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Making Christian doctrinevisualPublished online: 25 Feb 2011.

To cite this article: (1959) Making Christian doctrine visual, Religion in Education,26:2, 68-69, DOI: 10.1080/5908555827

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/5908555827

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Making Christian Doctrine VisuaF

T H r Free Church Exhibition This We Believe, created and built in H a m m e r - smith by local church people, recently started on an extended tour of the country. This article is intended to prevent its dismissal f rom the mind as ' just another exhibition' and to show its relevance to modern teaching method.

T h e use and making of biblical pictures and models is well established in religious education. An a t tempt to carry this idea yet further and to put Christian belief into visual fo rm has resulted in a permanent and transportable exhibition. Hence the title This We Believe. The bold- ness of the experiment of converting the thought image into visual image is matched by the boldness of the result, which has been described as 'Christian- ity exposed'.

All the basic Christian beliefs are here --traditional proofs of the existence of God, Incarnation, Man, Sin and Grace, Atonement, Resurrection, the Church as the Body of Christ and Eschatology. Though these words are never used, the ideas are presented in such a way that all streams of school life can appreciate and understand them. Thus, the exhibition is more than an interesting experiment--it is a talking point that can lead to the breaking down of the vague and often incorrect ideas about God.

Erected and ready for use, the exhibi- tion encloses a space equal to a small assembly hall and cannot be used com- plete in less than 7 o ft x 40 ft. There are thirty-four 8 ft x 4 ft panels pro- ducing seven courts, a stage piece, models on plinths, a back-projection unit, a floor model of a cross, and entrance-exit panels. There is a distinct and attractive colour scheme throughout the whole.

Each panel is framed by 3 in x I in varnished hardwood and contains raised

1The writers of this article were closely connected with the production of this exhibi- tion and wish to remain anonymous.

panels of contemporary design, photo- graphs, art work diagrams and 3D models. Cork letters and modern type face letterpress convey the professional touch. A court consists of three, four or six panels, hinged for ease of erection with slotted metal angles for strengthen- ing and bracing.

In six of the courts the Christian faith is set out as follows:

God is Real Jesus Reveals God Man is Both Good and Evil Man Can be Changed The Church is Necessary There is Hope for the Future

In addition to these statements, pro- vision is made for teaching concerning Creation, God's offer and man's response and local church history.

Each of the courts produces the equi- valent of a small three-sided classroom, the walls containing the teaching material. Perhaps a description of the one entitled 'God is Real' will give some indication of its acceptability, both artistically, theo- logically and materially.

In the centre of this court two panels stand, one over the other, making an 8 ft square. Hinged on either side of the square are single panels 8 ft × 4 ft. Pro- gressing from an entrance court showing

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M A K I N G C H R I S T I A N D O C T R I N E VISUAL

Creation and the statement ' In the beginning God c r e a t e d . . , etc', the simple, materialistic mind is stimulated to ask 'But is God real ?' This is chal- lenged by another question 'What is real ?' The first panel (divided into three horizontally) shows, by optical illusions, that our eyes can deceive us (as can our other senses); a model of an atom of carbon makes plain that 'the things we think are solid are full of holes'; a pho- tographic montage of contemporary events stresses the transitory nature of 'facts'.

The top centre panel (divided into three vertically) portrays real 'knowing'. In division I an anatomical chart of man and a figure made up of chemical materials pose the question 'Is this how your friends know you ?' In division 2 a large photo- graphic cut-out depicts a father and child standing hand in hand. Their 'knowledge' of one another stems from a sense of relationship. In division 3 Einstein is pictured and quoted 'The truly deep scientist must necessarily have religious feeling.' This leads on to the idea that the reality of God lies in our sense of rela- tionship with him. The Christian view of God is stated on the remaining panel and leads naturally to such questions as 'What is God like ? How can we really know him?' , to which the succeeding courts provide graphic answers.

The leit-motif of the whole exhibition is the hands of Christ, symbolizing God's offer to man. Plaster models of hands are used in various ways on plinths and in a recessed model and also in the stage piece where God's offer and man's response is portrayed in silhouette form by large, pierced hands stretching down to wel- come a standing figure with arms up- lifted joyfully towards the unseen face.

The centrality of the cross is made obvious by a large 3-dimensional cross placed on the floor in the middle of the hall and showing copies of the Bible, early MSS and a model of the Dead Sea scrolls and the jar in which they were found.

There are three ways in which readers

of this journal can make use of this exhi- bition:

I. By visiting it when it is in their district and being taken round by one of the instructed guides of the sponsoring body.

2. By sending groups of pupils under the guidance of instructed staff.

3. By setting up the exhibition for use by an individual school or a group of schools, perhaps during holidays.

Though the visual nature of the exhi- bition makes an unconducted tour pos- sible, by far the best method is the conducted tour led by teacher-guides prepared to adapt themselves and their method of presentation to the age group involved. These groups can be of any reasonable size, but experience with over I,OOO local grammar school boys and girls suggests that twelve to fifteen ques- tioning youngsters is enough at one go I Scripts, a coloured filmstrip and a tape recording are available for pre-instructing staff. The teaching is concentrated and employs the whitewash brush rather than the etching pen. The whole range of Christian belief in thirty minutes can be a very useful outline for subsequent classroom work or a firm background against which the details of the agreed syllabus can be more easily seen.

Perhaps the most exciting and satis- fying outcome of teachers visiting this exhibition would be a school project involving geography, art, woodwork, metalwork, physics, chemistry, photo- graphy and, of course, religious instruc- tion and resulting in the manufacture of the school's own exhibition.

Further information concerning this exhibition and its use can be obtained from the National Free Church Federal Council (27 Tavistock Square, London, W.C.I), to whom it now belongs and in whose hands is the arrangement of its tour of the country.

Words, even at their best, cannot con- vey a true impression of the potentialities of this kind of presentation. The best way is to see it for oneself since, like doctrine, it must be seen to be believed.

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