Stanford Vox Clara | THE REIGN OF THE LORD'S ANOINTED ONE | Spring 2022

ABOUT VOX CLARA

OUR MISSION

Vox Clara is a journal of Christian thought at Stanford, dedicated to cultural inquiry in the light of faith and reason. We seek to provide a forum for Christians and non-Christians at Stanford to engage in dialogue related to Christianity, culture, and life’s biggest questions. We believe it is important to address issues of faith in the university community. As Jane Stanford’s words on the wall of Memorial Church attest:

“There is no narrowing so deadly as the narrowing of man’s horizon of spiritual things. No worse evil could befall him in his course on earth than to lose sight of Heaven. And it is not civilization that can prevent this; it is not civilization that can compensate for it. No widening of science, no possession of abstract truth, can indemnify for an enfeebled hold on the highest and central truths of humanity. ‘What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?’”

THE AUGUSTINE COLLECTIVE

Vox Clara is part of the Augustine Collective, a network of student-led Christian journals on college campuses throughout the United States and the UK. There are over thirty journals to date, all committed to the premise that faith and reason belong to gether. For more information, see augustinecollective.org.

THE NICENE CREED

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being with the Father; through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became truly human. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

DISCLAIMER

The opinions expressed in the articles contained in this publication are those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of Vox Clara or its staff members.

STAFF

TRISTAN WANG

Co-President, Designer

ABIGAIL SCHWEIZER

Co-President BECCA DE LOS SANTOS

Financial Officer JACK McKINNON

Content Editor BRANDON APONTE

Content Editor ADITYA PRATHAP

Content Editor MAKAYLA ABRIL BUTTERS

Content Editor

TABLE OF CONTENTS

JESUS THE MESSIAH?

GUIDING

HORROR OF

PASSION

SHALOM

ROLE OF

IN

SOPH IA:

SENSORIAL

GOD’ S LOVE

EDITOR’S NOTE

“Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?

The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, ‘Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.’

He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, ‘As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.’

I will tell of the decree:

The Lord said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you.

Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.

You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.’

Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him” (Psalm 2:1 12, ESV).

Dear reader,

Our issue’s theme is based on the above psalm. To further explain this theme we offer this brief commentary and expo sition.

Amidst the rebellion and vain plots of man, the LORD is far above in heaven, unchanged by their enmity. David rightly proclaims that the LORD has and shall chastise those king

doms which set their aims against the Kingdom of God and His people be it Israel or the Church. Their empires and glories turn to dust and fade away, but the majesty of God tri umphs in timeless youth. The king that the Lord sets up is the sovereign in Jerusalem whom God has appointed to lead, yet he only prefigures Christ’s universal dominion.

It is now the Anointed One of the LORD Who speaks. We know, through the Gospel of John and the author of Hebrews that this Messiah is none other than Jesus the Christ. In this magnificent anticipation of Christ, the Anointed One of God, is said to be of the very essence of the Deity and is given the authority of judgment. The Anointed is begotten of the LORD Himself, thus being of the same essence. To the Anointed, all the nations of the earth are made subject as shall be made fully complete at the seventh trumpet’s sounding. The voice concludes with David’s exhortations in light of the prior. The kings and judges are to submit and yield to the LORD and His Anointed Who is called the LORD’s Son. A warning of pun ishment for the haughty rulers and a promise of blessing for the obedient concludes the passage.

David speaks of his own time and of the time yet to be. He ponders his world’s present lot much as we do our own. Yet, we are kindred with David, not only in observing corrupt king doms but also in anticipating a perfect kingdom. We wait on the anointed Messiah of God, to Whom all authority on heav en and on earth has been given, and the completion of His eternal victory. Let us join our spirits to the psalmist in crying “Come Lord Jesus” and earnestly await His reign which shall know no end.

With love in the Holy Trinity, Jack McKinnon Content Editor

IS JESUS

THE MESSIAH?

GLEN DAVIS

Most

people assume that Christ is Jesus’s last name, but Christ is actually a title. It means anointed. To call Jesus the Christ is to call him the Lord’s Anointed. Its Hebrew equivalent is מָשִׁיחַ — messiah. When we call Him the Lord’s Anointed we acknowledge Him as the Messiah of Israel, the prophe sied future ruler of the Jewish people.

If you spend much time in church you will eventually hear a sermon about Jesus fulfilling Messianic prophe cies, and so it surprises most Christians when they re alize that the Jewish people do not accept Jesus as their Messiah.

If anyone should embrace the Jewish Messiah it should be the Jewish people, right? So why don't they?

There are four primary reasons: survivorship bias, a dif ferent understanding of messiahship, a belief that Jesus did not fulfill the messianic prophecies, and memories of the harm Christians have wrought upon the Jewish people.

First, survivorship bias. Think about the way Judaism developed after the resurrection of Jesus. In first-centu ry Jerusalem people had to choose: is Jesus the Messiah or not? Some concluded He was, others that He was not.

Those first century Jews who embraced Christ were banned from the synagogues and Jewish life. As a re sult, the Judaism that remained was uniform in its re jection of Jesus. They had self-selected that way, and soon created a stable system which continues to this day: those whose minds are changed are ejected. For a Jewish person to embrace Jesus as Messiah is seen by their Jewish community as an act of abandonment.

So not only is it unsurprising that the Jewish people do not accept Jesus, it is axiomatic. Anyone raised Jewish who comes to see Jesus as the Messiah is treated as no longer Jewish. They are non-Jewish by definition.

Christians should be sad but not despair over this state of affairs. It is not as though all people born into Juda ism reject Jesus. Almost every book of the New Testa ment was written by a baptized Jew who believed Jesus was the Messiah, and Jewish confession of the Lordship of Christ continues to this day. There is a large and growing community of Messianic Jewish congregations around the world: people of Jewish ancestry who em brace Jesus as God’s anointed.

A second reason many Jews do not accept Jesus as the Messiah is because they wouldn't accept anyone as the Messiah: they just don't believe that's the right way to think about it.

Of the three main strands of religious Judaism today (Orthodox Judaism, Reform Judaism, and Conserva tive Judaism), only the Orthodox await a personal Mes siah, and Orthodox Jews represent less than 20% of the Jewish people in America.

The majority of religious American Jews believe some thing very different. Both Reform and Conservative Ju daism approach the Old Testament more figuratively, and neither of them expects a person who is the Messi ah to come. Instead they understand that the Messiah is a metaphor for a coming utopia in which the Jewish people themselves (or perhaps the nation of Israel) col lectively serve in the Messianic role.

What should a Christian make of this perspective?

While this is sometimes given as a reason for rejecting Jesus as Messiah, it’s actually a consequence of rejecting Jesus as the Messiah. After the destruction of the Jew ish temple in AD 70 and the subsequent Jewish diaspo ra, the Jewish people who did not embrace Jesus were forced to reinterpret their scriptures to make sense of the state of the world. The natural reading of the Old Testament is that a descendant of David will rule over the people of Israel forever (see, for example, 2 Samuel 7:12-13). Believing in Jesus makes the Old Testament prophecies easier to understand, but rejecting Jesus makes many passages difficult to interpret straightfor wardly.

The third reason many Jewish people reject Jesus, and the one most commonly given, is that Jews do not be lieve Jesus actually fulfilled the Messianic prophecies. I have heard some variation of this claim from all of my Jewish friends when the topic has come up, even from those who do not expect a personal Messiah. They’ll often add a disclaimer about Jesus being a nice guy or a good teacher or something but they are adamant that He is not the Messiah because He didn’t fulfill the job description.

Few people claim Jesus fulfilled zero Messianic proph ecies. Most famously, He was born in Bethlehem (Mi cah 5:2, Matthew 2:1-6). The more significant question is whether Jesus fulfilled all the Messianic prophecies, and Jewish skeptics correctly point out that the an swer is no. As a Christian, I freely confess that there are prophecies about the Messiah that are yet to be ful

filled. This doesn't trouble me because I believe Jesus is still going to fulfill them. The whole point of the Easter story is that Jesus is not dead, and so when someone says, “He didn’t do X,” Christians reply, “You mean Je sus hasn’t done X yet.”

This objection should not surprise us because we see it in the ministry of Jesus Himself. Even His own disci ples were surprised at the nature of Jesus’s Messiahship. Not only did Jesus refuse to launch a rebellion against Rome, He actually submitted to execution by Rome.

This seems surprising until you realize that there are two strands of Messianic prophecy in the Old Testa ment the triumphant and the suffering. The Messiah who rules and the Messiah who is rejected. A very sim ple explanation is that the Messiah comes twice in two different ways. One time he is betrayed, rejected, and killed. The other time, not so much.

Jewish skeptics are right to expect a triumphant Messi ah, and a reading of the book of Revelation will assure them that Christians share the same expectation. This is the Christian doctrine of the return of Christ the Second Coming.

But we see the first coming of Jesus clearly predicted in the suffering strand of Messianic prophecy. One of the most damning-sounding criticisms made about the Christian view of Jesus is that the Old Testament had no notion whatsoever of a divine messiah especially not one who dies but consider Zechariah 12:10:

“And I will pour out on the house of David and the in habitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.”

Focus on the pronouns. “They will look on me.” Who is speaking? God: the one who pours out the Spirit. What happens to “me?” The one speaking gets pierced. What will people do in response? Mourn “him.” Note the shift from “me” to “him.” God was speaking in the first person and now He's speaking in the third person about the same person, a person who is killed and then mourned. Out of such passages are the Messianic con victions about Christ born.

Although Jesus fulfilled dozens of Messianic proph ecies, examining just two of them brings Him into sharp focus. As mentioned, the Messiah must be born in Bethlehem according to Micah 5:2. That restriction alone eliminates the vast majority of humans who have ever lived. Bethlehem is a small town, with a popula tion a smidge over 25,000 today and historically much less than that. That gives us a geographical constraint on the Messiah.

For a chronological constraint, remember that it was foretold that the Messiah would come to the temple shortly before it was destroyed and that this would happen in what we now call the first century. Daniel 9:24-27 says that 69 “sevens” must elapse from the time that the decree for the rebuilding of Jerusalem is issued until the Messiah comes and then afterwards the tem ple will be destroyed. The edict to rebuild Jerusalem was given by Artaxerxes in the 450s BC, and waiting 69 “sevens” yields a date 483 years in the future around 33 AD. Dealing with chronology in antiquity is com plicated and people can quibble about the exact date of this or that, but it is clear that Daniel foresaw the Messiah coming and the temple being destroyed in the first century.

Based on these two prophecies alone, the list of can didates for Messiahship grows short. How many other Jewish figures from the first century were born in Beth lehem and are said to be the Messiah? When you add in other prophecies, such as the Messiah will give his life as an offering for sin and yet be rewarded afterward

There are two strands of Messianic prophecy in the Old Testament — the triumphant and the suffering.

(Isaiah 53:9-11) the short list becomes singular. Jesus practically leaps off the page.

In fact, I think that one reason so many Jewish peo ple today interpret the idea of Messiah as metaphorical is because if you expect a literal, personal Messiah it’s too obviously got to be Jesus. I don't think that's a con sciously thought-through position, but I do think it's there.

It reminds me of a story I heard a pastor share once. He was writing a book on a plane and the flight attendant asked him what he was doing. He said, “I’m a pastor and I’m working on a book. Are you religious?” She said, “I’m Jewish.” He said, “That’s really wonderful, be cause I’m writing about an Old Testament passage right now. I’d love to hear what a Jewish person thinks about it - would you read this and tell me what you think it means?” And he handed her a Bible open to Isaiah 53. She read it and said, “Oh, so you think this is talking about Jesus, right?” And he said, “That’s interesting that you think that, because I never mentioned Jesus.”

The fourth and final reason and perhaps the reason most important for many Jewish people is the mem ory of how Christians have treated Jews throughout the ages. Jewish people have suffered discrimination, per

secution, pogroms and even the Holocaust in nations comprised of many Christians, and even in nations that claim Christianity as the state religion. At times their persecution has come directly from church authorities. This has left many Jewish people with a bitter taste in their mouth and a conviction that whatever Christiani ty stands for it’s nothing they want any part of.

This is a great tragedy that should cause all Christians to lament. Many people who profess the same faith as us have acted wickedly. All we can do is resolve, “Not on our watch.” Antisemitism is one of the great plagues in the world today, and it abounds on college campuses. Be a friend to your Jewish classmates, and rebuke an tisemitic murmurings whenever you hear them. Never forget that you worship a crucified Jew.

In conclusion, Jesus is indeed the Lord’s anointed. Al though He fulfilled key prophecies and has a plan for fulfilling the rest, we should not be surprised that He is nonetheless rejected by the Jewish community. We should gladly call Him Christ. ❖

Glen Davis, an ordained Assemblies of God minister, has been the advisor of Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship at Stanford since 2002. He blogs at theglendavis.com and is on Twitter @theglendavis.

JUSTICE GUIDING LOVE

TO JUST WAR THEORY

JACK McKINNON

Theidea of just war is one which Christians have been divided over since the earliest days of the An te-Nicene Church.[1] It is not my objective here to defend the Just War theory from objections from fellow members of the body of Christ (though I believe it to be true), but rather to lay out the fundamental principles all Just War theories share. Within the Christian tradition, there are three principles I believe Just War theory rests upon: necessity, teleology, and restraint.

NECESSITY

Christ and the Church have universally condemned the murder and the use of violence against one’s fellow man. Murder and hatred in one’s own heart are horrible sins whereby we violate the image of God in others and in our own selves. Yet, there is precedent within the Scrip

tures for war both as a means of God issuing judgment on other nations and in self-defense.[2] The spirit of Just War, accordingly, is not something enthusiastic but rather a terribly somber one, sanctioning war for the sake of a greater good. The Scriptural sanction for the power of the sword by a state entity, rather than a renegade of individu als, is most clearly found in Romans 13. The apostle Paul, therein, elucidates the role of the sword in a polity for the sake of punishing wrongdoings. For the Just War theorist, the stance of Christ and His Church towards war is some thing far more like toleration than an endorsement. This sentiment is captured succinctly by the blessed bishop of Hippo:

“Peace should be the object of your desire; war should be waged only as a necessity, and waged only that God may by it deliver men from the necessity and preserve them in peace

… Let necessity, therefore, and not your will, slay the enemy who fights against you.”[3]

TELEOLOGY

“When war for a just cause has broken out, it must not be waged so as to ruin the people against whom it is directed, but only so as to obtain one’s rights and the defense of one’s country and in order that from that war peace and security may in time result.”[4]

The Christian sees all of life and the universe with respect to a purpose or an end; war is no exception. Yet, that (just) war is “naturally” for the sake of peace is not without qualification. Strictly speaking, the natural man is not a sinner, but a perfect and innocent creation of God. What we consider “natural” is the state between the Fall and the parousia, yet God did not intend nor design man with the natural inclination towards evil. Therefore, when we say that peace is the natural end of war we must qualify this by examining the ultimate purpose of war within God’s prov idential rule and revelation. As we are in the interim state between the Assumption and Consummation, we live in a state of the inauguration of the Kingdom of God: what will be is not yet entirely but in part.

Accordingly, some of the applications of Christian ideals are temporary. For example, for those advocating a form of Christian republicanism — with a flourishing, virtuous society, and a strong Church — this ideal is never fully realized like any eternal ideal, and is not meant to be an eternal ideal. For the most perfect and true society of men will be under the Monarchy of Christ where there is no need to counter ambition with ambition as the accom modations of original and actual sin is no more. Analo gously, war serves a temporary end: ideally, it is to pursue peace, exact justice, and be a means of self-defense. But at the second advent of Christ, there shall be no more wars

because the need shall have gone away with the former world, Creation having been made gloriously anew.[5] This is derivative of the wider application of the Christian vir tues of love and justice, where justice guides and directs love to its proper object.

RESTRAINT

From the principles of necessity and teleology, we reach the practical application of restraint. In practice, there are a series of steps and qualifications for a war to be con sidered just. The just war must not only begin with a just cause but must be conducted with a proportional use of the sword and concluded so as to ensure peace and avoid unnecessary injury to the opposite party.

There are five core qualifications for a just war. They are as follows: last resort, legitimate authority, just cause, ap propriate goals, and moral means. The three principles of necessity, teleology, and restraint are the foundation for the practical conditions of waging a just war. War insofar as it is necessary entails that it is the last resort of a nation trying to resolve a wrong through peaceful means. Teleol ogy covers the next three, and restraint begets the moral means.

CONCLUSION

Just War theory is not an attempt to make the Church Militant a worldly power. It is rather a sober necessity whereby the Church aims to curb greater evils through justice with the aim of love. Yet, its proponents do not look for the Church to become an empire and conquer the world, but rather they eagerly await the reign of the LORD’s Anointed One and the everlasting communion of the saints where the sword is sheathed and Christ shall be all and in all.[6] ❖

[1] Christian Attitudes Towards War and Peace, Chapter VI. [2] Exodus 22:2, Genesis 14,1 Kings 11:29-39.

[3] From Augustine in To Count Boniface, Letter 189, trans. J. G. Cunningham, in The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers (1st series) 1. [4] From Francisco de Vitoria in De Indiis et de Iure Belli Relectio nes second reflection, trans. J. P. Bate, in Classics of International Law, ed. J. B. Scott (1944).

[5] Revelation 21:4-5. [6] Ephesians 6:12.

Jack McKinnon is a junior studying Philosophy and Clas sics. He plans to pursue professional degrees in both Philos ophy and Theology. His main academic interests are meta physics, Church History, and Patristics.

The Christian sees all of life and the universe with respect to a purpose or an end; war is no exception.

THE HORROR OF THE PASSION

BECCA DE LOS SANTOS

“It is finished!”[1] In these three words, the char acteristics of Jesus and his life that once ap peared divine and eternal appear more mortal and temporary than anything else. As a Christian, Je sus’s death eerily feels like a memory of my own rather than that of the onlookers, persecutors, or the authors of the Gospels. Nearly two thousand years later, I am able to make sense of Jesus’s death. I read these three words already knowing that they were not the end. Instead, they are the beginning of a new faith, a cult within the Roman empire, and the dominant religion worldwide today.

Often, modern readers read the gruesome final period of Jesus’s life with rosy, easily misinterpreting lenses.

Therefore, I propose a deviance from popular culture and disbelief. I propose a commitment shared between you and me, dear reader, that we accept Jesus’s death in the manner that the authors of the Gospels did: with full belief. No anticipation of unprecedented resurrec tion. And in this same vein of thought, we ultimately cannot be anything but overcome with the horror of Jesus’s crucifixion and the events leading up to it.

However, being horrified isn’t an automatic response in the absence of context. Henceforth, in an effort to unravel the horror of the Passion, I will approach the Gospels with an adopted framework of abject horror from Julia Kristeva’s “Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection.” Then, I will draw from Noël Caroll’s The

Philosophy of Horror to evaluate the purpose of the Pas sion’s horror.

In order to understand what gives birth to the horror of the Passion, we must look towards the abject which unveils itself through Jesus’s ambiguous nature. It is thus imperative to establish what the word “abject” pos sesses on its own, “having only one quality of the ob ject — that of being opposed to” (Kristeva, 1982, p. 1). This opposing nature manifests itself in “what disturbs identity, system, order. What does not respect borders, positions, rules. The in-between, the ambiguous, the composite” (Kristeva, 1982, p. 4). It is indeed Jesus who personifies the abject for the first-century Roman and Jewish people in Jerusalem. This is made evident by his trial before Roman governor Pilate who questions His kingship over the Jews:

“Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.’ Pilate therefore said to Him, ‘Are You a king then?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear wit ness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”[2]

Although Jesus himself is of this world, His sovereign realm as God-incarnate exceeds the temporal boundar ies of manmade kingdoms such as the Roman Empire where He finds himself. It is indeed the same Jesus who empowers us to stand firm against the ways of the world today, so that we may live free of the chains of tempta tion and sin.[3] Our Lord and Savior Jesus calls us to be not of this world despite the fact that we are constantly, physically surrounded by it. Because He, simultaneous ly man and king of all kings “from another place,” did it first. Man and Lord of all, Jesus is the “abject” and the “in-between” — residing inside and outside human laws and nature — to which Kristeva alludes.

It is the final moments of Jesus’s life that we are most able to see how He embodies the abject. Persecuted and judged, Jesus sacrificed himself because He knows of all that we lack as humans, willing to kill the most inno cent man of them all. Moreover, He knows all that we need: the blood of the lamb to deliver us from our own

depravity. And in this deliverance, we can receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

As Christians and followers of Jesus, we were made to follow in Christ’s footsteps, to break out of alignment and agreement with this sinful world. And unfortu nately, the world does not play by the rules of what’s “right.” There is nothing truly just in the call for Jesus’s death. While we can look at His sacrifice, we also can see at the root of the Passion, is the world’s abjection, or rather horror at the sight of Jesus’s opposing upright ness. Their horror is nothing but “immoral, sinister, scheming, and shady … [like] a friend who stabs you” (Kristeva, 1982, p. 4). Indeed, when His spirit is inside of us, it is no wonder that we face the harsh criticism that the world has to offer.

Ultimately, Jesus’s final moments are defined by the ab jection of the society around Him. It translates into the exchanges between the chief priests and with Judas Is cariot, one of the twelve original Apostles:

“Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him … Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?’ And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver. So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.”[4]

This response is not a passive act on behalf of those around Jesus. Rather, they must choose the immoral, the sinister. They must choose to act unjustly. Horror is indeed a conscious reaction.

Our Lord and Savior Jesus calls us to be not of this world despite the fact that we are constantly, physically surrounded by it.

However, we must not be hasty to assume that horror is a one-way reaction. Kristeva takes for example the experience of loathing an object to demonstrate this push-and-pull relationship:

“The spasms and vomiting that protect me. The repug nance, the retching that thrusts me to the side and turns me away from defilement, sewage, and muck. The shame of compromise, of being in the middle of treachery. The fascinated start that leads me toward and separates me from them” (Kristeva, 1982, p. 2).

This is the same tension that Judas experiences. The shame of compromise replaces the former sentiments of betrayal, so much so that he is driven to suicide in the following chapter.

“Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been con demned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, ‘I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.’ … Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and depart ed, and went and hanged himself.”[5]

Are we not to feel similarly to Judas? Are we, man, not to feel remorseful for having tortured, mocked, and slaughtered God-incarnate who came to testify to the truth in the face of our deprivation?

You, dear reader, and I have been reading the Gospels as historical accounts, permitting us to engage with the text side-by-side with Kristeva. It is at this point that I suggest we set aside the historical and take on the liter ary. In embracing the narrative characteristics of these biblical accounts, a new layer of horror reveals itself and swells up inside of each one of us: the discomfort and unease of reading about an innocent man’s death. Whether or not we dare call the Gospels horror, the same effects produce themselves as Noêl Carroll de scribes:

“In horror fictions, the emotions of the audience are supposed to mirror those of the positive human char acters in certain, but not all, respects. Our responses are supposed to converge (but not exactly duplicate) those of the characters. This mirroring effect, moreover, is a key feature of the horror genre. For it is not the case for every genre that the audience response is supposed to

repeat certain of the elements of the emotional state of characters” (Carroll, 1990, p. 18).

Even prior to Jesus’s crucifixion, Judas’s sorrow and distress sets a precedent for others to follow. And later after His death, others do the same:

“So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glo rified God, saying, ‘Certainly this was a righteous Man!’ And the whole crowd who came together to that sight, seeing what had been done, beat their breasts and re turned.”[6]

These reactions are not only fitting for those who wit nessed Jesus’s death, but also for us. The centurion’s awe and the inward contrition of those who beat their breasts are exemplary, for they demonstrate an attempt to make meaning of this moment. In this way, the emo tions of those in the narrative and our own help us make sense of the senseless and the monstrous actions of man. They guide us to understanding that Jesus, as the Son of Man, was truly righteous, without fault, and undeserving to have suffered at the hands of our way wardness. Nevertheless, He did.

Within horror, this is the power of emotions– the word itself stemming from the Latin term emovere, meaning to “move out.” They serve to produce “a transition or migration — a change of state, a moving out of a normal physical state to an agitated one, one marked by inner movings” (Carroll, 1990, p. 24). They facilitate an understanding of Jesus’s death — otherwise illogical and unreasonable — and thus, draw us closer to trans formation in acknowledging our own guiltiness and inferiority:

“Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holi est by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”[7]

Displayed broken on the cross He carried, Jesus and His suffering are nothing to us unless we read with a desire to understand and be changed by others’ and our own emotions. We must commit to the text in a way that it

was intended to be read: with horror. It is of the utmost importance that we not fall victim to the glossy glaze many put over Jesus’s crucifixion, seeking only the rosy aspects of the Passion.

As humans, we must see within ourselves the horror of our sinful nature in order to understand how much we need Jesus. It is easy to think that in reading the Passion, we would not act like Judas or the chief priests. Instead, we would be like the centurion and the crowd. And maybe that is the truth. But I beg that we consider if we are all completely above the immoral, the sinister, the scheming, or the shady. Do we not lie to one an other? Do we not think what ought not to? Do we say things that we don’t regret? Do we act in ways that we wished we didn’t?

Simply said, there is no good news without the bad. There is no Easter without Good Friday. No resurrec tion without the crucifixion. No salvation without the sacrifice. The horror of the Passion must prevail — even if only momentarily — so that the inexplicable joy of the resurrection can overcome it just as Jesus overcame the grave on behalf of our sins. ❖

[1] John 19:30.

[2] John 18:36-37, NKJV.

[3] Titus 2:14.

[4] Matthew 26:3-4, 14-16, NKJV.

[5] Matthew 27:3-5, NKJV.

[6] Luke 23:47-48, NKJV.

[7] Hebrews 10:19-22, NKJV.

Becca De Los Santos is a sophomore studying French and History. She is deeply passionate about language and how humans have communicated over time, especially con cerning the greatest message to communicate: the Gospel.

As humans, we must see within ourselves the horror of our sinful nature in order to understand how much we need Jesus.

JEHOVAH SHALOM

LAURA GEQUELIN

AsI watch the armies make their descent into the valley, the only sound that fills my ears is laughter.

I wish I could say that today was a day until any other. That I had never seen my people go to battle before, that I had never seen battles raging and evil rising up. I wish I could say that I have known peace, but there has never been peace here. Will there ever be? The cycle begins the same. Whether by individuals or groups, plans are made to cause evil. Counsels are put together to set evil in mo tion. Nations rage and fight. We are told they fight each other and that there is always some good reason for doing so. But I wonder who they really fight against.

I’ve heard whispers about a different kind of king, a King whose reign is known by peace. I hear the echoes of His name like a cacophony of murmurs, too quiet to be

heard individually, but together, form a chorus. As I walk through the streets, I know that we all whisper the name of this King. Deep in the homes where mothers pray into their pillows for peace. Under their covers, children lay and dream about what peace might be like. On the roof tops where the youth sit in the middle of the night, won dering what it would take for peace to happen. Behind the door of every home as fathers walk out into a peaceless world.

Even louder than this chorus, I hear His name most clearly in the laughter that rises right as the battles do. A laughter that does not fear the battles nor the future itself. A laugh ter that must know how both end.

His name is Jehovah Shalom [2] The Lord our Peace.

I hear His name and I know peace.

His peace is the setting sun after a storm, painting the once-dangerous clouds every shade of beauty imaginable. His peace is the gentle breeze combing through fields of grass. His peace is the still small whisper heard on a dis tant mountaintop.[3] His peace is the kind of embrace that brings warmth to a soul.

But His peace is also the sound of “Be still!” ringing out over the waves of a storm made calm.[4] His peace is the rebuke that causes weapons to fall and their carriers to fall on their knees and faces.[5] His peace is a faith-filled “Come forth!” that brings dead things back to life.[6] His peace is a stone rolled away, pronouncing the final victo ry over sin and death.[7] His peace is the sharp sword of the Word of God which can divide soul and spirit, joint and marrows, and discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart.[8] His peace is an assurance that He is returning to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, a reign of righ teousness, a reign of strength, a reign of justice, a reign of peace.[9]

His peace is the authority to break up chaos. He is the Au thor of clarity, not confusion.[10] His throne is not on this earth where earthly kings conspire. He is enthroned in heaven, and the earth is His footstool.[11] He reigns forever and ever.[12] He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.[13] His wisdom is unsearchable in its depth.[14] His power is unending, for nothing is too hard for Him.[15] He created all things, and by His will, we were created.[16] He is holy

and worthy to receive all glory and honor and power.[17] With Him, all things are possible.[18]

Today, as I watch from the mountaintop, I join the chorus I hear everywhere I go. I cry out, “Jehovah Shalom!” I turn my ear to hear His response.

When I hear His laughter, I hear peace. ❖

[1] Psalm 2:1-6, NKJV.

[2] Judges 6:24, NLT.

[3] 1 Kings 19:11-12, NLT.

[4] Mark 4:35-41, NLT.

[5] Philippians 2:10-11, NLT.

[6] John 11:40-44, NLT.

[7] Romans 8:2, NKJV; Mark 16:4, NLT.

[8] Hebrews 4:12, NKJV.

[9] Revelation 19:11-16, NKJV.

[10] 1 Corinthians 14:33, NKJV.

[11] Isaiah 66:1, NKJV.

[12] Exodus 15:18, NKJV.

[13] Hebrews 13:8, NLT.

[14] Romans 11:33, NLT.

[15] Jeremiah 32:17, NLT.

[16] Revelation 4:11, NKJV.

[17] Colossians 1:16, NKJV. [18] Matthew 19:26, NLT.

Laura Gequelin is a sophomore studying Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, with a focus in Education, as well as interests in psychology, linguistics, Portuguese, Span ish, and of course, creative writing! She is involved with the atre on campus, works as a Stanford Tour guide, and will serve as vice president of Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship next year. Laura has loved to write since she was a kid, and becoming an author was her first ambition. She now be lieves that our greatest ambition is simply to experience the eternal life that comes by knowing the Father, “the only true God, and Jesus Christ,” who God sent to us, and to enjoy the gift Jesus left us of the Holy Spirit, who is the resurrection power of God living inside of us! (John 16:7, 17:3; Romans 8:11)

His peace is the authority to break up chaos. He is the Author of clarity, not confusion.

BLUEGILL

KAYLA SEVERSON

Sundrops fell from heaven the day my father taught me how to fish: slink the worm on a hook, flick your wrist to cast, give some slack, release, wait; watch the bobber dance, then fall under, feel the line grow taut, the pole tip arch over, pull up to pierce the bottom lip, reel gently tight, trailing diamonds in rippled water to behold a palm-sized fish with a navy ink tab, spiked and shimmering.

The sky broke into a rainbow as God watched us, and I learned how to comb the fins back without drawing blood, stand up in the canoe without tipping, locate a loon by its tremolo, paddle past the weeds, and cut through water quiet

to catch the red-winged black birds weaving through wild rice stalks at sundown. Fireflies flickered all around us as God tossed glitter in the sky, mosquitoes nibbled at our cheeks, porch lights switched on, and above me, a deep prussian blue I could float and swim up into, watching the fishermen fish, the artists create, and little girls learn to be loved.

My father wasn’t a perfect man; I saw him kiss my mother once, a quick goodbye on the cheek before work twelve years ago, I don’t like to believe what I heard, that he left her at the hospital after giving birth to me, and she cried while the phone kept ringing, then fell asleep.

He used to be an artist (I like to think all of us always once were) in his 20s, chasing butterflies on film, carving wild horses running through canyons out of wood now stuffed in the closet along with the cassette tapes and old Christmas decorations.

I keep his butterflies still tacked on my walls; I want to be more like how I imagine he once was, a free spirit lost in God’s world delighting in tiny winged beings, little flickers of color on paper.

He heard I liked butterflies, so he sent me a blue morpho boxed in glass, then hummingbirds, hence my earrings, then down the line a clock, necklace, flowers, soap; things keep coming, and things keep going, tucked away in drawers, eaten up, or withered, while the gifts God gives me stay.

He gives me peace, love, hope, grace, mercy and magnolia leaves He lets blush with flowers each spring,

Indian summers, laughter, fingers fashioned to paint watercolors, pen poetry, pick lilies, eyes to smile with, and hands to hold and be held by.

Both of my fathers taught me how to fish, one for fish, and one for men one with a reel, worms, and plastic lures, the other with love, joy, and patience, as I’m giving and receiving, forgiving and forgiven, loving and being loved.

Driving to the airport with my father over break, I sat beside him silent as snowflakes collected across the windshield and the man who used to yell when I cried, scribbled his words in all caps, and talked at full volume, quieted; asked why I seemed so blue, and as I spoke, he listened then told me to never let yourself be strung along by someone who can’t keep you.

Flying back to the bay, I felt the weight fall off me as I forgave my father, just as Jesus forgave me for falling so short as the daughter of a perfect God who sent His son to set me free.

I felt God love me through a broken man, the one He chose to be my father before He separated water from water, called it sky, filled the lakes with bluegill, blessed them, and died to give us life. ❖

Kayla Severson is a senior from Minnesota studying Computer Graphics & Animation. She loves telling a story through lighting and shading in computer graphics media, as well as conveying the beauty of nature through painting and poetry. Currently, she’s working to develop an interactive butterfly exhibit in VR for users to learn more about individual butterflies such as blue morphos and paper kites, along with their environments and mi gration patterns. Kayla also enjoys kayaking, film pho tography, tide pooling in Monterey Bay, and spending time with her golden retriever, Daisy.

THE ROLE OF POLITICS IN A VIRTUOUS CHRISTIAN LIFE

APONTE

Mydear friends, it grieves me to say that we live in difficult days. COVID-19 and corruption ravage the planet. Evil rulers devise policy measures that benefit an increasingly amoral society yet marginalize the Church. The United States of America is no longer a beacon of godly virtue but rather promotes practices that are antithetical to our Gospel. And finally, Christians are more concerned with broad denominational difference and cultural appeasement than upholding biblical values and promoting unity within the body of Christ.[1] What can we do to combat this wave of worldliness washing over our nation?

I submit to you, dear friends, that we are to engage in political matters. As it stands, however, I fear that many brothers and sisters in Christ avoid political discourse and participation. Certainly, the realm of politics is one that does not immediately lend itself to biblical practices like charity and selfless love. However, it is imperative that we insert ourselves and our viewpoints nonetheless. Log ically, if Christians abstain from critically analyzing poli cy, voting for morally upright candidates, and promoting godly values on a local, statewide, and national scale, I worry that society at large will irreversibly reject morality.

That said, my goal in this piece is not to educate believers on how to vote or best involve themselves in political mat ters. Rather, I encourage believers to approach the con

versation surrounding politics with an open and willing mind. In light of this, I propose that we as Christians col lectively adhere to the following three guidelines: 1) pray for our government leaders, for only God can truly change their hearts and quell earthly motive, 2) love fellow broth ers and sisters in Christ who disagree politically, yet none theless remain firmly grounded in biblical conviction, and 3) do not be deterred from politics by partisanship.

Above all else, my dear friends, we are called first and foremost to pray for government leaders. And yes, even those whom we vehemently disagree with. And why, dear friends, must we ardently intercede on our leaders’ be half? The reason is simple: we are called to do so! In his first epistle to Timothy, Paul implores Timothy to pray in cessantly for all men, particularly those granted authority: “I exhort therefore, that … supplications, prayers, inter cessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority … for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.”[2]

There are two notably important points to glean from this passage. First, not only did Paul compel Timothy — and all believers thereafter — to pray for those around him, but rather Paul urged him to do so while giving thanks. Dear friends, in light of our calling to be cheerful in heart, let us similarly praise God for our leadership.[3] God not only hears our thanksgiving but desires it as we pray to

Him.

Second, our prayer and adulation are “good and accept able” in the eyes of our Savior. What greater motive do we possess than to please our Lord God Almighty? Indeed, Paul made it clear to the Galatian church that his primary purpose as an apostle is to honor God over man: “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”[4]

From this moment onward, commit yourself to fervent thanksgiving and a devoted prayer life, even if it means operating against the will and approval of man. According to Paul, this — thanksgiving and ardent prayer — is the telltale sign of full-fledged devotion to Christ. Certainly, we are endowed with no greater privilege than to honor and serve the very one who died for us.

Finally, ask God to convict his appointed leaders with the Gospel and direct them to earnest faith in Christ. With out the fundamental truth of the Gospel, no leader can sufficiently operate in accordance with God’s desires. Of course, God’s will shall be done regardless of salvation; as King Solomon declares in Proverbs 21, “The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.”[5] Yet, it is important nonetheless to pray on behalf of our leaders’ salvation, so that their in fluence can encourage transformation in the lives of their subjects.

And if you, my dear friends, are tempted to doubt in God’s ability to save even the most wicked of leaders, recall that your prayers are not futile. As Moses succeeded in con vincing God to not destroy His people, so too and with similar conviction must we urge God to have mercy on those in authority.[6] In the words of James, “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”[7]

My dear friends, do not neglect to love your brothers and sisters in Christ as you strive toward political truth. As someone who is deeply political, I struggle to view others through the lens of Christ. Indeed, I burden myself with frustration and annoyance whenever a fellow Christian disagrees with me on a political matter or remains apo litical. Friends, unless it is a matter of faith, don’t divide the body of Christ over politics. In his first epistle to the Corinthian Church, Paul urges the body of believers to abstain from division, “that there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care

one for another.”[8] I cannot emphasize this enough: do not divide the Church over politics. Not only is it dishonoring to God, but you run the risk of isolating spiritually imma ture believers from the faith.

Yet, I do not mean to say that you should alter your con victions to mirror those around you who differ political ly. To the contrary, I submit to you that believers must hold fast to a well-informed political ideology that closely aligns with biblical teaching. Only then, I believe, should you involve yourself in politics. Indeed, how can you vote for principled candidates if you yourself fail to align your own political compass with biblical truth? I contend that it is not only unwise but is vastly detrimental to vote based on emotion, familial ties, and unfounded belief.

How then does one acquire such strong political convic tion? The first step harkens back to what was previously addressed in the second paragraph: pray. As Paul com manded the Thessalonians, so too are we encouraged to pray without ceasing.[9] Dear friends, ask that God con vict you with the truth and that He lead you to guiding principles in Scripture; the word of God shall surely act as “a lamp unto [your] feet, and a light unto [your] path.”[10] Similarly, request of God that you, upon developing a po litical conviction, encourage fellow brothers and sisters to familiarize themselves with the truth of the Bible so that they too are able to cement their own political beliefs and moral conviction.

In the previous paragraph, I encourage you to embrace love yet to also remain firm in biblically rooted political conviction. In this final section, I hope to encourage those of you who currently abstain from politics to not be de terred by partisanship. I would be remiss in this discus sion if I failed to define partisan. The word itself is often

Friends, unless it is a matter of faith, don’t divide the body of Christ over politics.

employed to describe those who are ardently committed members of a political affiliation. Many Christian leaders fear that partisan politics — stereotypically characterized by polarity and division amongst those of conflicting viewpoints — will lead to animosity within the Church. Unfortunately, this fear is substantiated by innumerable instances of church splits resulting from irreconcilable political disagreements.

That said, I desire for Christians to understand that poli tics need not always be partisan. I want to submit to you, my dear friends, that you are not responsible for align ing with an earthly party. Rather, you are responsible for aligning your political agenda with God’s divine plan. I al ready addressed this above, yet I want to emphasize again how important it is that you ground yourself in the Bible prior to any form of political conviction. I believe firmly that if all believers were to base their political leanings off the truth of the Bible, there would be no political division in the Church. The reason division exists, therefore, is due to the inconvenient truth that we are all sinners tainted by the ways of the world. Consequently, we are unable to apply biblical principles perfectly to politics. However, my sincere hope is that we all come together as one body of believers and, absent from any worldly bias, approach pol itics with a biblical perspective.

As I conclude this piece, I hope that you are personally encouraged to hold fast, unabashedly cling to political conviction, and love those who disagree with you. As cit izens with rights, you have a special obligation to your civil society. Thus, you ought to promote godliness and

shun godlessness. Always remember that the Bible is your guide, your lamp, and your light. Never forsake it. Final ly, remember to always speak the truth in love, as Paul so aptly commanded the believers in Ephesus.[11] Let me make it abundantly clear: love is not catering to the weak er brethren by wavering in your own conviction.[12] If you believe something to be true, what greater form of love is there than to kindly approach those who disagree with a heart seeking to foster growth. I believe that God grants each one of us conviction for a reason, so remain firm and walk in obedience according to His divine will. Amen. ❖

[1] Ephesians 2:22.

[2] 1 Timothy 2:1-2, KJV.

[3] Philippians 2:14.

[4] Galatians 1:10, KJV.

[5] Proverbs 21:1, KJV.

[6] Exodus 32:11-14.

[7] James 5:16, KJV.

[8] 1 Corinthians 12:25, KJV.

[9] 1 Thessalonians 5:17.

[10] Psalm 119:105, KJV.

[11] Ephesians 4:15.

[12] 1 Thessalonians 5:14.

Brandon is a sophomore pursuing a degree in economics and biology. His academic interests include macroeconomics, cellular biology, and classical music. Aside from Vox Clara, Brandon serves as an active leader in Chi Alpha, studies classical violin under Robin Sharp, conducts COVID-19 research under Dr. Bhattacharya, and has recently begun writing for the Stanford Review. After Stanford, Brandon hopes to work at a think tank, where he will conduct re search to further advance healthcare policy.

HAGIA SOPHIA: A SENSORIAL MANIFESTATION OF GOD ’S LOVE

Byzantium

has a long history of expanding on Bib lical texts through images. For example, illustrated copies of the Psalms from the 8th and 9th centuries add a visual dimension to biblical texts.[1] In “Pictures are Good to Think With,” Leslie Brubaker explains the ben efit of speaking with images: “[Images] can absorb and promote ideologies of what is worth remembering, and demonstrate how it is to be remembered, in some ways more easily than words, precisely because images are inar ticulate — they can present the shift “intuitively,” without labored explanation.”[2] Examining manuscripts like the illustrated psalms makes it clear that Byzantium under stood that visual scriptural interpretation surpasses the bounds of literary scriptural interpretation.

As Byzantium sought to understand the holy scriptures, they did not stop at visual exegesis — which speaks easily to our modern understanding of the image as a simple elaboration of the text—but pushed beyond into perfor mative iconicity and embodied morphosis. When Max imus the Confessor, a Byzantine monk, theologian, and scholar, explained the goal of the Christian life in Am biguum 10 (628-638), he tangentially explained perfor mative iconicity: “As the soul is made one with God in his fullness, in a way beyond knowing, they [i.e., humans] contemplate it [i.e., the soul] in its fullness, as image of the archetype: containing by likeness in mind, reason, and spirit a resemblance to God, as much as this is possible.”[3] Essentially, to be a Byzantine Christian meant to contem plate God through active adoration (performative iconic ity) to the point of becoming one with Him (embodied morphosis). The adoration of God was facilitated through churches and basilicas. To cross the threshold from daily life into a divinely inspired building freed the mind from worldly distraction so that it could shift into undivided contemplation. As theaters for the divine liturgy, Byzan tine churches and basilicas embodied the holy scriptures to the fullest extent and served as places for Christians to saturate in God’s presence. Perhaps the greatest of these is Hagia Sophia.[4]

The basilica was first built in 360 CE in Constantinople, now Istanbul, by Emperor Constantine for the Greek church. Hagia Sophia’s structure cascades down from the towering central dome into full and semi domes. Forty windows pierce the cupola’s base as it rises upward to ward heaven. Ribbons of light leave no crevice untouched by the brilliant sun as they refract throughout the spar kling interior. During the Byzantine empire, Hagia Sophia stood as a place of Christian worship and a performative

icon of Biblical texts. Scholars could spend an eternity an alyzing how the Word of God is brought forth in Hagia Sophia; for this reason, I’ve limited my examination of the basilica’s connection to scripture to Ephesians 3:1819: “so that you may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the hyperbolic love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be saturated with all the saturation of God.”[5]

Hagia Sophia’s initial connection to Ephesians 3:18-19 lies in traditional Byzantine liturgy: each year on the sev enth Sunday after Easter, Ephesians was read during the liturgy of the Feast of Pentecost under the great dome of Hagia Sophia. The basilica’s second connection to Ephe sians 3:18-19 lies in its dedication to Holy Wisdom. Paul brings forth a discussion of comprehension and surpass ing knowledge, praying that the Ephesians “may have the power to comprehend … the hyperbolic love of Christ.” According to Nadine Schibille in Hagia Sophia and the Byzantine Aesthetic Experience, “Upon entering the new church of Hagia Sophia in December 537 CE, Justinian is said to have exclaimed (as a 9th century source declares) ‘o Solomon, I have conquered / surpassed thee.’”[6] Designed to surpass in grandeur and wisdom that of Solomon, the wisest man in the Bible, Hagia Sophia became a space in dwelt by God and His infinite knowledge.[7] It was a vessel through which God’s infinite mysteries could begin to be revealed, and where the Lord’s people could be infused with His glory. Thus, Hagia Sophia is not merely a visual exegesis of Ephesians 3:18-19, but the building embodies and becomes the scripture. Through Hagia Sophia’s litur gy and architecture, congregants are saturated with the meaning of Ephesians 3:18-19 and with God’s holy pres ence.

LITURGY

Anthropologists agree that vivid imagination is necessary for embodied morphosis and performative iconicity. In Hagia Sophia’s holy space, there exists two main stimu lants of imagination: participation in ritual and sensual perception.[8] Liturgical participation, the equivalent of rituals for the Byzantine church, in Hagia Sophia becomes a manifestation of Ephesians 3:18b — “together with all the saints.” In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul explains what it means to be together with God’s holy people. Though some might assume in Ephesians 17b’s “And I pray that you,” Paul is using the singular “you,” or referring to ev ery believer individually, an exegetical reading leads to the

correct conclusion that Paul is using the plural “you,” in order to emphasize the communal action of a body of be lievers coming together under a common belief in Christ as Savior. We can refer back to the beginning of Ephesians, where Paul describes God’s chosen people — under the New Covenant, not only Jews but Gentiles also — unit ing under God’s predestined plan.[9] The act of throwing off earthly markers of identity that cause separation in the Body of Christ to separate is vital in the Christian faith. This is the purpose of the liturgy: to join in communal response to God’s goodness through praise, thanksgiving, remembrance, supplication, and repentance.

The Eucharistic procession — the ultimate act of coming together with all the saints — occurs between the Byzan tine third and sixth hours (9 AM and 12 PM). The sun light that enters into Hagia Sophia through the apse and the dome’s windows varies depending on the time of year. On the winter solstice, the sun begins by shining through the apse and ends by passing over the altar, on which the elements would be placed. The sanctuary is completely illuminated, reflecting ordained revelation of the myster ies of God through Christ’s coming as an infant. On the summer solstice between the hours of 9 AM and 12 PM, direct light fades and catches briefly in the apse before dy ing out.[10] The dimmed illumination in the summer re flects the darkening of the world during the Great Three Days and the concealed mysteries of Christ. It was during this time that Christ’s followers waited, grieving and con fused, for the fulfillment of God’s promises. God ordains comprehension of his mysteries on his timing so that his will might be perfectly carried out, and this reflects in the

changing illumination of Hagia Sophia during the Eucha ristic procession throughout the year.

Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, a 6th century Byzantine Christian theologian, links comprehension and liturgy to performative iconicity. During the Eucharistic rite, the congregation fills Hagia Sophia’s empty sanctuary. In The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, Pseudo-Dionysius describes how every eye watches as the hierarch and the priests first wash their hands. The hierarch, a man of God, stands before Hagia Sophia’s gold and jewel-studded altar to praise the divine works of the bread and wine.[11] A screen stands be hind the altar but doesn’t hide it, suggesting that the mys tery of Christ is within reach. After praising the bread and wine, held by a silver ciborium and chalice, the hierarch cries out, “It is you who said, ‘Do this in remembrance of me,’” repeating Christ’s commandment at the Last Supper. [12] He prays to be made worthy of the task at hand, and then uncovers and lifts into view the body of Christ. Com munion is given first to the clergy, then the emperor, and finally to the congregation, so that they may all be made one with Christ. Thus, in the words of Pseudo-Dionysius:

“[The hierarch] shows how out of love to humanity Christ emerged from the hiddenness of his divinity to take on hu man shape, to be utterly incarnate among us while yet re maining unmixed. He shows how he came down to us from his own natural unity to our fragmented level, yet without change. He shows how, inspired by love for us, his kindly ac tivities called the human race to participation with himself and to have a share in his own goodness, if we would make ourselves one with his divine life and imitate it as far as we

can, so that we may achieve perfection and truly enter into communion with God and the divine things.”[13]

Love inspired Christ to reveal himself to us through his descent and sacrifice, so that our individual and collec tive brokenness could be healed. Christians respond to Christ’s hyperbolic charity by partaking in his body and blood. This coming together under Hagia Sophia’s sanctu ary to form the body of Christ and consume the body of Christ results in a refreshing of each congregant’s soul and provokes a remembrance of Christ’s sacrifice for the wash ing away of their sins.[14] Just as Ephesians 3:18-19’s no tion of comprehension discussed in the previous section is defined by knowledge of the hyperbolic excess of God’s love, charity, and grace, receiving communion allows each congregant to taste God’s goodness. The cup spills over and the bread is broken, giving food and drink but never satiety, and the congregant is simultaneously filled with the grace of God but leaves continually thirsting to be ev ermore in His presence. Through the continual renewal of the spiritual body by weekly consuming Christ’s body, Hagia Sophia’s congregants imitate Christ’s life and divin ity in a collective performance of Christomimesis, that is: following Christ’s commands so that our nature may be changed to become more like His.

ARCHITECTURE

How then does the second stimulant of imagination and performative iconicity — sensual perception — appear in Hagia Sophia? We can pair the last half of Ephesians 3:1819 with an analysis of Hagia Sophia’s dome to answer this

question. Ephesians 3:18c-19 says, “what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the hyper bolic love of Christ which surpasses knowledge that you may be saturated with all the saturation of God.” In my ex amination of these verses, I will focus on the architectural qualities and aural phenomenon of Hagia Sophia’s dome.

In Jean-Luc Marion’s Givenness and Revelation, he points out that Paul’s phrasing of Ephesians 3:19c presents a strange characteristic: “hyperbolic charity is described ac cording to four dimensions, while the wisdom of philos ophy has never mobilized more than three dimensions to describe space.”[15] Perhaps this is a reference to an added fourth dimension, a spiritual dimension beyond the three physical dimensions (height, length, breadth). More like ly, it is a reference to Christ’s enveloping love. In Thomas Aquinas’ commentary on Paul’s epistle, Aquinas argues that his hyperbole is shown in purest form through his atonement on the cross.

“The cross-beam has breadth and to it his hands were nailed because through charity our good works ought to stretch out even to adversaries: ‘The Lord brought me forth into a broad place’ (Psalm 17:20). The trunk of the cross has length against which the whole body leans since charity ought to be enduring, thus sustaining and saving man: ‘He that shall persevere unto the end, he shall be saved’ (Matthew 10:22). The projection of wood [above the cross-beam], against which the head is thrown back, has height since our hope must rise toward the eternal and the divine: ‘The head of ev ery man is Christ’ (1 Corinthians 11:3). The cross is braced by its depth which lies concealed beneath the ground; it is not seen because the depth of the divine love which sustains us is not visible insofar as the plans of predestination, as was said above, are beyond our intelligence.”[16]

Thus we comprehend the power of love and recognize the surpassing quality of Christ’s divine love, which lies be yond our understanding. By observing Christ’s love from the four dimensions of the cross, which stretches out in finitely in every direction, we are immersed in his hyper bolic nature. We can no longer observe Christ’s love from arm’s length, but we are enveloped by Him.

In the same way, the excess of the four dimensions pre sented by Paul are reflected in the four architectural di mensions of Hagia Sophia’s expansive structure, which climaxes in the dome. As the dome stretches out in four directions, it further reveals a mirroring of Christiolog ical love. Its diameter is one-hundred Byzantine feet, or

By observing Christ’s love from the four dimensions of the cross, which stretches out infintely in every direction, we are immersed in his hyperbolic nature.

thirty-one meters, and as it rises fifty-eight meters above the floor, it forms a canopy above the nave. Having risen up, the dimensions of the main dome expand down for ty ribs into the east and west semi-domes.[17] This dome was unique at its time, because few architects had accom plished such large-scale vaulting before the sixth century. In Eastern Medieval Architecture, Robert Ousterhout de scribes how Hagia Sophia’s daring design “[concentrates] its weight on [the following critical points]: the four great piers beneath the dome, four clustered piers behind them to the north and south, and four clistered piers flanking the exedra to the east and west.”[18] The quadrupling of the piers that support the great dome, which stretches out in the four cardinal directions of the earth, mirrors the great four dimensionality of Christ’s hyperbolic nature in Ephe sians 3:18c.

Furthermore, by analyzing the Heideggerian vessel, it is possible to see how the axial thresholds of Hagia Sophia — height, breadth, width, and depth — expand into the four poles of the spiritual and physical world — earth, sky, mortal, and divine. Poetry, Thought, Language (1971), written by 20th century German philosopher Martin Heidegger, describes a vessel not defined by the potter’s hands pressing in and shaping the clay, but by the vessel’s inward void exerting an outward force on the clay walls (the object’s threshold).[19] Heidegger then describes how the act of filling the jug with water or wine incites a reflec tion and meeting of earth and sky. Through the pouring out of the wine, which is a reference to the communion wine — Christ’s blood — divine and mortal meet. In the body of the vessel, the two poles of the physical realm — earth and sky — and the two poles of the spiritual realm — divine and mortal — meet.

Both in the four thresholds of jug’s nature — height, depth, breadth, and width — and in the four poles of the outpouring jug — earth, sky, mortal, and divine — we have a united fourfold that is both limited and limitless. Thus, it becomes clear that Hagia Sophia is a Heidegge rian vessel. When the hierarch lifts up the chalice, the dome is reflected in the sacramental wine. The building is a vessel filled with the matter of Christ’s love, and all who enter are submerged in it. In the same way, Ephesians 3:19 — “and to know the hyperbolic love of Christ which sur passes knowledge, that you may be saturated with all the saturation of God” — describes an inundation in Christ’s hyperbolic grace. As an inverted chalice, the dome reflects earth and sky as the threshold between heaven and earth. The hierarch invites God in during the Eucharistic rite. He

descends into the building, and when the body of Christ touches the worshiper’s tongue and the blood of Christ touches their lips, mortal meets divine. The worshiper is further sanctified through the symbolic union of his or her body with Christ’s, once again signaling performative iconicity. Hagia Sophia joins together earth, sky, mortal, and divine to perform the great mystery of Christ.

Just as water, wine, or air fills the vessel, so too do the voic es of the holy chorus. The Cheroubikon was a Justinianic musical composition in the Divine Liturgy of the Hagia Sophia meant to accompany the transfer of gifts. The title of the composition references the cherubim who guard the Lord’s heavenly throne. As the clerical procession carried the bread and wine through Hagia Sophia’s nave to the altar, human action paralleled celestial action. The chorus would proclaim the following lyrics upward toward heav en: “We who mystically represent the cherubim and sing the Thrice Holy hymn to the life-giving Trinity, let us lay aside all worldly care to receive the King of All escorted unseen by the angelic corps, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.”[20]

Hagia Sophia’s structure plays like an instrument activat ed by the human voice: the crown of the dome, held up as if by the hand of God himself, provides a vertical axis through which the human soul lifts up in chant to God and invites His Holy Spirit to enter the sanctuary. When the high frequencies of chant concentrate in the dome, the energy reflects and intensifies, creating a sonic waterfall which rains down on the congregants below. The sonic waterfall articulates the descent of the Holy Spirit and the granting of the plea to God for blessing.[21] Humanity is saturated with the divine, and Ephesians 3:18-19’s “that you may be saturated with all the saturation of God” is un derstood to the fullest extent. This moment of inspiriting — being enlivened and indwelt by God — is all encom passing, surpasses human knowledge, and is describable only as the hyperbolic nature of Christ.

CONCLUSION

What then is the driving force behind performative ico nicity to the point of fusion with God? The answer is found in Ephesians 3:17b. Paul begins his prayer to the Ephe sians, “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love …” The grounds on which Ephesians 3:18-19 are carried out is love. Maximus the Confessor supports this understanding of the text in his Commentary on the Lord’s Prayer, which dates back to about 630 CE.[22] The goal of the Christian life is as follows:

“When Christ, who has overcome the world, has become our leader, he will fully arm us with the law of the com mandments, by which he makes us reject the passions, and thus binds our nature back to itself by love. He sets in move ment in us an insatiable desire for himself, who is the Bread of Life, wisdom, knowledge, and justice. When we fulfill the Father’s will, he renders us similar to the angels in their adoration, as we imitate them by reflecting the heavenly blessedness in the conduct of our life. From there he leads us finally in the supreme ascent in divine realities to the ‘Father of lights’ (James 1:14), wherein he makes us ‘sharers in the divine nature’ (2 Peter 1:4), by participating in the grace of the Spirit, through which we received the title of God’s children.”[23]

We respond in thanksgiving to Christ “[binding] our na ture back to itself” with love by carrying out Christ’s com mandments (for example, communion with the brothers of Christ) in an effort to purify our conduct. God blesses our imitation of the Son and makes us “sharers in the di vine nature.” When we worship God through the erection of religious spaces like Hagia Sophia and the practice of liturgical rights like consuming the elements in those sen sorial spaces, He indwells us.[24] We finally see how the lit urgy and sensorial experiences of Hagia Sophia provide a deeper understanding of Ephesians 3:18-19. Hagia Sophia examines what it means to comprehend God and be im mersed in His glory, and the building is a reflection of the holy scriptures to the point of fusion with them. This is performative iconicity; it is Christomimesis. It is the phys ical manifestation of Christ’s first and greatest command

ment: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”[25] ❖

[1] Matthew Wills, “A Short Guide to Iconoclasm in Early History”.

[2] Leslie Brubaker, “Pictures are Good to Think With: Looking at Byzantium,” in L’écriture de la mémoire: La littérarité de l’historiog raphie, ed. by Paolo Odorico, 236.

[3] The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, “St. Maximus the Con fessor,” Encyclopedia Britannica; Maximus the Confessor, Ambigu um 10, trans. Brian E. Daley, in “Contemplating the Monad Who Saves Us: Maximus the Confessor and John of Damascus on Divine Simplicity”.

[4] This is as opposed to modern Protestant churches, where the physical building is given less importance. Instead, the congrega tion becomes “the church.”

[5] Jean-Luc Marion and Stephen E. Lewis, Givenness and Revela tion, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016), 72.

[6] Nadine Schibille, Hagia Sophia and the Byzantine Aesthetic Ex perience, (Burlington: Ashgate, 2014), 145.

[7] 1 Kings 4:30-31a, NIV.

[8] Pentcheva, Hagia Sophia, 132.

[9] Ephesians 1:8b-10, NIV.

[10] From an unpublished animation of the movement of the sun during the day on the winter and summer solstices, by Bissera Pen tcheva and Studio Atkinson, 2020.

[11] Pseudo-Dionysius, Colm Luibhéid, and Paul Rorem, Pseu do-Dionysius: the complete works, 221-222.

[12] Pseudo-Dionysius, et. al. Pseudo-Dionysius, 222. Luke 22:19.

[13] Pseudo-Dionysius, et. al., Pseudo-Dionysius, 221-222. [14] Christians disagree on whether the bread and wine is literally or symbolically Christ’s body and blood.

[15] Marion, Givenness and Revelation, 9. [16] Aquinas, Commentary on Saint Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians. Refer to chapter 3, part 5. [17] Akito Oto and Takashi Hara, “Structural Characteristics of Ha gia Sophia under Consideration of the Ribs Inside the Dome, 171. [18] Ousterhout, Eastern Medieval Architecture, ch. 9, p. 4. [19] Though Heidegger was not a Christian and was removed geo graphically and temporally from Byzantium, the Heideggerian ves sel can help us to better visualize the effect of Hagia Sophia’s dome and its connection to Ephesians 3:18-19.

[20] Laura Steenberge, “We Who Musically Represent the Cheru bim,” in Aural Architecture, ed. Bissera Pentcheva, 143-144. [21] Pentcheva, “The Glittering Sound of Divine Violence,” 62. [22] Daley, “Contemplating the Monad Who Saves Us,” 474. [23] Maximus the Confessor and George C. Berthold, Maximus Confessor: Selected Writings, (New York: Paulist Press, 1985), 118. [24] This isn’t to say that God doesn’t otherwise dwell with us. We know that through the Holy Spirit, we are always indwelt by God. [25] Matthew 22:37, NIV.

Abigail Schweizer is a junior studying art history and Span ish. She is interested in the intersection of art and spiritual ity, as well as trends of aesthetics and beauty in art. Aside from Vox Clara, she serves as an active leader in Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship and enjoys painting and drawing.

the

and

CREDITS

AUTHORS

Brandon Aponte Glen Davis

Becca De Los Santos

Laura Gequelin Jack McKinnon Abigail Schweizer Kayla Severson

ART & PHOTOGRAPHY

Sunrise, by Raimond Klavins (https://unsplash.com/@raimondklavins), on the front cover.

Cross on mountaintop, by Sven Mieke (https://unsplash.com/@sxoxm), p.7

Light shining into cave, by Bruno van der Kraan (https://unsplash.com/@brunovdkraan), p.9 Wartorn buildings, by Levi Meir Clancy (https://unsplash.com/@levimeirclancy), p.10

Reaching hands, by Jackson David (https://unsplash.com/@jacksondavid), p.12

Thorns, by Dominik Kempf (https://unsplash.com/@dominik_kempf), p.15

Mountains and clouds, by Bowen Jiang, p.16

Painting of woman, by Kayla Severson, p.18.

Government building , by Katie Moum (https://unsplash.com/@katiemoum), p.23

Hagia Sophia interior, by Raimond Klavins (https://unsplash.com/@raimondklavins), p.24

Hagia Sophia exterior, by Adli Wahid (https://unsplash.com/@adliwahid), p.26.

Wildflowers, by Bowen Jiang, on the back cover.

SPECIAL THANKS TO

Carlos Armenta & Folger Graphics

NEXT STEPS

GIVE US FEEDBACK

voxclarastanford@gmail.com

READ OUR PAST ISSUES

issuu.com/voxclara

VISIT OUR WEBSITE

stanfordvoxclara.com

JOIN OUR STAFF

We are always looking to expand our staff, and need people to help with the editorial, design, distribution, and vision-casting processes.

If our vision resonates with you, and you would like to help us engage with the campus on issues of faith and thought, please email us at voxclarastanford@gmail.com for more information.

FOLLOW US

Facebook: @StanfordVoxClara

Instagram: @voxclarastanford

THIS IS FOR YOU

Atheist, Christian, agnostic, religious — wherever you are in the journey of seeking truth, this journal you’ve picked up or been handed is meant to be read by you. We from Vox Clara, Stanford’s Journal of Christian Thought want to encourage you to think, ask, and have conversations about life’s big questions.

Life is challenging but we have each experienced God transform the darkest areas of our lives and lift the burdens of our hearts and minds. We do not wish to impose our beliefs, but rather to serve as faithful conduits of our faith to everyone at Stanford who, like us, is searching for meaning, for truth, and for Love.