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How Beauty Will Save the World: Recovering the Power of the Arts for the Christian Life
“Beauty will save the world.” —Fyodor Dostoyevsky
But what kind of beauty—and how?
In How Beauty Will Save the World, Winfield Bevins invites us to reclaim the power of beauty in a culture dulled by distraction and disconnection. Blending theology, personal story, and a vision for a new renaissance of Christian artistry, Bevins shows how beauty—natural, artistic, and redemptive—can heal our lives, renew the church, and revive our hope.
This isn’t just a book for artists—it’s a call to every believer to live artfully, reflect the glory of the Creator, and become “missionaries of beauty.” With stories of musicians, painters, poets, and unexpected artists in ordinary places, Bevins reveals the sacred potential in everyday creativity—whether through a paintbrush or a dinner table, a cathedral or a country road.
From Sarajevo to small-town Arkansas, How Beauty Will Save the World captures a quiet, creative uprising of faith, rooted in rest, imagination, and a gospel that is not only true and good—but breathtakingly beautiful.
Come and see. Create and believe. Join the renaissance.
But what kind of beauty—and how?
In How Beauty Will Save the World, Winfield Bevins invites us to reclaim the power of beauty in a culture dulled by distraction and disconnection. Blending theology, personal story, and a vision for a new renaissance of Christian artistry, Bevins shows how beauty—natural, artistic, and redemptive—can heal our lives, renew the church, and revive our hope.
This isn’t just a book for artists—it’s a call to every believer to live artfully, reflect the glory of the Creator, and become “missionaries of beauty.” With stories of musicians, painters, poets, and unexpected artists in ordinary places, Bevins reveals the sacred potential in everyday creativity—whether through a paintbrush or a dinner table, a cathedral or a country road.
From Sarajevo to small-town Arkansas, How Beauty Will Save the World captures a quiet, creative uprising of faith, rooted in rest, imagination, and a gospel that is not only true and good—but breathtakingly beautiful.
Come and see. Create and believe. Join the renaissance.
180 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 4, 2025
6 people are currently reading
68 people want to read
About the author
Winfield Bevins
28 books18 followersDr. Winfield Bevins is an internationally recognized author, artist, and the founding director of Creo Arts, which is a non-profit that exists to bring beauty, goodness, and truth to the world through the arts. Winfield is also artist-in-residence at Asbury Theological Seminary where he champions the integration of art, theology, and mission. Over the past decade, he has helped start numerous initiatives and academic programs that have trained leaders from around the world. He frequently speaks at conferences, seminaries, and universities on a variety of topics and is an affiliate professor at several academic institutions.
He is the author of several books, including Liturgical Mission: The Work of the People for the Sake of the World, which was nominated for a Reader’s Choice Award (InterVarsity Press, 2022); Ever Ancient Ever New: The Allure of Liturgy for a New Generation (Zondervan, 2019); and Marks of a Movement (2019), which has been translated into Korean and Spanish. Winfield’s work has been featured in various outlets such as Christianity Today, Publishers Weekly, Outreach Magazine, and Religious News Service.
As an artist, he describes his artwork as “modern inconography” because it explores the intersection where the past and the present meet through sacred art. He believes that we need new forms and expressions of ancient truths to speak to a new generation, that are connected to those who have gone before us, drawing fresh inspiration from the past for our faith for today through art. As an artist, he hopes that his art will invite viewers to slow down and pray to God who is “ever ancient, ever new.” He and his wife have three daughters and live in Kentucky where he has a working studio and runs the Creo Arts Gallery.
He is the author of several books, including Liturgical Mission: The Work of the People for the Sake of the World, which was nominated for a Reader’s Choice Award (InterVarsity Press, 2022); Ever Ancient Ever New: The Allure of Liturgy for a New Generation (Zondervan, 2019); and Marks of a Movement (2019), which has been translated into Korean and Spanish. Winfield’s work has been featured in various outlets such as Christianity Today, Publishers Weekly, Outreach Magazine, and Religious News Service.
As an artist, he describes his artwork as “modern inconography” because it explores the intersection where the past and the present meet through sacred art. He believes that we need new forms and expressions of ancient truths to speak to a new generation, that are connected to those who have gone before us, drawing fresh inspiration from the past for our faith for today through art. As an artist, he hopes that his art will invite viewers to slow down and pray to God who is “ever ancient, ever new.” He and his wife have three daughters and live in Kentucky where he has a working studio and runs the Creo Arts Gallery.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 31, 2026
The Good Book says that 'without a vision, the people perish'. Winfield Bevins seems to have taken this to heart.
In How Beauty Will Save the World, he lays out a vision for a more well-integrated and fruitful relationship between the church and the arts than has been the case in recent times.
When I began reading the book, I was in Sicily surrounded by beautiful Baroque buildings and Byzantine-influenced churches adorned with stunning gold mosaics.
The church of the renaissance still seems to serve as an aesthetic centre for Italian architecture today and the towns and cities around these churches are often marvellous as well. There is less of a clear secular-sacred split in Italy than other places.
So I got a real and visceral sense of where Winfield is coming from. I think his focus on a new renaissance, or renewal even, is most welcome therefore.
We can do better than soulless cities, centred around utility and convenience alone, with samesy Starbucks and oversized car parks.
We do not live on these alone.
It made my heart heavy to leave Italy, as it always does, because of that balance of artistic heaven and earth. It is not perfect but they placed a central emphasis on the true, the good, and the beautiful that Bevins prioritises in his book.
Yet, we must all live there in our imagination and be a part of God's kingdom breaking into the world - in our own time and place.
Winfield calls us to embody that Spirit. But he is not an intellectual alone or lost in a realm of fancy. Bevins has skin in the game and left a prestigious job at a university to live out his dream. He is a practicing artist and organiser, who is serving the church with Creo Arts.
I have the utmost respect for Dr Bevins and his noble vision. May his tribe increase for God's glory, our good, and the betterment of creation.
I hope more of us can become the missionaries of beauty that he calls us to become.
In this work, he gives a variety of examples: of different people and their successes, across different forms of art, and sets realistic expectations of what we can achieve. We can all become Christian artists in a more general sense and take elements of professionalism; some of us can minister as professional artists.
This book, Winfield, and his ministry are inspiring. God bless the work.
In How Beauty Will Save the World, he lays out a vision for a more well-integrated and fruitful relationship between the church and the arts than has been the case in recent times.
When I began reading the book, I was in Sicily surrounded by beautiful Baroque buildings and Byzantine-influenced churches adorned with stunning gold mosaics.
The church of the renaissance still seems to serve as an aesthetic centre for Italian architecture today and the towns and cities around these churches are often marvellous as well. There is less of a clear secular-sacred split in Italy than other places.
So I got a real and visceral sense of where Winfield is coming from. I think his focus on a new renaissance, or renewal even, is most welcome therefore.
We can do better than soulless cities, centred around utility and convenience alone, with samesy Starbucks and oversized car parks.
We do not live on these alone.
It made my heart heavy to leave Italy, as it always does, because of that balance of artistic heaven and earth. It is not perfect but they placed a central emphasis on the true, the good, and the beautiful that Bevins prioritises in his book.
Yet, we must all live there in our imagination and be a part of God's kingdom breaking into the world - in our own time and place.
Winfield calls us to embody that Spirit. But he is not an intellectual alone or lost in a realm of fancy. Bevins has skin in the game and left a prestigious job at a university to live out his dream. He is a practicing artist and organiser, who is serving the church with Creo Arts.
I have the utmost respect for Dr Bevins and his noble vision. May his tribe increase for God's glory, our good, and the betterment of creation.
I hope more of us can become the missionaries of beauty that he calls us to become.
In this work, he gives a variety of examples: of different people and their successes, across different forms of art, and sets realistic expectations of what we can achieve. We can all become Christian artists in a more general sense and take elements of professionalism; some of us can minister as professional artists.
This book, Winfield, and his ministry are inspiring. God bless the work.
February 13, 2026
I feel like I need to sue Winfield Bevins for copyright infringement on my conversations with the Holy Spirit.
I am an artist who is desperately longing to see the Church return as the great source and supporter of good art. This book was both a healing balm to my aching soul and an encouraging fire to my spirit that art and beauty are worth it.
I think this book is helpful for artists, but maybe even more so for those who have a heart for the arts. The book has already been a gift to my community of artistic friends!
I am an artist who is desperately longing to see the Church return as the great source and supporter of good art. This book was both a healing balm to my aching soul and an encouraging fire to my spirit that art and beauty are worth it.
I think this book is helpful for artists, but maybe even more so for those who have a heart for the arts. The book has already been a gift to my community of artistic friends!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews