New Bible marries art to Scripture

By Andrew Junker, The Catholic Sun
December 21, 2006

If what G.K. Chesterton said is true — that “tradition means giving a vote to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors” — and that it is the “democracy of the dead,” then the sound the monks of St. John’s Abbey in Minnesota are hearing is a resounding vote of confidence.

They have commissioned a hand-written illuminated Bible, the first of its kind since the advent of the printing press.

“We wanted to make something that could last 2,000 years,” said Benedictine Father Eric Hollas.

The Bible, created by Donald Jackson, scribe to the Queen of England, is being produced in the traditional way.

Jackson is writing and artistically embellishing the Scriptures on vellum, or calfskin, the material used by medieval monks when they hand wrote Bibles. The method will preserve the Bible for centuries.

He makes all the ink himself. He places the gold leaf — which is real gold — on the manuscript with an adhesive that’s a recipe from the Middle Ages.

Though the process used is ancient, Fr. Hollas wanted the Bible to be more than a mere reproduction of previous art.

“It’s all the traditional materials,” he said, but “we did not want him to make a Romanesque or Gothic Bible, because those have been done. We wanted it to be a contemporary art form.”

This mixing of old and new is immediately evident in the illumination accompanying the first page of Matthew’s Gospel, Fr. Hollas said.

Jackson used a Jewish menorah to represent the family tree of Jesus. His ancestors’ names are written in English and Hebrew, with one name, Hagar, appearing in Arabic. She was the mother of Ishmael, whom Muslims view as a father of their faith.

In the center of the menorah is a circular image, which Fr. Hollas described as a mandala, a Buddhist representation of the universe.

“He’s like any good artist,” Fr. Hollas said of Jackson. “He steals from other traditions.”

The mixing and overlapping of different religions reveals a theme running throughout the manuscript. Fr. Hollas said that every hand-made Bible brings certain issues to the forefront through the illuminations accompanying the words.

In the Middle Ages, for instance, the monks might artistically embellish the books of the Old Testament focusing on kingship as a way to support the current regime.

These issues are not as important to modern readers of Scripture, said Fr. Hollas, but other issues are.

“We asked Jackson to spend some time on issues of hospitality, on the Jewish roots of Christianity, on stories of women in the Bible and on stories of the poor and the oppressed,” he said.

The result is a work of art that draws in people of all faiths to appreciate its beauty.

“This ecumenical theme is very important,” said Steve Nelson, a trustee of the Phoenix Art Museum, which will host the Bible starting December 2007. “From the museum’s perspective, we just hope to draw the broad community in.”

Much of the illuminated Bible is currently on display at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. Sharing the Bible with people from all walks of life was a goal of the project, said Fr. Hollas.

“We wanted to ignite the spiritual imagination of people,” he said, noting that nearly everybody who has seen the work of art — whether they describe themselves as religious or not — has come away from it moved and even misty-eyed.

“We feel that every generation of Christians has an obligation to portray the sacred in art. We wanted to do this as a statement of the importance of the Bible in the Catholic tradition,” he said.

“Too often, people think Catholics do not care about the Bible, when in fact it is at the core of our liturgy, at the core of our theology and at the core of the Liturgy of Hours that we pray every day,” he added.

Larry Fraher, a professor at the Kino Institute, said he hopes the Bible’s coming to Phoenix will renew an interest in Scripture throughout the Valley.

“It’s an evangelizing moment for the diocese,” he said.

To facilitate this evangelization, he and Nelson will travel to different parishes — and whatever group wants them — to give a multi-media presentation on The Saint John’s Bible and its theological significance.

By explaining the meaning behind commissioning such a work, they hope to prepare Phoenicians to truly appreciate the manuscript at the upcoming exhibit.

“Sometimes you can’t get people in church,” Fr. Hollas laughed, “so you bring the sacred objects to them.”

Andrew Junker is a staff writer for The Catholic Sun. Comments are welcomed. Send e-mail to letters@catholisun.org.