Recently I was watching an Art 21 episode that featured American photographer Sally Mann. Mann is probably best known for her 8×10 glass plate portraits of her children as they grew up (my personal favorite being “Candy Cigarette” pictured at right). During the episode, as Mann worked on photographs of rawhide dog bones, she attempted to describe what it was that she loved about the project (which to my art-dumb eyes seemed rather odd). During this interview, Mann said something that really struck me:

“If it doesn’t have ambiguity, don’t bother…”

She goes on to talk about the mendacity of photography, but honestly I stopped listening for two reasons:

1. First, I felt like it was an incredibly pretentious thing to say.
2. Then, as I rolled it around a little more, I realized that I loved it.

What keeps me coming back to the things that I love? It’s almost always the unknown. I love God and the Bible precisely because there is so much I don’t know. I love my favorite writers because they leave me asking questions or wanting more (I’m thinking Gabriel Garcia Marquez, for example).

Ambiguity is a tool for creating the unknown. Look again at “Candy Cigarette” above. What is really going on here. Sure, there’s the obvious focus of the photograph: the girl with the candy cigarette. We can ask what’s going on with her, and wonder about her attitudes. Is she a pre-pubescent rebel? How is it that she seems to be able to hold that candy cigarette in such an adult fashion? Moving beyond her, however, we have even more questions. E.g., what’s with the kid on the stilts? We could interpret this photograph in so many ways. Is Mann trying to say that children grow up too fast? Or is she saying the opposite? It’s ambiguous; it’s unknown.

As a writer and a historian, I’ve found that I always want to know things completely. If I’m working on a historical project, I want to be able to give that “thick description”¹ that will leave my audience thinking two things:

1. Hebert is thorough.
2. Hebert is right.

But, in the art of history, as well as in the art of Biblical interpretation and theology, isn’t there something to be said for the old Broadway adage: “Leave ‘em wanting more”?

The truth, if we’re intellectually honest, is that we don’t know it all. Our access to the past is mediated. There’s a thousand layers of dust between us and the people, places, and events that fascinate us.²

Why pretend to know them completely and fully? Isn’t it the unknown that has attracted us? Why do we think that our readers and students will be fascinated without that same sense of the unknown? Aren’t we insulting their intelligence when we attempt to pull the wool over their eyes and claim that we’ve got the answer?

Always leave ‘em wanting more…

Footnotes

1. Thank you, Mr. Geertz.
2. I’m sure I’ve made this point on this blog before. I also recently made it in the comments on a post about Harkness teaching over at Eddie Carson’s blog.

A recent interview in DIVINITY Magazine with Duke NT scholar Joel Marcus reminded me of this quote from George Orwell:

My starting point is always a feeling of partisanship, a sense of injustice. When I sit down to write a book, I do not say to myself, “I am going to produce a work of art.” I write it because there is some lie that I want to expose, some fact to which I want to draw attention, and my initial concern is to get a hearing.¹

How true these words are!

I have many times sat down to write a fantastic short story or the great American novel with the “work of art” mentality that kills. Every stroke of the pen, every clack of the keyboard is met with ultimate frustration as you begin to measure yourself by the standards of Hemingway, Faulkner, O’Connor, et al. You realize that your genius is insignificant compared to the literary giants that inspire you. As the light of their blazing suns engulfs you, you realize that you are but a candle being jostled by the winds of self-consciousness: “Give up now, Stephen,” the wind says.

Orwell’s point is well taken. At the end of the day, writing, like any work of art, can’t come from a desire to be great, but a need to create. If there is no need deep within your soul, then you’re just wasting everybody’s time — especially your own.

A friend of mine teaches Math at a high school here in the Houston area. He embodies this “need” mentality. Currently, he is working on a book about the beauty of mathematics, the poetry. His hopes lie not in trying to create a stunning piece of art, but in his need to communicate the rage that burns inside him — he is fed up with students who think that math is only useful if you are going into engineering or some other mathematics intensive field. He must communicate to people what it means to think mathematically; he must help them to see the value in simply learning it. He is writing out of need.

So, fickle Muse, in this dearth of inspiration, amidst the doldrums of imagination I know you lurk burning with a desire and a need to communicate and expose. Will you find your way into my head and on to my page?

Footnotes

1. Read Orwell’s full essay: “Why I Write.”

I could not decide whether or not to put this article on Withering Fig, or on sbh*. Due to its spiritual content, I opted for Fig.

Craig Kinsey, who often goes by “The Rev” (because he spent several years in a monastery, as I understand) is the lead singer of a Houston-based folk/blues/crazy band known as The Sideshow Tramps. He looks like a bearded Jack the Pumpkin King as he rocks on his acoustic guitar. He is a great performer and the subject of this post.

I went and saw these guys at Dan Electro’s in the Heights on Friday. Even though the crowd was sparse, they were into it. In fact, I’ve never seen a crowd so into a band. The Tramps ripped through a set of tunes that was one part Bob Dylan mixed with one part Tom Waits and a dash of VooDoo — an incredible, old-timey sound that has been punked up. Washtub bass, washboards, cigar-box guitars, banjos, mandolins, all conspired to make a bunch of folks go nuts for 90 minutes. Here’s a link to a Houston Press review of a Tramps show in 2007 – it gives you an idea of what I am talking about.

As the Tramps were doing there thing, a friend of mine (who will remain nameless) yelled into my ear: “I think Jesus is telling me to give Craig my Martin.” The phrase “my Martin” refers to a very nice acoustic guitar. In fact, this axe has history: it’s the first guitar that my buddy ever bought!

“What?!?” I said.

“Jesus is telling me to give Craig my Martin.”

After the show, I was hanging out near the exit (after the Tramps played a great version of Dylan’s “Maggie’s Farm”), and I saw my friend go up to The Rev and talk to him. Undoubtedly, he was giving the message that Jesus had given him.

Craig “The Rev” Kinsey went on to tell an interesting story. Evidently, the guitar that he was playing that night and that he had been playing on a tour that the Tramps had just finished was borrowed. He didn’t own a guitar that he could use. This borrowed guitar had to be given back to its owner the next day. My friend’s guitar had come at the most perfect time.

The next day, I witnessed the passing of the Martin to Craig. He seemed quite delighted.

“I told a friend of mine that this wasn’t happening,” he said. “The guy didn’t believe me. He told me that if I really picked up a Martin for free today, then he might just have to come back to Jesus.”

No doubt, the friend was joking, but I found this whole story to be an interesting testament to the interconnectedness of life and the amazing power that God has to affect things. My friend’s generosity, spurred by his faith in Jesus, came at the perfect moment for Craig Kinsey.

OK, the release of the 7th book of the Harry Potter series is on the horizon. So, here is your opportunity to answer that age-old question:

Is Severus Snape friend or foe?

The wife is utterly convinced that Snape is a good dude. She works in a local dental office, and it appears that no human under the age of 18 agrees with her. What do you think? Do you think that Snape is an unwilling aid to Harry’s cause? Or do you think that the Dark Lord controls Snape and he will eventually use weak little Severus to torment Harry?

It could go either way…make your argument below!

The fine folks at Hodder & Stoughton were kind enough to send me a copy of The Manga Bible: NT—Extreme for review. First, I’d like to apologize to them for taking so long to do this. I see now that the rest of the Bible is out. So, that’s exciting.

Essentially, the Manga Bible (see this wikipedia article for more on manga) is a graphic interpretation of the biblical text coupled with a TNIV translation, a translation that seems to be gaining in popularity. The graphic portions of the text are illustrated by Siku. You can find a short interview with him (and his brother, Akin, who wrote the script) on pages 65–74.

From the outset (p. vii) the authors make no claims to have attempted to recreate the whole of the New Testament in manga form. I must admit that this was the most disappointing aspect of the work. When I originally read Hodder & Stoughton’s ads for the book, I was hoping to get a whole book full of wonderful illustrations of the New Testament. I was hoping to find a fast-paced print version that some of my artsier friends could really dig in to. Unfortunately, the graphic novel portion of the book only lasts for about 64 pages.

In terms of the artwork, I am not at all an expert. The illustrations are lively and full of emotion, often presented in a sort of widescreen format that makes me feel like Cecile B. DeMille somehow got mixed up with a bunch of Japanese comics. Siku uses a few little devices that intrigue me. For example, when illustrating Jesus’ parables, the art moves into a very cartoonish, non-detailed style. It is almost a sketch. Some of the characters are even comic looking. I think this adds a nice personal touch, and helps to differentiate the parables from the narrative as a whole.

The comic attempts to move chronologically, which means that snippets of the letters of Paul are interspersed throughout the book of Acts. While, generally speaking, this is a feature I like, there are some issues here. First, as with anything like this, there are going to be some disagreements about dating of letters and when certain events happened. Therefore, the authors have had to interpret, for better or worse, the chronology of Acts and the life of Paul. Second, some of the scenes in the letters become, for my taste, comically dramatic. For example, Barnabas and Paul “fighting back” against those who would force Gentiles to be circumcised.

The language, written by Akin, is rough and tumble—up to date and appropriate to the artwork. It is funny how certain groups of people are characterized by certain language. To me, it feels like the religious leaders use a much higher style, while lower social classes use more street lingo (for lack of a better phrase).

Overall, I’d say The Manga Bible is worth a look if you are a fan of the genre, or if you have friends who are. As an everyday Bible, it fails—but that’s not what it’s designed to be, so I can’t fault it for that!

I would definitely be interested in getting a look at the more recent version which contains the Old Testament as well. I am willing to bet that there are some interesting illustrations of some of those good ol’ OT stories.

Thanks to the NT Gateway for this one!

Rowan Atkinson, best known in the U.S. as “Mr. Bean,” appears to have uncovered a new version of John 2 and the story of “The Wedding at Cana.” Most of these interpretations do not appear in the critical apparatus of my Nestle-Aland text. I’d be very interested to discover what manuscripts Atkinson is working from.

It’s been a full three weeks since I last posted here. I apologize profusely for the delay. For the last several days, I’ve been utterly terrified to open my RSS reader to see what might be lurking in there. But, I’m going to do it now…live…right here.

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Refreshing Subscriptions

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619 unread messages. I’ll be slowly working my way through these over the next few days. In reality, I’m just hoping that in my absence the whole “Jesus Tomb” thing has blown over. I’m guessing it hasn’t, since this thing was well timed…hitting the media in preparation for Easter. Hmmm…suspicious?

ThoughtsOnGod

I just want to draw everyone’s attention to a new blog that has been created by my friend, Chris Bressoud. I imagine his focus will be God (hence the title), music (he’s a rocker!) and life in the Boston area.

Chris is also a budding amateur photographer. You can see some of his stuff at his flickr page. He is responsible for this sweet shot of Memorial Drive seen at right.

Update

Note Chris’s comment below—props to Danielle.

Codex: Biblical Studies Blogspot » Blog Archive » Judaikitsch: Tefillin Barbie

Tyler Williams’ post must be seen to be believed.

Ben Witherington: Rob Bell’s Nooma Videos 1-5

Recently, Ben Witherington has written a few posts about Rob Bell (here and here). Now, Witherington turns his critical eye to Bell’s highly acclaimed NOOMA videos, reviewing the first 5.

NOOMA is a short film project featuring Bell:

It’s short films with communicators that really speak to us.
Compact, portable, and concise. Each NOOMA touches on
issues that we care about, that we want to talk about,
and it comes in a way that fits our world.
It’s a format that’s there for us when we need it,
as we need it, how we need it. (source: NOOMA.com)

I’ve heard some interesting things about these videos. I’ll be trying to get my hands on them in the next week or two so that I can write some about them. I have just finished reading Bell’s Velvet Elvis, and I hope to pick up a copy of Sex God soon.

I suppose I’ll just become a Bell reviewing machine!