"God is our refuge and our strength..." Psalm 46:1

In the context of last week's God as Christ Pantocrator, Ruler of the World, how is this treatment, referred to as Christ in Judgment, different? Each God as Christ figure has the right hand raised in the particular gesture, and each is touching/holding in the left hand the orb of the world. Both artists are from Spain. The title nomenclature, although theologically somewhat separate, means less than the essential content of the paintings.

In this work by Gallego, Christ's face and bearing is strong, but gentle; loving, reassuring. He is both God and Christ - the God who judges and the Christ who loves, two natures embodied in one articulation. Both Fernando Gallego in this late-15th century work and El Greco in his early-17th century work emphasize the loving nature of Christ. Surrounded by the symbols of the four Gospels enhabiting their apocalyptic natures as described by Ezekiel, God in Christ is following a pattern in use for centuries: the eagle = John, the angel/man = Matthew, the bull/ox = Luke, and the lion = Mark.