Face to Face: Portraits of the Divine in Early Christianity.

Face to Face: Portraits of the Divine in Early Christianity. By Robin Margaret Jensen. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2004. xviii and 234 pages. Paper. $22.00.

Jensen, historian of early Christian art (Understanding Early Christian Art [Routledge, 2000]) is Professor of the History of Christian Worship and Art at Vanderbilt University Divinity School. This remarkable study combines her perception of early Christian art, liturgy, and theology of imagery. First she discusses briefly the problem of art, especially portraits, in the Judeo-Christian context. Then she turns to the issue of imagery in the Roman context. Given the Judeo-Christian aversion to images as idolatry and the Greco-Roman suspicion that material images cannot convey reality, Jensen thoroughly examines the Christian debate over divine imagery in second-to fifth-century Christian writers. Returning to her skill as an art historian, she describes in detail various pictures of Jesus and the later Christ. She concludes with an analysis and description of such saints as Peter, Paul, and Mary. All of her descriptions are amply illustrated with examples from early Christian art (102 examples).

Jensen's enterprise is far from simple. She has to juggle Jewish concerns about the idolatry of images, the Greco-Roman sense of reality, early Christian theology regarding the human Jesus, liturgical practices, and actual early Christian art. Despite the complexity of the problem, she does a remarkable job. Her book will remain a critical resource for years to come.

At the serious risk of oversimplification, I would state her case in this way: For Jews God was not available to human eyesight (anyone who saw God would die [Exod 33:20]). Even so, some Jewish art implied the presence of God (normally a hand as in Dura Europos), and God was visible occasionally in the Hebrew Scriptures (e.g., Exod 33:23; 34:33-34; p. 76). Still, any image that blocked a real relationship with God would be considered idolatry (pp. 15-19). Considering the large number of god images that have survived from Greek and Roman antiquity (examples on pp. 62-63), it comes as a surprise to know that such images were frowned upon by Roman writers at the time of early Christianity. Simply put in a neo-Platonic world, ultimate reality could not possibly be seen in anything material (pp. 28-30; 66-68). To think otherwise misleads the observer. About 400 C.E. Christian writers had to deal with these issues from a different perspective. They agreed with their Jewish heritage and with Roman philosophers that God could not be portrayed by material means. Very few Christian artisans attempted to create images of God. However, Jesus trod on this earth and was seen by many. When issue of divine nature came to the fore, it had to be admitted that an image of the historical Jesus, fresco, mosaic, or statue, referenced the divine (pp. 131-34; 165-72).

In her articles and books, Jensen consistently reads early Christian art in conjunction with theological writing and liturgies. This work is a classical example of that methodology. Others of us believe Christian art was at first contextually symbolic and not directly related to the intellectual or even devotional life of the early church. Seen from a sociological perspective, much of the first art reflected the Christian attitude toward the Roman Empire and Roman culture. Other symbolic art reflected the attractive qualities of the early Christian community such as peace and fellowship. Later art made peace with the leadership structure of the Roman Empire. Jensen recognizes the probability of an early Jesus who reflected sociological concerns and whose appearance developed along imperial power lines rather than an increasing sense of divinity (pp. 146-59), but the theme of her book implies that Christian images are primarily theologically oriented.

Graydon F. Snyder

Chicago, Illinois

Books reviewed in Currents can be ordered through the LSTC Book Center 1100 East 55th Street, Chicago, IL 60615 [phone]