Called to Attraction

“Both the historical and conceptual range are impressive, with Sammon able to move from Hebrew scripture and Plato to the contemporary period while showing remarkable comfort with a wide range of religious and philosophical reflection on beauty. For such a short book the coverage is comprehensive, with digests of Augustine, Pseudo-Dionysius, and Bonaventure being especially compelling. The book displays real mastery of his subject, but it’s the passion and lucidity of the writing are wonderful and will likely earn for it a large readership.”


—Cyril O’Regan, Huisking Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame





“What does an alert and questioning undergraduate need to know about the Christian tradition of naming God beauty? How can a chastened understanding of the analogy of being contribute to the reawakening of Christians today to the epiphany of beauty? Crucial questions such as these are handled with erudition, clarity, and refreshing simplicity in Sammon’s latest masterpiece . . . Called to Attraction is a great opportunity to elevate these discussions far beyond the mundane without losing your audience in the process, for the work tackles central questions concerning beauty’s relevance to human existence forthrightly and with pedagogical finesse.”


—Peter Casarella, Associate Professor, Department of Theology at the University of Notre Dame





“Brendan Sammon's Called to Attraction is a concise and stimulating intellectual journey through the history of a single idea—the idea of beauty. Examining various conceptions of beauty from antiquity to the present, from Plato and Aristotle to Hans Urs von Balthasar, Sammon summons us to a deeper appreciation of what this word means, and how it might apply ultimately to God himself.  At the heart of the book is an attempt to fathom beauty, wherever it appears, as a divine call and, as such, as an anagogical invitation to ever greater union with the one who is beauty itself—indeed, beauty incarnate. As one might hope from a book on this topic, Called to Attraction is written in an attractive style that calls for a wide readership.” 


—John Betz, Department of Theology, University of Notre Dame