Examining Faith And Art
One of the most vivid ways people can see the power of God in their lives is through artwork, says Dr. Gregg Muilenburg. The Concordia-Moorhead philosophy chair and his colleagues explore this role of the arts in their newly released book, "Translucence: Religion, the Arts, and Imagination."
Muilenburg co-edited the book and wrote one of the essays, titled "In Praise of Subtle Thinking." The book was developed at a two-week Lutheran Academy of Scholars Seminar at Harvard University. Long conversations about the role of art in the life of faith led the colleagues to write down their ideas. They concluded that artwork, such as music and literature, can convey faith and God through the subtle power of symbols, instead of definition and description.
"The book was an extended opportunity to think about some issues I have been writing about for the past three years concerning the life of faith and the role of the scholar," says Muilenburg.
"Translucence" is the first collection of essays to be published from the Lutheran Academy of Scholars, which was established in 1999.
