December 5, 2022

The Power of Visualizing the Scriptures

The Power of Visualizing the Scriptures

Imagery pervades the most influential sections of the Christian cannon—a chosen ruler drips with oil, breaks his enemies like pots, grows like a lowly plant, drips with oil, frees captives, and proclaims the age of God’s favor (e.g. Psalm 2, 110; Is. 53, 61). The inspired Scriptures are highly visual. Visualizations of the Bible may be the most effective tools we can create or use. They are super-tools.

Visualizations are Super-Tools

Visualizations of information are super-tools for communicating. Why? Because comprehensible, data-rich visualizations tap into the human brain’s innate drive for knowledge to make decisions (Krum 2021, 4-9). Sight is the predominant sense humans use to process information around them, thus, people remember pictures much better than other types of information (ibid, 9-20). Researchers have dubbed this phenomenon the picture superiority effect (ibid). For example, a study showed that participants only remember 10% of a text after 3 days. When the text had relevant visuals accompanying it, their memory bumped up to 65%.

Want people to have a better memory of the content you present? Relevant images are a great option.

Visualizing the Scriptures

We can learn a lot about the Scriptures by converting data about the texts into visualizations. We can track aspects of the text, such as their structure, participants, relative size, and themes. The best part about this process is that, if you have the internet, you already have free access to all the tools necessary to create professional visual representations. I generated the Story Map of Mark 6:6b-10:52 by myself using a free tools & YouTube tutorials.

How I Made the Story Map of Mark 6:6b-10:52

1. I made this table in Excel to generate most of my graphic automatically.
   1. I used the divisions in Mark, already proposed by Mark Strauss in his commentary on Mark (2014), to determine how I would chunk out the text.
   2. I copied passages from the SBLGNT (a free critical Greek text) and pasted them into Microsoft Word.
   3. I removed all verse numbers because they artificially added to the total. Pro tip: if you toggle off the verse numbers and footnotes in BibleGateway, then you can skip manually deleting them.
   4. Then, I got the total word count per passage by highlighting the text. Pro tip: you do not have to understand Greek or Hebrew to do this.
2. I used the Excel table to created the base graphic using RAWGraphs
   1. RAWGraphs has a wide range of highly customizable graph options. Most importantly, it can output graphs as SVG files, so you can edit them easily in any graphics editing software.
   2. I pasted my Excel table directed into the RAWGraphs web interface.
   3. Then, I followed their instructions for making a Circle Packing visualization.
   4. Downloaded the final product as a .svg, which looked like this:
3. I polished the product using Figma.
   1. Figma is a free, open-source program, that thousands of professional graphic designers use daily. Plus, it has a cult following that produces TONS of YouTube tutorials.
   2. I imported the .svg file that I made in RAWGraphs into Figma
   3. I reorganized the components and changed their color scheme to encode participants.
   4. I added a title.

Then, viola, I had this powerful visualization of about 30% of the Gospel of Mark, which you can download here.

By making this graphic, I learned: - Mark’s depiction of Jesus’ ministry focus decisively shifts after Peter’s confession. In 6.6-8.26, most of the stories show Jesus performing miracles that grow His reputation and responding to His enemies. In 8.27-10:52, most of the stories show Jesus revealing how He will die and preparing His disciples to follow in His steps after He leaves. - The patterns and positions of the stories mattered. In the first section, Mark discusses Jesus’ enemies every couple of stories and uses healing stories and symbols of greater spiritual awareness. In the second section, Mark records Jesus discussing humility as a prerequisite for following Him in each of the three cycles.

Expect to see this graphic often as we continue to walk through Mark 6:6b-10:52.

TL;DR

• The human brain comprehends complex information most easily through visualizations.
• All the tools necessary to make professional visualizations are free online.
  • Make fantastic charts and graphs using Google Slides and RAWGraphs
  • Polish them up using Figma
• Here’s where you can download my Story Map of Mark 6:6b-10:52.

Challenge for You

Next time you need to study a passage, consider turning data from the passage into a visualization. It can give you additional insights and provide a wonderful tool for walking others through the passage.

References

• Krum, Randy. 2021. Cool Infographics: Effective Communication with Data Visualization and Design. Wiley.
• Strauss, Mark L. 2014. Mark. Edited by Clinton E. Arnold. Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.