On first glance, the catacombs just outside Rome are not all that impressive.
Stepping down into the depths of these underground Christian burial sites, one finds a narrow path with long rectangle holes chiseled into the walls. These rectangular cutouts form a network of shelves that make the sides of the catacombs appear as thick stone bookcases. but in ancient times, the bodies of deceased Christians were laid to rest upon these stone shelves while the faithful who remained alive would decorate the walls with various images. because they date back to the 4th or 5th century, the images found here are some of the earliest forms of Christian visual media (and you thought your PowerPoint backgrounds were ancient).
Throughout history, images have played a role in church worship. The impact of seeing and studying these early Christian paintings remind this generation that we are not the first to use visual images to convey the power of the gospel. Furthermore, the legacy of these paintings suggests that our choice of imagery in modern worship services should be viewed as a ministry and an act of lasting worship.
As the old adage states, a picture is worth a thousand words, and few proverbs are more fitting for our worship services today. We know from a Barna study conducted last year that 76 percent of Protestant churches that average 100-250 in attendance use a large-scale projection system for various components of their worship service. The number jumps to 88 percent for larger congregations, and it’s likely that these numbers have increased in the year since the study was conducted. The local church is conveying a lot of images, and therefore, a lot of words.
The implication of this infusion of media and technology is that what we communicate through images in our worship service becomes as important as what we communicate through words. Any concern we have for the preaching and worship songs must be carried over into a concern for the kinds of images we display. Take a moment and try to remember the last sermon that challenged or encouraged you in your walk with Christ. Now compare that with the last powerful video that challenged or encouraged you. Research suggests we remember far more of what we see than what we hear.
Of course, this attraction and concern for images is nothing new for Christianity. After all, the catacombs outside Rome are hundreds and hundreds of years old. Though our modern technological world may seem like light years away from the pre-modern life of the early Church, there is much we can learn from these ancient Christians and the way they depicted their faith. The images are often crudely preserved and most are faded from age, but in many cases the pictures are unmistakable. The simple ones include classic images such as a dove, an anchor, or a fish. But the walls of the catacombs bear several more elaborate images representing key characters or events of the biblical narrative such as Noah, Jonah, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the Good Shepherd, and many of the miraculous events of Christ’s ministry. Many of these images can be found throughout our Sunday worship services as well. These images, in the words of Mike Aquilina, “…were a proclamation, a telling of the good news in symbols that would speak to many people, regardless of literacy, regardless of even language” (Signs and Mysteries, 12).
These images created a basic pictorial grammar that individually and collectively told of the good news of salvation in Christ. In so doing, they had the two-fold function of education and devotion. The educational value was the ability to communicate the gospel to non-Christians, and the devotional effect was in the ability of the images to remind the faithful of God’s mighty acts. Every picture bore the weight of their early Christian faith and conveyed a thousand theological words.
Even more fascinating is that these images still communicate to us. Even though we are separated by time, language, and a multiplicity of other cultural barriers, these images still perform their original tasks. These images communicate the faith of the ancients to us!
For example, imagery of Jonah is rather popular due to Christ’s words in Matthew 12:40: “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days andthree nights in the heart of the earth.” Most often, Jonah is depicted as emerging from the rough seas, his body naked, his eyes gazing upward toward the heavens and his arms extended outward in triumph. The notions of freedom, resurrection, and victory emanate from the image. A Christian cannot help but be reminded of the work of Christ, and thus, Jonah came to symbolize the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. This is a key image of hope for those who had died in the faith, and the significance of this visual message in the context of a burial site is unmistakable.
Another common image is the Good Shepherd, which appears more than 100 times in the catacombs of Rome. This image evokes the story of the lost sheep in Luke 15:3-7, but also alludes to Psalm 23 (“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want”). Christ is presented as a humble shepherd with a single lamb lying across his shoulders. As you might expect, this image communicates the atoning work of Christ and his loving care for his people. Typically, He has other sheep at his side (many times just two on either side of Him), which is symbolic of the faithful grazing in heaven and the hope of eternal life that is found in Christ. We could go on to talk of the images of Adam and Eve, Noah, Moses, David, and Daniel, not to mention the others, but it’s important to note that all of these frescos in the catacombs were meant to “symbolize protection and deliverance” (Christian Art: A very short introduction, 4).
The point we wish to communicate is that the birth of Christian spirituality and Christian imagery go hand-in-hand. The Christian faith, from its earliest days, was a visual faith, so Christian imagery is altogether appropriate for Christian spirituality. Therefore, the question for us is: how can we creatively communicate these age-old beliefs, doctrines, and statements of faith for our people today?
It’s worth noting that these early Christian images are all biblical images. The first Christian art is biblical art which demonstrates that despite living in a pre-modern, illiterate culture, these Christians have a high biblical IQ. They see themselves as inheritors of the biblical story. Their work begins with Scripture, and they communicate their faith through the images and stories of the biblical narrative.
This raises significant questions: Do we have the same concern for biblical images in our worship services? Would images of Moses or David communicate the gospel as they did for the early Church? What would biblical imagery look like for our worship services and how might we express our faith through biblical imagery? Let us be creative and thoughtful as we communicate biblical images and stories in the images—still and moving—we project each Sunday.
One shortcoming in our creative process may be that we choose images because they are trendy or convenient. A lesson we can learn from these early Christians is that every symbol and drawing served a purpose. We need to work together each Sunday to use imagery that helps convey the message of the cross. Media and imagery in a worship service should not be a silo that stands alone; instead, it should be interwoven with the message from the pulpit and the songs sung from the stage. Many times, as media teams, we focus on being the focus rather than letting the images speak for themselves.
How does this help us on Saturday night, when we have a service in the morning? First, know what you have. You may not always know exactly what the pastor is going to speak about, but you can know what resources you have available. The more you are aware of what images are available to you through your media library and online resources, the better you’ll be able to select and project appropriate images. Of course, this requires that you be a constant student of technology and church culture, but the result is worth the investment.
Second, remember that what your congregation sees has the power to stay with them throughout the days and weeks that follow. This very thought should humble you as you prepare your imagery each week. It’s imperative that the images we project communicate biblical themes to the minds in which they’ll be embedded.
Third, realize you are not alone. Our worship services are not about only images; we must work with pastors and worship leaders to make sure we are all telling the same story. It is through the collective creative force of our ministry and mission that we will change the world in which we live.
If, hundreds of years from now, someone were to write an article about the images you choose to project this Sunday, what would they say? In light of the early Christian images, there’s much we can learn from our ancient brothers and sisters in the faith. When they took time to emblazon their frescos on the walls, they chose biblical depictions that communicated the story of God. Let us continue telling that story as we live, speak, and project.
Stephen Presley is a PhD candidate in early Christian studies at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. Mark Presley is the Minister of Communications at First Baptist Church in McKinney, Texas. They are brothers, and this article is the first thing they have agreed upon in a while.