steps to see the Big Buddha and toured Po Lin Monastery. Art and images are infused into the Buddhist religious experience, as well as in other religions. I learned much about the religion and cultural practice of Buddhism by observing the images, place, space, and worship of believers. This leads me to ponder why visual art isn\u2019t more central in our American worship experiences. Most American Christians don\u2019t think about how we came to practice religion, as we know it today. I wonder how art and faith have become so separated, when they were so integrated in history. Is it is a reflection of our separation between religious practices and the rest of \u2018life\u2019? Morgan reminds us of beliefs propagated by early church fathers. Calvin, for example, was vehemently opposed to the use of art and images, arguing that they become idols that detract our focus from God\u2019s Word.[3]<\/a> Puritan ideals of simplicity and depravity can be seen in cultural and religious practices since the founding of America.<\/p>\n

Americans Christians seem more accepting of the idea of going into nature to meditate and worship, or to spend time in prayer. But, the idea of art in worship often raises eyebrows. Morgan offers examples of patriotic images, and their political, legal, and economic implications. He reminds us that social issues and trends are often reflected in images. In contrast, our culture today doesn\u2019t heavily reflect our religious mindset through images. Maybe this is more telling than it would seem. Does this demonstrate that our culture places less importance on religious experience and spiritual practices?<\/p>\n

I am a visual person, and very much effected by the aesthetic nature of my surroundings. My productivity is greatly increased when I work in certain environments. History appeals to me, so I find a peace and can concentrate and reflect more easily when I read historic books or look at old paintings, etc.\u00a0\u00a0 I enjoy working in my living room over my office at work. In non-religious practices, the importance of art is being recognized. A recent article in the Washington Post claims, \u201ccreating art is another way to access a meditative state of mind and the profound healing it brings.\u201d[4]<\/a>\u00a0 Art therapy is a growing practice. This begs the question, has the American church failed to realize the importance of using the images and visual arts in the development of spiritual practices?<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> David Morgan, The Sacred Gaze: Religious Visual Culture in Theory and Practice<\/em> (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005).<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Lee Palmer Wandel. A Companion to the Eucharist in the Reformation [eBook]<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> David Morgan, The Sacred Gaze: Religious Visual Culture in Theory and Practice<\/em> (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005).
\n[4]<\/a> Maia Gambis, Why Making Art Is the New Meditation, The Washington Post<\/em>, August 25, 2015, accessed November 4, 2015, https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/inspired-life\/wp\/2015\/08\/25\/why-making-art-is-the-new-meditation\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

David Morgan, author of The Sacred Gaze[1], explores the religious perceptions of people and cultures though various art forms.\u00a0\u00a0 The title of Morgan\u2019s book captured my attention. Immediately, my thoughts went to a trip that I took a couple of years ago to Italy and the Vatican. Worship in the Italian culture is vastly different […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[500,484],"class_list":["post-6402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-davidmorgan","tag-dawnel-volzke","cohort-lgp5"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6402"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6403,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6402\/revisions\/6403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}