Enlightening through blackening.

Eastern Christian theology has no notion of Irresistible Grace. Saint Fathers, unlike Western theologians, didn’t considered formal analysis of this category to be necessary. They only spoke about Prevenient Grace and Church Grace. Prevenient Grace brings a person to the Church, and thus achieves its aim. The Grace of the Church comes to action next, given through services of each member of Christ’s Body. The Lord Himself said: “I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). The death itself shall not prevail! This means, the Church and God’s energy it brings to the world will never be prevailed by anything: despite any repressions and any personal imperfections of its representatives.

The medial action is a documental shooting of a computer screen while the author covers with black color white background with a white cross in Painter application: the cross can’t be blackened, since it’s on a higher layer of the graphic file. Firstly, the screen seems to be light blue and the cross is unseen. The more blackening is done, the lighter the screen seems to be thanks to automatic settings of adjustments of contrast the camera has. The cross gradually reveals itself against the dark background and gets brighter and brighter, until in the very end of the action it starts shining. We have to add that the author didn’t expect any of the effects of the action and they were quite of a surprise to him. It’s a clear manifestation of impossibility of blackening our Church, no matter how hard its opponents try. “And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not” (John 1:5).

Gor Chahal. Moscow, 2012. (Translated by Ivan Lukov).