Picturing The Face Of Jesus

For many who identify themselves as Christians, Jesus has never become experientially personal or real. Countless others who have faithfully followed Christ confess to a spiritual dryness and lack of joy. These individuals are weary and unmoved by the plethora of information about Jesus. What they long for is an experience with Jesus. Picturing the Face of Jesus is an invitation to experience Christ more deeply. Through a rich palette of experiential media—art contemplation, gospel story-telling, and imaginative prayer—the reader is invited to picture the face of Jesus, his expressive, one-of-a-kind, human face. As a result, Jesus will become a real person with whom they candidly relate, instead of a hero they merely admire. Through this encounter, their own hearts will be transformed as they begin to reflect the face of Christ to others.

Jesus Christ is arguably the most famous man who ever lived. His image adorns countless churches, icons, and paintings. He is the subject of millions of statues, sculptures, devotional objects and works of art. Everyone can conjure an image of Jesus: usually as a handsome, white man with flowing locks and pristine linen robes. But what did Jesus really look like? Is our popular image of Jesus overly westernized and untrue to historical reality? This question continues to fascinate. Leading Christian Origins scholar Joan E. Taylor surveys the historical evidence, and the prevalent image of Jesus in art and culture, to suggest an entirely different vision of this most famous of men. He may even have had short hair.

The Image of Christ expresses the view that modern secular audiences can engage with the masterpieces of Christian art at an emotional as well as a purely aesthetic or historical level. This book aims to help the viewer understand these pictures by focusing attention on the purpose for which they were made, and explores what they might have meant to their original viewers. The authors trace how a recognizable image of Christ evolved, starting with the earliest symbols and metaphorical images such as the Sheperd, the Lamb and the Vine. They trace the emergence of a "true likeness," emphasizing the importance of the Veronica, the "miraculous portrait" said to have been imprinted on the cloth held out to Jesus on the way to Calvary. They describe how artists conveyed the paradox of Christ's dual nature—human and divine, weak and powerful, victim and victor—in portrayals of his infancy. They also show how images of Christ's suffering during the Passion were intended to convey a cosmic, not just a personal significance. Artists have attempted to put extremes of suffering and despair into an overal context of hope–a vein of hope that runs from the catacombs to Hiroshima and beyond. These are images that speak, even to those who do not hold Christian beliefs. Artists had to make it clear that in representing the life and death of Jesus they were offering a continuing truth; we the spectators have to become eyewitnesses to an event that matters to us now. As a result, the different moments and aspects of Christ's life become, in the hands of great artists, a reflection of all human experience. The Virgin nursing her son expresses the feelings of love every mother has for her child. Christ mocked in innocence beset by violence. Christ risen and appearing to Mary Magdalene is a universal reaffirmation that love cannot be destroyed by death. Beyond their obvious religious significance, these are paintings that have a universal meaning.

An epic tale of Christ and his world! Before there was Scripture,there were memories... 70 AD. After years of fierce struggle, the Roman army has recaptured the Holy Land from radical Judean insurgents. Only Jerusalem with its mighty temple is the last bastion of resistance against the Empire. The young priest Yosef has sided with Rome and is now desperately trying to negotiate an end to the bloodshed. But one night, a stranger appears: Shimon, an old man from Galilee. He claims to be a disciple of "Lord Yeshua"--the crucified magician whom some believe to be the Messiah.Yosef is captivated by what Shimon reveals. How, many years ago, he met the legendary preacher Yochanan the Baptist at the Jordan. How they stood up against prince Herod and the powerful temple elites. And how his life changed through that mysterious man from Nazareth, Yeshua... Does this story hold the key to saving the Jewish nation from doom? And will it save old Shimon from death on the cross? Friendship, zeal and sacrifice...This is how Christianity began Take a deep dive into history and rediscover the true spirit of the Gospel. From the war-torn streets of Jerusalem to the wilderness of the Jordan river... The Reign of God takes you to a dangerous ancient land where priests, prophets, and kings struggle for divine authority. A land soaked in revolution, poetry and people's hunger for justice. This stunning vision of the Bible comes to life with detailed ink drawings and their expressive shadow and light. Loaded with a dense atmosphere, passionate characters and careful historical research, this graphic novel digs into faith questions that other "Bible comics" won't touch today. Japanese-German artist Issey Fujishima delivers an emotional drama--not with superheroes, but with a broken boy's search for family and healing. Until the last page, The Reign of God will inspire and challenge believers and non-believers alike. - 190 pages (black and white) - 6 pages of notes and historical background about ancient Judaism and the early church - Recommended from age 14 - The first part of a new series based on the New Testament Find out more under: www.thereignofgod.com

Many amazing face-to-face visitations from Jesus Himself are intimately detailed by author David E. Taylor in this beautifully woven true-and continuing-love story about his conversion and life journey with Jesus.

Presents and explores the seven known oil sketches of Christ on oak panels by Rembrandt, along with over 60 paintings, drawings and prints by him and his pupils.

#1 New York Times bestseller with more than 11 million copies sold! When 4-year-old Colton Burpo emerges from life-saving surgery with remarkable stories of his visit to heaven, his family doesn’t know what to believe. Heaven is For Real details what Colton saw and his family’s journey towards accepting their young son had visited the afterlife. “Do you remember the hospital, Colton?” Sonja said. “Yes, mommy, I remember,” he said. “That’s where the angels sang to me.” Colton told his parents he left his body during an emergency surgery–and proved that claim by describing exactly what his parents were doing in another part of the hospital during his operation. He talked of visiting heaven and described events that happened before he was born and how he spoke with family members he’d never met. Colton also astonished his parents with descriptions and obscure details about heaven that matched the Bible exactly, even though he had not yet learned to read. With disarming innocence and the plainspoken boldness of a child, Colton recounts his visit to heaven, describing: Meeting long-departed family members Jesus, the angels, how “really, really big” God is, and how much God loves us How Jesus called Todd, Colton’s father, to be a pastor The Battle of Armageddon Retold by his father, but using Colton’s uniquely simple words, Heaven Is for Real offers a glimpse of the world that awaits us, where as Colton says, “Nobody is old and nobody wears glasses.” Heaven Is for Real will forever change the way you think of eternity, offering the chance to see, and believe, like a child. Praise for Heaven is for Real: “A beautifully written glimpse into heaven that will encourage those who doubt and thrill those who believe.” —Ron Hall, coauthor of Same Kind of Different as Me

In this text, Neil MacGregor engages with images of Christ wherever they may be found throughout the world. Through them he follows not only the life of Christ, but also the development of Christian culture since His birth.

While the public has easy access to religious literature on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, there is little opportunity for the general reader to assess the more skeptical works of biblical criticism. In Jesus Outside the Gospels, Professor Hoffmann argues that very little is known about Jesus apart from the Gospels. He contends that the Gospels were intended to establish not the history of Jesus, but his divinity. The four books, attributed to men called Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, were written some two generations after the events they intended to describe. Hoffmann analyzes and quotes extensively from non-biblical sources written 1,900 years ago, providing a picture of the man called Jesus that is quite different from the man portrayed in the Gospels. Sources analyzed at length are the Talmud, Josephus, and Tacitus, as well as Gnostic and Apocryphal Gospels. The author holds to a controversial view that the Gospels are in reality the missionary propaganda of a first-century messianic cult and are far from objective biographies or historical annals. Jesus Outside the Gospels is essential reading for anyone desiring a careful and critical study of the New Testament.