Every Christian struggles with his faith eventually. Sooner or later, doubts, questions, and uncertainty assault each of us\u2014frequently followed by a crisis of belief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When this happens, there are two ways Christians respond. They either deconstruct their faith, or they reform their faith. These words don\u2019t mean the same thing. Deconstruction is a flawed process where a Christian reexamines his religious beliefs according to personal preferences, with self at the center. Reformation is a proper process where a Christian corrects mistaken beliefs according to truth, putting Scripture at the center. The key distinction between the two is the role God\u2019s Word plays in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Barnett and Childers illustrate that difference in a section of their book \u201cThe Deconstruction of Christianity\u2014What It Is, Why It\u2019s Destructive, and How to Respond.<\/em>\u201d The section titled \u201cA Tale of Two Paintings.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Reformation: Salvator Mundi<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n To better understand the distinction between reformation and deconstruction, consider stories about two different paintings. Both paintings are of Jesus, and both are now famous\u2014but for different reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first painting is called Salvator Mundi<\/em>, Latin for \u201cSavior of the World.\u201d It depicts Jesus wearing a Renaissance-era robe while holding a transparent orb in his left hand and giving a blessing with his right. Art experts long believed it was a copy of a lost original by Leonardo da Vinci. Widely regarded as one of the greatest artists who ever lived, da Vinci is best known for the Mona Lisa<\/em> and The Last Supper<\/em>. Fewer than twenty of his paintings are known to still exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Salvator Mundi<\/em> was sold at auction in the late 1950s for under $100, it was in pretty rough shape. It had been painted on a wood panel, and natural expansion and contraction caused severe damage. Though it had received crude touch-ups and overpainting along the way, it desperately needed extensive repair. Armed with solvents, cotton, varnish, and a few tools, respected art restorer Dianne Dwyer Modestini began the slow, meticulous process of restoration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After removing layers of caked-on varnish and overpainting, Modestini discovered something odd about Salvator Mundi<\/em>. Jesus had two right thumbs. Art experts call this a pentimento<\/em>, which means \u201crepentance\u201d or \u201csecond thought.\u201d In this case, the artist drew one thumb, but reconsidered the position and painted over it with another thumb. Because significant revisions like this one are most often made by the artist and not a copyist, this discovery suggested to many in the art world that Salvator Mundi<\/em> wasn\u2019t a da Vinci copy. It was a da Vinci original<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n News of the \u201clost Leonardo\u201d made headlines. People lined up for hours at museums in New York and London to catch a glimpse of what some in the art world were calling the \u201cmale Mona Lisa<\/em>.\u201d In 2017, Salvator Mundi<\/em> went to auction in New York. After an exciting bidding war, the painting sold for $450,000,000, setting a record for the most expensive work of art ever sold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Deconstruction: Ecce Homo<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Our second story begins in a small town in northeastern Spain. On the wall of a small Roman Catholic church is a fresco depicting Jesus before his crucifixion, staring off to the side while wearing a crown of thorns. The artist, Elias Garcfa Martinez, painted the fresco in the 1930s. The name of the piece, Ecce Homo<\/em>, comes from John 19:5 where Jesus was paraded by Pilate before the murderous mob after being flogged, mocked, and forced to wear a crown of thorns and a purple robe. Hoping he\u2019d done enough to satisfy the crowd, Pilate declared, \u201cBehold the man!\u201d\u2014 \u201cEcce Homo<\/em>,\u201d in Latin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Enter Cecilia Gim\u00e9nez, an 80-year-old amateur art restorer. Upset that the painting had deteriorated, Gim\u00e9nez took it upon herself to restore it. Here the story takes a twist. In her attempt to restore the painting, she butchered it. The \u201crestored\u201d painting looked nothing like the original. When a picture of it was posted on the internet, it became a viral sensation. If you\u2019ve never seen it, look it up online. It\u2019s guaranteed to make you laugh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Things didn\u2019t turn out the way this elderly artist expected. She didn\u2019t have the skills required to restore the sacred portrait. Instead, she made an unholy mess. Rather than what you might expect from an accomplished artist, Ecce Homo<\/em> looks more like Picasso got drunk and painted a proboscis monkey with his left hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since news broke about the botched restoration, thousands of tourists have flocked to the small town to see the art abomination for themselves, spending their money on mugs, T-shirts, and other Ecce Homo<\/em> souvenirs, all featuring the deformed face. The painting is valuable only as a faddish joke, and that kind of value is shallow and fleeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s how these two paintings relate to reforming and deconstructing. Both paintings needed work, but different approaches to restoration led to very different outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Salvator Mundi<\/em> is an example of a reformation<\/em> approach, with the goal being to restore the work to its original glory. In this case, a skilled expert facilitated the restoration, revealing something valuable underneath\u2014what many believe to be an authentic da Vinci. The overpainting and deterioration concealing the painting\u2019s true identity needed to be stripped away so the painting could be restored to its original state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An internationally renowned expert with impressive credentials, ample experience, and a long history of impeccable restorations spent six years carefully restoring the Salvator Mundi<\/em> with vigilant patience and attention to detail. When she returned it, she suffered, as one put it, \u201cseparation anxiety and depression over losing the painting, and with it her connection to the enigmatic painter who was its author.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The value of Salvator Mundi<\/em> went beyond mere dollars, and the weight of its significance remains a topic of discussion among da Vinci scholars and art aficionados to this day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ecce Homo<\/em> is an example of a deconstruction<\/em> approach. When an amateur painter took matters into her own hands, the result was a haphazard and embarrassing rendition that bore no resemblance to the original. As a result, the process didn\u2019t restore the original; it ruined it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s the point. When it comes to rethinking faith, the process matters<\/em>. There\u2019s a life-or-death difference between recovering the original and distorting the original. But because deconstructionists don\u2019t see the value of biblical Christianity, they prefer to \u201cimprove\u201d it according to their own personal beliefs and preferences rather than recover the original they feel is harmful or oppressive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many leave their community of believers and deconstruct in online spaces, a move that is, in many ways, like handing their faith over to an amateur art restorer. This often leads to an Ecce Homo<\/em> outcome\u2014a distortion of authentic Christianity or a rejection of it altogether. They may be deconstructing something, but it\u2019s not authentic Christianity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you find yourself wrestling with questions and doubts, your confusion may be based on misunderstanding or a lack of adequate information. Don\u2019t deconstruct<\/em> your faith according to feelings or culture\u2019s values. Reform<\/em> it based on truth and God\u2019s Word.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Every Christian struggles with his faith eventually. Sooner or later, doubts, questions, and uncertainty assault each of us\u2014frequently followed by a crisis of belief. When this happens, there are two ways Christians respond. They either deconstruct their faith, or they reform their faith. These words don\u2019t mean the same thing. Deconstruction is a flawed process […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":225020,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-225019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-devo"],"yoast_head":"\n