Some Favorite Art + Faith Books
Art as a path to God
A list of art books that help me connect with God
For a long time, I have been driven by this desire to connect my faith with my love of art and beauty. Perhaps subconsciously I believed that art and faith were mostly two distinct and separate parts of me. As I consider where this idea originated, I thought back to my college years. Although I didn’t major in art, I did take some classes in the art department. I was pretty new to faith, and I remember feeling like most other students weren’t interested in art with a faith perspective. That was likely a bit simplistic on my part, but it definitely influenced my outlook. And my experience of a lot of “Christian” art seemed kitschy and uninspired. Then, in 2011 I was given the book, Contemplative Vision, by Juliet Benner. This little book was a beautiful gift, teaching me the spiritual practice of using art as a beautiful way to connect with God.
I decided to put together a list of art books that have helped me explore and learn to meditate on a wide variety of “sacred art”, meaning art rooted in spiritual themes and Biblical stories. Each book offers full color illustrations and rich reflections shared by various art historians, teachers, and theologians.
Beholding Christ and Christianity in African American Art, Romaine and Wolfskill
Contemplative Vision, Juliet Benner
Learning from Henri Nouwen & Vincent van Gogh, Carol A. Berry
Redeeming Vision, Elissa Yukiko Weichbrodt
Rembrandt Is in the Wind, Russ Ramsey
Seeing Salvation, Neil MacGregor with Erika Langmuir
Sister Wendy’s 100 Best-loved Paintings, Sister Wendy Beckett
Sister Wendy’s Nativity, Sister Wendy Beckett
The Christian Story: Five Asian Artists Today, Pongracz, Kuster, and Cook
Truth and the Christian Imagination series (5 books in the series), by Alister McGrath
The Dwelling of the Light, Rowan Williams
This is by no means a comprehensive list…just a few treasures from my own experience. Please comment if you have any other books to recommend!