Between Heaven and Earth

176 pages, hardcover, over 130 specially commissioned color photographs. 

$30/copy including international P&P. To order send email to: [email protected]

Myriads of layers of meaning are to be found in what is traditionally called the Holy Land, and an exciting and illuminating way to probe them is through an exploration of the area’s churches and monasteries.  In this volume, some one hundred Christian shrines and sanctuaries have been selected for special consideration through photos and texts. Featured are most of the traditional “holy places” and ancient and modern monasteries; representative parish churches and a number of ancient ruins are also included. The sites are grouped in four geographic regions from north to south, with shrines of the holy city of Jerusalem presented in a separate chapter.

An introduction provides religious, historical and cultural background vital to a deeper understanding and appreciation of the sites presented. There is a brief review of the history of Christian presence in the Holy Land, a portrayal of the diverse Christian communities today, and an exploration of the nature and significance of pilgrimage to the Holy Land throughout the ages.

This book’s central thematic insight is an understanding of the Holy Land as the land of “the between,” and therefore as an “icon of encounter.”  The Christian holy places are described as meeting points for divine and human archetypes. In these shrines, and in this land, suspended between heaven and earth, mystery and history mingle in rich blends of fable and fact, sometimes intoxicating, sometimes sobering, but always edifying.