Easter Moralized

This Easter (which, btw, in 2024 is also International Transgender Day of Visibility) we explore the gilded pages of the Vienna Bible Moralisée (moralizing bible), of which we hold the first full-color facsimile published in 1973. The Vienna Bible Moralisée is also known as Vienna 2554, referencing its current place of residence at the Austian National Library in Vienna. One of only three 13th-century moralizing bibles still in existence, this manuscript is an excellent example of the of the ways in which Christians worked to simplify the lessons of the Bible for those that were not theological scholars. Even though they were made to be more accessible, these types of manuscripts were only created for the wealthy class; they needed to understand the Christian Bible and its lessons to ensure that they were (theoretically) promoting moral behavior. Vienna 2554 is thought to have been commissioned by Phillip II Augustus, for his son, Louis VIII or his bride, Blanche of Castile.

The Bible Moralisée is curious for two reasons: it does not actually contain the entire text of the Christian Bible, and it is mostly filled with images, rather than with words. These specific attributes contribute to the accessibility of Christian morals by abbreviating biblical stories and using illuminations to visually represent them.

Interestingly, the designs on the pages of these bibles imitate stained glass representations at the time: the eight medallions placed in columns of four; the inclusion of quatrefoils in between these medallions; the use of vivid colors. This reflection of architectural design in the illuminations may have allowed people to visualize themselves in a church and may have led to more contemplative readings of the text that emphasized the teachings of priests and theologians at the time. One of the most well-known images in these types of bibles is Jesus as architect and creator of the universe. This type is seen on the frontispiece of this moralizing bible: Jesus is holding a compass as he focuses on the creation of the world. Geometry and astronomy were often associated with the divine in the Middle Ages and this viewpoint is well explained in Vanderbilt's Divinity Library website: "God has created the universe after geometric and harmonic principles, to seek these principles was therefore to seek and worship God."

The creation of the moralizing bible also inspired later moralizing versions of books and poetry, like Ovid’s Metamorphoses. These types of moralizing volumes edited and changed parts of the works to make them conform to Christian teachings oft the time.

Our facsimile was published in 1973 by the Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt in Graz, Austria in an edition of 3,000 copies at the manuscript's original size. To see the original manuscript, you can visit the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek in Vienna or view the entirety of the manuscript online on their website here.

View more manuscript posts.

– Sarah S., Special Collections Graduate Intern

Apparently we got the plot of 4 Minutes at a convention in Hong Kong and I am losing my mind over it, thank you.

guy who so desperately tries to find god. who wants to have faith in a higher authority to guide him out of the hole he's in. from the weight of guilt from simply existing, as the person he is. but every time he thinks he's answered his higher calling it turns out he's made the Morally Incorrect choice and his path to goodness and holiness was the road to the devil all along

i got a jesus plushie today so i drew orel with a jesus plushie too!! bc i think hed like one ^^

my jesus plushie with hatsune miku under cut

honestly the kinnporsche characters should consider themselves lucky that vegas had short hair because if that man had pulled up with bible's long hair there'd be no survivors half the plot wouldn't have happened cus porsche and pete and whoever else would just have given in immediately I stand by that

i need more high school clay and danielle interactions please it’s for my mental health

'K

Treating people decent and equal is better than posting Bible verses everyday that aren't even practiced.

"You can't create fiction about X problematic thing without explicitly condemning it otherwise your readers/viewers will think it's okay to do irl!"

Okay see well I was under the impression that since I'm not creating fiction for literal 5-year-olds that my readers/viewers would already be aware of the fact it's not okay to rape, torture, and murder people in real life without me spoon-feeding that to them like they're toddlers ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

If you're over the age of 10 and still don't know that it's bad to hurt people in real life without a fairy tale telling you so, then that is 100% a you problem, like I don't know what to tell you here :/

i'm sorry to hear that you've had bad experiences with religious people, but don't let the shame that has been laden upon you by such people in the name of religion turn you away forever, from the primary source of infinite and unconditional love.

corrupt people often twist a good cause and use it as a front for their own evil intentions. don't let such people embitter you and turn you away from the right path forever, and know that those who truly follow the faith know that it's based on love and morality, not scorn and judgement.

haven’t seen the ‘jesus christ was autistic’ take before. might need to take a step back and recalibrate so that i can integrate this information into my system of coordinates but it makes so much sense

do you have any thoughts on the story of abraham and isaac? my parents talk about it and praise abraham for being willing to kill his son which..... scares me to say the least, and i'd love to hear your perspective as someone who seems more well-adjusted

Where I am now, it disgusts me more than anything. The interpretation of "I'm willing to sacrifice your life if I was told to" feels like the step before "I put you into this world and I can take you out of it." It's entitlement to a child, who is an independent individual, just because they are dependent on you for survival. I prefer the interpretation of understanding the actions you're taking and the reasons why (like how there's multiple religions that don't eat pork because it was so unsafe to eat at the time), especially if it's at someone else's expense.

Where I was in the thick of it all, it gave me morbid comfort that scares me now. I had fantasies of being a martyr for the church and the idea of being the next Isaac was just so appealing. Being a hand-selected sacrifice chosen by the Good Lord Himself? Sign me the fuck up, babey!

I think if I admitted that to my family, they'd be horrified.

It's another one of those stories or beliefs where I think the majority of christians just regurgitate what they've heard. It's a point of pride and devotion, but there's no personal reflection or cross-cultural awareness of it. Lean not unto your own understanding and whatnot. It's the potential that scares me the most, like the Quiverfull movement with the Duggars or Turpins. I'm sure there's stories now, but I can't remember them off the top of my head

(Also I will be telling my therapist someone on Tumblr called me "more well-adjusted" thank you anon)

The type of Christian who asks atheists how they don't like, murder people on the reg are so funny to me because they seem to think their religion makes them the Peak of Morality when statements like "if you don't believe in God how comes you don't do X thing" all but outright state they have no idea why shit like murder and rape is bad except that God doesn't like it lmao. Like way to admit you have no intrinsic sense of morality and need to be afraid of a higher power to be a decent person, but I promise if you're not a piece of shit it's actually very natural not to want to do heinous evil shit all the time potential punishment from a higher power or not 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

HI GOD!!!

OREL IS SO SKRUNKLY POP:)

something something there are two wolves inside of you except one wolf is rabid scratching at the walls insane over son of aphrodite camp halfblood steve harrington BUT the second wolf is like that specific steddie fic where eddie keeps calling steve his "apollo"

People will dismiss the importance of interpreting the Constitution because “maybe we shouldn’t care what a bunch of racist sexist slaveowners would have thought 200 years ago”

But bring up one passage from a holy book that hasn’t aged well and people will trip all over themselves to say “well, actually, in this translation, and if you use this interpretation, and if you listen to this crackpot theory that no theologian takes seriously but that I’m going to present as established and widely accepted, then -” instead of just following through on “maybe we shouldn’t care what a bunch of racist sexist slaveowners would have thought 2000 years ago”