Art of Christian Reflection

Contemporary Christians interact with art very differently than Christians of centuries past. Christian art was never intended for mere enjoyment, but was used to express the most important features of Christian faith and to suggest models for Christian practices. In The art of Christian reflection, art historian Heidi Hornik reconnects art to ethics, beauty to behaviour and form to function in classical artwork. Over eighty different pieces of art--paintings, sculptures and architecture--are the subject of Hornik's careful analysis and commentary, which highlights the ethical implications inherent to each work. Specifically, Hornik explores how art may foster Christian virtues like forgiveness, patience and generosity. Hornik also discusses art's influence on moral issues like racism, prisons, violence, poverty, and environmentalism as well as historic Christian praxes like prayer, work, Bible study and worship.