Under the Rule of Christ – Dimensions of Baptist Spirituality

 
I've changed the image on the side panel. Had enough of my own face for a while. Not that I've gone off it or anything – just think there are other interesting things in the world.

Amongst those other interesting things is the art work of He Qi. I've known of his work for a while, but recently I've been looking for and looking at images of Jesus that come from cultures other than my own Western, Northern, white, Eurocentric context.

The picture here of Christ calming the storm, Peace Be Still is a magnificent portrayal of power that is cross shaped, faithful mercy that is dove-shaped, recalling Noah and the rainbow – the colours of the disciples clothes are a fragmented rainbow. I'm on the hunt for a good quality print of this from heqigallery.com. Go look at the site and enjoy the vivid, colour intoxicating images of this remarkable artist. I find this picture as spiritually enriching and textually provocative as any amount of exegesis that lacks imagination. Exegesis that has imagination, will tend to look for and appreciate the ways the biblical text has been interpreted in media other than words, and in disciplines other than biblical criticism and exegesis. This image will feature along with many others from various traditions in the course I'm teaching enxt year on Jesus Through the Centuries and Cultures.

The book Under the Rule of Christ is due out this month from Smyth and Helwys. Edited by Paul Fiddes it contains seven essays written by Principals of the Baptist Colleges in Britain, exploring various dimensions of Baptist Spirituality. My own essay is on Baptists living under the rule of the Word – Christ and Scripture.