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Photo: Paul Fryer’s “The Privilege of Dominion”Artist Paul Fryer’s latest work will cause much controversy. His work, “The Privilege of Dominion,” which is on display at the former Holy Trinity Church in Marylebone , is a crucifix, but instead on Christ on the cross, the cross bears the life-like body of a gorilla.
The purpose of the display is to “highlight [the] plight of the Western Lowland Gorillas, and to challenge the Christian notion that animals do not have souls.”
This portrayal of Christ as an ape is a perversion of a Christian symbol. There are many other way of calling attention to the plight of gorillas, but not at the expense of Christianity. This is not a work of art. It is an affront to Christianity and it shows how vulgar people can be in their attempt to mock religious faith, primarily when that religion is Christianity.
Christians must join forces and reject this kind of perversion.
Do you think that this is art? I don’t. This is not art; this is blasphemy.
HT: Stephen Smuts
Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary
Tags: Paul Fryer, The Privilege of Dominion
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Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament 