Before:

During:

After:

EDIT: check the comments for JAZ’s must-read explanation.

COMMENTS

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7 responses to “Mockingbird: Bringing You the Gospel (pt. 3)”

1. PZ says:

   01/12/2009 at 10:41 am

   Blatty.
   It’s Blatty.

   Reply
2. dpotter says:

   01/12/2009 at 11:20 am

   I think m’bird could live off the royalties if someone assembled a coffee table book with these photos…in the same spirit as James Innes-Smith’s books about hair.

   Reply
3. The Smiths in NYC says:

   01/12/2009 at 1:03 pm

   hmmm,what do all the photos mean and how does the dinasaurs photo portray the Gospel? any thoughts?

   Reply
4. John Zahl says:

   01/12/2009 at 2:44 pm

   The three here represent the summarizing dynamic of the Gospel as it works in the life of a human being. Human Beings are (obviously) astronauts, existential wonderers strangely cut off and lost in the midst of their barren surroundings (i.e., fallen world/lunar scape). The writer of Hebrews calls believers “aliens” who have not a home on earth…same thing: astronauts. The astronaut summarizes the existential plight of the human being, and, in wake of the alienating experiencing of trying to ascend and achieve (i.e., the american flag upon which his/her back is turned), a person is forced to look up, consequently finding the cross. God as a both an outside (extrinsic) savior who simultaneously identifies entirely with the plight of the astronaut (fully human). The consequence is a completely new vantage point on the world (photo 2) as one lives hidden in Christ and in the midst of the experience of God’s grace as it is revealed on and through the cross (i.e., not glory): “to live is Christ,…(and photo 3) to die is gain.” Plus the astronaut on the cross reveals the substitutionary nature of the atonement, etc. I could go on all day.

   The dinosaur, well, very little pure Gospel there, other than an acknowledgment meant that some ideas of Christianity are both a little silly and also amusing, and that, ultimately as fools for Christ, we sympathize, but don’t really agree, plus MOckingbird reconfigures and shares the Gospel in the context of a contemporary (and hip) culture, where irony and aesthetics play an important role in connecting with the human heart. It also introduces the notion that Jesus is the ultimate focal point and motivation behind all my future (“Mockingbird: Bringing You the Gospel”) posts.

   And while we’re at it, #1 shows a dweeby dude (i.e., all of us) presenting the gospel, a little tiny ball of light. There is a supernatural aspect to all of this theology which 80s graphics capture well.

   So that’s where I’m coming from.

   best, JAZ

   Reply
5. Sean Norris says:

   01/12/2009 at 7:30 pm

   Wonderful explanation John! Fantastic and deep-thought provoking pics.

   Thanks!

   Reply
6. The Smiths in NYC says:

   01/12/2009 at 8:36 pm

   the explanation brought so much more depth to photos. i thought the dinasaur photos were being funny, just thought that you might have some insight that i was just missing.

   thx. m

   Reply
7. DZ says:

   01/13/2009 at 11:34 am

   john- this is the best explanation ever. thank you. keep the images coming.

   Reply