The Sacred Community
Art, Sacrament, and the People of God

Liturgical, sacramental, and historical, The Sacred Community is a masterful work of theological aesthetics. David Jasper draws upon a rich variety of texts and images from literature, art, and religious tradition to explore the liturgical community gathered around—and most fully constituted by—the moment of the Sanctus in the Eucharistic liturgy. From art and architecture to pilgrimage and politics Jasper places this community in the midst of the contemporary world.

Introduction
1 Soul and Body React on Each Other
Body and Character in Greek and Roman Literature
2 The Movement of the Body Is a Voice of the Soul
Body and Character in Early Jewish and Christian Literature
3 Your Eye Is the Lamp of Your Body
Luke and the Body-Soul Relationship
4 Ought Not This Daughter of Abraham Be Set Free?
Getting the Story of the Bent Woman Straight
5 Short in Stature, Son of Abraham
The Height of Hospitality in the Story of Zacchaeus
6 His Feet and Ankles Were Made Strong
Signs of Character in the Man Lame from Birth
7 What Is to Prevent Me?
Ambiguity, Acceptance, and the Ethiopian Eunuch
Epilogue
Appendix: Abbreviations from the Progymnasmata

David Jasper is Professor of Literature and Theology at the University of Glasgow. He is the author or editor of more than twenty books, including The Sacred Desert: Religion, Literature, Art, and Culture, The Bible and Literature: A Reader, and The Oxford Handbook of English Literature and Theology. He lives in Wishaw, Scotland.