Illuminating Justice The Ethical Imagination of The Saint John's Bible

Jonathan Homrighausen has done what the creators of The Saint John's Bible hoped for most. He has explored its `beautiful persuasion' to reveal the way its beauty speaks across volumes and across audiences as it proclaims the Good News. Illuminating Justice is truly a joy to read. While going deep into key images in The Saint John's Bible, Homrighausen shows how this Bible, while using ancient tools and traditional materials, fits into a new world of theological thought. It is one that approaches the relationship between Catholics and Jews, the role of women, and creation care, in fresh and empowering ways. This volume rings with insight and draws our attention to the work of numerous contemporary theologians and artists. Reading it, one will discover things not just about art, but also about living out one's faith in the 21st century.

Skillfully tracing the intertext between artistic illuminations and biblical passages, Jonathan Homrighausen's sensitive exegeses afford exquisite depth and dimension to three familiar biblical traditions as well as invite readers to experience for themselves The Saint John's Bible. Tracing the motif of trees across Jesus Family Tree in Matthew's Gospel, the Trees of Knowledge and Life in Women's Biblical Stories, and the centrality of Trees in the Creation Traditions, Homrighausen ignites our imagination with new possibilities not only for fresh interpretations of these texts but also for how they urgently summon us to the promotion of justice.

'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,' a phrase coined in the nineteenth century by Margaret Wolfe Hungerford, corresponds with what today's biblical interpreters refer to as `the world in front of the text.' In other words, there is a subjective quality to all interpretation. Jonathan Homrighausen here provides us with a stunning example of such interpretation. Reading the exquisite illuminations found in The Saint John's Bible, he lifts up three ethical-sacramental themes: respect for Jewish sensitivities; attention to feminist concerns; and appreciation for natural creation. In this remarkable book, he thus shows us that art is not only an expression of beauty, but of justice as well.

In this gem of a book, Jonathan Homrighausen not only takes us on a lavishly illustrated tour of The Saint John's Bible—an artistic achievement unparalleled since the Middle Ages—but he reveals the ethical power of its images: for interreligious dialogue, women's rights, and ecology. Jonathan Homrighausen is a creative emerging voice in imaginative theology and his adventurous book deserves a readership across disciplinary boundaries.

This volume is itself an introduction to visual art as an essential element of biblical interpretation. Homrighausen's own rich `sacramental imagination' is always in view, never intrusive, as he follows images across cultures, centuries of religious traditions, both Jewish and Christian, and the two Testaments of the Christian Bible.

Those who are unfamiliar with The Saint John's Bible will find here a wonderful overview of the vision of the monks and all those who worked together to bring the project to life.

It is hard to find fault with a monograph that accomplishes its goals so well, and I have nothing critical to say about Homrighausen's broad research or clear writing. Illuminating Justice exhibits the youthful enthusiasm of a graduate student, but it is far from immature. It is a work of serious theological reflection which deserves a wide audience.

This book picks up the spirit of The Saint John's Bible and is a study of the impact of some aspects of its artistry.

Homrighausen's book will certainly lead readers to a greater appreciation for the intricacies of the illuminations. The accessibility of this volume and its beautiful aesthetic render it useful in a variety of different devotional and pedagogical contexts.

As works of ethical imagination, the illuminations move the reader of the biblical text to empathize with all people who suffer oppression. Such empathy is the basis for undertaking acts of social justice to overcome the cultural heritage of anti-Semitism and sexism, and to preserve the Earth.

By concentrating on the phrase, the 'Word became flesh,' and employing the Song of Songs, Jonathan Homrighausen successfully challenges the literalism that has become so much of biblical interpretation today. To all seeking sustenance in the Word of God, he breaks opens Sacred Scripture as good news to the poor and freedom to the captive. This book is required reading for those searching within the Bible the connection between art and social justice.

A book that is both elegant and affordable. An ample bibliography along with scripture and illumination indexes round out a project that blazes a productive path forward for not only analyzing but also encountering the lectio divina and the visio divina that are the Christian Logos.