Deeply rooted in the author's own cultural experience of displacement, Bridge to Wonder is a remarkable example of theology and the sense of redemption found in the beauty of drama, literature, and art. Subtle and learned, it is yet moving and accessible, a timely reminder that the beauty which we know in the world is the best reminder that we are on the right path to God.
~David Jasper, Professor Emeritus of Literature and Theology, University of Glasgow
González-Andrieu's passionately expressed desire is that hearts as well as eyes be opened to the love-inspiring and transformative power of beauty, which is both eternal and earthly, intended and accidental, and often found in the most unexpected places. The divine gift of vision is the beginning of redemption.
~Robin Jensen, Luce Chancellor's Professor of the History of Christian Art and Worship, Vanderbilt University
Bridge to Wonder is elegant in its simplicity, communal in character, spiritual in its reach, and profound in its implications. González-Andrieu offers a method for engaging the arts and the religious that will become a standard in the field, while also moving the hearts of its readers.
~Robert K. Johnston, Senior Professor of Theology and Culture, Fuller Theological Seminary and author of Reel Spirituality: Theology and Film in Dialogue
Bridge to Wonder provides a marvelously inviting network of ways to span the often artificially constructed spaces between beauty (in visual arts especially) and life as envisioned through the Gospel. Not many can assert strong, indeed prophetic, views with such genuine charity as González-Andrieu. She is an inspiring guide, gifted at finding and creating artistic 'interlacings' where others might simply become tangled up in matters of academic definition or religious dogma.
~Frank Burch Brown, editor of The Oxford Handbook of Religion and the Arts and author of Religious Aesthetics and Good Taste, Bad Taste, and Christian Taste: Aesthetics in Religious Life
Cecilia González-Andrieu's stunning Bridge to Wonder: Art as a Gospel of Beauty is an antidote to the wars of aesthetics, embroiling liturgists. It is simultaneously a prophetic challenge to those who seek in beauty a way to cover over the horrors of injustice.
~Church Life: A Journal for New Evangelization
Noteworthy and full of insights, Bridge to Wonder is a recommendation for anyone interested in theological aesthetics, US Latino theology and creative ministry.
~JinHyok Kim, Heythrop College, University of London, Theological Book Review
A Bridge to Wonder displays a profound sensitivity and subtle awareness of the promise and perils facing a rapprochement of art and the Christian faith. Such a heartfelt, informed and rich discussion by one of the most promising young Catholic theologians of our generation is to be welcomed for its fresh, compelling vision of how to transverse what continues to be a daunting chasm separating art and the Christian faith.
~Robert Covolo, Visual Faith Institute of Art and Architecture, The Pneuma Review
… this book will be a welcome addition to courses that deal with theology or religion and the arts and, of course, theological aesthetics.
~Eileen D. Crowley, Catholic Theology Union, Journal of Hispanic / Latin Theology
… the particular perspectives she brings to the interlacing of theological aesthetics are a vibrant and stimulating demonstration of the value and beauty inherent in the attempt to hold art and the religious together.
~Jonathan Evens, The Journal of Theological Studies
The author shows deep theological insight in her critiques of various artworks.... Her ability to find theological meaning in not just the works themselves but in the public's reactions to them is quite profound.... She shows deep insight into the artworks she considers, and her ability to work with a wide variety of sources to glean theological meanings and purposes for art.... Bridge to Wonder ably demonstrates González-Andrieu's potential to build such bridges in the future.
~Englewood Review of Books
Through a cogent and insightful analysis of the encounter between theology and art, this text offers both a profound claim for beauty as revelatory and a convincing reworking of interdisciplinary theological method.
~Stephen Okey, Religious Studies Review
