Christ Crowned with Thorns, Dr. King, Blue Bultmann, and Abraham Lincoln, by Oliver D. Crisp

British theologian Oliver D. Crisp, who studied painting and sculpture at London’s Wimbledon School of Art, has steadily created an oeuvre of portraits. These include theologians Jonathan Edwards, Rudolf Bultmann, and Karl Barth and a series called “American Religious Icons” that includes Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln. Crisp’s art career began when he was chatting with a fellow scholar about the other’s upcoming book. Crisp offered to provide the cover art. What began as a whimsical offer he has continued with zeal: he has over 15 book cover illustrations to his credit. Crisp, who teaches at Fuller Theological Seminary, admits he always wanted to be a book illustrator. Through theology, teaching, and the arts, he says he is able “to think, reflect, engage in important ways in the practices of the church.”