The Sensuous in the Counter-Reformation Church (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781107013230)

This book examines the promotion of the sensuous as part of religious experience in the Roman Catholic Church of the early modern period. During the Counter-Reformation, every aspect of religious and devotional practice was reviewed, including the role of art and architecture, and the invocation of the five senses to incite devotion became a hotly contested topic. The Protestants condemned the material cult of veneration of relics and images, rejecting the importance of emotion and the senses and instead promoting the power of reason in receiving the Word of God. After much debate, the Church concluded that the senses are necessary to appreciate the sublime, and that they derive from the Holy Spirit. As part of its attempt to win back the faithful, the Church embraced the sensuous and promoted the use of images, relics, liturgy, processions, music, and theater as important parts of religious experience.

Author: Marcia B. Hall
ISBN-10: 1107013232
ISBN-13: 9781107013230
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 07/22/2013
Pages: 356
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 2.40lbs
Size: 10.20h x 7.30w x 0.90d