Wonder Beyond Belief

What happens when one of Germany s most important writers, himself a Muslim, immerses himself in the world of Christian art? In this book, Navid Kermani is awestruck by a religion full of sacrifice and lamentation, love and wonder, the irrational and the unfathomable, the deeply human and the divine a Christianity that today s Christians rarely speak of so earnestly, boldly and enthusiastically. With the open-minded curiosity of a non-believer or rather a believer in another faith Kermani engages with Christian art in its great richness and diversity. The result is an enchanting reflection which reinvests in Christianity both its spectacular beauty and its terror. Kermani struggles with the cross, falls in love at the sight of Mary, experiences the Orthodox Mass and appreciates the greatness of St Francis. He teaches us to see the questions of our present-day lives in the pictures of old masters such as Botticelli, Caravaggio and Rembrandt not with lectures on art history or theology, but with an intelligent eye for the essential details and the underlying relations to seemingly remote worlds, to literature and to mystical Islam. Kermani s poetic school of seeing draws us in as we are carried along by his unique perspective on Christianity, rekindling our interest in great art at the same time. We are captivated by his unique and brilliant Islamic reading of the West.

Autorentext
Navid Kermani is a writer and scholar who lives in Cologne, Germany. He has received numerous accolades for his literary and academic work, including the 2015 Peace Prize of the German Publishers' Association, Germany's most prestigious cultural award.

Zusammenfassung

What happens when one of Germany's most important writers, himself a Muslim, immerses himself in the world of Christian art? In this book, Navid Kermani is awestruck by a religion full of sacrifice and lamentation, love and wonder, the irrational and the unfathomable, the deeply human and the divine a Christianity that today's Christians rarely speak of so earnestly, boldly and enthusiastically.

With the open-minded curiosity of a non-believer or rather a believer in another faith Kermani engages with Christian art in its great richness and diversity. The result is an enchanting reflection which reinvests in Christianity both its spectacular beauty and its terror. Kermani struggles with the cross, falls in love at the sight of Mary, experiences the Orthodox Mass and appreciates the greatness of St Francis. He teaches us to see the questions of our present-day lives in the pictures of old masters such as Botticelli, Caravaggio and Rembrandt not with lectures on art history or theology, but with an intelligent eye for the essential details and the underlying relations to seemingly remote worlds, to literature and to mystical Islam.

Kermani's poetic school of seeing draws us in as we are carried along by his unique perspective on Christianity, rekindling our interest in great art at the same time. We are captivated by his unique and brilliant Islamic reading of the West.

Inhalt
I. MOTHER AND SON
MOTHER
SON
MISSION
LOVE I
LOVE II
HUMILIATION
BEAUTY
CROSS
LAMENTATION
RESURRECTION
TRANSFORMATION
DEATH
GOD I
GOD II
II. WITNESS
CAIN
JOB
JUDITH
ELIZABETH
PETER
JEROME
URSULA I
URSULA II
BERNARD
FRANCIS
PETER NOLASCO
SIMONIDA
PAOLO DALL'OGLIO
III. INVOCATION
VOCATION
PRAYER
SACRIFICE
CHURCH
PLAY
KNOWLEDGE
TRADITION
LIGHT
LUST I
LUST II
RECESSIONAL
ART
FRIENDSHIP

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ILLUSTRATION CREDITS