Copying the Bible like a medieval monk

Letters and words are not the only aspects of Jackson's art, and he will also be illustrating and interpreting the Bible with images - following the ancient Benedictine tradition.

The first illustrated page of the project was unveiled March 24. Depicting the opening genealogy in the Gospel of Matthew, a menorah, in layers of red and blue, symbolizes a family tree from Abraham at the root to Jesus at the top. There is a swirling energy to the illustration, much like the ornate designs of a Celtic cross. Scraps of gold appear scattered on the surface of the image, giving it the texture of a brush-cleaned archaeological discovery. And in a subtle connection to the modern world, in the background, shrouded in a translucent haze, are the faint strands of the double helix, like an ancient DNA that binds the family tree together.

In the past, Benedictine monasteries were literate societies in an illiterate age, says Hollas, who also teaches theology at St. John's. In the early Middle Ages, Benedictine monks and nuns copied manuscripts for their own collections, and in doing so, helped to preserve ancient learning. "Benedictine monasteries had always created handwritten Bibles," he says. "They just haven't done it for the past 500 years."

Future illustrations of the project - scheduled to be completed in 2004 - will incorporate images of technology, such as space travel, with traditional biblical images. Jackson also hopes to incorporate the values of other cultures and religions into his illustrations. "But this is a Christian Bible; this is not a New Age Bible. It's not 'something for everybody,' " he says. "It can say, 'We recognize you, and you are a part of this,' and not pull the substance of the Bible out of shape. It will say we're all part of the same family. And the way you do this is with the arts." The words of the handwritten Bible will be taken from the New Revised Standard Version.

The St. John's Bible, as it will be officially known, will include seven volumes. The first volume, "The Gospels and Acts of the Apostles," will be unveiled at Christmas 2000. Using a unique font created by Jackson, the Bible will be written on calfskin vellum. The illustrations will be illuminated with gold, silver, copper, and platinum. When completed, the Bible will be shown in museums and libraries.

When asked what he hoped to accomplish with this project, Jackson pauses. Then he says, "If you've got a quill pen in your hand, and you see that little bit of open space in front of you - just as the pen touches the surface, you hope that a little spark comes in between that point and the surface. And that hasn't really got anything to do with me. My job is to put the pen there, to get in the right state, and then, hopefully, some little thing will happen that I can never know anything about."

(c) Copyright 1999. The Christian Science Publishing Society

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