Overview

There is growing interest in the relationship between the arts and Christian faith. Much has been written about the arts and theology and the place of the arts in church life. Not as much has been written, however, about how the arts might actually advance spiritual formation in terms of the cumulative effect of religious experience and intentional practices. This book provides a modest step forward in that conversation, a conversation between theological aesthetics and practical theology. Understanding aesthetics as 'the realm of sense perception' and spiritual formation as 'growing capacities to participate in God's purposes', James McCullough suggests how these dynamics can mutually enhance each other, with the arts as an effective catalyst for this relationship. McCullough proposes an analysis of artistic communication and explores exciting examples from music, poetry, and painting, which render theoretical proposals in concrete terms. This book will engage both those new to the arts and those already deeply familiar with them.

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9780718894177

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Reviews

...it is certainly an accessible and helpful book for undergraduates and seminarians. -Andrew Stout, Theological Book Review, Vol. 27 No.1, 2016

[The author's] book is like an invitation to further study, and made me want to set off straight away to the nearest gallery. He makes a powerful - to my mind, utterly convincing - case for seeing the arts seriously as a subject of theological inquiry.--The Rev Dr Jeremy Morris Church Times, 12th August 2016

Author Information

James McCullough (PhD Institute for Theology, Imagination and the Arts, University of St. Andrews) is an adjunct instructor at Lindenwood University. He has published articles on the music of Anton Bruckner as well as on the art of Graham Sutherland and Makoto Fujimura.

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