Roger Lundin’s “Modern Literature and the Question of Belief” is a potentially life-changing course. If you think Emily Dickinson is all about warm sentiments and rescuing sparrows, think again… the dynamic Lundin opens up between faith and doubt in her poetry becomes a passage into the existential depths plumbed by Dostoevsky, Faulkner, Bonhoeffer and Czeslaw Milosz. (With some Flannery O’Connor thrown in for good measure.) Lundin usually teaches at Wheaton College, but is a Regent summer school regular; I took this class a few years ago and it was excellent.

Roger Lundin: Modern Literature and the Question of Belief from Regent College on Vimeo.

Also, just as we have finished Hot Docs season here in Toronto, there is a course on documentary film being offered by Iwan Russell-Jones (the new head of the Christianity and the arts program). I think this is a very timely topic given the increasing prominence of documentary filmmaking over the last few years – if we are to speak of “truth” in film with some kind of theological/ethical/ontological clarity, perhaps this is a good place to start.

Here is a list of all the Spring/Summer 2013 arts and faith courses; check the Regent College website for dates and times:

J.R.R. Tolkien: Writer for Our Time of Terror, Ralph Wood
Faith, Hope, and Poetry, Malcolm Guite
Believing in Documentary, Iwan Russell-Jones
Modern Literature and the Question of Belief, Roger Lundin
Hollywood Cinema and the Christian Imagination, William Romanowski

The talk was on how music allows us to better understand the nature of freedom, particularly in a theological context. His thesis, to which I hope I can do justice, is that for too long theology has been held “captive” to an overly visual paradigm – a spatial model where two (or more) things cannot occupy the same position while remaining distinct. Explanations of the Trinity, for example, often falter because of their reliance on a visual model where three persons must either blend into a bland unity or remain as three separate (ie. non-overlapping) entities without interpenetration. In terms of the relationship between divine and human freedom, a visual theological paradigm means conceptualizing human agency and divine initiative as competing for the same ‘space’ – one will squeeze the other out, so that authentic human freedom is suffocated by God’s action, or perhaps vice versa. Music, however, potentially provides a paradigm where two things can indeed occupy the same auditory “space”; musical tones not only maintain their own integrity when sounded simultaneously, but set each other off to resonate more fully. This, for Begbie, offers us a way of better understanding the relationship of human freedom to the Trinitarian God – not as competing forces which threaten to crush each other to the margins, but as intertwining strands of a polyphonic symphony, unfolding simultaneously on the stage of the world. It is quite a beautiful way of describing what emerges in Hans Urs von Balthasar’s work as the “analogy of freedom”; we are most free, not least free, when our freedom is “set off” by the joyous freedom of God.

The best part about Begbie’s lecture was undoubtedly his frequent recourse to music, including performances of Debussy and Bach as well as examples from musical worlds as diverse as Thomas Tallis, U2 and South African isicathamiya. The music resounding in Koerner Hall, along with Begbie’s careful admonishments, reminded us to be more “capacious,” making space within ourselves to experience the divine freedom which flows out of the eternal perichoresis of the Trinity, drawing human culture and creativity into a deeper experience of its own inexhaustible life.

His upcoming lecture at Duke, entitled “Beyond Creativity,” sounds very interesting, especially for myself as I am in the midst of exploring the relationship between “theology and art” and the phenomenological tradition (Husserl, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Gadamer) in continental philosophy:

Over the past decade there has been an encouraging growth in the conversation between theology and the arts, often centered on the imagination. Often this is bound together with the theme of creativity, which tends to treat imagination as a largely romantic mode of expression.

Drawing on the phenomenology of Merleau-Ponty, James K. A. Smith, professor of philosophy at Calvin College, will present a public lecture Mar. 5 at 6:00 p.m. articulating a philosophical account of the imagination that is less romantic, suggesting that this yields new frontiers for engagement between theology and the arts.

I think the retrieval of Merleau-Ponty is very interesting – naturally, I don’t know what Smith will say, but for me Merleau-Ponty’s thought is important for theology as it draws attention to an often neglected aspect of “art” and the “aesthetic,” namely its somatic, ie. embodied, nature.

Hopefully Duke will eventually make the lecture available online. In the meantime, however, another great lecture on theology and the arts – by the equally erudite, equally Merleau-Ponty-friendly Richard Kearney (Boston College) – is available as an audio podcast through TVO and iTunes. This is his lecture, “Narrative Imagination and Catharsis,” which was given as part of the Institute for Christian Studies/Toronto School of Theology event last October entitled Imagination’s Truths: Re-Envisioning Imagination in Philosophy, Religion, and the Arts. Happy listening!

Phil Irish, Makeshift from Phil Irish on Vimeo.

As an example of theology engaging art history (not just the generic concept of “art”) Milliner notes recent work by Lance Aldea on the Dada movement. Aldea draws the intriguing parallel between Dada and apophatic (or “negative”) theology, suggesting that what appears to be pure nihilism and meaningless in Dada may in fact be straining towards something transcendent. (Read the full post here.) It’s an interesting approach, though I am a bit wary of overusing apophatic theology as a way of “theologizing” elements of “secular” culture – to take a famous example, is Derrida really a negative theologian, as John Caputo suggests, or is this a misreading? (Though of course I have used apophaticism myself to talk about Barnett Newman, so perhaps the criticism is best left “unsaid”!)

The bigger point, however, is that art history is worth our attention. This takes us back to the Ruskin article. Here Milliner celebrates the seminal contributions of Hans Rookmaaker, Nick Wolterstorff, Jeremy Begbie and Bill Dyrness for a Reformed “theology of art.” These important writers have restored to Protestants, particularly evangelicals, a sense of the vital importance of art and artmaking. In fact, they have given Protestants back a sense of the important role art and the “aesthetic” plays in their own history; rather than defining the Reformation as purely an iconoclastic movement defined in opposition to Catholic image-making, we have been reminded of five centuries of Reformed creativity and imagination. However, as Milliner notes,

There are moments… when this new Reformed confidence may slip into hubris.

In other words, the welcome discovery that Protestants have something to bring to the table when it comes to aesthetics sometimes degenerates into a feeling of superiority… as if Reformed sensibilities have succeeded where Orthodox and Catholic image-making has failed.

Milliner suggests that we turn to art history, in this case the history of sacred images in all three of these ecclesial traditions, as a “primary interest” (not just a corollary to theologizing about art) for reinforcing a sense of unity and continuity between the churches – from icons to altarpieces and everything in between. These are notes, then, towards a “visual ecumenism.”

Art history as tool of ecumenism? It is a fascinating idea:

Just as there is… “One Lord, one faith, one baptism,” so perhaps there is also one variegated yet unified Christian aesthetic, to which the different traditions, at their utter best, ascend. Full maturity (which for evangelicals has been a long time coming!) is not to see with Protestant, Orthodox or Catholic eyes, but with the eyes of Christ.

I think there is something important going on here… which I would, expanding on Milliner, describe as a sense of the importance of the aesthetic (not just cognitive or ‘propositional’) dimension to ecclesial tradition and dogma. “What we have seen, what we have heard…” This is what is passed down through the Church as of “first importance.” As we grow to see together – and to touch, taste, and listen – we will find our divisions replaced by a sense of a shared Body.

As for art history in general… my contention is that it can not only enrich our “ecumenical” understanding of our unity with other church traditions, but with the whole “ecumene” of humanity – the cultural “world” in which art and artists serve to illuminate our common experience of beauty, truth and meaning. If the methodological shift implied by Milliner heralds a new horizon for the theology and art conversation, I think it is a step in the right direction.

We have a few things on our calendar for 2013. I have a few guest lectures to prepare for, hopefully a conference here or there, articles that need to be revised for certain deadlines. There are important birthdays to be celebrated, summer plans to make, bills to be paid. But other than that this year has largely yet to be written; our daughter’s first words remain to be spoken, her first steps on her own have yet to be taken (though she is oh-so-close!), her personality will develop in wonderful new ways and we will do our best to grow with her. We cannot schedule these things into the calendar but instead wait for them to surprise us. We’re hoping for a year of new opportunities, for lots of new chances to write, teach, learn, create, live, travel, read, experience – perhaps above all to form new relationships and strengthen those we already have.

My biggest blank page is my doctoral thesis, upon which now (having successfully completed my comprehensive exams) I can now finally set pen to paper. This is a real chance to take the things that interest and move me most – beauty, truth, art, film, poetry – and draw them into conversation with theology in a focused way. What is it about our encounter with a great work of art that deserves to be called, not just inspiring or provocative, but theological? Is there a “moment” or “event” whereby our experience of a painting, or film, or symphony is transposed from the earthly to something deeper, something richer which irrupts into consciousness? That is the impossible question I would like to ask, but not answer, this year.

All the snow is beautiful, but not much fun to drive or walk around in. Nevertheless, it’s a fine way to start off a cold, but hopeful 2013.

Firstly, from hyperallergic, a fascinating interview with artist AA Bronson regarding the Institute for Art, Religion and Social Justice at Union Theological Seminary in New York. The events they have put on have miraculously managed to bring together the art world and the theological community – a spirit of engagement and dialogue largely unheard of since the 1950s, when theologians like Paul Tillich were actually invited to speak at MoMA (almost unthinkable in today’s cultural climate!). An exciting venture from an historic institution, and a good read.

On a geographically related note, I also enjoyed reading a recent piece by Matthew Milliner in Image Journal on the transition from “the art of the barricade” – art as confronting and critiquing society, with artistic integrity sometimes being lost in the shuffle – to the emergence of a certain, peculiar “beauty” in the Chelsea art scene. You can read an excerpt from the piece on the Image Journal website.

Art, beauty and religion intersecting at the heart of the New York art scene… perhaps a positive sign for the future of what James Elkins diagnosed as the “strange place of religion in contemporary art.”

Thanks to Transpositions editor Cole Matson, we were even able to get permission from Marilyn Brakhage herself to include some beautiful stills from “The Dante Quartet” to accompany the article.

Here’s a sneak preview:

The rapidly moving shapes and figures of his most abstract works approximate what he called “closed-eye vision” – what we see on the inside of our eyelids when we shut them tight. Brakhage’s experimental films offer us the possibility of a world that “shimmers” with mystery and beauty – pregnant with what the Greeks called thaumazein, primordial wonder.

Bruce Ellis Benson, Liturgy as a Way of Life: Embodying the Arts in Christian Worship

I like what I have read of Bruce Ellis Benson’s work, which brings a great awareness of jazz and roots music together with a keen theological perspective. For a smattering, here is an essay on theological improvisation from the Trinity Western Verge journal and another similarly themed one on the “call and response” of beauty and the sacred in the Princeton Theological Review. This book, which is due in early 2013, promises to develop some of these threads further and will be, in my opinion, a good companion piece to Jamie Smith’s Desiring the Kingdom and Frank Burch Brown’s Inclusive Yet Discerning as far as thinking holistically (and jazzily) about “worship.” I think Benson teaches at Wheaton, and I hope our paths cross at some point.

David Jasper, The Sacred Community: Art, Sacrament, and the People of God

Here I’ll just share the Amazon blurb:

Liturgical, sacramental, and historical, The Sacred Community is a masterful work of theological aesthetics. David Jasper draws upon a rich variety of texts and images from literature, art, and religious tradition to explore the liturgical community gathered around–and most fully constituted by–the moment of the Sanctus in the Eucharistic liturgy. From art and architecture to pilgrimage and politics Jasper places this community in the midst of the contemporary world.

Sounds good, no?

William Dyrness and Daniel Siedell, Modern Art and the Life of a Culture

How far we have come from H.R. Rookmaaker’s exactly oppositely-named book, which saw only death and despair in modern art. Here two of my favourite evangelical art-historian types team up to re-write the Rookmaaker/Schaeffer version of art history – and the accepted “secular” version of twentieth-century art history as well. Looking forward to digging into this.

Various Authors, Art as Spiritual Perception: Essays in Honour of E. John Walford

The contributors to this collection read like a who’s who of “theology and art” types: Calvin Seerveld, William Dyrness, Marleen Hengelaar-Rookmaaker, and then from the younger generation people like Matthew Milliner (Wheaton) and Jim Watkins (St. Andrew’s). Worth a look!

I did, however, write a small series of posts for the Transpositions blog about a few great documentary films which deal with art and artmaking, in which I try to provide a few preliminary points of contact for theological reflection. (Transpositions is based out of the Institute for Theology, Imagination and the Arts at St. Andrew’s in Scotland.) Today’s piece is on the Oscar-nominated Waste Land, a beautiful film about artist Vik Muniz and his experience working with the people who work in a large garbage dump in Brazil – click here to take a look. The first post explores Werner Herzog’s Cave of Forgotten Dreams, about the very origins of art and beauty, and can be read here. Part Three is about Banksy and Exit Through the Gift Shop – I think it is slated to go up on September 9.

Hope you enjoy these brief reflections!