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Article: Christian believers: Think positive.(Review)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- November 13, 1999
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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TERESA OF AVILA: THE PROGRESS OF A SOUL. By Cathleen Medwick. Knopf; 304 pages; $26.
LOURDES: BODY AND SPIRIT IN THE SECULAR AGE. By Ruth Harris. Viking; 496 pages; $29.95. Allen Lane; Pounds25.
BERNINI'S majestic sculpture of Saint Teresa in the Roman church of Santa Maria della Vittoria depicts her recurring vision of an angel plunging a golden spear into her heart. In imagining this moment almost a century after Teresa of Avila's death in 1582, Bernini did the Spanish mystic no favour. Her enraptured face makes modern viewers think of sexual passion or hysteria.
Teresa's own prolific writings, which serve as the basis of Cathleen Medwick's ...