In Search of Authentic Discipleship

Norman Lewis was a twentieth-century American artist and political activist. A contributor to the movement known as Abstract Expressionism, Lewis pushed the boundaries of its style, adding discernible human figures into otherwise abstract works, and drawing his political concerns into an artistic movement that aspired to locate itself above such matters (Fine 2015: 80).

While at times Lewis explicitly denied the political nature of his work, many of the paintings that he produced would seem to suggest otherwise. Their depictions of hooded figures and religious processions are redolent both of the meetings of the Ku Klux Klan and of the freedom marches of the American Civil Rights movement.

It is the ambiguity in the depiction of these gatherings that characterizes much of Lewis’s work, and Ritual is no exception to this. The group of small human figures form a crescent or bowl shape, which reviewer Daniel Gauss has likened to cupped hands (2016). There are hints of movement and flashes of bright colour, yet much is hidden in the inviting layers of deep blue. What lies at the heart of this gathering? What is its purpose? The intentions of the group are uncomfortably difficult to discern.

This painting captures something of the power, the allure, and the risk of human engagement in religious activity, and this is an important thread within the narrative of Acts. In chapter 19, we are presented with two dangers in particular: the use of the name of Jesus in an attempted exorcism—a ritual that goes wrong and leaves the exorcists wounded and humiliated (vv.13–16)—and the vulnerability of the Christian missionaries at the hands of the crowd in Ephesus. They drag Paul’s companions to the theatre, shouting and chanting in anger at the perceived slight on their goddess and their way of life (vv.28–29).

It is within this risky context that the Holy Spirit moves in Acts.

References

Gauss, Daniel. 2016. ‘Norman Lewis Retrospective, 20 December 2016’, www.meer.com [accessed 8 April 2024]

Fine, Ruth. 2015. ‘The Spiritual in the Material’, in Procession: The Art of Norman Lewis ed. by Ruth Fine (Philadelphia: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts), pp.19–104

This work was commissioned by Henry VIII in the 1530s, and is the only surviving tapestry from a set of nine designed by Flemish artist Pieter Coecke van Aelst. It is roughly twenty feet long and twelve feet high, and uses metal wrapped threads, wool, and silk within the design.

The work depicts three scenes from Paul’s ministry in Ephesus, as described in Acts 19 and 20: the laying of hands upon the disciples in Ephesus (top left), the miraculous revival of Eutychus (top right) and the burning of the magic books (centre).

The delivery of the Life of St Paul tapestries in 1538–39 coincided with the dissolution of the English monasteries. This entailed the forced sale of religious properties and land, and the destruction of monastic libraries and manuscripts, as well as the execution of non-compliant monks and nuns. The choice of subject matter for these tapestries was likely to have been highly significant. It was perhaps intended to align the events of the English Reformation with the actions of Paul in Ephesus, delivering ‘correct’ Christian teaching and overseeing the destruction of heretical or allegedly irreligious texts.

Such destruction is immediately visible within the tapestry, with the smoke from the pile of burning books dominating much of the upper section of the piece and blocking some of the human figures from full view. While the precise nature of these books and their possible magical content is debated by scholars, their monetary value is underlined within the Acts narrative (19:19).

The key point, however, is that the people of Ephesus were voluntarily choosing to destroy their own possessions, not forcibly destroying texts belonging to others, a nuance that appears to have been rather overlooked during the Reformation.

References

Cleland, Elizabeth A. H. 2014. Grand Design: Pieter Coecke van Aelst and Renaissance Tapestry (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Keener, Craig S. 2014. Acts: An Exegetical Commentary, vol 3 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic)

Shauf, Scott. 2012. ‘Theology as History, History as Theology: Paul in Ephesus in Acts 19’, in Theology as History, History as Theology (Berlin: De Gruyter)

The Evening Prayer II is an oil painting by Cameroonian artist Angu Walters. His studio is situated in the north-western city of Bamenda, which has been the location of violent civil war since 2017. While the harsh realities of this conflict have doubtless influenced him, his paintings, with their vibrant use of surrealism and caricature, tend to focus upon music, family life, and village scenes.

This focus on community—the corporate and the collective—emerges gradually from the abstract imagery of the painting. As one’s focus sharpens, the human figures become visible, with echoes of the shapes and tones of their faces and hands found throughout the rest of the work. The traditional prayer pose of the two central figures is interrupted by the single open eye of the smaller figure on the left, while the circular face in the middle, simultaneously both background and central image, radiates a halo of colours across the rest of the painting.

Are all of these faces engaged in prayer? Who or what else might be found within the shapes?

This focus on human bodies and body parts—clearly delineated and yet also interconnected—resonates with the embodied storytelling of Acts 19. Paul’s touching of the disciples with his hands brings the outpouring of the Spirit, which is in turn expressed through the tongues of the new believers (v.6). Paul’s skin somehow imparts healing power to inanimate objects (v.12), and the other itinerant Jewish exorcists are left naked after their failed attempt to cast out a demon (v.16). Sight, hearing, and touch feature in the words of Demetrius the silversmith (v.26) and as the chapter unfolds, we see not just individual bodies but the ‘citizen body’ in action (Brown 1992: 84–85).

This artwork can help to remind us that the story of Acts is one that is rooted in authentic human experiences of the living God.

References

Brown, Peter. 1992. Power and Persuasion in Late Antiquity: Towards a Christian Empire (Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press)

Walters, Angu. ‘About Cameroon African Artist Angu Walters’, available at https://www.artcameroon.com/about-angu-walters/ [accessed 8 April 2024]