Naming the Spirit

Discover the deep connection between theology, the arts, and the work of the Holy Spirit in Naming the Spirit

In this book, W. David O. Taylor and Daniel Train bring together a remarkable group of theologians, scholars, and artists to offer a fresh perspective on pneumatology through the creative lens of the arts.

Each chapter unpacks a particular name for the Holy Spirit and examines its significance, using examples from a variety of artistic mediums—music, poetry, visual art, film, and even landscape architecture. Far from being just a theoretical exploration, the book seeks to be a catalyst for renewal in theology and the arts, aiming to inspire new avenues of thought and engagement within classrooms, churches, and beyond.

Curated by Taylor and Train, two leading voices in theology and the arts, Naming the Spirit is a rich, interdisciplinary work that promises to deepen our understanding of the Holy Spirit's work in the world through the profound lens of artistic expression.

This book is an essential resource for professors, students, ministry leaders, and artists who are looking to enrich their understanding of art in relation to the Holy Spirit. Order Naming the Spirit today and discover a new way to engage with the Holy Spirit through the beauty of the arts.



Daniel Train (PhD, Baylor University) is assistant teaching professor of the practice of theology and the arts at Duke Divinity School, where he serves as the associate director of Duke Initiatives in Theology and the Arts (DITA). He is the coeditor of The Art of New Creation and The Saint John's Bible and Its Tradition: Illuminating Beauty in the Twenty-First Century.



W. David O. Taylor (ThD, Duke University) is associate professor of theology and culture at Fuller Theological Seminary and the author of several books, including Prayers for the Pilgrimage, A Body of Praise, and Glimpses of the New Creation. In addition to a range of popular essays, he has published articles in the Calvin Theological Journal, Christian Scholar's Review, Worship, Theology Today, and Image Journal, among others. An Anglican priest, he has lectured widely on the arts, from Thailand to South Africa. In 2016 he produced a short film on the Psalms with Bono and Eugene Peterson.

Introduction


Foreword by Amos Yong


1. Remaining with a Name: The Identity of the Holy Spirit and the Posture of the Artist


2. Outpourings: A Visual Theology of Pentecost


3. The Illuminating Spirit: Seeing the Trinity in Basil and Olafur Eliasson's Beauty


4. The Spirit that Brings Us Home: Art, Creativity, and Native American Theologies of the Spirit


5. Stewards of Breath: Poetic Imagination and the Word-Bearing Breath


6. A Spacious Place: Blk Halos and the Spirit's Breadth


7. The "Overshadowing Spirit": Mary, Incarnation, and the Spirit in Olivier Messiaen's "Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus"


8. Give Us Jesus as We Cry Holy: The Holy Spirit's Convicting Use of Black Music for the New Creation


9. "Spiritual Song"—Enactment of and Participation in the "Bond of Peace"


10. Rooted and Fixed in God: The Spirit of Freedom and an Aesthetic of Freedom


11. Our Comforter, Our Disrupter: The Holy Spirit and Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life


12. The Particularizing Spirit and the Art of Landscape Architecture


List of Contributors

"I'm delighted to find this book succeeds just where so many fall short. Here is an integration of biblical-doctrinal wisdom with artistic insight which gives the arts room to be themselves without making them the touchstone of theological truth. A remarkable achievement, paving the way for a host of similar studies."



"This adventurous volume evidences that theology and the arts is no longer an emerging field, but an established one—a field that sets the pace for theology as a whole."



"There are books about the Spirit. And then there are books animated by the Spirit. In Naming the Spirit, W. David O. Taylor and Daniel Train have brought together a collection of authors and artists who are not simply talking about the third person of the Trinity but are creating theological works that are drenched in the presence and activity of the rûaḥ elohim—the life-giving breath of God. I cannot recommend it highly enough."



"This book is a rich, confident, and generous exemplification of how the discipline of theology and the arts is coming of age. Both expansive and closely attentive in its vision, it proves the value of drawing deeply on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit to frame an enlivening discourse about the life-giving power of art." weniger anzeigen expand_less