Putting History in Context: The Saint John’s Bible Heritage Edition at Yale University
New Haven, Connecticut – Yale University is redefining what it means to engage in history through art. Since the University acquired a Heritage Edition of The Saint John’s Bible in 2012, this work of modern sacred art and scripture has done anything but gather dust. The University has used the Heritage Edition to further academic study, spiritual worship, and more.
“We seek to be the source for both the informational and spiritual needs of our community, which consists of the Yale Divinity School, Yale University, outside researchers, community members, and more, who happen to come to Yale,” said Dr. Scott Libson, Divinity Special Collections Librarian at Yale. “That’s a large and diverse group of people. We’ve found that the Heritage Edition is a great way to connect our communities, not just credit-bearing classes, but also outside groups who come in.”
Here are just six of the many ways that Yale University has used its Heritage Edition.
Putting historical collections in context – The Yale Divinity Library boasts one of the most robust theological collections in the world. To bring new life to these historical works, the Divinity Library works with other libraries on campus, such as the world-renowned Beinecke Library, to introduce the Heritage Edition as a modern version of these ancient texts.
“We’ve found that the Heritage Edition is a great way to bring our historical collections into the present,” said Libson. “Drawing connections between the history of hand-produced Bibles and illustrated Bibles through the era of print with woodblock illustrations, and more modern incarnations of it, and then having that come full circle with the Heritage Edition has been so illuminating for students.”
Libson and other librarians often put the Heritage Edition in conversation with other historic bibles to highlight the variations and congruencies between both the thematic artistic displays of scripture and production methods over time.
Enhancing ministry – Every June, Yale offers a Fellowship program called The Leader’s Way. This Certificate Program allows spiritual leaders to come together and “re-imagine how ministry can meet the needs of our time,” according to the Program’s website.
“For this group last year and again this year, we had a papyrus Bible fragment from the second century A.D., all the way through medieval manuscript Bibles, then to the King James Bible, John Eliot’s Bible in Massachusetts language, to The Saint John’s Bible,” said Libson. “2000 years worth of Bible production in one room.”
Showcasing this collection of texts together allows Fellows to consider historical examples of sacred art while imagining the role of spirituality and scripture in today’s world. This imagination informs the overall work of their fellowship: transforming the world with the power of the Gospel.
Commencement traditions – Each University has its own commencement traditions. For many Divinity students at Yale, showing their parents and loved ones the Heritage Edition is a necessary ritual during commencement season.
“Students want to show their parents this wonderful art piece that they’ve encountered during their time here,” said Libson. “That’s a popular moment.”
Fostering scriptural engagement through creative practice – Jude Morrissey, Access Services Librarian at Yale Divinity Library, found herself curious as to why Donald Jackson chose to embark on the project of The Saint John’s Bible, and “the broader spiritual practice of engaging scripture through creative expression,” in her words.
To follow this curiosity, she plans to display the Heritage Edition in the library alongside a statement about creative expression as spiritual practice.
“I want to provide supplies for passive programming to have participants practice their own scriptural engagement,” said Morrissey. “My inclination is to set out scripture and invite folks to illustrate in the margins, then reflect upon how this practice allows them to engage deeper with the scripture.”
Classroom study – “I love when we get to bring the Heritage Edition into a classroom setting, because we get to play around with it and flip through the pages, and compare depictions in The Saint John’s Bible with depictions in older Bibles,” said Libson.
This isn’t exclusive to classes offered by or at Yale. In the fall of 2024, The University of Connecticut brought its class, titled The Bible, The Holy Land and History to the world-famous Beinecke Library, where Libson led a class on The Saint John’s Bible in the context of other Bibles.
“For that class, we had a lot of Bibles and religious texts that we presented, and we used The Saint John’s Bible as an example of the most modern iteration of this tradition,” said Libson.
The Saint John’s Bible: Ignite the Spiritual Imagination
What are some ways that you have used or encountered The Saint John’s Bible Heritage Edition? We invite you to share your experience with the Heritage Program at sjbheritage@csbsju.edu.
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