Contributors Jane Heath, Robin Jensen, Mark McInroy, Vittorio Montemaggi, and others Includes bibliographical references (pages 219-232) and indexes
Contents:
Introduction: The place of the image / Judith Wolfe. the end of images: towards a phenomenology of eschatological expectation / Brent A. Strawn - Mary's image as theology / Jane Heath -- early Christian visual theology: iconography of the Trinity and Christ Robin M. Jensen -- Persons or principles? the meaning of the Byzantine icon revisited / Alexis Torrance -- The catalytic image: migration, image, and exegetical imagination in the Jacob Narrative (Genesis 25-33) / C. A. Strine -- Image as theology in Dante's Commedia: praying for each other's good / Vittorio Montemaggi -- Beholding the radiant invisible: the incarnate image in Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Jean-Luc Marion / Mark McInroy - Brought into the fold / Ben Quash -- the end of images: towards a phenomenology of eschatological expectation / Judith Wolfe.
Summary:
Our lives are saturated with images. They exert an unparalleled power in contemporary culture. However, the power of images is in fact nothing new. Although texts are often the most important historical sources for academics, the image played an enormous role for those who actually lived in these past societies. Images communicated all manner of concepts and messages to a much wider audience than theological texts. Throughout history, images frequently depicted God, human beings, and their relationship in a manner that was meant to teach theology and inspire awe. Historically speaking, most people who have done theological reflection have done so in intimate conversation with the images seen in sacred spaces. This volume explores how images themselves are theology, how they influence sacred texts and theological concepts in a way that words cannot on their own. In part one, the book presents five essays investigating the ways in which images have shaped sacred and theological texts. In part two, the book offers five discussions of the sort of theological work that images can perform that words are unable to do. The volume concludes by outlining areas for future research and exploration based on the insights achieved among the chapters. The collection is, in its totality, a celebration of how central the image has been in shaping theology and how it should continue to do so
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.