Face to Face

Three spiritual issues are converging in the emerging pagan world. First, there is the essential mystery surrounding Jesus the Christ. Second, there is the emergence of image in art, cinema, media, and fashion as a primary educational methodology. Third, there is the deep desire to reach out and touch (or be touched by) the Holy. The controversies surrounding this convergence range for the Jesus Seminar, to worship design, to mobile personal spirituality, to the relative truthfulness of cinematic portrayals of the divine. Since the modern world is frequently just a higher tech rerun of ancient times, Robin Margaret Jensen’s book "Face to Face: Portraits of the Divine in Early Christianity" (Fortress Press, 2005) is worth a read by contemporary pastors.

One fascination of the book is Jensen’s ability to trace the portraiture of Jesus through the centuries. The earliest images focused on Jesus’ healing power and portrayed him as a beardless, brawny, beautiful young man reminiscent of Hercules and other mythical heroes. As Christianity spread to the upper classes, a second image emerged of Jesus as an older, bearded, ascetic looking philosopher reminiscent of Socrates. Once the doctrine of the Trinity had been resolved in the 4th century, Jesus began to be pictured as the cosmic Christ, co-eternal Ruler with the Father, in total control of history.

Another fascination of the book is that despite different perspectives on the image of Christ, rooted in different experiences of the power of Christ, his portraits have startling similarities. They all go back to ancient, miraculous images superimposed on cloth and untouched by human artistry. We all know of the Shroud of Turin. One was the “Mandylion”, an imprint made by Jesus himself wiping his faith with a towel, said to have powers of healing in Edessa, later to have rescued the city from invading Persians in the 6th century. Many copies were made, but the original was lost in the sack of Constantinople by Christian crusaders from the west in the 13th century. So how did Jesus look? All the ancient portraits, from various sources, show his eyes looking straight out, under well-defined brows and a high forehead, prematurely bald. He has a long, narrow nose; drooping mustache, and a beard that comes to two points. His hair is parted in the center and hangs to his shoulders.

So who cares? The next fascinating thing about the book is that it is very clear that a lot of people really do care, and have always cared, about the “touchability” of Jesus. Perhaps for sophisticated church people, theologians, Bible students, public school graduates, professionals, and non-profit CEO’s the abstraction, idealization, and obscurity of the “idea” of Jesus is sufficient. Common, ordinary folk are different. Like the woman on the road to Jerusalem, they have to touch him in order for him to be real. As the theological sophistication of the average church person declines, and the spiritual hunger of the pagan public increases, the image of Christ becomes more important.

Jensen’s book about the ancient controversies about image helps us understand contemporary controversies about Christ. Jesus is a “gut issue”. It’s not really a theological issue or an intellectual debate. It’s about the accessibility of God and the experience of the Holy. This is why mere preaching doesn’t work anymore … and mere “Bible Study” does not attract many people under 45. They don’t want a curriculum or even a message from beyond. They want to touch, see, and feel the breath of God. No wonder churches are adding images and projecting videos, and the fastest growing merchandise in Christian bookstores are not books. People want images, pictures, talismans, and anything that will help them have a gut experience of the Holy, at the moment of crisis, wherever they are, when they really need it, without having to read a book or consult a pastor.

So if you happen to be walking down the street and see someone with a drooping mustache and beard that comes to two points, with long hair parted in the middle, prematurely bald but looking remarkably healthy, staring straight out with unblinking, perceptive eyes, be sure to buy him coffee and start a conversation.

Tom Bandy

http://www.easumbandy.com

http://www.netresults.org