The Chapel Carvings - South Wall

St. Paul's Shield.  This was carved to match, as closely as possible, the shield of St. Paul.  The original hangs in the display of the Upper Room, located in Nashville, Tennessee.

Descending dove, chi rho.  Matthew 3:16, Mark 1:10, Luke 3:22, and John 1:32.  It is a very rare thing for all four of the Gospels to describe the same event in similar words.  In reporting the Holy Spirit's descent upon Jesus, all four say that it came like, or as, a dove from Heaven.  Therefore, the dove has become the most widely recognized symbol of the Holy Spirit.  As mentioned before, the letters chi rho are an abbreviation for Christ.

Hand of God.  Joshua 4:24.  There are more than 100 references to the Hand of God in the Bible, in almost every book, at least once.  This is one of the oldest, and main, symbols of God the Father.  The Hand is almost always shown surrounded by the "Cruciform Nimbus," indicating that the symbol is one of the members of the Trinity.

The Phoenix bird.  This legendary bird is not mentioned in scripture.  One of the first accounts is that written by Herodotus about the fifth century B.C.  Subsequent authors who have written about the Phoenix in general agree that it was a large bird with gorgeous plumage, and was the only one of its kind.  It was always male, and lived to be about 500 years old.  At the end of that time, it built a nest of spice twigs, and burned itself alive by setting the nest on fire.  Then it would rise again with renewed youth from its own ashes.  It is another symbol of the Resurrection.