DESCRIPTION

‘The cross is not only the ubiquitous symbol of Christianity, it is also the very crux of Christian life and worship,’ declares Christopher Irvine in the Introduction to this wide-ranging study. Here we learn how the cross can be read and understood by exploring its place and function in the architectural setting of Christian worship and in the artwork that is placed there, as well as in its rituals and worship texts. And by looking at the cross in the context of worship, we begin to see how Christ’s sacrifice is related both to the Eucharist and to the natural world as God’s creation.

The Cross and Creation in Christian Liturgy and Art also reveals how art and Christian worship open up a liturgical way of seeing the cross as a sign of life, of God’s intention to make creation anew. It encourages us to see worship – a celebration of creation and our stewardship of it – as a fitting response to the Christian vision of life flourishing in paradise.