The Artist as Divine Symbol: Chesterton's Theological Aesthetic

by Adam Edward Carnehl

Overview

In critical yet appreciative dialogue with four different art critics who demonstrated theological sensitivities, Adam Edward Carnehl traces an ongoing religious conversation that ran through nineteenth-century aesthetics. In Carnehl's estimation, this critical conversation between John Ruskin, Walter Pater, and Oscar Wilde, culminated in the brilliant approach of G. K. Chesterton, who began his journalistic career with a series of insightful works of art criticism. By conducting a close reading of these largely neglected works, Carnehl demonstrates that Chesterton developed a theological aesthetic that focuses on the revelation of God's image in every human being. In Chesterton's eyes, only those made in God's image can produce images themselves, and only those who receive a revelation of truth are able to reveal truths for others. Art is therefore a rich and symbolic unveiling of the truth of humanity which finds its origin and purpose in God the Divine Artist.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781666763096
Publisher:	Cascade Books
Publication date:	10/09/2023
Series:	KALOS
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	150
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Adam Edward Carnehl serves as a Lutheran pastor and spiritual director in northern New Jersey, where he lives with his wife and two children.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"In this densely written and learned study of nineteenth-century and fin de siecle aesthetics, Adam Carnehl recovers Chesterton as an important figure in theological mysticism after Ruskin, Pater, and Wilde. Rooted in German Idealism and Romantic thought in Blake and Coleridge, this book deftly re-evaluates Victorian aesthetics culminating in Chesterton, in the recovery of the imago dei, and in God as divine artist."
—David Jasper, professor emeritus of literature and theology, University of Glasgow

"By contextualizing Chesterton's intellectual beginnings in late Victorian aesthetics, Adam Carnehl reveals the deep roots of his subject's theological vision and that vision's ultimate coherence. At a time when theology is again turning to the arts, Carnehl is able to show that Chesterton remains a resource for serious theological reflection, over and above the sometimes-polemical apologetics of his later years. Admirably clear, The Artist as Divine Symbol fills an important gap in the literature."
—George Pattison, honorary professorial research fellow, University of Glasgow

Editorial Reviews

"In this densely written and learned study of nineteenth-century and fin de siecle aesthetics, Adam Carnehl recovers Chesterton as an important figure in theological mysticism after Ruskin, Pater, and Wilde. Rooted in German Idealism and Romantic thought in Blake and Coleridge, this book deftly re-evaluates Victorian aesthetics culminating in Chesterton, in the recovery of the imago dei, and in God as divine artist."
--David Jasper, professor emeritus of literature and theology, University of Glasgow

"By contextualizing Chesterton's intellectual beginnings in late Victorian aesthetics, Adam Carnehl reveals the deep roots of his subject's theological vision and that vision's ultimate coherence. At a time when theology is again turning to the arts, Carnehl is able to show that Chesterton remains a resource for serious theological reflection, over and above the sometimes-polemical apologetics of his later years. Admirably clear, The Artist as Divine Symbol fills an important gap in the literature."
--George Pattison, honorary professorial research fellow, University of Glasgow

"In this densely written and learned study of nineteenth-century and fin de siècle aesthetics, Adam Carnehl recovers Chesterton as an important figure in theological mysticism after Ruskin, Pater, and Wilde. Rooted in German Idealism and Romantic thought in Blake and Coleridge, this book deftly re-evaluates Victorian aesthetics culminating in Chesterton, in the recovery of the imago dei, and in God as divine artist." -David Jasper, professor emeritus of literature and theology, University of Glasgow "By contextualizing Chesterton's intellectual beginnings in late Victorian aesthetics, Adam Carnehl reveals the deep roots of his subject's theological vision and that vision's ultimate coherence. At a time when theology is again turning to the arts, Carnehl is able to show that Chesterton remains a resource for serious theological reflection, over and above the sometimes-polemical apologetics of his later years. Admirably clear, The Artist as Divine Symbol fills an important gap in the literature." -George Pattison, honorary professorial research fellow, University of Glasgow

From the Publisher