• God in the Gallery, by Daniel Siedell. Because Dan himself was coming to visit Dordt College, to speak to art students and anyone else apt to listen, I took the opportunity to read his book. Good thing I did! It has prompted a lot of thought on several levels, and I’m eager to explore some of these thoughts in writing. Look for that soon. Dan’s books also nicely intersected with another current preoccupation…
• Iconoclasm, a pretty epic theologically-relevant bit of medieval turmoil, which I’m currently investigating for a paper in my Medieval History class. The reason behind my choosing this particular historical moment to read and write about is an ongoing (and now growing) interest in the theology of icons. Probably a certain amount of posting will develop from this study as well.

In the meantime, on these general subjects, I highly recommend two other internet resources. First, a symposium recently conducted on the church and postmodern culture blog about God in the Gallery. I especially recommend parts 1, 2, 5, and 6. Second, a blog to which Dan pointed me that primarily discusses the theology of icons—fascinating reading—Glory to God for All Things. Also, for those interested to see what texts will inform my reading about icons, I’ve posted my prospective research bibliography over at Marginalia.

In other news, I just returned from Wheaton where I presented The Politics of Pilgrimage: A Study In the Political Meaning of the City in Bunyan’s Allegory. I’m very glad to be done with that project, illuminating as it was. It became something of an obsession, and I’m trying to make a clean break by focusing on a new project: a possible paper for the Calvinism and the 21st Century conference here at Dordt next semester. My thought is to explore both Calvin’s iconoclasm and his understanding of the revelation of the image (in addition to the Word) in Creation, to see whether they contradict one another or not, and from this study to suggest certain trajectories that 21st century Calvinists might follow to appropriate and develop Calvin’s insights in this regard into a robust contemplative practice.

At the same time, I continue my project of reading through the Bible in light of the idea of obligation—on this front, further posts are forthcoming. Along these lines, I am adding a second trajectory to my read-through, attempting to read the Bible in light of the idea of meditation—I will shortly explain my motive and method for this addition.