Emanuel Garibay, The Oblation, oil on canvas, 30 3/4″ x 99 1/4″, 2008

This is the last piece in a series of posts on images of Christ and evangelical culture. If you are new to the series you may want to go back to The Introduction (Part 1) and catch up.

Emmanuel Garibay is different than the other artists in this series in several ways. First, he is a Filipino artist whose work engages the western tradition but to an extent functions from outside that tradition. This is most evident in the fact that this “Christ” is an Asian Christ. I first met Garibay when we both participated in the Nagel Institute for the Study of World Christianity‘s inaugural seminar which took art professors from North American institutions and connected us with Asian artists and theorists for a two week experience in Indonesia. There was a great deal of discussion during the seminar about how the images of Christ used in Asian churches were typically Western. The lack of an eastern Christian visual culture was troubling to some of our Asian counterparts.

However, this image is not merely a depiction of an Asian Christ. There is an ambiguity about the identity of of this powerful figure. Continue reading »

To fully understand the context of this series, you may want to read Part 1.

Thomas Kinkade, The Prince of Peace, released March 1999

Thomas Kinkade (1958-2012) is simultaneously the most praised and most castigated Christian artist of our time. During his life, he was, monetarily speaking, among the most successful living artists of all time. Kinkade claimed to be the most collected living artist. However, despite his wide spread popular success he was never fully accepted by the art world, neither secular nor religious.  His controversy only grew after his death when the demons of his personal life became public.

For many evangelicals, Kinkade’s work has a powerful resonance. Embedded deep in his work is a nostalgia similar to what was discussed with Warner Sallman’s Head of Christ. Kinkade is best known for his idealized cabins with a warm light radiating from within. But, he is also known for quaint Main Street scenes, serine light houses, and even street scenes from major cities painted in a way which evokes a bygone era. His most known religious works are churches. His churches are typically country churches which, like his cabins, are set in idealized bucolic scenery with warm light shining from within. Continue reading »

Edward Knippers, The Sacrifice, 1986, oil on panel, 16′ x 11′ irregular

If you are new to this series you may want to go back to Part 1 to better understand the project I am undertaking.

Edward Kinppers is the first contemporary artists I am looking at in this series. For several decades, Knippers has been among the most prominent evangelical artists in the United States. But, during his career he has also been a controversial figure. In 1983, Knippers began working exclusively with images of Biblical scenes. These scenes have been painted with all participating figures in the nude. The nudity in Knippers work has been cause for attacks against his work on several occasions. When Knippers exhibited his work at Huntington College the College administration in the face of protests reluctantly closed the exhibition. When his work was exhibited at Covenant College the it was actually slashed by a vandal who claimed that Knipper’s work “made the Old and New Testaments into a nudist colony.” Within the secular art world his work has also been castigated for being too Biblical.  Continue reading »

Peter Paul Rubens, Christ on the Cross, c. 1610, oil on panel, 45” x 30¾”, The Bob Jones University Museum and Gallery

You may want to first read earlier parts of this series on The Five Evangelical Christs: The Introduction (Part 1) & Warner Sallman (Part 2)

This installment is a bit different than all the others in that Peter Paul Rubens is not a modern or contemporary artist. The question then becomes how does a four hundred year old painting by a Catholic artists fit into American evangelicalism?

The answer is actually found in the collection in which the painting currently resides. In the middle part of the 20th century, Bob Jones University, at the impetus of its President Bob Jones Jr., was one of the worlds greatest collectors of religious art. The bulk of the Bob Jones University Collection came from its inception in 1951 through 1968. In 1960, right in the middle of this growth period, Bob Jones Jr. acquired Peter Paul Ruben’s Christ on the Cross which is believed to be the modello that Rubens kept in his studio from which apprentices would work.

In Rubens’ painting, Christ is powerfully muscular and despite the blood spilling from his woulds and the tortuous piercing of the nails Christ remains in control. Consistent with Catholic pictorial tradition Christ is not overwhelmed by his pain and demonstrates a dignity transcendent of his agony.

For 53 years, this image has been on display on the Bob Jones University Campus. To the delight of some and consternation of others, BJU has been one of the most influential Christian Universities over the last 80 years and images like this do help develop a cultural ethos. Continue reading »