In this magisterial work spanning 572 beautifully illustrated pages, David Brown presents a transformative approach to understanding the Gospels as works of imaginative truth. The book challenges both conservative and liberal theological approaches that are constrained by Enlightenment epistemology, arguing that the Bible, particularly the Gospels, should be understood as an ‘open text’ rather than a closed system of propositional truths.

Part one, ‘Foundations’ begins with crucial chapters on ‘Religious Control and the Spiritual Imagination’, where Brown provocatively argues that fundamentalism emerges as a product of Enlightenment thinking, particularly in its emphasis on propositional truth. The second chapter, ‘Meaning and an Open Text’, explores the limitations of purely historical-critical approaches while examining questions of textual openness and interpretation.

Part two, ‘Resources Then and Now’, explores how Jesus’ engagement with inherited traditions provides a model for creative reinterpretation. As Brown writes, ‘for Jesus to function as the basis for the Christian faith’, there must be sufficient overlap between his life and ours, such that ‘his life and values’ are ‘intelligible to us’ and when appropriately modified ‘function adequately in their new context’ (p. 252). This section demonstrates how historical distance can be bridged through imaginative engagement with divine truth.

The third and longest part, ‘Significance’, comprises seven chapters exploring multiple layers of Gospel interpretation, in which Brown’s methodological contribution extends beyond biblical hermeneutics to offer a broader framework for theological engagement with contemporary culture. His analysis of how the Gospel writers employed imagination to convey divine truth provides a model for how theology might recognise and interpret God’s presence in contemporary artistic expressions. This is particularly relevant for understanding how secular music can function as a site of theological insight.

Brown’s emphasis on ‘Layers of Revelation’ (the title of chapter 9) is especially pertinent for developing a theology of listening. His framework suggests that just as visual art can simultaneously operate on multiple levels of meaning, musical experience creates multi-layered spaces for theological engagement. This layered approach to interpretation helps us understand how secular music can simultaneously function as artistic expression, cultural artifact and potential vehicle for divine revelation. As he notes in Chapter 14, ‘The Openness of Faith’, one of the ‘most depressing features of contemporary approaches in theology is the extent to which its various sub-disciplines maintain independence of one another. At their worst, biblical scholars assume that the Bible is all that is needed for Christian doctrine’ (pp. 498–99).

Brown’s methodology is particularly noteworthy for its interdisciplinary breadth, demonstrated through analysis of over one hundred examples visual artwork, poetry, and literature. His discussion of Gothic architecture, for instance, begins with Abbot Suger’s vision of moving viewers ‘from the material to the immaterial’ (p. 254) and traces its influence through Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (p. 256) and contemporary installations. While Brown’s treatment of visual arts and literature is exemplary, the comparative lack of musical analysis suggests important directions for future research. This limitation opens up exciting possibilities for extending Brown’s theoretical framework to musical experience. His concept of the ‘open text’ provides a valuable foundation for understanding how listening, particularly to secular music, can serve as a legitimate venue for theological insight and divine encounter.

The temporal nature of musical experience offers unique opportunities for theological engagement that differ fundamentally from spatial arts. Just as Brown demonstrates how visual art can reveal new dimensions of Gospel truth, musical experience creates distinctive temporal spaces for encountering divine presence. The act of listening to secular music, with its abstract patterns of tension and resolution, can be understood as a form of imaginative truth-telling that parallels the Gospel writers’ own creative engagement with divine reality.

Brown’s framework of ‘open text’ suggests several practical applications for developing a theology of musical listening. First, his emphasis on imagination as a legitimate source of revelation provides theoretical grounding for finding God in secular musical spaces. Second, his analysis of poetry illustrates how artistic forms embody a fundamental ‘law against closure’ – a quality shared with religious experience itself (p. 38). Just as poetry ‘dreamed out in words’ generates inexhaustible meanings, musical experience creates spaces where theological understanding continually unfolds. This resistance to final interpretation aligns perfectly with Brown’s vision of the Gospels as ‘open texts’. When applied to musical listening, this framework suggests that secular music can reveal divine truth precisely because it participates in the inexhaustible nature of religious meaning. The temporal character of music – its unique ability to structure experience through time – makes it an exemplary medium for this kind of open-ended theological engagement.

While some readers might question whether Brown’s approach risks relativising theological truth, Brown’s careful exploration shows how imaginative interpretation can remain grounded while opening new possibilities of understanding. Brown’s work ultimately affirms the central truths of Christian faith while liberating theological imagination from unnecessarily restrictive epistemological frameworks. Rather than undermining Christianity’s foundational claims about incarnation and resurrection, Brown’s notion of ‘open text’ enriches theological discernment by illuminating how these truths generate ongoing meaning through artistic engagement. His approach demonstrates that engaging with the Gospels transcends mere academic exercise to become a transformative spiritual discipline. Just as the Gospel writers employed imagination to convey divine truth, contemporary readers are called to cultivate an open-hearted attentiveness to theological revelation in their own context. This approach demands both intellectual rigour and spiritual sensitivity—a willingness to discern deeper layers of divine revelation in unexpected places, including secular artistic expressions. Brown thus offers not merely a new hermeneutical approach but a practical spirituality for discerning God’s ongoing revelation in our generation. This landmark contribution challenges us to reconsider biblical interpretation while inviting us into a more imaginatively engaged theological future.