Sweet and Blessed Country: The Christian Hope for Heaven [Hardcover]

John Saward (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 20, 2005

In Sweet and Blessed Country John Saward takes an altarpiece from fifteenth-century Provence as his starting-point for a theological exposition of the Christian hope for Heaven. The altarpiece, Enguerrand Quarton's Coronation of the Virgin, was painted for a Carthusian monastery, and so it is monastic theologians, and principally Denys the Carthusian, who guide Saward in his exploration of that 'sweet and blessed country' in which the angels and saints contemplate the face of God. John Saward's book breaks new ground not only in content but also in style and method. He discusses a subject, eschatology (the doctrine of the last things), which is generally neglected today, and, though he observes the disciplines of scholarship, he also reaches out to a readership beyond the academy. This theology of Heaven, faithfully rooted in the Catholic tradition, offers enlightenment to every Christian who seeks understanding of his hope, and encouragement to every human being who yearns for ultimate fulfillment.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Strong stuff, and food for much reflection... a serious and full treatment of a sometimes neglected area, and a healthy reminder that medieval religious art was not for entertainment, but for instruction. Maybe we need books like this now and again, to save us from bogus aestheticism that can all too often hide intellectual laziness.' Revd Peter McGeary, The Church Times 'Saward presents his case with a characteristic papalist machismo, reflecting the maturation of his subject matter.' Robin Ward, New Directions

About the Author

John Saward is a Fellow of Greyfriars Hall, Oxford, and member of the Theology Faculty, University of Oxford.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (October 20, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0199280096
• ISBN-13: 978-0199280094
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,309,240 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book of a man with the gift to conform the mind to what is, June 29, 2009

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Aquinas "summa" (celestial heights, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sweet and Blessed Country: The Christian Hope for Heaven (Hardcover)

Fr john Saward has the rare gift of bieng able to open up the treasure which is the Catholic faith to he who seeks after truth. He is unashamedly un-modern, almost old fahioned (and right) in his love for the faith of our fathers. No revisionism here but a distillation of the beauty of the good, the beauty of truth, the beauty of the Redeemer and the beauty of his blessed mother.

It is common-sense thomism, a recognition that man through his intellect (ratio) can penetrate into the depths and when aided by revelation (fides) can hope to see God face to face in the world to come. He is not afraid to open the whole of the catholic faith to our gaze, heaven, purgatory and hell, explaining how each has their place in the Divine plan. And, he is right, we do occasionally have to gaze into the depths of hell, so that we can see what we deserve, to not only strengthen us in our resolve to sin no more but to move us to that sancity where we seek God, not just to avoid punishment, but to desire Him as a thirst desires living springs of water; we are configured to gaze on Him face to face and only find satisfaction in that eternal gaze.

Thank you Fr John for such a lovely book!