The Grief of God: Images of the Suffering Jesus in Late Medieval England by Ellen M. Ross (Assistant Professor of Religion, Assistant Professor of Religion, Swarthmore College)
Between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries images of a wounded and bloody Christ proliferated in England, appearing in sermons, drama, church decorations, and spiritual treatises. Some scholars see these graphic portrayals of suffering as signs of a new emphasis on Jesus's humanity, while others see renewed emphasis on a terrifying God of vengeance. Ross, however, argues that these explanations have misunderstood the nature of medieval attitudes toward the suffering Christ. Analysing a wide range of textual and pictorial evidence, she finds that in their encounters with the wounded Jesus - the Saviour whose blood nurtures, feeds, and heals human persons - medieval believers found the God of mercy and love.