Overview

The Wisdom and Power of the Cross is the fifth and final entry in Richard Viladesau's well-regarded series on the theology of the cross, from the historical crucifixion of Jesus to the present day. Continuing his analysis of theological history through cultural contexts, this volume correlates theoretical approaches with artistic representations, showing the relation of theoretical to imaginative approaches. The Wisdom and Power of the Cross examines modern and contemporary thought and images, which look at the cross in the light of modern historical and scriptural studies, science, and the novelties of modern and post-modern art and music.Viladesau here considers how the passion of Christ has been thought about by theologians and portrayed by artists in the modern world. Contemporary art and music reveal the lasting power of traditional images of the passion, as well as new possibilities for expression. The Wisdom and Power of the Cross surveys both traditional approaches to soteriology and revisionist theologies that take up the challenge of the meaning of the cross today, in light of critical historical studies and modern science, providing new understandings of traditional concepts like

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9780197516522

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Reviews

"""The book will be valuable for those in the visual arts as well as theology. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates; graduate students; professionals."" -- A. W. Klink, CHOICE ""Richard Viladesau is the rare person with the kind of experience, learning, and creativity to embark on a cross-disciplinary effort such as this. He offers a masterful synthesis of meticulous research, wise sensibility, and wide-ranging aesthetic curiosity. This book is a triumph."" -- Peter C. Bouteneff, Professor of Systematic Theology and Director of the Institute of Sacred Arts at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary ""Richard Viladesau draws a new geography confirming the arts as historical documents for the doing of theology as he spans the work of 20th and 21st century Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox theologians as well as feminist, liberation, and Black theology. Particularly enlightening are his analyses of the cross in film from DeMille to Gibson and in music from Pärt to Adams. Throughout he expands how the recognition and place of salvation history is communicated in the secular century."" -- Diane Apostolos-Cappadona, Professor Emerita of Religious Art and Cultural History, Georgetown University ""In this magisterial volume, Richard Viladesau explores what the Cross means in late modernity and postmodernity. He does so through a traversal of an extraordinarily wide range of sources, theological and philosophical, and through the arts, including the plastic arts, film and music, revealing a depth of thought unique amongst theologians of our time. This is a daringly provocative and innovative work, essential for anyone interested in theology and the arts."" -- Very Rev. Dr Ivan Moody, CESEM - Universidade Nova, Lisbon"

Richard Viladesau is the rare person with the kind of experience, learning, and creativity to embark on a cross-disciplinary effort such as this. He offers a masterful synthesis of meticulous research, wise sensibility, and wide-ranging aesthetic curiosity. This book is a triumph. -- Peter C. Bouteneff, Professor of Systematic Theology and Director of the Institute of Sacred Arts at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary Richard Viladesau draws a new geography confirming the arts as historical documents for the doing of theology as he spans the work of 20th and 21st century Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox theologians as well as feminist, liberation, and Black theology. Particularly enlightening are his analyses of the cross in film from DeMille to Gibson and in music from Part to Adams. Throughout he expands how the recognition and place of salvation history is communicated in the secular century. -- Diane Apostolos-Cappadona, Professor Emerita of Religious Art and Cultural History, Georgetown University In this magisterial volume, Richard Viladesau explores what the Cross means in late modernity and postmodernity. He does so through a traversal of an extraordinarily wide range of sources, theological and philosophical, and through the arts, including the plastic arts, film and music, revealing a depth of thought unique amongst theologians of our time. This is a daringly provocative and innovative work, essential for anyone interested in theology and the arts. -- Very Rev. Dr Ivan Moody, CESEM - Universidade Nova, Lisbon

Author Information

Richard Viladesau is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Theology at Fordham University. A priest of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, N.Y., he obtained his doctoral degree at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. His work concentrates on philosophical questions in theology, including the relation of aesthetic modes of thinking to empirical and conceptual thought.

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