The Substance of Things Seen: Art, Faith, and the Christian Community

Cross Currents, Spring, 2005 by Peter Heinegg

Robin M. Jensen

The Substance of Things Seen: Art, Faith, and the Christian Community

Eerdmans, 2004, 152 pp.

In this wide-ranging, clearly written, genially ecumenical survey, Jensen (Professor of the History of Christian Art at Vanderbilt Divinity School), tackles both the theory and practice of Christian art, from the 3rd century catacombs to the Iconoclast heresy to medieval cathedrals to Mathias Grunewald to Edwina Sandys's 1974 sculpture of a (naked) female crucified Christ. The book could use an index and color illustrations, but it makes an ideal introduction to the subject for classes or discussion groups. Jensen sounds as if she's faced more than one bright-but-not-very-esthetically-hip audience before; and she knows just how to handle the situation. She takes nothing for granted, even irenically contesting the Augustinian-Calvinist suspicion of all non-verbal art in worship. But she carries her case through foundational issues to a fairly sophisticated examination of the impact of the arts on present-day congregational life. A first-rate mini-textbook.