464
Crucifixion,” 1631 (−1670), oil on paper,
19
a version of what is essentially the same
brush and oil, gouache, red chalk, and partially dry brush by Castiglione in the
Hermitage. Storm clouds, sunlight, astonished onlookers, Christ himself hanging in
a wind-scorched-seeming rapture of incandescent hurricane-force auras. So unlike
El Greco’s almost introverted “Christ on the Cross Adored by Two Donors,” ca.
1580, a study in historical, devotional quiescence, fealty, and gratitude, within the
very cavity of a massive storm.
20
We know that that storm has hit. Hit us all. Rev. Terrence P. Ehrman, C.S.C. Holy
Cross at Notre Dame, has written a very amenable essay in an effort to help dispel
the provocative digest of 2000 years of cultural events, propagated in 1967 by historian Lynn White Jr., who “blamed Christianity as being the root cause of the
ecological crisis.” Writes Ehrman, “A rediscovery of God as Creator has at least two
effects. It calls forth a new relationship to God and to the rest of God’s creation. For
the Christian, it calls for ‘ecological conversion’, whereby the effects of their
encounter with Jesus Christ become evident in their relationship with the world
around them”.
21
By whatever surrogate form of logic or candescent reach one approaches religions or spirituality, what is undeniable is the Passion itself. Which, it must not be
underestimated, has inspired much of the most enduring aesthetic articulations ever
produced by our species. Think of the Bach Passions (1724 and 1727), for example.
Or Handel’s Messiah (1741). The fact of unfathomable suffering in this world has
lent to us the heart through which to see, to hear, to touch, to feel, to affiliate with
and protect so much beauty; and to reciprocally recognize the fragility and very
sensory organs of biodiversity herself; of every sentient being; and the consequential role of humanity in either continuing to perpetrate the unbearable horror of the
entire crucifixion, or halting it, once and for all, here and now (Fig. 49.3).
19 ibid., p. 69.
20 See Paintings In The Louvre, by Lawrence Gowing, Introduction by Michel Laclotte, Stewart,
Tabori & Chang, New York, 1987, p. 275.
21 “What Does Ecology Have to Do with Christ?” by Terrence Ehrman, Center For Theology,
Science & Human Flourishing, September 01, 2016, https://ctshf.nd.edu/posts/what-does-ecology-have-to-do-with-christ/. Accessed May 7, 2020.
49 The Christ Paradox
Crucifixion,” 1631 (−1670), oil on paper,
19
a version of what is essentially the same
brush and oil, gouache, red chalk, and partially dry brush by Castiglione in the
Hermitage. Storm clouds, sunlight, astonished onlookers, Christ himself hanging in
a wind-scorched-seeming rapture of incandescent hurricane-force auras. So unlike
El Greco’s almost introverted “Christ on the Cross Adored by Two Donors,” ca.
1580, a study in historical, devotional quiescence, fealty, and gratitude, within the
very cavity of a massive storm.
20
We know that that storm has hit. Hit us all. Rev. Terrence P. Ehrman, C.S.C. Holy
Cross at Notre Dame, has written a very amenable essay in an effort to help dispel
the provocative digest of 2000 years of cultural events, propagated in 1967 by historian Lynn White Jr., who “blamed Christianity as being the root cause of the
ecological crisis.” Writes Ehrman, “A rediscovery of God as Creator has at least two
effects. It calls forth a new relationship to God and to the rest of God’s creation. For
the Christian, it calls for ‘ecological conversion’, whereby the effects of their
encounter with Jesus Christ become evident in their relationship with the world
around them”.
21
By whatever surrogate form of logic or candescent reach one approaches religions or spirituality, what is undeniable is the Passion itself. Which, it must not be
underestimated, has inspired much of the most enduring aesthetic articulations ever
produced by our species. Think of the Bach Passions (1724 and 1727), for example.
Or Handel’s Messiah (1741). The fact of unfathomable suffering in this world has
lent to us the heart through which to see, to hear, to touch, to feel, to affiliate with
and protect so much beauty; and to reciprocally recognize the fragility and very
sensory organs of biodiversity herself; of every sentient being; and the consequential role of humanity in either continuing to perpetrate the unbearable horror of the
entire crucifixion, or halting it, once and for all, here and now (Fig. 49.3).
19 ibid., p. 69.
20 See Paintings In The Louvre, by Lawrence Gowing, Introduction by Michel Laclotte, Stewart,
Tabori & Chang, New York, 1987, p. 275.
21 “What Does Ecology Have to Do with Christ?” by Terrence Ehrman, Center For Theology,
Science & Human Flourishing, September 01, 2016, https://ctshf.nd.edu/posts/what-does-ecology-have-to-do-with-christ/. Accessed May 7, 2020.
49 The Christ Paradox