Literature & the Arts Truth in Stone and Marble The early church developed a visual language to express their faith in art. Jennifer Hevelone-Harper
Our college recently built a large chapel designed in the style of a traditional New England church, with a tall white steeple. Inside are simple pews, white walls, large clear windows with a few smaller bits of medieval stained glass in the front preserved from the earlier chapel on campus. It is a beautiful building and one quite comfortable for many American Christians. … More …
One of the best known early Christian symbols, because of its modern revival, is the fish. Some early Christians made the Greek word for fish, ichthus, into an acronym for "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior." (See "The Original Christian Bumper Sticker" by Collin Hansen.) Tertullian, a theologian writing at beginning of the third century, interpreted this practice as a symbol of baptism: "But we small fishes, named after our great ICHTHUS, Jesus Christ, are born in water and only by remaining in water can we live." —Everett Ferguson
For the past two millennia, Christians have found creative and sometimes controversial ways of expressing their faith visually. Test your knowledge with this quiz, then check out the Literature & the Arts section of our archives. There are also art-related articles in Christian History Issue 49: Everyday Faith in the Middle Ages and Issue 54: Eastern Orthodoxy.
November 26, 1862: President Abraham Lincoln meets Harriet Beecher Stowe, the abolitionist author of Uncle Tom's Cabin and daughter of prominent minister Lyman Beecher. "So," Lincoln said upon meeting her, "you're the little woman that wrote the book that made this great war!" (see issue 33: Christianity and the Civil War).
November 26, 1883: Evangelist and abolitionist Sojourner Truth (whose real name was Isabella Van Wagener), dies in Battle Creek, Michigan. Born a slave, Truth experienced visions and voices, which she attributed to God, and was one of the most charismatic abolitionists and suffragists of her day (see issue 62: Bound for Canaan).
