Apparently Heaven is in black and white

Heaven in Stone and Glass by Robert Barron
Crossroad Publishing, 2000

The picture on the cover of Robert Barron's Heaven in Stone and Glass leads the reader to believe more such full-color treasures await inside. Unfortunately, such is not the case. While the book does include 15 illustration depicting various elements of the great cathedrals, sadly they're all in black and white. However, that shortcoming is not enough that anyone should consider bypassing this informative little book. 

The book bills itself as a spiritual meditation, but in and of itself it really isn't. Rather, it is a great instruction on how the architects and designers of the great cathedrals incorporated so many elements into these places of worship that in fact are themselves great sources of spiritual meditation. Without the explanations Barron supplies in his tome, many of these elements surely go unnoticed or misunderstood: gargoyles, rose windows, building ornamentation based on geographic orientation, labyrinths, crypts, and more all have rhyme and reason that gel perfectly with the faith.

Father Barron, most recognized for his Word on Fire ministry and the epic 10-part Catholicism video documentary, obviously knows his stuff. He's a bright guy: he earned his Doctor of Sacred Theology under the pontifical system from the Institut Catholique de Paris with a thesis entitled "Creation as Discipleship: A Study of the De potentia of Thomas Aquinas in Light of the Dogmatik of Paul Tillich". Admittedly, the rhetoric gets pretty lofty sometimes and can leave the average reader lost in the clouds. Barron, however, always seems to come back to earth and summarize his point succinctly and effectively.

If you're looking for a coffee-table book with pages of breathtaking full-color photos of the world's great cathedrals and churches, this isn't it. But if you want to now what you're seeing when you look at that coffee table book -- or better yet, when you visit those holy places in person -- then Heaven in Stone and Glass is a must-have on your bookshelf.