Christ the Miracle Worker in Early Christian Art:

Introduction

1 Introduction Early Christians were drawn to using images in religious settings, revealing a very human desire to include visual aspects in devotional environments. Clement of Alexandria, like other early church authors, discovered in his fellow Christians a pervasive desire to create images, and this desire forced him to police the practice. Clement urged his audience to utilize certain types of symbols, such as doves, ships, and anchors, and to reject images he deemed negative, such as swords or prostitutes.1 If Christians were going to use images, they should be cautious, and the nascent church should have some element of control over the practice.2 What stands out in Clement’s text is that, early on, Christians found value in art and imagery. Early Christians were interested in visualizing their faith, with or without the endorsement of the clergy. Clement concedes to the whims of his congregation, after which early Christian art develops speedily, creating symbols such as an anchor or a fish or making images of Jesus. In doing so, early artistic examples of Jesus suggest that early Christians understood how the visual medium could convey deeper theological truths concerning their religion. They realized that art has the power to project difficult concepts while written texts and even sermons have some limitations. Thus, an image of Jesus performing miracles can neatly advertise Christianity while promoting important aspects of the nature of Christ. The power art wields can be realized in our contemporary world. When I was in graduate school, the topic one day in our church history course was the christological controversies and the writings of Athanasius. On the Incarnation was dry material for the novice, and it was quite easy to get frustrated and confused concerning the nature and salvific action of Christ. At one point during the lecture, the instructor projected an image of a wooden icon of Christ 1. Clement of Alexandria, Paedagogus 3.11 (ANF 2.286). 2. Clement is not unaware of the dangers of art; in fact, at parts of his later writings, he is still adamantly against their use. See Stromateis 5.5. 1 from the sixth century (Figure 1).3 He then discussed Athanasius’s comparison, in his treatise, of an artistic image to the enduring necessity of Christ While I had understood the basic comparison Athanasius was making, the deeper, more fundamental theological truth still eluded me until I saw the image. Given that I was in the dark regarding the tradition of early Christian art and iconography, my initial confusion was predictable. With the visual aid in class, Athanasius’s reasoning was finally clear. The faded outlines yet lasting color of the portrait of Christ illuminate Athanasius’s theology. The use of an early Christian artistic example served to illustrate patristic theology. And as I began to explore the numerous examples of fourth- and fifth-century images of Jesus performing miracles, my understanding of the early church was illuminated and deepened with the help of early Christian art. For the student and scholar of early Christianity, the benefits of delving into early Christian art are quite tangible. Images from different eras of Christian history elucidate significant developments in the tradition, greatly enhancing the understanding of theological and historical movements. Christian art is a useful and effective medium to shed light on different aspects of Christian history, as students and observers can readily witness how images and architecture created centuries ago are connected to the relevant theological movements in the same period. When examining the corpus of the earliest Christian art, one is initially entranced with repeated nonnarrative images and symbols, such as an anchor, a fish, or the Good Shepherd, or narrative scenes from Scripture, including figures such as Noah, Jonah, and Daniel. Of course, early Christians also began to create images of Jesus, involving narrative scenes from the gospels or nonnarrative images of Jesus depicted in the guise of rival gods. In early Christian images of Jesus, the images that show Christ performing healings and miracles stand out not only in their sheer number but also in their manner of depiction. For example, Christ healing the paralytic or raising the dead while wielding a wandlike instrument is a vivid and continuously repeated image in the early centuries. This book aims to examine why the theme of Christ performing healings and miracles was so popular for Late Antique Christians and to answer the question, What was the purpose of depicting Jesus as a healer and miracle worker? Inevitably...