SouthWorld Article: The variety of Ethiopian crosses

Please Note: All posts on this blog are intended for informational purposes only, not as an evaluation or endorsement of any artist, art form, organization or website.  If you have concerns about the accuracy of any information presented please contact the author at hmsarthistorian@gmail.com.

Here's a short article from Southworld called "The Variety of Ethiopian Crosses."  It's a very brief review, but worth reading if you want to gain a basic understanding of the three forms of Ethiopian crosses.  One can also read a related article, "Ethiopia. The cross: symbol of a country", which discusses the importance of the cross to Ethiopian history and some historical cross variations and their symbolic associations/origins.  

Southworld web magazine is produced by the Comboni Missionaries, an international Congregation of Roman Catholic Religious working in forty-two countries throughout Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas.

Christian Altar Cross from the Solomon Islands

Please Note: All posts on this blog are intended for informational purposes only, not as an evaluation or endorsement of any artist, art form, organization or website.  If you have concerns about the accuracy of any information presented please contact the author at hmsarthistorian@gmail.com.

Rare Christian Altar Cross Inlaid with Pearl Shell
Solomon Islands, circa 1900. 62cm x 33cm x 19.5cm

Kufic and Arabic Crosses

Please Note: All posts on this blog are intended for informational purposes only, not as an evaluation or endorsement of any artist, art form, organization or website.  If you have concerns about the accuracy of any information presented please contact the author at hmsarthistorian@gmail.com.

Pascal Zoghbi, Photographer.

Here is a cool looking cross via Curious Christian and the source of the photo, Pascal Zoghbi at 29Letters Blog.  **world Business 1981*** reports that the wooden cross

is currently in the National Evangelical Church of Beirut, a Protestant church in Lebanon. The work was made in 1995 by the Lebanese Arab Christian artist Istfén. The writings are John 3:16; they say in Arabic "لأنه هكذا أحب الله العالم حتى بذل ابنه الوحيد لكي لا يهلك كل من يؤمن به بل تكون له الحياة الأبدية". Dimensions of the cross are 140cm X 100cm.

Another Arabic calligraphy cross by artist EveritteBarbee can be seen here.  It also contains John 3:16, once around the border and once in the cross itself. The centre circle reads "(he) loved".

Cross Logo of Lutheran Indian Ministries

Please Note: All posts on this blog are intended for informational purposes only, not as an evaluation or endorsement of any artist, art form, organization or website.  If you have concerns about the accuracy of any information presented please contact the author at hmsarthistorian@gmail.com.

From Holy Nation:

"The colors of this Native cross, along with the words, "Christ's Kingdom. Every Native American Nation,", communicate the focus of the Lutheran Association of Missionaries & Pilots U.S. to bring the life-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ to people of all races- red, yellow, black and white.

From Lutheran Indian Ministries:

While the legal name of the organization continues to be Lutheran Association of Missionaries and Pilots U.S., Inc., the name Lutheran Indian Ministries was introduced to reflect our ministry to Native Americans by Native Americans.

Tree of Salvation: Yggdrasil and the Cross in the North

Tree of Salvation: Yggdrasil and the Cross in the North is a new book written by Father G. Ronald Murphy, Professor of German at Georgetown University.  It sounds fascinating and I can't wait to get my hands on my own personal copy (soon, my friend!).  I'm interested to read the author's angle on the subject since I've never read much about it, but I'm sure that there will be much to learn from it about contextualization (and/or syncretism?) of the Gospel.  The book is available in both a hardcover and Kindle edition.  You can read a short article about the book's content here.

The Sacred Hoop as the Cross of Christ

This is the Aboriginal logo created for the Sudbury Catholic Schools by Hauk Toulouse, a 15 year old Anishinabek Canadian from Sagamok Anishnawbek and former student.  He aspires to be a professional artist, specializing in Graphic Art.  The Sudbury Catholic District Board, located in Ontario, strives to improve achievement among First Nation, Métis and Inuit students, and to close the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students.

So, what does the logo symbolize, and is it representative of First Nation, Métis and Inuit students in Ontario, as well as of the school itself?  Unfortunately, no explanation of the logo is given.  I was, however, able to find some information about the circle and colors behind the cross.

A Brief History of Visual Contextualization in India Part 4: Saint Thomas Christians

For this installment in my series "A Brief History of Visual Contextualization in India," I'll be discussing India's first Christian community, the Saint Thomas Christians (or "Nasrani").  Saint Thomas Christians traditionally live in the southwestern coastal state of Kerala and descend from a union of the local Indian population with a Jewish diaspora community, who had become Christians in the earliest days of the faith.  The Saint Thomas denominations use a Syriac liturgy in their church services and trace their spiritual heritage back to the assumed arrival of the Apostle Thomas ("Doubting Thomas") in southern India in 52 A.D.  In the third century, Nestorian Christian missionaries from the Church of the East in Persia began to settle in Kerala and organize the churches there according to their beliefs and liturgy.  Later in 1665, due to religious pressure from Portugese Catholics, the Saint Thomas Christians began to split into various factions along Catholic/Nestorian lines.  Today, this schism has resulted in several different Saint Thomas denominations, including Nestorian, Catholic, Orthodox, and even (since 1961) Evangelical!

Headstone with Lotus and Cross

While I'm slowwwwly writing the next post on my series A Brief History of Visual Contextualization in India, here's a cool image from the USF Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History that I came across showing a beautiful Christian headstone from China.  It dates from the Yuan dynasty (1272—1368) and is now located in the Quanzhou Maritime Museum.  The caption reads:

Headstone showing a cross on a lotus flower and a cloud design set within a plain border following a curved outline. This basic design is repeated extensively in the Christian monuments dated to this period, although its iconographic import is unknown.