Church Beautiful: Sacred Art and Spiritual Healing - Paperback

by Katie Kresser (Author)

In this modern world of technology, efficiency, and rationalism, why do people love Disneyland and dress up? Why do they relish pomp and ceremony? Why are they drawn to beautiful, old things like Gothic cathedrals, Baroque palaces, and mountaintop temples in the snow? Is it possible that they long for splendor and majesty just like their ancestors did, perhaps suffering from wounds that need healing through beauty? Church Beautiful: Sacred Art and Spiritual Healing argues that modern people have been spiritually wounded by the cultural divorce of religion and beauty. Art history shows that human nature is partly defined by its longing for the transcendent--and its creation of beautiful bridges toward the transcendent through architecture, fashion, liturgy, and art. How can people rediscover this lost part of their shared human identity? How can their ancestors teach them to heal through beauty?

Author Biography

Katie Kresser is a professor of art history and visual studies at Seattle Pacific University. She is the author of The Art and Thought of John La Farge (2013) and Bezalel's Body (2020).