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EDITORIAL

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	Illuminations from The Saint John's Bible. Above, the frontispiece for the Gospel of Matthew, showing the genealogy of Jesus in the form of a Jewish menorah, and below, the frontispiece for the Gospel of Luke, depicting the Nativity. For more illustrations, visit the Saint John's Bible Web site.

The Bible is a living testimony of God’s active presence in this world and of his creative and unchanging love for his children. It contains books of history, praise and devotion, and the promises God has made, and kept, with his people.

Unfortunately, the Bible for many people — even some who profess faith in what the holy book says — has become a dry and even empty volume, a collection of riddles and myths instead of a place where the reality of God is expressed and experienced.

Because our imperfect relationship with God’s Word could use some fresh perspectives from time to time, a project undertaken several years ago at St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minn., seeks to shed new light on the reality of the Bible as the divine voice of God and as a work of great beauty and immeasurable depth.

Under the direction of the Benedictine monks of St. John’s and a team of scribes and artists led by British calligrapher Donald Jackson, the seven-volume Saint John’s Bible has taken shape and by 2007 will have been published in its entirety by St. John’s own Liturgical Press.

The Saint John’s Bible, of which two volumes — The Gospels and Acts and The Psalms — have appeared so far, brings together the ancient legacy of the Bible and the exacting craftsmanship of medieval illumination, calligraphy and bookbinding in a work of fine art that will endure for centuries to come.

The monastic community at St. John’s Abbey decided to sponsor the project to show their Benedictine devotion to the Scriptures and to the art forms that made early copies of the Bible into transformative expressions of the civilizations that produced them.

Like its medieval predecessors, this illuminated Bible incorporates the time and place in which it was created — from images of the World Trade Center in New York to the flora and fauna of the piney hills and woods native to the area around St. John’s Abbey in central Minnesota.

Perhaps what is most beautiful about The Saint John’s Bible, however, is its reminder that the Scriptures convey a message from the Creator and reflect the same living energy that gave rise to the universe in its origins. This redeeming essence, the essence of God, is reflected on every page of The Saint John’s Bible and is a humbling reminder that the Word remains active — and vital — in the world and especially in the life of every believer. — Robert Rhodes