T&t Clark Handbook of Theology and the Arts - by Stephen M Garrett & Imogen Adkins (Hardcover)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

This volume presents the theology-arts conversation from a distinctly Christian perspective, as a witness of the Gospel of Christ to the world. A widespread interest in the historical, socio-cultural and political embeddedness of theology and the arts permeates it.

This theme of embeddedness tracks through several overarching and interlocking concerns: the relationship between form and content (in both art and theology), the intensification of the metaphysical and the theological (contra materialist and positivist reductionisms), the expansion of the epistemological possibilities of the theology-art conversation, and a robust understanding of the world as the theatre of God's glory. Several chapters have been co-written by theologians and artists as part of demonstrating the kind of conversation that this book commends. A thorough-going commitment to Scripture is also woven into the many different habits of thought represented in this volume.

Part I surveys different approaches to the theology-arts conversation. Part II focuses on how particular art forms bring theological issues to the surface and how theological and denominational traditions shape the making and receiving of the arts. Part III delves into key topics in the current theology-arts scene and asks how artistic and theological performance can both speak to theological and artistic knowing, and help to celebrate and interrogate embodied, lived reality.

Review Quotes

"This brilliantly structured volume considers theology and the arts across a remarkably capacious range of topics. It introduces to the theology-and-art conversation a number of artistic forms that do not often receive theological analysis. As broadly as the volume treats its subject matter, however, an equally striking feature is its depth, as engagement with theological topics is rigorously executed by a first-rate set of authors-some of them widely renowned theologians who have not previously published reflections on art. Readers will emerge with the firm conviction that art is not ancillary to theology, but a vital medium for its expression that holds out enormous, multifaceted promise in our contemporary world." --Mark McInroy, University of St. Thomas, USA

"Filled with voices from forerunners in the field alongside contributions from a diverse range of newer scholars, this volume is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the conversation between Christian theology and the arts. From methodologies to forms, traditions, and important themes, this book covers it all! Students, scholars, and practitioners in both theology and the arts will find something here to expand their imagination." --Jennifer A. Craft, Point University, USA

About the Author

Stephen M.Garrett is Senior Fellow with the Rivendell Institute at Yale University, USA, and Curriculum Vice-President for Global Scholars. He was formerly Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religion at the Vilnius Academy of Arts in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Imogen Adkins is trained in theology and music and teaches Philosophy and Religion at Stowe School, UK. She has previously supervised undergraduates in the Divinity and Music faculties at the University of Cambridge, UK.