WHEN BEAUTIFUL IS UGLY

The 19th century Danish author Hans Christian Andersen tells a story entitled the Ugly Duckling, where a scruffy, barnyard duckling grows into a beautiful swan. Almost everyone loves the story of a come from behind person, or in this case an animal, who turns into a winner.  But those are popular stories of ugly becoming … Continue reading WHEN BEAUTIFUL IS UGLY

Colorful Prophecy

GRANT Graeco-Roman Antiquities & the New Testament There are things you can tell about an entire ocean even if you have only one cup of water from it.  Naturally a scientist would like to have as many cups and as broad a sampling as possible, but even a single cup is of some help.  The … Continue reading Colorful Prophecy

A REALLY UGLY JESUS

Whether you look at Albrecht Dürer’s (1471-1528) famous woodcut of Jesus Christ which he based upon the picture given in Rev. 1:12-16 or at other less famous attempts to capture John’s iconography, it is clear that John had no interest in making Jesus aesthetically competitive with the other gods and goddesses of the Graeco-Roman world.  … Continue reading A REALLY UGLY JESUS