Through the Rose Window

Art, Myth, and the Religious Imagination

John F. Hayward

Introduced and Edited by Kenneth A. Olliff

"The arts are primary tools and allies of living religion, and the very health of the intellect is dependent upon the vigor of the arts working through the realm of worship."
—from Through the Rose Window

In essays and prayers written over a period of thirty years, Hayward explores the many roles of art and religion as vehicles for transcendent truth. Sampling literature, music and the visual arts, Hayward reveals that art is religious and religion is itself an art form. Readings from the Bible, which Hayward characterizes as "true fiction," propose that mythology is the primary vehicle of religious expression. Persuasive and thought provoking, Hayward is an eloquent spokesman for liberal religion's faith in the human spirit. He has been chosen by Collegium, an association of liberal religious scholars, as their distinguished scholar for 2002.

Praise for Through the Rose Window

"This book will be a delight to readers of a variety of religious and non-religious stances—I wish I had had it when I was a preacher. Here is the fruit of a lifetime of reflection on the importance of imagination in religion. Thought provoking yet written in readable and beautiful language, these reflections are themselves works of art. Hayward explores the value of myths as models of transcendence and clarifies how these myths are still present in our secular, scientific, and technological culture. Although deeply religious, Hayward is not heavy-handed. He acknowledges his doubts along with his convictions, and speaks of the divine only with reticence and a sense of the inadequacy of all words."
—Jerome Stone, Meadville Lombard Theological School

"John Hayward is one of the most original poet-theologians of our century. Drawing upon the great liberal theological tradition of James Luther Adams and Charles Hartshorne, and a vast knowledge of Western humanist and Christian culture, literature, and myth, and his own deep love of creation, Hayward makes the transcendent visible to contemporary minds and hearts."
—J. Ronald Engel, Meadville Lombard Theological School