Becoming by Beholding

There is amount of imagination and wonder when it comes to the Christian faith. Since there were few original images, we created our own, sometimes to the detriment of how we view Jesus. Images though help us to focus on the embodied Jesus and other narratives in the Bible.
Imagination doesn’t end with just images though, but shapes of churches, writings, theology, and all other aspects of the faith. What Davis does in her book is remind us of the role of human imagination in various aspects of our faith life. Someone created it and we use it to shape our faith.
As stated, some were detrimental as the creation of the white Jesus removing the middle eastern nature of Jesus, but some enhance our way of looking at faith.
I found the book to be quite helpful and a great guide into the topic. I only did 4 stars because I received an unfinished copy and some parts were difficult to follow. It may be cleaned by the finished copy.
Thank you to NetGalley and Brazos for the advanced copy.

I've long since left my teenage years behind, however, I still remember the feeling of loss, grief, disconnection, and searching that followed my being kicked out of my childhood church of Jehovah's Witnesses (a denomination I would now consider to be cultish).

I was lost. I didn't understand God. I couldn't wade through the remnants of my faith. I didn't feel grounded and I didn't feel as if I was part of anything. In many ways, I struggle with this sense of "belonging" to this day.

As I read "Becoming by Beholding: The Power of the Imagination in Spiritual Formation," I was reminded of the weeks, months, and years after I left Jehovah's Witnesses and I began searching for what I actually believed in terms of Jesus, God, faith, church, and my own relationships.

As a longtime creative, there's no question that my ability to connect to the power of my imagination in many ways helped me maintain a relationship with God when the church as I knew it imploded. I had nothing, but I had God.

Again, sometimes, I still feel the same. I'm a weirdo who seldom fits in anywhere. I'm a disabled adult who can seldom "get" anywhere. I'm single, actually a longtime widow, and for much of my life I've lived a solitary existence. I awaken at 4am nearly every morning and pray - for those I know who are suffering, for my church, for my friends and, yes, at times even for my enemies.

I'm not quite sure how Lanta Davis has never been on my radar, however, I'm grateful now that she is. As a lifelong Hoosier, I'm also somewhat joyous that she's professor of humanities and literature in the John Wesley Honors College at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Indiana.

Dr. Davis (PhD, Baylor University) has written on the Christian imagination and formation and has been published in such works as Christianity Today, Christian Century, Smithsonian Magazine, Plough, and others.

"Becoming by Beholding" places the imagination at the center of spiritual formation by recovering key works from the Christian tradition. It revives the "art of fashioning the soul" as essential to Christian spiritual formation and character development.

Dr. Davis indicates that many of the challenges facing the contemporary Christian church - nationalism, consumerism, and partisan politics - stem from a crisis of imagination. Dr. Davis nudges us toward a reorientation away from diseased cultural forms and back toward historic Christian imaginative traditions better reflecting the love, joy, and wonder of the gospel.

Indeed, while "Becoming by Bolding" is no doubt an academic endeavor, the passion for the gospel is vivid and vibrant.

Individuals like myself, especially those who embrace the intersection of arts and theology, will rejoice with "Becoming by Beholding." Each chapter brings to life a different work of Christian imagination - icons, sacred architecture, imaginative prayer, bestiaries, and personifications of the virtues and vices.

The final book, not included in the ARC I received for review, will also include a twenty-page insert featuring numerous full-color images that will no doubt drive home the message even more powerfully.

If I longed for anything here, it might be at least minimally addressing many of the toxic qualities of contemporary Christianity and looking at the same in the historic church. Paul, for example, wrote many letters to churches discussing their challenges, obstacles, failures, etc. While it often feels as if the church is more toxic than it's ever been, how is reorienting our gaze impacted by the knowledge that even in the historic church there were toxic and corrupt concerns?

This a minor quibble, really, and it's largely grounded in my own desire to explore this topic even more fully and to explore this topic with passion. As someone who has been an activist around Indiana, and not so long ago in Marion, I can't help but wish I'd stumbled across Dr. Davis while I was there. This is no doubt a coffee conversation.

I can often become disconcerted with my home state, though I do love Indiana. However, it makes me feel better knowing someone like Dr. Lanta Davis is here and adding such intelligence and wonder to the worlds of religion, faith, and spiritual development. This is no doubt a book I will be reading again - there's so much to absorb - and further reflecting upon this valuable writing within the context of my own faith journey and spiritual development.