Tuesday, October 07, 2014

Early image of Christ holding a book

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The BBC reports the find of a glass plate in Spain (here). It mentions a 4th century date for this artefact, which may be true or not. The reconstruction is interesting:



The central figure holding the cross is in all likelihood a depiction of Christ, while the two others I would take as the angels present at the resurrection, not unlike the Gospel of Peter. What is interesting though, is that Christ holds a small codex in his hand, while both companions each seem to hold a scroll.

2 comments

  1. Is it a codex book in Jesus' hands? It looks more like a wooden tablet. I'm not sure what all the dots on it signify.

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  2. I don't know how anyone can look at the situation of Middle Eastern Christians today and not ricochet between rage and despair--rage at the ignorance of their plight, not least on the part of their co-religionists in the West, and despair over the inability and unwillingness of anyone to do anything of substance to help them. I have been talking about Christian Books in Syria and Egypt in my classes these past two weeks, and it is difficult not to weep and rail about what they have been undergoing for centuries, but especially what they have suffered in the last three years in particular. thanks

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