News and Events

featured events

Father Michael Patella Speaks on "Word and Image in The Saint John's Bible"

On Thursday, Mar. 7, at 4 p.m. in the Surfboard Room, Pepperdine Libraries will host Father Michael Patella to speak on "Word and Image in The Saint John's Bible." 

The discussion will focus on how The Saint John's Bible—the first handwritten and hand-illuminated Bible commissioned by a Benedictine abbey since the invention of the printing press—can be read, viewed, and interpreted in a way that respects biblical inspiration and Christian tradition in our postmodern context. Father Patella served as chair of the Committee on Illumination and Text for The Saint John's Bible.

Patella considers this Bible in the context of the great Christian tradition of illuminated Bibles across the ages and also the fascinating ways The Saint John's Bible reflects third-millennium concerns. He seeks to rekindle interest in sacred art by allowing The Saint John's Bible to teach its readers and viewers how to work with text and image.

Father Patella is professor of New Testament at the School of Theology Seminary of Saint John's University, Collegeville, where he also served as chair of the Committee on Illumination and Text that provided the vision to the artists who created The Saint John's Bible.

His books include Angels and Demons: A Christian Primer of the Spiritual World (Liturgical Press, 2012), The Lord of the Cosmos: Mithras, Paul, and the Gospel of Mark (T&T Clark, 2006), and The Gospel According to Luke of the New Collegeville Bible Commentary Series (Liturgical Press, 2005). He has been a frequent contributor to The Bible Today and is a member of the Catholic Biblical Association.

For more information about this event, visit the Pepperdine Libraries Web site.