I hope this book can do what Gauguin's paintings did.
Let us hold onto the biblical passages written over 2,000 years ago, and carefully examine the paintings of the artist who painted them with his own soul, spirit, and body, and let us ask the questions of life that we have put off as unimportant, and let us linger there for a moment.
As we ask about eternity and humbly share our knowledge and experiences with one another, we become more human and thus come closer to God.
Those who have many questions, especially questions about eternity, truth, and beauty, can come closer to God than those who have many correct answers.
It is impossible for the Spirit of God not to be gracious to those who ask about the essence of life.
This book aims to help you do just that.
Rather than providing answers, I want to ask and think about greater and more delicate questions with my readers.

--- p.
14

The commandment not to make any idol representing Yahweh God must be read against the background of the declaration that humans were created in the image of God.
This means that humans are the statues of God, so we should respect them as if they were God, and not commit the foolish act of creating other statues and bowing down to them.
Since there is no need to create a separate statue, there is no need for a separate temple to house it.
This does not mean that we completely deny the temple where we meet God and where he appears, but rather that any place where there are humans who bear the image of God is a temple.
So, from the beginning, the Bible is a radical teaching that declares the entire world as a temple and all humans as gods.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, showed us how to live in this world as a temple in His image.
His body was a temple, and through him, he lived so that all people could experience God with their five senses.
Therefore, the body of those who follow him and their gathering cannot but be a temple.


The gathering of people who offer their lives as a holy sacrifice becomes the temple of Emmanuel.
It is a moving temple where God's will is revealed and the dream of a new world is realized while opposing this world.
Believers live according to the will of the Bible, treating the world as a temple and worshipping it as a god.
So when someone calls a “stone upon stone” a temple, we must tell them that this is not biblical faith.
In this way, the visual reading of the Bible ultimately leads to living as an image of God.
In other words, this is the religious-artistic embodiment of our lives.
The effort to visualize and further artistically transform the biblical text leads to the visualization of our lives and further to the art of faith.
Those who read the Bible ultimately seek to shape their lives into works of faith and art.

--- pp.33~34

Frederick Goodall (1822-1904) offers a different interpretation of Hagar and Ishmael than the conventional wisdom (Figure 10).
Hagar turns around with young Ishmael and does not look at Abraham's house.
He believes in God's covenant rather than Abraham's.
Although what lies before my eyes is a vast and vast wilderness where I can only wander aimlessly, all I have on my person is a bucket of water and a loaf of bread.
The child is young, and she is a woman who is easily abused.
But Hagar walks on.
His clenched right hand shows his faith and will.
Hagar carries her water jar on her shoulder and tries to be sure that the steps she takes will not lead her to death.
Even though hunger and extreme thirst await him on his way out, he believes in God's care.
Ishmael doesn't act up either.
He carries a bag of bread and tries to do his share of the work.
The child looks at his mother and will unconsciously learn her determined attitude.
Faith is not a passive attitude that seeks comfort from the misfortune and suffering that evokes pity.
It is in the firmly held hands that move forward believing in God's covenant.
The Bible reports that God did not forget the hand that was held so tightly.

--- p.64~65

Raphael painted an oil painting based on Mark 9:2-8 (parallel text Matthew 17:1-13, Luke 9:28-36), which many artists often paint under the title "Transfiguration of Jesus" or "Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration" between 1516 and 1520 (Figure 11).
It is not particularly new for an Italian Catholic painter to paint a picture of the Mount of Transfiguration around the time of the Renaissance.
However, his interpretation of the text was very delicate, unlike that of other painters before and after him, and this was uniquely reflected in his paintings.
This painting was Raphael's last work and was probably left unfinished.
His disciples were compelled to finish the work, which, though unfinished, already had the potential to become a masterpiece.

The most striking feature that distinguishes this painting from other depictions of Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration is that it depicts what happened at the foot of the mountain at the same time as Jesus was transfigured on the mountain.
In other words, Raphael sees the transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain and the events that occurred at the bottom of the mountain as simultaneous events, and suggests that the two events be understood together.
In linking the events of the Transfiguration on the mountain and the events at the bottom of the mountain simultaneously, he used a technique called chiaroscuro.
Chiaroscuro is a way of handling light in a painting, and in this painting, Raphael divides the area above the mountain and below the mountain into areas of light and dark, respectively.


This distinct distinction was what the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche called the image of the conflict between the Apollonian and Dionysian principles in his book The Birth of Tragedy.
Although Nietzsche was right in reading a clear distinction in the painting, he failed to clarify and name the criteria for that distinction.
The contrast between the realms of light and darkness that Raphael intended is not a conflict between the Apollonian and the Dionysian, but a contrast between the glory and power of God and the helplessness of man.
This dramatic contrast, as we have already seen, artistically expresses the state of Jesus on the mountain, through his transfiguration, revealing his power and glory, while the people at the bottom of the mountain are unable to escape their state of powerlessness and misery.

--- p.71~72

Given Pilate's usual cruelty, it is unlikely that he would have been cautious in judging a country bumpkin from the backwaters of Nazareth.
Perhaps, under normal circumstances, they would have told the Jewish leaders to do whatever they wanted without even meeting someone of that caliber.
However, the Gospel of Matthew tells us that something special happened to Pilate, who knew that the accusations against Jesus were motivated by jealousy among the Jewish leaders.
His wife knew in a dream who the man before Pilate was.
Therefore, Pilate's wife earnestly informs him that Jesus is a righteous man and that if Pilate passes a wrong judgment on him, he will be directly going against God's will.
So Pilate tries his best.
The Gospel of Matthew reports that Barabbas, a Jewish revolutionary, wanted Jesus released instead of a notorious prisoner.
But the Jewish leaders and those who were incited by them insisted that Jesus, not Barabbas, should be crucified, a punishment given to those who rebelled against Rome.

Pilate was once again faced with the strong demands of the Jews.
The signs of another civil unrest also felt threatening.
Pilate, as historians report, would have resorted to further violence to get his way.
But he takes the easy way out.
It was easier to kill one innocent person than to kill countless others.
Why is the life of a Nazarene country bumpkin named Jesus so important?
The only thing that feels a bit unsettling is the dream his wife told him, but isn't the intent and execution of the murder carried out under the Jewish people's insistence anyway?
Pilate washes his hands in front of the crowd.
“I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” With this he satisfied his conscience and also transferred the wrath of God, which might have been poured out on him, to their own account.
Today, 2,000 years later, billions of Christians recite the Apostles' Creed every Sunday, accusing Pontius Pilate of causing Jesus' suffering and crucifying him.


He who washed his hands, he who could not overcome the Jews' sanctification and threats, he who still wanted to save Jesus.
Although Pilate washed his hands before the crowd and heard the Jews say, “His blood be on us and on our children,” later generations clearly recorded that he was ultimately responsible for Jesus’ suffering and death.
Why is that? Because he has the power to impose the death penalty.
Those who have authority also have responsibilities.
Pilate could have washed his hands and claimed his innocence before the crowd at that time, but before God and history, he is a man with bloody hands that he could never wash.

--- pp.195~196