Category: Journal Issues

Using the second commandment as a starting point, Jenson examines the biblical context for images of God, noting that at times God assigned an image for himself, including humanity. Humans, though, have misappropriated worship to man-made idols, even perverting images given by God, such as the golden serpent. He then quotes John of Damascus and John Calvin to show varying views of image making in the Church. Placing the biblical and historical discussion on images into the context of the Jesus mural at Biola, Jenson discusses the inevitability of image making and how it influences our devotion and view of Jesus. He also notes the difference between how images are used in a church and university context. In the end he asks for an examination of the use and effect of the Jesus mural by the two things that gives us the clearest picture of Jesus—Scripture and the body of Christ.

Focusing on how Jesus is portrayed with European features, due to the artist’s subject for the mural being a Russian Jew, Christerson addresses the historical and psychological implications for having a white Jesus as a centerpoint to Biola’s campus and marketing campaigns. The perpetuation of a European Jesus links the Word mural and Biola to the history of oppression of Africans, Asians, and Native Americans by white Europeans and Americans, bringing the past to the present without room for reconciliation or change. Christerson also examines the psychological effect of having a European Jesus both for minorities and white Americans who view it, due to the association of whiteness with purity and good and blackness with evil and ugliness. In the end Christerson’s only solution is to not restore the mural.

Seeing either the restoration or the erasure of the Word mural as the only two viable options for the artwork, Anderson shows why the difficulties in the construction of the mural are not reasons for its destruction. Citing the difficulties with the work—ethnicity of the subject, the scale at which it was made, and the depiction of Jesus as disengaged—Anderson argues that erasure would do nothing to solve these problems. He instead argues that Biola must be a graceful community, recognizing the scale of the gift of the mural and the hard task of visual theology represented in the work. He also calls for the university to be an inclusive community, one that addresses the relational tensions brought out by the mural and provides other works of art to be in conversation with the Jesus mural.

Looking back over how his perception of the Jesus mural has changed from his first viewing, through a decision to restore it, and where he stands now, Corey offers his personal and professional struggle in working with the Biola community concerning the mural. He gives nine reasons for its restoration, noting the intent of the artist, the portrayal of Jesus throughout history, and an obligation to the greater Biola community and its understanding of the mural, among other reasons. He also shares how the decisions around the mural have shaped him and how he hopes the mural will continue to spur on conversation moving Biola forward in their diversity and honoring of all people.

Widow burning – or sati– is an ancient ritual practiced in India where a widow is burned on her husband’s funeral pyre. Practiced for thousands of years, this custom was banned by British colonial law in the nineteenth century. What stance – if any – should Christians take regarding this practice?  It is important to look at it from a human point of view – and not a religious one – as there are Hindus both for and against it, and both sides have evidence from ancient Hindu texts that substantiate their position. As Christians, we are called to love our neighbor as ourselves, so the act of someone being hurt should evoke a response to alleviate pain. We are also told not to judge. In order to get an educated, Christian perspective, Dr. Paul Louis Metzger interviews Dr. Mrinalini Sabastian and her husband Dr. J. Jayakiran Sebastian about this controversial subject.