The Invisible God The Earliest Christians on Art [Paperback]

This revisionist study challenges the received opinion that in its earliest manifestations Christianity was a form of religiosity opposed both on principle and in fact to the use of pictures. Paul Corby Finney argues that the well-known absence of Christian pictures before A.D. 200 is due to a complex interplay of social, economic, and political factors, and is not, as is commonly assumed, a result of an anti-image ideology. The book documents the origins of Christian art based on some of the oldest surviving Christian archaeological evidence, and it seeks to show how the Christian products conformed to the already-existing pagan types and models. This study will interest scholars and students in the fields of church history, ancient history, archaeology, art history, classics, and historical theology.

This is a major book about a major topic....Clearly written, at times elegant and provocative....Finney's book was a pleasure to read and will be promptly recommended to my students. --The Journal of Religion

This book is both learned and ground-breaking....Finney's work is an important contribution to the study of early Christian art history. --Bible Review