Angels In The Architecture

Christianity presents a glorious vision of culture, a vision overflowing with truth, beauty, and goodness. It's a vision that stands in stark conflict with the anemic modern (and postmodern) perspectives that dominate contemporary life. Medieval Christianity began telling a beautiful story about the good life, but it was silenced in mid-sentence. The Reformation rescued truth, but its modern grandchildren have often ignored the importance of a medieval grasp of the good life. This book sketches a vision of "medieval Protestantism," a personal and cultural vision that embraces the fullness of Christian truth, beauty, and goodness. "This volume is a breath of fresh air in our polluted religious environment. Hopefully many readers will breathe deeply of its contents and be energized." -The Presbyterian Witness "[A] delightful apologetic for a Protestant cultural vision. . . . before you write off these two as mere obscurantist Reformed types, take care. I found that some of my objections were, on the surface, more modern than biblical." -Gregory Alan Thornbury, Carl F. Henry Center for Christian Leadership "[T]his book cries out against the bland, purely spiritualized Christianity to which so many of us have become accustomed. . . . I highly recommend it." -David Kind, Pilgrimage, Concordia Theological Seminary

An intimate photographic journey into 115 years of history inside a nineteenth-century asylum.

Is love enough to heal their family? Emelie and Liam have a happy life with their five-year-old adopted son, Ben. Emelie, an artist, adores mothering Ben, but as he grows into childhood, she longs for a baby. An accident brings this desire to the forefront. Spending her studio time drawing and painting an imaginary baby, Emelie slips into believing that the baby is real and in need. She tries to hide her struggle from her beloved husband Liam and Ben, but soon it overtakes her. Liam delights in being a dad and loves his orderly life with Emelie and Ben. No matter what, Liam can't give up his hard-won stability. When Emelie slides out of touch and family life no longer feels predictable and safe, his fears push him to rigid control. Ultimately, Liam sweeps Ben out of Emelie’s orbit, even as she is recovering her health and equanimity. Pushed into opposition by unconscious forces, Emelie and Liam struggle to grasp how their loving family unit became so unrecognizable. Emelie, finally well, is determined to get her family back, but the road toward reconciliation is full of obstacles. Out of sync, each must grapple with the meaning of family and their deepest desires. Can Emelie and Liam find their way back together? This story of a contemporary family from the Canadian Maritimes touches on issues of parental devotion, the trauma of infertility, and the effort to hold a family together when unanticipated changes threaten to tear them apart.

To be inspired is, literally, to be imbued with spirit. For as long as human beings have made art, we have also wondered where the creative impulse comes from. The experience of art is transcendent. It takes us beyond mundane existence to a place of spirit and connection. To experience a true work of art may be, truly, to experience the divine. This book of photography and quotes looks to the beauty surrounding us - looks up to the angels in the architecture - and invites others to do the same.

Two autistic boys, each living in a different period of English history, connect with a reality unseen by those around them. All about them is chaos, as Christianity vies with Islam for control of Jerusalem in the late 12th century, and assassinations and mayhem unfold wildly through 1981. Lincoln Cathedral is the setting for a thrilling story, alongside an exploration of what is real, what can be known, what is Faith, and is there really a God? This fascinating journey weaves real historical figures and events with the ideas of possibility, of angels, and of saving the Western and Islamic worlds from their own violence and prejudice. Fitzmaurice s writing is gutsy and authentic, and she weaves a complex and satisfying plot. Images and scenes have remained with me long after reading. Her intellect and delight in language are the guiding forces here. Mary McCallum, Radio New Zealand (Montana-winning author of The Blue)

The Architecture of Medieval Churches investigates the impact of affective theology on architecture and artefacts, focusing on the Middle Ages as a period of high achievement of this synthesis. It explores aspects of medieval church and cathedral architecture in relation to the contemporary metaphysics and theology, which articulated an integrated theocentric culture, architecture, and art. Three modes of attention: comprehension, instruction, and contemplation, informed the builders’ intuition and intention. The book’s central premise reasons that love for God was the critical force in the creation of vernacular church architecture, using a selection of medieval writings to provide a unique critique of the genius of architecture and art during this period. An interdisciplinary study between architecture, theology, and philosophy, it will appeal to academics and researchers in these fields.

Angels are sculpted everywhere in Paris, not just on churches but in unexpected places: holding a lightning rod atop the Théâtre du Châtelet’s roof, adorning a seventeenth-century gilded sundial inside a courtyard at the Sorbonne, hovering above a railroad headquarters where a beautiful stone frieze features young angels flying in to work on the tracks. Subtly, subliminally, the angels are a part of the fanciful and romantic spirit of Paris. Angels of Paris is the first book to explore this intriguing and extraordinary subject. Angels of Paris features beautiful photographs taken from dawn to dusk, in all seasons, accompanied by text explaining the story behind the creation of each angel and of the location in which it is found. Organized chronologically, the book delves into the artistic trends and historic movements the angels reflect and the stories of the artists who created them and of those who commissioned them. Readers will learn about Paris’s history, buildings, and monuments through the abundant, beautiful, and surprising depictions of angels from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century. Rosemary Flannery has found angels in friezes, plaques, and free-standing sculpture; on fountains and façades, clocks and sundials, monuments and mansions, rooftops and window frames. Angels of Paris is a unique way for lovers of Paris to learn more about the city in a new and unusual way.