Anglican belief and practice allows that God communicates through his Word as well as through the beauty of his works. The trick, of course, is to keep the two sources of communication in balance. Nowhere is this balance better struck than in the writings of the atheist-turned-Anglican-clergyman Alister McGrath. McGrath takes Scripture very seriously as an unshakable source of truth for belief. At the same time, McGrath recognizes that God also communicates through art and literature. McGrath draws on these two different sources to teach us more about God and about how to live in light of what he has communicated. McGrath also offers a thoroughgoing defense of God’s existence, again drawing not only evidence from Scripture but from the beauty of creation.
Dramatically illuminated by a series of fine art paintings, Alister McGrath’s new volume seeks to engage both the mind and the imagination as he explores the great and extraordinary affirmation: ‘Christ is risen!’ Poetry, prayer, and theological reflection are interwoven with commentary on the ideas conveyed through works such as Maurice Denis’ Holy Women at the Tomb, He Qi’s On the Road to Emmaus, Guercino’s Incredulity of St. Thomas, and William Blake’s River of Life. The result not only increases our understanding of the vital connection between the resurrection of the Son of God and the transformation of human existence, but also helps us to trust in the security of Christ’s grasp on our lives, as he daily sustains us by his love and power.
