Diocese of Chelmsford Weekly Sermon: The Trinitarian Grace

 

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I have recorded this week's sermon, which is entitled 'The Trinitarian Grace':

“The grace of the lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.” It is common practise in church meetings for those present to close the meeting by saying the grace out loud, and to each other. (https://tauntonurc.org.uk/grace-for-trinity/) John Wesley wrote of this prayer, “Let us study it more and more, that we may value it proportionably; that we may either deliver or receive it with a becoming reverence, with eyes and hearts lifted up to God.” (https://www.lords-prayer-words.com/famous_prayers/may_the_grace.html)  

I would like us to do what John Wesley commends and study the Grace more and more today by reflecting together on the amazing grace of Jesus, the extravagant love of God, and the intimate communion of the Holy Spirit.

Let’s begin by thinking about where this prayer comes from. “It comes right at the end of a letter, or letters probably, that Paul wrote to a church he founded, but a church that had turned on him.” “It’s clear when you read between the lines that Paul had been getting the first century equivalent of on-line abuse, that this church that he had set up had been getting at him for being too poor, too scruffy, for working with his hands, for not having the right qualifications.” He’s under attack and has to defend himself but, “at the end of this long, passionate, sometimes weary and difficult correspondence”, he “writes these simple and ageless words, ‘The grace of the lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.’”

So, “These are not just pious, empty, words. He is saying them to people who have criticised him, hated him, attacked him, and abused him. He is wishing the grace of Jesus, the love of God, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, upon those who cast him as an enemy. He says, in a way, it doesn’t matter what you say about me or what you think of me. Your abuse and attack isn’t going to make me anything different from the person I am determined to be; a person shaped by God’s grace, living God’s love, seeking fellowship, friendship, community with anyone.”

The effect of the Grace here is “to offer us the full resources of the faith”: “When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he and they were both aware that they were doing and enduring some pretty terrible things. But Paul told them that God wanted to give them the grace of Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. That is what God wants to do with all of us – to bless us with the gifts of the beautiful Trinity and to show us what human life – touched by such blessing – could really be like.” (https://tauntonurc.org.uk/grace-for-trinity/)  

Let’s now look briefly at the individual parts of this prayer, beginning with amazing grace. U2’s song called ‘Grace’ defines the amazing grace of Jesus as follows: Grace “takes the blame”, “covers the shame” and “removes the stain”. “What once was hurt / What once was friction / What left a mark / No longer stings / Because Grace makes beauty / Out of ugly things / Grace finds beauty / In everything / Grace finds goodness in everything.” (https://www.u2.com/lyrics/53)  

Jesus told a story about a son who squandered his father's inheritance (the parable of the prodigal son). When the son returns, rather than rejecting or disciplining him, the father runs to greet him and celebrates his return. That story gives us an insight into the kind of love that God gives. Grace is the unmerited favour of God which finds goodness in everything. We do not deserve the love and goodness that is freely and unconditionally given from heaven and all we can or need do is receive it. That is truly amazing grace.

When we understand grace in this way, we can see why God’s love is described as extravagant. There is no holding back in the economy of God’s love, the currency of the kingdom of God is of abundant generosity of things that never run out. Sam Wells suggests that:

“The secret of happiness is learning to love the things God gives us in plenty. There’s no global shortage of friendship, kindness, generosity, sympathy, creativity, faithfulness, laughter, love. These are the currency of abundance.

The Church of today needs to rediscover this teaching because God gives us the abundance of the kingdom to renew the poverty of the church. In our generation God has given his Church a financial crisis, and this can only be for one reason: to teach us that abundance does not lie in financial security, and to show us that only in relationships of mutual interdependence, relationships that money obscures as often as it enables, does abundant life lie.”

As John McKnight and Peter Block have noted in their book ‘The Abundant Community’, we live in a consumer society which is an economy of scarcity because it “constantly tells us that we are insufficient and that we must purchase what we need from specialists and systems outside of our immediate community.” Instead, they argue that “we can do unbelievable things by starting with our assets, not our deficits. We all have gifts to offer, even the most seemingly marginal among us. Using our particular assets (our skills, experience, insights and ideas) we have the God-given power to create a hope-filled life and can be the architects of the future where we want to live.” Finding ways to thrive in our churches and communities by releasing the gifts of all and building on one another’s assets is a sign of the extravagant love of God.

Finally, we come to the intimate communion of the Holy Spirit. Sam Wells and Abigail Kocher have noted “the subtlety of the word ‘communion’: com means with and union means in – we are at the same time with God and in God, which combines our two heavenly aspirations.” (https://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/keeping-the-feast/)

In communion God takes our lives into the Godhead, the Trinity, and blesses us. In a Communion Service that happens particularly when the bread and wine and money and prayers are brought to the altar: “In that moment we each bring our different qualities, resources, hopes and dreams to God. And then the pastor recalls the sacred story of how God took what we are and made it what he is. And in that transformation we each receive back the same. What this is depicting is a new society in which we each bring our differentness to God but we each receive back from God the same bread of life. We each have different hungers, but God satisfies them all.

And in this dynamic of transformation we see how salvation works. God takes a simple people and their simple offerings and gives them a sacred story and sacred actions and in the regular telling of that story and performance of those actions they are transformed into God’s holy people. And that’s exactly what the regular celebration of the Eucharist is about: God taking an ordinary people and through this story and these actions turning them into the body of Christ, God’s companions forever.” (https://chapel-archives.oit.duke.edu/documents/sermons/Sept20TeachingEucharist-1.pdf)

As we have been exploring grace, love and communion, notice that the Son, the Father and Holy Spirit are all involved all the time. It’s not that Jesus is the only expression of grace or the Father, the only expression of love. All three are one, so they are all involved in showing and sharing grace, love and communion. We are drawn in to the relationship of love at the heart of the Godhead where grace, love and communion are constantly being shared and exchanged between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is out of this relationship of love that Jesus comes into our world to be with us and thereby open up a way for us to participate in the relationship of love that is constantly being shared between Father, Son and Spirit.

So, this wonderful prayer - “The grace of the lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you” – is not simply for the ending of meetings but for the whole of life and the whole of eternity. It is what Christianity is all about. It is a description of the Trinity and the love that exists at the heart of all things because it exists at the heart of God. And it is an invitation for us to become part of that love and participate in it. So, let us, as John Wesley commends, “receive it with a becoming reverence, with eyes and hearts lifted up to God.” Amen.

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Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty.

Amazing grace, extravagent love and intimate communion

Here's the sermon that I shared this morning for Trinity Sunday at St Catherine's Wickford:

“The grace of the lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.” It is common practise in church meetings for those present to close the meeting by saying the grace out loud, and to each other. “We say those words so often, at the end of meetings – sometimes with head bowed low and sometimes looking round at each other so we can speak them directly to each other. They are so familiar to us that we could easily forget they come from the Bible.” (https://tauntonurc.org.uk/grace-for-trinity/)

John Wesley wrote of this prayer, “Let us study it more and more, that we may value it proportionably; that we may either deliver or receive it with a becoming reverence, with eyes and hearts lifted up to God.” (https://www.lords-prayer-words.com/famous_prayers/may_the_grace.html) I would like us to do what John Wesley commends and study the Grace more and more this morning, doing so on the basis of a combination of some translations of the passage. So, I’d like us to reflect together on the amazing grace of Jesus, the extravagant love of God, and the intimate communion of the Holy Spirit.

Let’s begin by thinking about where this prayer comes from. “It comes right at the end of a letter, or letters probably, that Paul wrote to a church he founded, but a church that had turned on him.” “It’s great that we have Paul’s collection of letters to the church at Corinth in the Bible if only because it reminds us that there never was a golden age when it was easy to be part of the church. This church argued, split, coped with scandal, economic division, with the charismatics versus the conservatives – all of which shows that there’s nothing much new under the sun. It’s clear when you read between the lines that Paul had been getting the first century equivalent of on-line abuse, that this church that he had set up had been getting at him for being too poor, too scruffy, for working with his hands, for not having the right qualifications.” He’s under attack and has to defend himself but, “at the end of this long, passionate, sometimes weary and difficult correspondence”, he “writes these simple and ageless words, ‘The grace of the lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.’”

“Maybe Paul composed [this prayer] and maybe he didn’t – maybe his churches used this blessing already and it was a phrase already known to them – but it’s an astonishing thought – that Christians through centuries and in many places have blessed each other with these same words. Reading them at the end of Paul’s letters gives them an added edge. These are not just pious, empty, words. He is saying them to people who have criticised him, hated him, attacked him, and abused him. He is wishing the grace of Jesus, the love of God, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, upon those who cast him as an enemy. He says, in a way, it doesn’t matter what you say about me or what you think of me. Your abuse and attack isn’t going to make me anything different from the person I am determined to be; a person shaped by God’s grace, living God’s love, seeking fellowship, friendship, community with anyone.”

The effect of the Grace here is “to offer us the full resources of the faith”: “When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he and they were both aware that they were doing and enduring some pretty terrible things. But Paul told them that God wanted to give them the grace of Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. That is what God wants to do with all of us – to bless us with the gifts of the beautiful Trinity and to show us what human life – touched by such blessing – could really be like.” (https://tauntonurc.org.uk/grace-for-trinity/)

So, let’s look briefly at the individual parts of this prayer, beginning with amazing grace. U2’s song called ‘Grace’ defines the amazing grace of Jesus as follows: Grace “takes the blame”, “covers the shame” and “removes the stain”. “What once was hurt / What once was friction / What left a mark / No longer stings / Because Grace makes beauty / Out of ugly things / Grace finds beauty / In everything / Grace finds goodness in everything.” (https://www.u2.com/lyrics/53)

Jesus himself told a story about a son who squandered his father's inheritance (the parable of the prodigal son). When the son returns, rather than rejecting or disciplining him, the father runs to greet him and celebrates his return. That story gives us an insight into the kind of love that God gives. Grace is the unmerited favour of God which finds goodness in everything. We do not deserve the love and goodness that is freely and unconditionally given from heaven and all we can or need do is receive it. That is truly amazing grace.

When we understand grace in this way, we can see why God’s love is described as extravagant. There is no holding back in the economy of God’s love, instead there is an overwhelming generosity which involves self-emptying. St Paul writes in the letter to the Philippians that Jesus “who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.” There was no holding back when it came to Jesus sharing God’s love with us, not even the withholding of his own life.

The currency of the kingdom of God is of abundant generosity of things that never run out. “The secret of happiness is learning to love the things God gives us in plenty. There’s no global shortage of friendship, kindness, generosity, sympathy, creativity, faithfulness, laughter, love. These are the currency of abundance.

The Church of today needs to rediscover this teaching because God gives us the abundance of the kingdom to renew the poverty of the church. In our generation God has given his Church a financial crisis, and this can only be for one reason: to teach us that abundance does not lie in financial security, and to show us that only in relationships of mutual interdependence, relationships that money obscures as often as it enables, does abundant life lie.”

As John McKnight and Peter Block have noted in their book ‘The Abundant Community’, that we live in a consumer society which is an economy of scarcity because it “constantly tells us that we are insufficient and that we must purchase what we need from specialists and systems outside of our immediate community.” Instead, they argue that “we can do unbelievable things by starting with our assets, not our deficits. We all have gifts to offer, even the most seemingly marginal among us. Using our particular assets (our skills, experience, insights and ideas) we have the God-given power to create a hope-filled life and can be the architects of the future where we want to live.” Finding ways to thrive in our churches and communities by releasing the gifts of all and building on one another’s assets is a sign of the extravagant love of God.

Finally, we come to the intimate communion of the Holy Spirit. Sam Wells and Abigail Kocher have noted “the subtlety of the word ‘communion’: com means with and union means in – we are at the same time with God and in God, which combines our two heavenly aspirations.” (https://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/keeping-the-feast/)

In communion God takes our lives into the Godhead, the Trinity, and blesses us. In a Communion Service that happens particularly when the bread and wine and money and prayers are brought to the altar: “In that moment we each bring our different qualities, resources, hopes and dreams to God. And then the pastor recalls the sacred story of how God took what we are and made it what he is. And in that transformation we each receive back the same. What this is depicting is a new society in which we each bring our differentness to God but we each receive back from God the same bread of life. We each have different hungers, but God satisfies them all.

And in this dynamic of transformation we see how salvation works. God takes a simple people and their simple offerings and gives them a sacred story and sacred actions and in the regular telling of that story and performance of those actions they are transformed into God’s holy people. And that’s exactly what the regular celebration of the Eucharist is about: God taking an ordinary people and through this story and these actions turning them into the body of Christ, God’s companions forever.” (https://chapel-archives.oit.duke.edu/documents/sermons/Sept20TeachingEucharist-1.pdf)

As we have been exploring grace, love and communion, notice that the Son, the Father and Holy Spirit are all involved all the time. It’s not that Jesus is the only expression of grace or the Father, the only expression off love. All three are one, so they are all involved in showing and sharing grace, love and communion. We are drawn in to the relationship of love at the heart of the Godhead where grace, love and communion are constantly being shared and exchanged between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is out of this relationship of love that Jesus comes into our world to be with us and thereby open up a way for us to participate in the relationship of love that is constantly being shared between Father, Son and Spirit.

So, this wonderful prayer - “The grace of the lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you” – is not simply for the ending of meetings but for the whole of life and the whole of eternity. It is what Christianity is all about. It is a description of the Trinity and the love that exists at the heart of all things because it exists at the heart of God. And it is an invitation for us to become part of that love and participate in it. So, let us, as John Wesley commends, “receive it with a becoming reverence, with eyes and hearts lifted up to God.”

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Michael Kiwanuka - I'm Getting Ready.

Sparking off new developments

In a recent interview Peter Heslam has discussed his Cambridge multidisciplinary project, “Transforming Business," the value of entrepreneurship, thinking about enterprise solutions to poverty, and the wisdom of Abraham Kuyper and John Wesley when helping us think about the current economic crisis and recovery in light of the value of thrift, magnanimity and magnificence. The interview can be read at http://www.epsociety.org/userfiles/Interview%20with%20Peter%20Heslam%204.pdf.

In it he gives an interesting summary of the significance of Abraham Kuyper:

"Kuyper dominated the religious and political life of the Netherlands for nearly half a century, and during his career he achieved positions of eminence in a number of different fields. As a scholar he established himself early in his career as an academic theologian and provided the chief impetus towards the founding of the Free University, a university in Amsterdam with a Christian constitution. As a journalist he founded a daily newspaper, and remained its chief editor for almost fifty years. As a politician he organized the Anti-Revolutionary Party, a Christian-based popular people‟s party, and remained its leader for some forty years, during which time he served a four-year term as Prime Minister. As a writer of devotional and religious literature he launched a weekly religious journal, and published scores of meditations and works of applied and pastoral theology. As a church reformer he led a revival of orthodox faith within the national church and later established a new confederation of Reformed Churches, which has vast numbers of sister churches all over the world.

Taken together, his achievements indicate that he enjoyed a distinguished and multi-faceted career. But what is most striking about his career is that in virtually every area of his activity he sparked off new developments. His establishment, for instance, of the Anti-Revolutionary Party in 1879 along modern, democratic lines, signalled the end of liberal domination in Dutch politics and helped to make way for the rise of a more democratic and representative form of government based on modern party organization. Likewise, his founding of the Free University the following year, stimulated the proliferation of a great number of social and educational institutions founded on Christian principles."

For more on Kuyper, read Heslam's book Creating a Christian Worldview:Abraham Kuyper’s Lectures on Calvinism, published by Eerdmans.

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Paul Weller - Man Of Great Promise.

Beyond 'Airbrushed from Art History' (10)

Fr. Roy Mathew Thottam, a Jesuit artist-priest in Kerala, suggests that the role of Christian artists in India has changed :

"There was a time in the Church when the written Bible was not available to the people. The themes were depicted through paintings, so that common people could understand the Bible and Church teachings.

In modern times, artists deal not so much with the description of the Bible but are more concerned with the interpretation of the Word. They take the ‘word’, reflect and meditate on it, and explain or interpret according to the socio-cultural reality they live in, according to each one’s experience of God."

He calls his own artistic search a "pilgrimage, journeying through the interior world, lives of the people, and the reality I live in. It is to do with a spiritual quest. In fact, every art is spiritual; it is something like meditation."

Angelo da Fonseca and Alfred D. Thomas made serious efforts during the 1930's to find Indian roots for Christian painting in India. They sought to create authentic Indian images of Christ retaining the universalities of Christ. Christ was often portrayed in Indian clothes, as talking to typical Indian villagers and set in typical Indian landscape.

Several outstanding modern Indian painters, such as Jamini Roy, Ravi Varma, Nandalal Bose and M. Reddeppa Naidu, while not Christians, nevertheless painted pictures of Jesus or chose Christian themes in order to portray the nature and predicament of humanity in society. As a former student of the Madras Christian College, K. C. S. Paniker was familiar with the Bible and when he wanted to depict suffering and pain he chose to paint Christ.

Alphonso Doss writes in his article ‘The Image of Christ in Indian Art’:

"Mr. S. Dhanapal and Mr. P.V. Janakiram made bronze and metal sculptures depicting the image of Jesus in 1962 - 65. "Christ carrying the cross" was a popular composition done by S. Dhanapal in bronze which was selected for a National Academy award in 1962. The other sculpture named "Christ carrying the cross" is a group sculpture, in which Christ carrying the cross with his followers depict and express grief and sorrow. In both these sculptures one can see the face and the figuration following Indian contemporary style of expression. The eyes and elongated face of Christ convey a deep sense pf compassion and tolerance which are the characteristic portrayal of Christ ...

Internationally reputed sculptor P.V. Janakiram, aged 72, disciple of K.C.S. Panicker and S. Dhanapal has also been influenced by the suffering of Jesus Christ. He made several figures of Christ, Madonna, Crucifixion conveying the Christian spirit in his work. The most striking one is the sculpture showing Christ stretching his hands expressing love, unity done in copper sheet metal. Welding is employed to fix the copper rod to suggest hair and beard. The whole sculpture is oxidized except the centre area where the brass sheet is welded in the front portion on which decorative elements are found with geometric pattern to beautify the sculpture."

Francis Newton Souza, born in the Portuguese colony of Goa to Indian parents, was brought up as a strict Catholic. In 1949, having become a well-established artist in India, he moved to Britain. After six difficult years living in London, he began to build a considerable reputation as a writer and painter. Souza was the first of India's modern painters to achieve high recognition in the West. His work is in major museum collections around the world including the Tate. As with those mentioned above images of Christ form an important strand within his work.

Among modern and contemporary Indian painters who are Christians are the following, whose work commonly addresses experiences of mixed religious backgrounds and has more recently led to the Indian Christian Art Association and Indian Christian Artists Forum:

Dr. Jyoti Sahi studied art at the Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts and gained a Doctorate in Divinity from Serampore College. Over the years he has taught art at various institutions and centres in India and worked free lance, at the Kurisumala Ashram with Dom Bede Griffiths and Laurie Baker, designing works for Indian Churches. Coming from a mixed religious background having Hindu and Christian roots, Jyoti has spent the last forty years trying to see how it is possible to bridge/integrate these religious and cultural divides through art. He is particularly interested in the relation of Christian symbols and stories to the sacred images that are found in other faith traditions, particularly in the Indian tradition. As an artist, he has been actively involved with various non governmental groups in India concerned with social change.

Frank Wesley was born in Azamgarh, U.P., India in December 1923 into a fifth generation Christian family. His first art exhibition was in 1935. He studied at the government school of Arts and Crafts in Lucknow from 1943 to 1948 . Further studies included four years at the Kyoto Art University in Japan (1954-58) and two years at the Art Institute of Chicago (1958-60). His work has been internationally recognised. He designed the urn for Mahatma Ghandhi's ashes. Five of his paintings were included in the 1950 Holy Year Exhibition at the Vatican. "The Blue Madonna" was used as the first UNICEF Christmas card. In 1973, he emigrated to Australia with his family. He continued to paint prolifically until his death in 2002. In 1993 Naomi Wray published "Frank Wesley: Exploring faith with a brush", (Auckland, Pace publishing), a book that explores Frank's Christian painting.

Ashrafi S. Bhagat writes in ‘Of light, signs and symbols’ that:

"Within the terrain of the Madras Movement internationally acclaimed Alphonso [Doss] is a familiar name. An alumnus of the Government College of Arts and Crafts, he taught painting there and retired as a principal in 1997 ... His depth of knowledge of Christianity in tandem with the philosophy of Hinduism and Buddhism posits him as an artist who can traverse freely across both spheres with these symbols to contextualise his works within a cultural milieu marking it as individual and universal as well. Though his concepts and ideologies transcend the national boundaries to be almost global, there is in Alphonso's works a strong hint of the nativist agenda that was engined by K.C.S. Paniker in the early 60s to establish the face of the Madras Movement within the larger framework of the national milieu."

Joy Elamkunnapuzha drew an original design for Christ the Guru in 1977 and V. Balan executed it in mosaic style on the facade of the Chapel at Dharmaram College in Bangalore, India: "Christ is presented as a yogi in meditation under the sacred peepal tree. He is seated in padmaasanam, the lotus posture. The calm and compassionate look on the face depicts the image of the ideal guru , spiritual teacher, in the Indian scriptures. The hand gestures show jnaanamudra, the sign of imparting knowledge and wisdom that dispel darkness (the Sanskrit term guru is a combination of gu, "darkness," and ru, "that which dispels"). The red color on the hands and feet shows the nail marks from crucifixion. They are the signs that St. Thomas, the Apostle of India insisted on as proof of Jesus's resurrection (Jn 20: 24-29). The equal-armed cross is presented in the form of a flower. The flame represents both Christ and the devotee alike; it is a reminder of two complementary sayings of Jesus: "I am the light of the world" (Jn 8:12) and "You are the light of the world" (Mt 5: 14). The two halves of a coconut, often placed at the forefront during religious rituals in India, is a symbol of self-sacrifice. The chalice with bread and grapes represents the sacrificial gift of Jesus in the holy Eucharist."

Alle G. Hoekema writes, in a review of The Poor Man’s Bible, that:

"Dr. P. Solomon Raj, a Lutheran theologian and creative artist from India … became a school teacher, then studied theology at Gurukul, Madras, served as a minister and as a student chaplain and after that fulfilled a wide range of positions in India, at Selly Oak, Birmingham UK and other countries before settling down again in his own country. In the meantime he published his PhD dissertation in Birmingham and was active in the Asian Christian Arts Association. Since a number of years he is the spiritual father of the St. Luke’s Lalitkala Ashram in Vijayawada, Andra Pradesh.

In the 1950s he discovered his gift as an artist, first specializing in linocuts and wood block printing (black and white, later coloured ones as well) and then also in designing batiks, and — though to a lesser extent — acryl paintings. Serving in the field of modern mass communication as a means of propagating the Gospel, he discovered the possibilities of using visual art in explaining the biblical narratives. Most of the art works which he published in separate booklets and books are accompanied by brief, often surprising, poetical meditations which remind one of the work of Rabindranath Tagore and others.

In an unpublished paper Solomon Raj himself speaks about the prophetic role of the Christian artist. Like prophets, the artist is an instrument of inspiration, a visionary and fore-teller who uses symbolic language. And, ‘he is aware of the problems in the society in which he lives, he speaks the vocabulary and the idiom of his time and he wakes up people of his day to some of the things that agitate his mind.’"

US-based Goan painter-scholar Jose Pereira has said that he sees himself "as a product of two traditions: one is the Latin-Christian tradition and the other is the Indian Hindu tradition." In order to bring to expression these traditions, he says he has had to do extensive research. In 2010 paintings by Pereira depicting Hindu Lord Shiva dancing with six naked maidens and Krishna in sexual ecstasy in the midst of several women were withdrawn from an exhibition of Pereira’s paintings at The Xavier Centre of Historical Research in Goa following threats by Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (Hindu Awareness Forum) to decapitate the 89-year-old painter.

In 2006 Edwin Parmar turned a huge canvas into a monumental work of art in which Christ, Hindu gods and Indian traditions blend. He got the idea for this larger-than-life painting from a question: "What would be Christ's life if he had been born in an Indian village?" Parmar found his answer in a synthesis of Indian and western cultures. Thus, in his painting Mary wears a sari and Hindu God Rama interacts with Christ.

Susheila Williams "is the president of the Indian Christian art association. She is also the founder secretary of the Chitrakala academy in Coimbatore. The Indian Christian art association is an association of Christian artists in India. This association conducts workshops and organizes exhibitions of paintings. It also brings out a quarterly news letter called ‘Pratima’. Mrs. Williams founded the Chitrakala academy, in coimbatore in the year 1978 and from its inception this artists association has been functioning well. She underwent her training in New Delhi under Mr. Anand Micheal from the Michigan University. She travels extensively and participates in art exhibitions at the national and international level."

She "specializes in oil painting and terracotta sculptures. Her oil painting titled ‘THE SAMARITAN WOMEN’ adorns the pope’s official residence at Vatican. Some of her theme paintings on UNITY IN DIVERSITY have found its way into posters thus ensuring that the message has effectively reached the society. Her speciality is in using Christian themes in the Indian context so that the message of the scriptures is understandable and acceptable by the community."

The Catholic Bishop’s Conference of India reported in 2010 that:

"A group of leading Christian artists in India under the initiative of the CBCI Commission for Social Communications has established a national network called the Indian Christian Artists Forum. Artist priest Dr. Paul Kattukaran of Trichur Archdiocese, has been appointed as the national coordinator for the Forum. Fifteen renowned artists from various parts of the country attended the first meeting of the Christian artists in India convened by the CBCI Commission at the CPCI Centre, Bangalore, August 4.

Those who attended the meeting included renowned artists and theologian Jyoti Sahi, Chennai based artist and former principal of Madras College of Fine Arts Mr. Alphonso Doss, former director of Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal, and well known sculptor Robin David, Bangalore-based artist C.F. John, artist Edwin Parmar, Ahmedabad, Sr.Vincy, Bongaigaon, Assam, Fr. Roy M. Thottam SJ, Kochi and others.

The Forum is intended to bring together Christian artists from different parts of the country to foster greater collaboration and professional support and exchange. It intends to promote study and appreciation of Christian art among various sections of the people- clergy, religious and laity in the church, and the wider society in India, and to encourage a deeper understanding, appreciation and application of Indian Christian art in theology, liturgy and architecture in the Church in India."
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George Harrison - My Sweet Lord.

Biblical Art: An International A-Z - Part 2

Art histories rarely focus on modern sacred or religious art, giving the impression that the visual arts in the twentieth century were predominantly secular. This represents a Western view of art history which can itself be challenged and which completely overlooks the significant development of Biblical Art in Asia and Africa throughout this period and on into the contemporary scene. The following A-Z attempts to provide a brief sample of some of the artists and organisations that create and support Biblical Art in Asia and Africa:

Indian Christian Art: Angelo da Fonseca (1902 - 1967) was a Goan artist who pioneered painting Christian themes in Indian styles. Da Fonseca was decorated by Pope Pius XII with the gold medal "Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice". Other significant Indian artists using Christian themes include Jamini Roy, Jyoti Sahi, Alfred D. Thomas and Frank Wesley.

Qangeta Jembere Hailu (b. 1918): is part of a tradition of sacred art that may be traced back to the introduction of Christianity in Ethiopia during the fourth century. Jembere received a traditional church education that included training as a painter and has since produced paintings for churches in Begemder, Wello, and Addis Ababa.

Kutjungka Catholic Church: The Balgo School of Western Desert Art developed from the work of Jesuit missionaries among the Aborigines of the Balgo Hills in Western Australia. Suzie Bootja Bootja, Matthew Gill, Gracie Mosquito and Linda Syddick are among the Aboriginal Artists from this School to have fused their traditional styles with Christian symbolism.

Ketut Lasia (b. 1945): paints in the traditional Balinese style drawing on canvas with a fine pen before adding acrylic polymer colour. As a child he often watched the painters in his village for hours and was amazed at the way they could take the images and pictures in their minds and turn them into paintings. Lasia has depicted the story of Christ in a sequence of 30 paintings undertaken at the central Balinese church in Denpasar.

Colin McCahon (1919 – 1987): New Zealand artist who populated his landscapes with figures and imagery from biblical narratives. McCahon also created series of ‘written paintings’ using words from the Gospels and prophets to explore issues of doubt and suffering. His religious works were often shocking – one critic described them as “graffiti on the walls of some celestial lavatory” - but many responded to the rawness of his imagery and themes.

Charles S. Ndege (b. 1966): one of the best-known religious painters in Tanzania. Originally from Northwest Tanzania, he studied art at the Sukuma Cultural Center near Mwanza and feels passionately that the Jesus of contemporary faith should be portrayed as an African. This is what he did in the Stations of the Cross he was commissioned to paint on the cement walls of Nyakato Church outside of Mwanza.

Oye Ekiti: In a town called Oye Ekiti in Western Nigeria, Father Kevin Carroll set up a workshop where young sculptors could train under master carvers. The carvers were not shown any European models and continued to work in the Yoruba style while beginning to represent Christian themes and stories. The well-known sculptor Bandele of Osi Ilorin was among the teachers and his apprentices included Lamidi Fakeye.

Molnár C. Pál (1894 - 1981): popular Hungarian painter drawn to both classical and surreal styles. Between the two World Wars he undertook many innovative ecclesiastical commissions. Dismissed by the post-war modernist art establishment Molnár responded by using own face as a model for his Suffering Jesus.

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Taizé - Alleluia.