Sounds blare and pictures flash frantically across the screen.This may seem to be an accurate description of every commercialaired on TV, but such commercials are actually symptomatic of amuch more important cultural shift. Arthur Hunt argues that thereis a conceptual transformation taking place today, as we move froman emphasis on the "word" to the predominance of the "image."
Hunt focuses on the contrast between a Judeo-Christian heritage,characteristically word-dependent-and paganism, typicallyimage-dependent. As people trust experience and visualrepresentations to interpret their surroundings, they focus less oncontent and more on sensory appeal. Hunt argues that movements likethe Protestant Reformation, Puritanism, and the beginnings of theAmerican nation were all created and sustained in an environmentthat transmitted its ideas through words, while historical shiftsto emphasize image have occurred during periods like the Dark Ages.As the word, both written and spoken, is devalued, there is arenewed descent into paganism.
A wide range of issues-education, politics, entertainment,postmodernism-are brought together in an incisive, illuminatingway. This book examines trends in today's culture and churches thatlead away from a word-centered world and into an image-soaked worldripe for propaganda and a demagogue.
