A few summers ago I was given an opportunity to spend a week at Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota, where I was introduced to an amazing work I had never heard of before: The Saint John’s Bible.
I’ve never seen anything like it! Back in the 1990’s, one of the world’s foremost calligraphers, Donald Jackson, who serves as the scribe and calligrapher to the Queen of England, shared a lifelong dream with one of the Benedict monks from the Saint John Abbey.
Jackson wanted to create a Bible that captured the beauty and tradition of centuries of liturgy and carry it into the future. After much discussion among the monks, they embarked on an unprecedented project bringing together a committee of theologians, biblical scholars, and art historians from around the world to carefully develop a handwritten, illustrated Bible.
The project entails more than just copying the scripture and adding some pictures.
The illuminated manuscript features text supplemented by decoration and illustrations that help bring the scriptures to life. Every page, every drop of ink, every quill is handmade. Attention is given to every last detail and the pages of this Bible are breathtaking.
I wanted to share the first image with you, because I think this illustrates the wonder and power and majesty of God we glimpsed during the first lesson and the story of creation.
The Saint John’s Bible is designed to let people respond to what they see.
In this illumination, you’ll notice seven panels which represent the seven days.
The panels differ in size and their edges are rough and ragged. In addition, the first panel features colorful fractals. Is it the ongoing nature of God’s handiwork? The complexity and beauty of creation? You decide. The Genesis text, in emphasizing the tension between order and disorder, may help in understanding the artwork.
But there’s something else I love, namely, that there’s something about the project embracing practices that are thousands of years old—like creating your own quills and ink and paper by hand.
There’s something artisan, something beautifully old school, that stands in stark contrast to the modern, technology filled world we live in today. Yet the invitation to pursue God is as real today as it was in the beginning of Genesis. [Tweet this]
This week we dove into Genesis 4-11.
FOR DISCUSSION: Answer the following questions as a comment to this blog post. Feel free to ask questions, reply to others’ comments, and post prayer requests.
- Enoch walks with God and doesn’t die in the same way the others do. Enoch gives us hope that if we walk with God, we too can get a reprieve from death. What does it look like to walk with God in your own life?
- What aspects of Noah’s character—obedience, hard work, faith, courage, hope, resilience, and patience—do you feel most in need of?
Link up your blog post on what God is revealing to you in His Word.
Join us on Monday as we begin Session 3: The Pursuit, the Promise, and the Provision (Genesis 12-23). Click here to subscribe to the RSS feed and receive each day’s post in your inbox each morning.
Don’t miss out on the Midday Connection Podcast interview as we chat through Session Two at 12PM Central today. Click here, to subscribe to their podcast each week.
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It’s not too late to join the online #SummerBibleStudy at MargaretFeinberg.com through Genesis. Click here to learn more.
