“Visual Exegesis” is the process of drawing out (“exegeting”) the meaning of a text through a visual medium. It differs from other visual arts in that its goal is explicitly didactic—even “apocalyptic.” As with the verbal exegesis of a sermon, visual exegesis seeks to unveil and proclaim the authorial intent of its textual source. In this way, a work of visual exegesis becomes the visualization of the textually embedded meaning of a given passage. In viewing it, one is drawn into engagement with the text itself.
And yet, the text one engages in this way is the text as the artist understands it. Visual exegesis brings viewers into the artist’s reading of a passage (even as a sermon brings hearers into the pastor’s reading of a passage). It is, therefore, crucial that the visual exegetical artist—no less than the pastor or theologian—possess the training and tools requisite to a faithful understanding and application of Scripture.
Bethlehem Seminary gave me this training and these tools. As the preaching pastor at Kingstree Church, I continually lean on the skills acquired during my studies at Bethlehem, especially the languages and argument diagramming. These same skills are invaluable when it comes to my work as a visual exegetical artist.
A network of textual, theological, and typological decisions lies beneath every piece of art I create. It matters how those decisions are made, and my time at Bethlehem equipped me to approach them with the same exegetical rigor I bring to sermon preparation. In this way, each art piece becomes a sort of visualized sermon, an eidetic exposition of the meaning of the text—which is to say, of the crucified and risen Jesus Christ, who is Himself the final meaning of all revelation.
Full of Eyes, the art ministry I started in 2014, seeks to create a digital library of visual exegetical resources to help people see, savor, and sing the beauty of God in the slain and risen Son. That library has now grown to over 1,100 images and animations, each one informed by my studies at Bethlehem, tethered to Scripture, centered on Christ, and offered without cost to the global Church.
By God’s grace, the last decade has seen these resources used around the world, and my prayer is to keep creating them for decades to come. There are so many more animations, images, and books that I want to bring to fruition and offer to the Bride for her joy in her Lord. However, I can do this (humanly speaking) only through the financial support of those who believe in this work and want to see it made available for free to the Church.
If you resonate with this brief glimpse into the ministry of Full of Eyes and would like to help make an ever-expanding library of textually-tethered, Christ-centered exegetical art freely accessible to the global Church, then I would love to connect and share more of the vision with you. If you’d like to browse the current Full of Eyes library yourself, you’ll find the majority of my work at www.fullofeyes.com.
Chris Powers, M.A.P.B.S. ’16
Prayer Requests:
- Praise the Lord for the impact of Full of Eyes and Chris Powers.
- Pray for our students as they enter finals week.
- Pray for our graduates as they close their time with us and launch into life and ministry.
- Pray for fully funded Serious Joy Scholarships to cover the students in this academic year.