Brilliant, hot-headed Caravaggio
Narcissus
Adoration of the Shepherds
Martha and Mary Magdalene
The Taking of Christ
The Entombment of Christ
The Incredulity of Saint Thomas
The Conversion of Saint Paul
The Crucifixion of Saint Peter
Saint Jerome Writing
The paintings featured above are all the work of my favorite artist, the brilliant, but deeply troubled Italian, Caravaggio.
Here is a link to a BBC feature on the artist, entitled: Why Caravaggio was as shocking as his paintings:
As the BBC feature explains, Caravaggio's influence on painting has been profound. It has even carried over into film making. Sadly, while he was a true genius with a brush, Caravaggio's uncontrolled anger ultimately cost him dearly. In this, there is a lesson to be learned by us all.
We currently find ourselves in an age of great anger. Some have dubbed this time in our nation's history, "the age of outrage." Many feel that their anger is justified. At times, we might defend our outrage with the same caveat.
This leads to a very important question: What does the Bible actually say about anger?
A few years ago, Dr. Jeff Gibbs, one of my seminary professors, wrote a short article entitled: The Myth of Righteous Anger. I encourage you to take time this week to read and reflect on what Gibbs found when he looked at what the New Testament actually teaches about anger. Here is a link to his article:
