Author Carol Pitts follows up her first vibrantly colored book of illustrated biblical verses with this similarly constructed work. “The paintings in this book are Holy Spirit designs of scripture; God’s Word in picture form,” she informs readers. “These paintings are also entertaining, puzzle like [sic] and are thought provoking, as well as a visual display of His power.”
As with volume one, this book contains 15 two-page spreads with a scripture verse from the King James Bible on the left and an illustration of that verse on the right. In addition to the verse, the author offers insights into the accompanying art. For example, one picture depicts a smiling woman in a headdress. On the opposite page under the scripture from 1 Timothy 2:9 (“that women adorn themselves in modest apparel”), the author states: “The dictionary’s meaning of adorn is: to decorate.” The book concludes with the author’s biography/testimony, in which she credits God with her redemption: “Over time He rescued my destroyed life and in the beginning of this process He gave me the want to paint.”
Pitts’ art is, indeed, often inspired: Bold, colorful and engaging, it invokes imagery of diverse people and sometimes uses dark/light contrasts or negative space to highlight the “hidden” figures within. Readers will enjoy searching for the many nuances in each picture.
Unfortunately, the text is marred by copyediting inconsistencies and errors (i.e., “the Holy Spirit has a since [sic] of humor”). Awkward sentence structure can also be distracting (“This is a Christian man full of light in the jungle at night that appears to be injured…”), and some scriptures are transcribed with word and punctuation errors.
Overall, Pitts aims to provide a means of exploring the Bible and of receiving Holy Spirit-given revelations similar to those she has experienced. Despite the text’s need for greater polish, Christians looking for something unusual to stimulate their devotional time might enjoy this second offering of Holy Spirit Mystifying Scriptures.
Also available in hardcover and ebook.
