Images of Truth

When we first approach the spiritual life there is a good deal of darkness in our minds. Some of this can be dispelled by changing our ideas, especially ideas that we have about God. But at some point the imagination must begin to work; and as it does so, we must have new images to replace the images which we formerly had.

To some extent being in nature can be helpful for this. Plants, animals, mountains and rivers can begin to work on us and give us a glimpse at something that is beautiful and good. The imagination will then be able to be inspired by love of the kingdom, and other aspects of our personality will become accessible to God’s gracious rule. For the health of our souls, we must find time to be alone in the natural world.

Often, however, we find ourselves in urban situations which allow for little conscious reflection on nature. Furthermore, our minds may be in such conditions of darkness that natural imagery is not powerful enough to cleanse the imagination. We need images that can take us deeper into the knowledge of Christ and of God.

Throughout the last two millennia there has been a determined use of imagery by the church and its offshoots which has the power to restructure the mind and heart. Many of these great images are on and in the cathedrals of Europe. But some are in art museums and private collections, and a great number of them can be accessed via the internet.

These images of Christ, angels, saints, and biblical events have the power to release the mind from its enslavement to darkness and cast a light on our imagination and understanding. There are some things we may never understand save through an image. Clearly, of course, God can and does “speak” images directly to our minds, but sometimes it is handy to have an image of His goodness right in front of us where we can see it. The great artists of the Christian centuries have done us all an irreplaceable service by committing the truth to physical imagery: painting, music, architecture, sculpture, and mosaic.

The central image needed by the mind is the image of the cross. This is the most tangible representation of God’s greatness, man’s need, and the hope for our feeble and wounded condition. This can be an image which includes the body of Jesus, or it can simply be the familiar shape of the instrument itself. We should be on the look-out for good renditions of it and do the best we can to put them around us.

There are other images of course that are critical. The resurrected Jesus, the glorified Jesus and the infant Jesus with his mother, all have something valuable to impart to the deepest parts of us. Images of seraphim and other lesser angels make nonphysical personality tangible to us. The images of holy men and women give us a glimpse into our future life in the kingdom of God. And some of the more distressing images, like those of the Last Judgment and of demons, can impart a disgust at evil and a fear to obey God at all costs.

Personally, I carry some of the great images of the Church (and also some classical images) on my ipod so that I can review them as I have need. I also have an image of Christ and angels as my desktop wallpaper on my computer at home. There are literally stunning things contained in the great images of the past, and perhaps some of the present too. C.S. Lewis is responsible for one of the 20^th century’s best use of images in his book Perelandra.

How then should we approach this? A good first step is to ask God to guide us to the images we need to see. Let Him know that you are eager to do this. Then begin by learning some of the great hymns and buying a few books of Christian art through the centuries. If you are musically inclined, perhaps Handel’s Messiah can be helpful. Be creative with the use of images in your room and on your computer. Over time you will learn by experience which images are the most powerful. With these you will want to spend lots of time. Something that some people find useful is to spend time imagining various events or people from the Bible. The great benefit of all this will be that we will become progressively more and more filled with joy, and we will be more conscious of God’s kingdom in some very concrete ways.

Of course this need not stop with religious imagery. There are great political paintings and sculptures: in America the art from the 18^th and 19^th centuries is particularly good. But the great Greco-Roman images too can be useful in making the mind stabilized and happy. The buildings of Medieval and Modern Europe are useful as well, and the Renaissance was, of course, a high point in the use of images.

We are used to thinking of images as “merely” physical things. Mostly, I think, this is because we don’t have much personal experience with the stronger imagery of the Bible. This is simply not the case; images are spiritual entities with the ability to show us deep things. We don’t only see things in them, but we can even see things through them. They become windows into a deeper world that is both awesome and fascinating.