Bridge to Wonder: Art as a Gospel of Beauty - Hardcover

Cecilia Gonzalez-Andrieu (author)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 160258351X ISBN 13: 9781602583511

Publisher: Baylor University Press, 2012

Synopsis

It is often difficult to describe beauty or even justify attempts to experience something beautiful. Yet if artistsawhether painters or poets, actors or musicians, architects or sculptorsateach us anything, it is that the pursuit of beauty is a common feature among all humanity. As Cecilia GonzA lez-Andrieu contends, these varied experiences with artistic beauty are embedded with revelatory and prophetic power that not only affects a single individual but allows for communal formation. Named one of America magazine's most promising young theologians, GonzA lez-Andrieu seeks to engage art in order to reveal its religious significance. Bridge to Wonder proposes a method of theological aesthetics allowing readers to mine the depths of creative beauty to discover variegated theological truths that enable greater communion with each other and the One source of all that is beautiful.

About this title

Review:

Deeply rooted in the author's own cultural experience of displacement, Bridge to Wonder is a remarkable example of theology and the sense of redemption found in the beauty of drama, literature, and art. Subtle and learned, it is yet moving and accessible, a timely reminder that the beauty which we know in the world is the best reminder that we are on the right path to God.

--David Jasper, Professor of Literature and Theology, University of Glasgow

Through a cogent and insightful analysis of the encounter between theology and art, this text offers both a profound claim for beauty as revelatory and a convincing reworking of interdisciplinary theological method.

--Stephen Okey "Religious Studies Review "

... this book will be a welcome addition to courses that deal with theology or religion and the arts and, of course, theological aesthetics.

--Eileen D. Crowley, Catholic Theology Union "Journal of Hispanic / Latin Theology "

The author shows deep theological insight in her critiques of various artworks.... Her ability to find theological meaning in not just the works themselves but in the public's reactions to them is quite profound.... She shows deep insight into the artworks she considers, and her ability to work with a wide variety of sources to glean theological meanings and purposes for art.... Bridge to Wonder ably demonstrates González-Andrieu's potential to build such bridges in the future.

--Englewood Review of Books

... the particular perspectives she brings to the interlacing of theological aesthetics are a vibrant and stimulating demonstration of the value and beauty inherent in the attempt to hold art and the religious together.

--Jonathan Evens "The Journal of Theological Studies "

Cecilia González-Andrieu's stunning Bridge to Wonder: Art as a Gospel of Beauty is an antidote to the wars of aesthetics, embroiling liturgists. It is simultaneously a prophetic challenge to those who seek in beauty a way to cover over the horrors of injustice.

--Church Life: A Journal for New Evangelization

Noteworthy and full of insights, Bridge to Wonder is a recommendation for anyone interested in theological aesthetics, US Latino theology and creative ministry.

--JinHyok Kim, Heythrop College, University of London "Theological Book Review "

A Bridge to Wonder displays a profound sensitivity and subtle awareness of the promise and perils facing a rapprochement of art and the Christian faith. Such a heartfelt, informed and rich discussion by one of the most promising young Catholic theologians of our generation is to be welcomed for its fresh, compelling vision of how to transverse what continues to be a daunting chasm separating art and the Christian faith.

--Robert Covolo, Visual Faith Institute of Art and Architecture "The Pneuma Review "

About the Author:

Cecilia Gonzalez-Andrieu is Associate Professor of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University where she specializes in theological aesthetics, U.S. Latino theology, and systematic theology. She has written for several publications and received the Best Column Award from the Catholic Press Association for her column, "De Todo Un Poco," in The Tidings .

About this edition

• Publisher: Baylor University Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 160258351X
• ISBN 13: 9781602583511
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 258