Download Visual Faith Art Theology and Worship in Dialogue Engaging Culture William A Dyrness 9780801022975 Books

Product details Series Engaging Culture Paperback 190 pages Publisher Baker Academic; First Edition edition (November 1, 2001) Language English ISBN-10 0801022975

Visual Faith Art Theology and Worship in Dialogue Engaging Culture William A Dyrness 9780801022975 Books Reviews

• For a book whose title and focus is on "visual faith and art," it was extremely disappointing to find every illustration printed only in black and white, and most of those are dark and fuzzy, not clear pictures. Sometimes the author would comment on details in a particular illustration, but due to the poor picture quality, I had a very hard time even seeing what he was referring to! I'm sure it costs more to reproduce illustrations in color, but for an art book, I do think it's a given necessity.
• Dyrness focuses on visual art. The book offers a history of the visual arts, an exploration of what the Bible says about art, and an overview of the contemporary art scene. Dyrness’ book is in Baker’s Engaging Culture series, which means it is a scholarly work and therefore more heavily nuanced and technical than most readers will want. Nevertheless, the book would be very helpful for those hoping to understand the visual arts better, particularly in conjunction with a Christian worldview. For my brief review on this book and most of the books out there on Christianity and the arts, see theologyforreallife.com/artsbooks
• Definitely an interesting and beneficial read so far, but I find myself distracted by the low quality of the images in the printed book. High definition quality for pictures of art that is being analyzed in a book is a necessity, not an option!
• Good content on a topic seldom treated well by Christian authors. It was occasionally "dry" and difficult for the reader to stay interested. I strongly recommend Saving Leonardo by Pearcey instead!
• Even though there is an technical aspect to the book. The only regret is the e-book is not allowed to show the pictures it is referencing as they are copyright material.
• Awesome deal and MEGA fast shipping!
• William A Dyrness, Visual Faith Art, Theology and Worship in Dialogue (Grand Rapids Baker Academic, 2001)
  
  This book critiques the traditional Protestant prejudice against visual arts and aesthetics, and invites Christians to have new vision for the arts and a recovery of visual imagination. Until the Renaissance, art was made almost purely for devotional purposes, but Calvin and the Reformation distrusted images and elevated the word as primary. Recently, society's resurging interest in the visual arts (and the images of popular culture) has been paralleled by a renaissance of interest in the arts among Christians. Theologians like Paul Tillich and Francis Schaeffer paved the way, and Dyrness expounds the wealth of theological justification for celebrating the beauty, creativity and imagery of art. The art world can be confusing with its proliferation of forms and styles. It is a context that does not suit modern Christians who like convincing, rational presentations. Yet it is a rich context for exploring meaning, spirituality, and worship in interactive, collaborative and visual ways. Dyrness is Professor of Theology and Culture at Fuller Seminary and his love of art and its interaction with theology is contagious. Emerging churches that are seeking to enjoy and worship with beauty and creative arts will find helpful background here.
  
  Originally reviewed in Darren Cronshaw `The Emerging Church Spirituality and Worship Reading Guide.' Zadok Papers S159 (Autumn 2008).
• I bought the version of this book. All the photo's that are found in the paper copy are not in the kindle version due to "right restrictions." The book talks about these images, so it is difficult to learn when the photos are not included in the book. I would not get the kindle version. Overall it is a good book (so far) I haven't read through the entire book yet, but I like they talk about christian tradition. It is a good book for my theology and the arts class.