With all due respect to my one undergraduate class, I’m no expert in art history. And Protestants today aren’t exactly known for our appreciation of visual arts. That’s why I’m so thankful to have Russ Ramsey as a docent in his new book, Rembrandt Is in the Wind: Learning to Love Art through the Eyes of Faith. 

If you’re like me, and you want to love art, but you don’t feel qualified, Ramsey’s book can help.

“If you have not yet learned to love beauty,” he writes, “learn to love it late.”

God didn’t need to make this world beautiful. He didn’t need to make humans in his image, concerned with goodness and truth. But he did, so that beauty might awaken us from spiritual stupor.

Russ joined me on Gospelbound to discuss Rembrandt and Van Gogh, Kinkade vs. Caravaggio, why you need to learn the rules before you break them, and why a great painting demands as much as reading War and Peace in one sitting. If you’re looking for an uplifting but still thought-provoking summer read, I recommend Rembrandt Is in the Wind.