Discovering God Through the Arts: How We Can Grow Closer to God by Appreciating Beauty & Creativity
Digital Verbum Edition
Overview
What does art have to do with faith?
For many Christians, paintings, films, music, and other forms of art are simply used for wall decoration, entertaining distraction, or worshipful devotion. But what if the arts played a more prominent role in the Christian life?
In Discovering God through the Arts, discover how the arts can be tools for faith-building, life-changing spiritual formation for all Christians. Terry Glaspey, author of 75 Masterpieces Every Christian Should Know, examines:
Let your faith be enriched, and discover how beauty and creativity can draw you nearer to the ultimate Creator.
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- Argues that arts can enrich believers walk with God in life-changing ways
- States that arts can be everyday tools for growth and transformation
- Encourages readers to enrich their lives through a deeper look at arts
- Introduction: Discovering the Power of the Arts
- The Arts and Spiritual Disciplines: Two Paths to a Deeper Faith
- Coming Awake: Teaching Us to Pay Attention
- The Eyes of a Child: Rediscovering a Sense of Wonder
- The Mystery Dance: Digging for Deeper Meanings
- A Bigger Picture: Bringing the Scriptures to Life
- The Best Kind of Heartbreak: Helping Us Deal with Our Emotion
- We Are Not Alone: Finding Comfort and Discovering Courage
- A World Bigger Than Me: Making Us More Empathetic
- Prophetic Voices: Awakening a Passion for justice
- Quiet Places: Assisting Us in Prayer and Contemplation
- Soul Food: Resources for Your Spiritual Journey
When we begin to see God as Creator—as artist, as poet, as musi-cian, as novelist, as sculptor, as architect—we find ourselves con-tinually overwhelmed by his loving presence. Not since Brennan Manning has there been a more endearing voice urging us to seek the God of all creation.
Karen Spears Zacharias, award-winning author and speaker
With countless examples from across the arts, the Discovering God through the Arts is a treasure trove of diverse recommenda-tions for Christians who appreciate the arts. In a distracted age with a glut of spectacles to constantly amuse us, Glaspey helps readers cut through the clutter and meaningfully attend to the good, true, and beautiful. For over-mediated souls whose senses are dulled by the barrage of stimuli before them, a book like this is an absolute gift.
Brett McCracken, senior editor at The Gospel Coalition and author of The Wisdom Pyramid: Feeding Your Soul in a Post-Truth World
In Discovering God through the Arts, Terry Glaspey writes, "Experiencing art is like falling in love. It demands vulnerability at the start and often takes a lot of work." Reading Glaspey's beautiful, rich, and profound new book felt a lot like falling in love. From J. S. Bach to William Blake, from Dante to Dylan, from Caravaggio to Flannery O'Connor, Glaspey explains how artists through the ages have pointed us to God. Glaspey's writing is en-gaging and winsome, and his insights dazzling and rich. it's a sur-vival manual for the radically changing world we live in. Whether we admit it or not, our artists, musicians, filmmakers, poets, and writers have become our soul's ministers in a time when traditional religious institutions seem to be losing their way. Glaspey's book teaches us how art comforts us; reinvigorates our faith, our empathy, and our prayers; and revives our much-neglected sense of wonder. Read it for the joy it contains—and also for your own soul's sake.
Robert Hudson, author, The Poet and the Fly, Kiss the Earth When You Pray, and he Monk's Record PlayerT