May 3-7, 2005
Thesis Presentations
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| Gospel Spectrum | ||
|---|---|---|
| Author(s): | Anh Dang | |
| Instructor: | Hechinger, Nancy | |
| Class: | Final Project Seminar (Wed.) | |
| URL: | http://thirteensquares.com/gospelspectrum | |
| Keywords: | theology, visual culture, Gospels, information visualization, data graphics, textual analysis | |
| The Gospel Spectrum explores the convergence of technology and theology as an application for an in-depth study of the narrative of Jesus as presented in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in the Bible through the use of information visualization. | ||
| “God is in the details.” In the world of design, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s famous dictum regarding the importance of details in one’s work has been the mantra for designers in various professions from architecture to new media. What if God is the detail? According to the Christian faith, many believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the chosen Messiah whose existence on Earth was to proclaim the message of love, grace, peace, and redemption. The Gospel Spectrum is an exploration of the story of Jesus Christ based on the dissection of the gospel accounts that proclaims the events, parables, sermons, and miracles that occurred during his lifetime. By applying the principles of information visualization, the Gospel Spectrum becomes a tool that enhances the understanding of the theological issues and the story of Jesus Christ as they are presented in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in the New Testament of the Judeo-Christian Bible. The thesis focuses on the themes of information visualization, data graphics, theology, technology, narrative structures, network analysis, comparative literature, and visual art. | ||
| Personal Statement: | The content and development of the project focuses on the convergence of two vastly different fields: technology and theology. First, the Gospel Spectrum serves as a personal journey of discovering new ways of understanding and expressing faith. Inspiration came from a tradition in Christian art called art worship—an act of honoring God through creativity—where artists express their faith through various forms of art such as painting. Secondly, the Gospel Spectrum seeks to develop a bridge between several disciplines by examining the possibilities of the convergence of the visual design, technology, and theology in a simple application that seeks to tell a story and generate dialogue. Third, the Gospel Spectrum is a tool that leverages human perceptual cognition to identify patterns in the data represented to gain new insights into the story of Jesus Christ. This thesis proves to be tremendous challenge because of the strong opinions surrounding the main content of the project ranging from vehement skepticism to unconditional acceptance. For the author, it has been a project worth exploring because it is a story worth telling (and exhibiting)—the story that has intrigued, baffled, and transformed people of many generations.
As personal inspirations, U2, an Irish rock band, and J.R. Tolkien, a writer and professor of Anglo-Saxon mythologies, have both integrated their faith into their culture and artwork in powerful ways that are full of honesty and integrity. U2’s music and activism have carried the message of hope, peace, love and faith all around the world. Tolkien’s imagination and faith buried the essence the Biblical narratives in his art of writing as evident in The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien had believed that one just needs to take the Christ narrative deep into one’s heart and just do one’s art as an artist and the stories just show up in unexpected ways. . Their faith as evident in their works of art inspires this project to seek the same level of authenticity in its expression of faith. A division between the communities of faith and the communities of science (and technology) has always existed due to major differences in values and culture. However, from the author’s personal experiences, when a spirit of openness and respect is cultivated, both communities can richly benefit from an exchange of valuable ideas and innovative thinking that contribute to greater knowledge of one’s own discipline along with other disciplines. For those interested in technology, this thesis becomes an experiment of how computational media could be used with comparative literature utilizing data visualization and data mining to deconstruct and visually construct a story. For those interested in theology, it becomes a innovative way of seeing, experiencing, studying, and interacting with the story of the Gospels. This thesis seeks to explore a convergence of different fields in an effort to explore new frontiers in design, technology and theology that would push the boundaries of each field beyond the current status quo and perhaps even bring them closer together. | |
| Context: | INFORMATION VISUALIZATION
Visualization is the essence of learning. To understand something is to see it. Human visual cognition has been a powerful tool in the processing and understanding of dense quantities of visual information. Visuals have profound influences on a person’s ability to “assimilate information, to compute with it, to understand it, to create new knowledge.” Some of the most influential specialists in the field of data graphics include William Playfair, Jacque Bertin, and Edward Tufte. Playfair, a Scottish political economist, published the first known time series using economic data in 1786 in his book, The Commercial and Political Atlas. Playfair essentially developed the art of seeing data in graphical forms. In 1967, Jacques Bertin, a French cartographer, published The Semiology of Graphics that highlights his theory on graphics establishing the framework for the design of basic elements of cartography. In 1983, Edward Tufte published his theory of data visualization that traces the history of data graphics. Tufte’s and Bertin’s highly influential theories on design led to the development of information visualization as a common practice. Since the mid-to-late 80’s, information visualization has played a major role in the comprehension of data in the fields of graphics, sciences, statistics, business, and communication for it has “profound effects on people’s ability to assimilate information, to compute with it, to understand it, to create new knowledge (Card et al 5).” As defined in Readings in Information Visualization: Information Visualization: use of interactive visual representation of abstract, non-physically based data to amplify cognition . Information visualization creates external visual artifacts used to enhance cognition. Interactivity is an important characteristic of information visualization because it lets the user manipulate data and extract information from the visualization. Well-designed visualizations of quantitative data are intriguing and insightful by displaying information effectively and efficiently. Data graphics exposes the obscure by revealing new patterns and relationships of the data collected. According to Clay Shirky in his analysis of information visualization, “In the same way that a chord is more than its individual notes and a family is more than its individual members, the overall pattern of data often exhibits patterns that emerge from the individual pieces of data, patterns that can be impossible to discern by merely re-sorting the data in spreadsheet format). ” Tufte best summarizes the goals of information visualization: “we envision information in order to reason about, communicate, document, and preserve that knowledge .” The ability to visualize data has been instrumental in the comprehension of data in fields such as science, technology, and art. Recent applications that have gained much recognition in the field of data include Martin Wattenberg’s Map of the Market for Smart Money, Ben Fry’s Valence, Bradford Paley’s TextArc. Ben Fry & Valence Valence a software application developed by Ben Fry, analyzes the structures of large sets of quantitative data and creates interactive visual representations of the processed information. Valence reads in data from a source such as a book or website traffic report and adds the information into a three-dimensional space. The frequency of the data, a word in a book for example, would move towards the outside perimeters to increase its visibility. The visualization of the information changes over time; thus, creating a dynamic and organic feel to the application. According to Ben Fry, Valence is effective in providing a “qualitative feel for the perturbations in the data.” Valence provides an alternative representation and understanding of trends and anomalies in the systems of information under analysis. It maps the context of the given data source in terms of frequency and makes the understanding of patterns that evolve over time relatively easy. Despite the intricate computational algorithms used to move words spatially according to their frequency of use and the beauty of the design, the comprehension of the represented data is not completely intuitive. Martin Wattenberg & Map of the Market Martin Wattenberg’s Map of the Market has been touted as one of the best visualization tools by Mappa Mundi magazine. It maps the fluctuations of the stock market prices allowing users to quickly know the status of the market through the effect use of color and a visualization technique called Treemaps. The color, size, and position of the tiles representing different companies all have significance. The Map is divided into eleven major sectors and grouped by industry. The spatial position of each tile conveys significant information in regards to its price movements. Neighbor tiles reveal trends in the stock prices. Red indicates poor performance and green represent good performance. The size of the tile indicates the value of the company. Users can interact with the map to discover news and statistics of the company; zoom in to see a specific sector. Map of the market is effective, intuitive, and interesting. The ability for users to interact with the application to discover information that is specifically of interest to them makes Map of the Market such a robust and pragmatic application. Mark Lombardi & Narrative Structures Mark Lombardi, the late New York artist, created “narrative structures”, that displayed intricate patterns of curves and arches that create a network among the nodes that tells a story. Lombardi notes, “After a careful review of the literature I then condense the essential points into an assortment of notations and other brief statements of fact, out of which an image begins to emerge.” Through the analysis of various networks dealing with political issues, Lombardi’s artwork tells a story created through a network display of true facts collected from public records. Lombardi’s structures encourage the viewer to examine not only the gestalt of the network but the individual nodes as well. Each element has a story that fits into a bigger story. As the viewer digs deeper into the narrative structures, new insight brings new light onto the issue Lombardi seeks to discuss in his work. Lombardi’s work, mostly hand drawn, depicts the impressive nature of story telling through the use of data mining and network analysis. Bradford Paley & TextArc Bradford Paley’s TextArc is a visual representation of text that relies on the human visual process to extract meaning based on the visual and spatial patterns displayed. Instead of using an algorithm for textual analysis, TextArc displays the whole text. According to its creator, TextArc is a “funny combination of an index, concordance, and summary: it uses the viewer\'s eye to help uncover meaning.” TextArc relies on a person’s pre-attentive abilities to detect differences in the visuals to gain meaning from the text. The more frequently used the words are, the brighter they appear on the screen. The text’s position is relative to its frequency of use in the text drawn in the circular bands. TextArc succeeds in providing an innovative way to see text and to identify patterns within the text. As the application reads the text, it highlights the text’s position in the bands and creates a visual connection of the passage read to the words inside the bands. It also has a menu that allows users to access information in a more formal level of charts. VISUAL CULTURE AND THEOLOGY In the history of Christianity, visuals played an important part in the communication and comprehension of faith. Early Christians of the 3rd-7th century developed iconography as a way to visualize Christian concepts. Their art was a way of expression and education of their faith and beliefs. In a famous letter to Bishop Serenus, Pope Gregory the Great states that what Scripture was to those who could read, pictures were to those who could not. Images were books for the uneducated . During the 8th and 9th century, the religious images became a subject of controversy among the Christians of the Byzantine Empire and iconoclasm, the destruction of the religious art, was at its height. Church leaders barred images from display and veneration in places of worship. Following the publication of the Caroline Books written in 790-2 by Charlemagne, which greatly influences the early iconoclastic movement and later the Protestant Reformation, two major arguments defined the opposition of images in regards to theology. First, text always had precedence over images because text was seen as the source of inspiration. Secondly, the internal self was valued over the external self; the soul of a person was renewed and redeemed by Christ whereas the external manifestation of self in the forms of physical sight was seen as corrupt. Many believed that God “cannot be seen by the sense of the imagination but only by the intellect. The value of the ear over the eye was evident in the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, a religious movement that sought the reformation of doctrines and practices of the Catholic Churches that resulted in the creation of Protestant Churches. Reformers felt that the images were idolatrous and believed that imagination as a threat to the true understanding and expression of faith. The concern of the church was rooted in the idea that the images would discourage the “inner appropriation of spiritual reality. ” Leaders of the Reformation such as John Calvin felt that learning about God from images were futile. He believed that imagery distracted from the study of doctrine that was defined as the pure preaching of the Scriptures. Reformers “were not worried so much about art as about the health and development of a social order in which individuals and families could flourish .” Iconoclasm was a kind of “social repentance” as the crowds tore down images in altars in their churches—not just as an act of critique and deconstruction, but a strive towards social reform . The power and value of images concerned reformers who felt that such influences could potential corrupt social order and true worship, which lead to the denouncement and destruction of art during the Reformation. Because of the extensive history of suppressing imagination and visual culture in efforts of preserving a pure and true faith in Reformed churches, in many cases of the modern day church, there has been little desire or ability to understand the arts. Modernism was driving out the mysteries and the belief in the supernatural unseen world. One that was being replaced by a world that could be explained in scientific terms. That Christianity should be taken captive by such a system of thought seems a little incongruous, but it led to a couple of centuries of clear systematic theology, apologetics, and an overemphasis on the spoken and written in the communication of Christian truth. Most of these things in themselves are great aides to Christianity\'s case in the world, but the loss of mystery, experience, and any artistic representation of the Gospel were detrimental . Emphasis on the rationalism and scientific reasoning in theology since the Reformation has inhibited the potential of art as a viable medium of expression and insight for many centuries. However, in recent years, the priority of word over image has been challenged by a culture rich in visual media. The traditions of art, imagination, and creativity in a church setting are beginning to be embraced and appreciated as a viable medium of understanding, worshipping, and communicating with God. A new expression of an old tradition called art worship, “the creation of art to express and communicate with God,” has been incorporated into some of the more “post-modern” Christian churches in recent years. Art and visualization have become a language for expressing faith similar to the way singing hymns and songs express reverence to God. Jamie Wells, an artist who lectures on art worship, states, “If everything was created to give praise to God, then what we as artists are doing is completely worshipful. ” So now, in the 20th century, a revolution of sorts within the Reformed Protestant culture has revived old traditions of visual art as a means of conveying the stories of faith. Although the teachings of faith have manifest themselves through various mediums such as paintings, video, sculptures, and photography, very few have explored such opportunities with technology. Numerous sites such as biblegateway.com allow users to access the Bible electronically, but few have explored ways in which technology can be used as an artistic expression of faith for the sake of aesthetics and education. One project in particular has pioneered ways for experimentation of art, technology, and theology—Church of Fools, a virtual church that encourages conversation and exploration as it teaches about the Bible. Church of Fools Church of Fools was a three-month experimental interactive 3D virtual church sponsored by the Methodist Church in the UK and launched by shipoffools.com, a humor based website examining Christianity and pop-culture, in May 2004. As an alternative sacred space, Church of Fools encouraged people of all religious backgrounds to explore spirituality and community within a virtual church setting through prayer, discussion, exploration, worship, and interaction with other visitors. Each week, real ministers appear as avatars to preach a sermon to a congregation of thirty visitors and hundreds of “lurkers” (those who see what is happening but cannot interact). Visitors can interact with each other through speech bubbles, explore the space, and engage in various acts of worship such as prayer, kneeling, shouting “Hallelujah!” and chatting. Church of Fools succeeds in creating a space where people from diverse spiritual backgrounds can come together in a community that extends beyond physical and geographical means to discuss spiritual inquiries and explore new ways of being a church. In the process of this experiment, Church of Fools also addressed the issue of security against people who disrupt the sacred space by creating a monitoring system in which moderators can ban the troublemakers. Tony Campolo, a guest minister, states, \"Church of Fools is another intriguing voyage, taking even more creative risks - and I’m delighted to play a part in it.\" Church of Fools inspires this thesis because it challenges the vast assumptions of church community from traditionalists to liberals. It creates a place for dialogue and discovery of spiritual truth. It also explores the potential of the integration of faith and technology, and the possibilities seem promising. THE GOSPELS Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, collectively known as the Gospels in the New Testament of the Judeo-Christian Bible, tell the story of Jesus Christ from four different perspective. The Greek root of the word “gospel” means “good news” referring to the message of love, grace, and redemption preached by Jesus and his followers. The first three books, Matthew, Mark, and Luke are often referred to as the Synoptic (“see together”) gospels because of similarities in style and content. According to the New International Version Bible, about 91% of Mark’s gospel is contained in Matthew; 53% of Mark is found in Luke. Quite different from the Synoptic Gospels, John is often considered as a supplement to the Synoptic Gospels that affirms truth and corrects the heresy during the time it was written. Some of the details regarding Jesus’ life as presented in the gospels vary from author to author. The irregularities are often referred as the “Synoptic Problem.” According to the NIV Study Bible, some solutions that have been proposed for such a problem include 1. Oral tradition 2. Use of an earlier gospel 3. Use of written fragments 4. Mutual dependence 5. Use of two major sources 6. Priority and use of Matthew 7. Combination of most of the above The Gospels essentially are a collection of stories about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The story of Christ is probably one of the most well known story throughout the world that has inspired some and appalled others. All in all, the Gospel story is one that has affected people in one way or another for generations all over the world. By understanding the similarities and differences of each gospel account of the life of Jesus, one can begin to see the dynamics of the story unfold-- its structure, purpose, audience, and style. Matthew Matthew, whose name means “gift of the Lord,” was a tax collector who became one of the twelve apostles who Jesus called to follow Him. His gospel, written around 37-68 AD, was primarily written for a Jewish audience who were familiar with the Old Testament Scriptures. Matthew makes more references to Old Testament quotations and allusions than any other New Testament author in order to illustrate to his audience that Jesus was the messiah and the king of the Jews who came and fulfilled the prophecies outlined in the Old Testament through his life and ministry. The key verse in this gospel is Matthew 27:37, “Above his head they placed the written charge against him: This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” Mark Mark was a missionary with Paul, who was an apostle of Jesus. Written in about 40-65 AD, Mark is the shortest gospel that was addressed to a Roman audience. Mark speaks a lot about persecution and martyrdom—subjects that were of particular interest to the Roman believers. In the gospel, Mark explains Jewish customs, words, and places. He speaks of many miracles and is fast paced and quite visual. Nearly all the chapters contain a reference to a miracle the Jesus that performed. Mark depicts Jesus as the powerful servant of God. The key verse is Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Luke Luke was a physician and historian who traveled with the apostle Paul. Luke wrote his gospel around 59-61 AD, probably after Mark and Matthew. Although his letter was written to a specific man named Theophilus, whose name meant “one who loves God,” the general audience for Luke’s gospel was probably Greek. Luke was a well-educated man and had extensive knowledge of the Greek language. “His vocabulary seems to reveal geographical and cultural sensitivity, in that it varies with the particular land or people being described .” Women where given special attention in this gospel more so than other gospels. .” Luke has the most parables of all the gospels, 18 of which are not found in other gospels. Luke was the longest gospel. Luke was meticulous in his accounts for Jesus life from the birth of Christ to his ascension. The key verse is Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” John John was a fisherman who was called by Jesus to follow him during his ministry years. He was also an apostle and an elder. John was written at a much later date than the others in 80-98 AD. The teachings presented in this gospel were in the form of conversations. It is the third longest gospel. The primary intention of John’s gospel is evangelistic as it depicts Jesus is the Son of God. The key verse is John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS As early as the second century, scholars and historians have studied the harmony of the gospels—the similarity in content described in the Gospels. Harmonies usually do two things—show parallel passages and arrange events in somewhat of a chronological order. The earliest known attempt was Tatian’s Diatessaron compiled in 170 AD. Although Tatian was later labeled a heretic, his work was one of the first to weave “the four gospels accounts into one continuous narrative of the life and words of Jesus Christ .” A brief timeline highlights works of major scholars who influenced the development of the harmony of the gospels. 3rd Century” Ammonius of Alexandria- devised system that compares passages in Mark, Luke, and John with parallel passages in Matthew. 4th century: Eusebius of Caesarea developed system of cross references “that preserved the sequential arrangement of each gospel yet allowed the reader to find and study similar passages in he other gospels” 16th century- more works from Andreas Osiander, R. Stephanus, John Calvin, Cornelius Jansen, Molinaeus, Codomanus, Paul Crell, and Martin Chemnitz 17th century John Clericus, John Lightfoot, Jean Leclerc, J.A. Bengel Joseph Priestly 18th J.J. Griesbach established new format for published harmonies: parallel columns 19th century: Edward Robinson and M.B. Riddle- their work serve as the basis for the work of other harmonist. 1893: Broadus and Stevens and Burton-advent of harmonies to set the standard 20th century A.T. Robertson’s revision on Broadus work in 1922 and Burton and Goodspeed harmony of 1917 became new standards in the field Up until the 19th or even 20th century, the studies on the harmony of the gospels have been accepted as legitimate. Modern criticism of the harmonies includes an emphasis that “the four gospels were not consigned to be histories, but gospels”, the acceptance of the gospels at face value, and even the true existence of Jesus . Robert Thomas argues that the harmonies do not contradict but rather supplement the “exegesis of the individual books (Thomas 251)” by clarifying the relationships among the places, people, times, and culture of each text for fuller understanding of the other all story of Jesus Christ. There are generally two formats for the harmony of gospels: diatessaron and parallel column. Diaterssaron types present one continuous narrative with material from the four Gospels woven together with little changes. One shortcoming of the method is that “passages are presented out of their original contexts. The distinctive purposes of each evangelist are almost hopelessly obscured. The method does not allow for comparative study of parallel passages .” Parallel formats are effective for careful comparative study of the text of the gospels as they portray the course of Jesus’ life and the development of his ministry. Careful reading of a harmony of the gospel may be disturbing, especially for those who never consider the implications of the fact that the four gospel accounts are not identical. Christ’s words may differ, events mentioned in one gospel may not be in another and the divergences become more and more apparent. Most harmonistic problems can be resolved with a keener understanding of the historical context of the gospels. For example, the translation of the languages the Jesus spoke support the variations of his words recorded in the gospels. The tradition of oral history and methods for record keeping during the time the gospels were written vary greatly from the reporting and writing methods of the modern day. All in all, most supporters of the gospels believe in the “historical integrity and verbal plenary inspiration of the gospels .” For most, the study of the gospel harmony allows one to gain a deeper understanding of the character of Christ. An interesting work that combines the ideas of harmonization and technology is Sean Boisen’s Composite Gospel Index that shows the similarities of the Gospels by identify events in Jesus life and the corresponding gospel references. Composite Gospel Index An application developed by Sean Boisen that explores ideas similar to the Harmony of the Gospels is the Composite Gospel Index. This is an application that divides the text of the Gospels into 350 periscopes that chronicle events, teachings, and parables in Jesus’ life. Although Boisen does not consider the Composite Gospel Index a harmony of the gospels, it does present the events of Jesus’ life in somewhat of a chronological manner. It seeks to present the themes of the gospels that are not “structural or linear” but “more integrated and topical.” Boisen’s application seeks to create “ fundamental units which better match the way we think about and remember things: as stories, not chapter and verse references.” | |
| Audience: | The Gospel Spectrum is an application designed for the comparative study of the Gospels in a visually refined way to identify patterns based on the quantitative analysis of parallel passages in the Gospels. In its current application, the Gospel Spectrum’s primary audience would be students with an interest or background in theology and visual culture including church leaders, scholars, historians, visual artists, readers of the Bible. Based on the results of a online survey examining people’s perception of the Gospels and use of online technology for Bible study, the target age of the Gospel Spectrum are 18-45 year olds with an interest in studying the content of the Gospels.
Because the Gospel Spectrum deals with the concepts of faith, technology, design, informational visualization, and contextual analysis, it can be applied to various fields of study, it could also appeal to a wide range of audience whose interests lie in any one or a combination of these disciplines. | |
| User Scenario: | The Gospel Spectrum seeks to display data collected from the analysis of the Gospels by following Ben Schneiderman’s visual information seeking mantra”:
1. Overview first 2. Zoom and Filter 3. Details on demand Users interact with the application by rolling the mouse over the bars to get information. With menu options on the side, the users can query the data by selecting various options from a selection menu change the visual representation based on events, gospels, raw analysis, proportional analysis, etc. Depending on the depth of the interaction, different information will be displayed. The initial visual representation of data gives a general understanding of the events chronicled in the Gospels of Jesus’ life. By selecting different viewpoints from a menu, the users can dig deeper for more information that would allow them to see the similarities and differences in the content presented by each Gospels. Because each Gospel is written by different authors for different audiences with different intentions and emphasis, by examining the patterns shown by the Gospel Spectrum, the users will hopefully gain more insight to the purpose of the Gospels individually as holistically. In the deepest layer, the users will be able to read the parallel scriptures chronicling the event of the respective unit to gain an understanding of the differences and/or similarities in structure, content, and themes of each Gospel. | |
| Methodology: | The main structures of the Gospel Spectrum are a visual interface designed using the Macromedia Flash software and databases storing relevant information pertaining to the Gospels. A Perl/PHP script then extracts the information stored in the databases by creating an XML file to be read by the Flash application manipulates visual elements such as color, contrast, brightness, line width, line height, among other visual characteristics used to differentiate different pieces of data.
The text of the Scriptures comes from biblegateway.com. A flash application parses the data from the HTML page biblegateway.com that corresponds with the selection from the Gospel Spectrum application. A flash application reads the parsed HTML data and displays the information in the Gospel Spectrum application. | |
| Sources: | Card, Stuart, MacKinlay Jack, Schneiderman, Ben. Readings in Information Visualization: Using Vision to Think. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufman Publishers, Inc., 1999.
Cooper, Alan. About Face 2.0: The Essentials of Interaction Design. Wiley Publishing: Indianapolis, 2003. Dyrness, William. Reformed Theology and Visual Culture: The Protestant Imagination from Calvin to Edwards. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Dyrness, William. Visual Faith: Art, Theology, and Worship in Dialogue. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2001. Earnshaw, R.A. An Introductory Guide to Scientific Visualization. New York: Springer-Verag, 1992. Curtis, Hillman. MTIV Process, Inspiration, and Practice for the New Media Designer. Indiapolis, Indiana: New Riders, 2002. Keller, Timothy. Gospel and the World, New York: Redeemer Presbyterian, 2005. New International Version Study Bible. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995. Pearcey, Nancy. Total Truth: Liberating Christianity From Its Cultural Captivity. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Brooks, 2004. Shirky, Clay. “Information Visualization: Graphical Tools For Thinking About Data.” Release 1.0 23 September 2002:1-33. Stockman, Steve. Walk On: The Spiritual Journey of U2. Orlando, Florida: Relevant Books, 2003. Thomas, Robert. The NIV Harmony of the Gospels. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1988. Tufte, Edward. Envisioning Information. Cheshire, Connecticut: Graphic Press LLC, 1990. Tufte, Edward. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. Cheshire, Connecticut: Graphic Press LLC, 2001. West, Thomas G. Thinking Like Einstein: Returning to Our Visual Roots With the Emerging Revolution in Computer Information Visualization. New York: Prometheus Books, 2004. http://www.artworship.org/ http://www.biblegateway.com http://www.benfry.com/ http://www.bewitched.com/ http://www.biblegateway.com http://www.huntfor.com/arthistory/medieval/earlychristian.htm http://www.marimushi.com/ http://www.semanticbible.org http://www.shipoffools.com/church/ http://www.textarc.com | |
| Conclusions: | SUCCESS
Success can be measured in various ways including the degree of achievement of designated goals. One of the main goals of the Gospel Spectrum is becoming a useful tool for the study of the Gospels by providing an innovative way of approaching the main story about the life of Jesus Christ as presented in the four gospels. The Gospel Spectrum achieves this goal in the following ways: • Structure of the Narrative: The inverted “peaks” and “valleys” the basic structure of the story of Jesus’ life. Based on the location of the inverted hill, one can conclude that the climax of the story occurs towards the end of the spectrum with the events leading up to the death of Christ. • Information about number of gospel in harmony, the main chapters of events, the chronology of events, the emphasis in certain parts of the story, the length of text dedicated to a section are all displayed by careful manipulation of visual elements such as bar dimensions, color, and translucency. • By isolating the gospels, users can see which Gospel has more emphasis on a certain event or certain chapter in the life of Jesus. For example, Luke is the only gospel that talks about the ministry of John the Baptist. The Gospel Spectrum succeeds in providing a way for users to examine the stories of the Gospels and begin to see the Bible Scriptures for what they truly are as opposed to what they are perceived to be. SHORTCOMINGS One of the major challenges of data visualization and narrative analysis is conducting quantitative analysis on qualitative data and translating it in an effective and efficient manner. The Gospel Spectrum faced many of the same hurdles in its development. Some areas that need to be further addressed include content, interactivity, and user experience. Content: Without advance knowledge of the content displayed in the Gospel Spectrum, it would be difficult to understand what kind of information the visualization was representing. Interactivity: The fluidity of interactivity in the Gospel Spectrum is still quite limited making the user experience quite banal. Because content was the main emphasis of the Gospel Spectrum during this period, elements of interactivity have not yet been utilized to its fullest potential. User Interface Design: Self Explanatory vs. Self Evident. Because the Gospel Spectrum introduces new methods of navigation and interaction with Biblical content, some of the interaction require a bit of explanation and exploration. For example, how does one click back to the main menu once in the read mode? ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENTS Future developments of the Gospel Spectrum include features for online community development of Gospel enthusiasts, wonderers, critics, advocates, etc. By creating a shared space for study and discussion, this feature seeks to build dialogue and inquire in which a community of people can acquire knowledge from each other. Methods for the information gathered and shared would be modeled after the Wikipedia or Relevantmagazine.com where the data collected are mostly user generated. Tools for annotation while comparing the Scriptures of parallel verses would be handy for the careful study and analysis of content. Personalization of data collected from one’s study of the Gospels using the Gospel Spectrum make the Gospel Spectrum more robust and personalized. The Gospel Spectrum has been developed to challenge the current boundaries of science and religion by venturing into new frontiers of design and technology while exploring the visual traditions of the past. As an application based on the convergence of data visualization, bible study, harmony of the gospels, design theory, user interface design and development, comparative literature, and network theories, the Gospel Spectrum presents the story of Jesus Christ in a unique way that seeks to inspire users to discover something new from an ancient story. | |