Show, then tell, your faith

Christian Century, Feb 22, 2003

SHOW, THEN TELL, YOUR FAITH: The typical k.)modern way to learn about another religion is to read and study its sacred texts. This is especially true for the so-called "people of the book" religions--Judaism, Christianity and Islam. But Brent Plate, who teaches religion and the visual arts at Texas Christian University, argues that religions, before they were committed to words, involved phenomena performed, seen, heard and experienced at an aesthetic level.

So rather than simply study the words of religions, we ought also to look at their visual images, their art. This should not be hard for Christians to comprehend, who they believe that the Word was not first of all written but embodied. Plate points out that the Book of Revelation begins with the "Seer" on the island of Patmos having had some visions, after which he hears a voice say to him, "Now, write what you have seen" (interview in the Door Magazine, January/February).