Jesus Imagination
Maker, Mender, Minder, Master
by Leonard I. Sweet · Salish Sea Press · 2026
Book summary
An extended theology of Jesus' imagination, presenting Christ as divine artisan and inviting readers to recover imagination as a faculty of creation, healing, care, and faithful mastery.
Chapter & section guide
Preamble and Prolegomenon
The book diagnoses an imagination-starved Christianity and frames imagination as a theological necessity.
Part I: The Artisan's Fire
Jesus is the divine-human artisan who forms the image of God in humanity.
Chapter 1: Unleashing the Imago Dei
Human creativity participates in God's image-bearing gift.
Chapter 2: The Meaning of Imagination
Imagination is disciplined perception, not escapist fantasy.
Chapter 3: The Gardener God and the Blooming Cross
Creation and redemption are read through organic, generative imagery.
Chapter 4: Jesus' Jewish Roots
Jesus' imagination is formed within Israel's Scriptures, symbols, and practices.
Chapter 5: The Tekton's Toolkit
The craft world of the builder supplies metaphors for making and mending.
Chapter 6: The Grain of Grace
Grace works with the grain of created humanity to make persons fully alive.
Part II: Landscapes of Formation
Desert, mountain, water, and sacred cycles shape Jesus' imaginative world.
Part III: The Artisan's Tools
Parable, metaphor, question, table, touch, and sign become instruments of transformation.
Later Parts: Maker, Mender, Minder, Master
Jesus creates possibilities, repairs fractures, tends life, and teaches wise participation in God's world.
Conclusion
Christian imagination becomes a practiced way of seeing and serving with Jesus.
Editorial note: these are original thematic summaries prepared as a research and reading aid, not quotations from the book itself.