When I teach the course on Medieval history, one of my favorite areas of lecturing deals with the monastic transcription initiated during the era. Monks would hand copy Scripture and commentaries; beautiful art work would be added, turning the hand-printed page into a colorful work of visual art. Monasteries typically had libraries, and part of the library might include a Scriptorium. The scriptorium was a place for writing and "illuminating"--transcribing by hand the Word of God and adding to the page the type of illustrations you see in the examples above.
When we lived for a semester in England, I saw a beautiful display of these magnificent works --the blues and golds were amazing. The collection I saw dated back to the Renaissance, and the colors remained vibrant.
So why then does this bother me a bit? (Having said that, I have looked at journaling Bibles at Lifeway with the thought of getting one).
Maybe it would be safe to say that it is all about attitude. If you "journal" (i.e. draw and letter with markers) in your Bible with a loving, respectful motivation, it is fine. My hope is that those brothers in the monasteries pursued a true labor of love, using their talents, inks and time to lavish upon the Scripture all the beauty they could muster.
Similarly, I hope that this journaling movement will draw individuals more deeply into the Word of God--not as an art project, but as Divine work of art in and of itself.
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