The image of God in man

by David Cairns

317 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1973

About the author

David Adam Cairns is a British journalist, non-fiction writer, and musician, widely regarded as a leading authority on Hector Berlioz. The son of neurosurgeon Sir Hugh Cairns, he co-founded the Chelsea Opera Group in 1950 with Stephen Gray, presenting Mozart’s Don Giovanni in Oxford under a young Colin Davis, with whom he later championed Berlioz’s works. Cairns served as classical programme coordinator for Philips Records (1967–1972), providing sleeve notes for Davis’s landmark Berlioz recordings. His English translation of Berlioz’s Mémoires was published in 1969. Cairns held prominent journalism roles, including music critic and arts editor for The Spectator and chief music critic of the Sunday Times (1983–1992), and contributed to the Evening Standard, Financial Times, and New Statesman. His two-volume biography of Berlioz—The Making of an Artist 1803–1832 (1989) and Servitude and Greatness 1832–1869 (1999)—received widespread acclaim and multiple awards. He founded the Thorington Players in 1983 and has written on composers including Mozart, emphasizing the emotional depth of their music. Cairns was appointed CBE (1997), elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (2001), and named Officier and later Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for his contributions to French music.

Reviews

[Ci · Rating 5 out of 5]

(First quick scan of contents. Tabled for future closer read.)

This book is based on 1949 Kerr Lectures in Trinity College, Glasgow. There is no record that I can find about the author. I suspect that Kerr Lectures are now meshed with Gifford Lectures, however there is a gap in 1949 record in Gifford's listing. Now the author, a learned theologian of his time, is confused with others with the same name.

The central question of this series is loosely called "the nature of man", but framed in the context of images made of God. In doing so, the author departs from secular physiological and psychological inquires to ask the question of relationship: the mortal man vis-a-vis divine. Framing the question thusly, the author casts the living experience of man as an image-bearing of God, hence both the concordance and disagreements between the mortal and divine exists in sacred texts (Bible, other religions' texts) and major religious thinkers from Aquinas to Marx.

I have not read Karl Barth or Emil Brunner, even though I had some reading of other texts heavily mentioned in this Lecture. I table this book for future re-read.