A Grace of Sense - theological aesthetics

  [Ich bitte um Geduld wegen meine grammatischen Fehler] Theologie ist Kenntnis bzw. Wissenschaft des Wortes Gottes. Die eigentliche, buchstäbliche Meinung des Wortes θεολόγια ist gerade „das Wort Gottes“. Besonders die protestantische Theologie hat immer hervorgehoben, dass der einzige Boden alles christlichen Denkens das Wort Gottes sei, und damit hat man letztlich – wenn nicht ausschließlich - die Heilige Schrift gemeint. Allerdings ist zu beachten, dass es steht außer Frage, wenigstens inmitten den kirchlich-geistlichen Sprachgebrauch, dass das Wort Gottes heißt die Bibel. Einen Laienperson kann es verwirrend anmuten, wenn es nicht so unbedingt sei.  Jedoch kann man behaupten, dass die Idee des Wortes Gottes als ein gedruckter Bibeltext ist - theologiegeschichtlich gesehen - sehr spät. In der Tat ist es nicht mehr als fünfhundert Jahre alt: Bibel als ein Buch veranlasst Buchdruckerei und Leserschaft. Der Anzahl lesekündige Christen war bis die Reformation – und auch später...

  Moses said, "I pray thee, show me thy glory."And he said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you my name 'The LORD'; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But," he said, "you cannot see my face; for man shall not see me and live." And the LORD said, "Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand upon the rock; and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen." (Ex 33, 18-23) When Gregory of Nyssa (d.395) explains this passage in his Life of Moses, his point in question is the endless eros , interminable longing for God that can never attain its fulfillment or rest in a complete satisfaction.  "This truly is the vision of God: never to be satisfied in the desire to s...

 The Swedish theologian Anders Nygren wrote some 90 years ago his groundbreaking study Den kristna kärlekstanken genom tiderna (Engl. "Eros and Agape"). The basic idea of Nygren is simple: There are two main forms - or motives - of love. The first is eros, that means human desire for fulfillment. Love as eros is aimed at the person/thing that I am wanting, that satisfies my longing and fills the empty space in my heart. The second form of love is agape, that does not seek for its own, but is generously giving itself to the other. This, precisely, is the Christian love promoted by St Paul in 1 Corinthians 13. The cross of Christ unfolded the meaning of agape: self-surrender until death. "In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins." (1 Jn 4,10) In Nygren's view, eros appears as the selfish kind of love, whereas agape has a more divine and disinterested aura. Nygren, the Lutheran bishop, finds the...

Je me considère comme une non-croyante. Mais si le lien à Dieu est celui du Cantique des cantiques, je suis prête à le partager. (Julia Kristeva) "How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful!" (Sgs 4,1) What we do know about this little book called Shir ha-Shirim in Hebrew, according to the modern Biblical scholarship? Three things could be pointed at. First, Song of Songs is a book that does not mention the name of the Lord (Jahweh) at all, except for a vague implication in 8,6. Second, it boldly celebrates the sexual love between a man and a woman. Third, it has neither a moral agenda nor a doctrinal teaching, but exhibits pure joy of sensuous love. Still, this ancient erotic poem is, according to many great theologians of Christianity, the very book that tells most about God! Its being a part of the Holy Scripture would perhaps have been contested, was it not of an ancient origin (and, supposedly, Solomonic authorship). Nevertheless, the idea that it contains mo...

"And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food" (Gen 2:9) It is worth noting that the aesthetic dimension (pleasant to the sight) is mentioned here before the material usefulness (good for food) of the trees of paradise. This is the first verse to attest the aesthetic character of the Bible, alongside the reiterated phrase "God saw that it was good". God creates beauty and is pleased by it. This is the very first thing to know about the Creator. There are many words for the beautiful in the Old Testament Hebrew: tiph'ara "beauty", hadar "majesty", 'oz "brightness" etc. However, the most prominent word for the aesthetic in the Bible is "glory" (Hebrew kabod , Greek doxa ) that is discussed below. Suffice it to say here that arguably the greatest account on theological aesthetics in the 20th century is Hans Urs von Balthasar's encyclopedic Herrlichkeit ...

  There are several possible approaches to the art among Christians. In the following, I tend to draft them in a cursory manner. 1. Art is harmful for a Christian This extreme view has been promoted by some pietist or monastic movements. The bleakest parts of Leo Tolstoy's aesthetics may suggest this view. Art generally, and music and dance in particular, arouse emotions that provoke lust and lasciviousness. Even when that is not the case, artistic figures and niceties distract the soul from its concentration to prayer and spirituality. To sum, there is nothing good or useful for a Christian in the arts. 2. Art is irrelevant to spirituality According to this view, arts are not bad in themselves. In fact, they may be considered as gifts of God, but they have no spiritual value. They do not belong to the spiritual realm, their virtues are mundane. In that regard art is similar to politics or furniture. 3. Art is a good hobby for a Christian A human being needs pleasurable pastime act...

What is the factor that unites the diverse books of the Bible? What has the Pentateuch common with the Apocalypse, or the Song of Songs with the Pauline epistles? Martin Luther determined the justification of the sinner to be the doctrine that joins all the books of the Bible together, written on every page of it. As persuasive as this view is, it is hardly tenable. Indeed, there are many pages of the Scripture that do not mention the justification of the sinner. Justification is a good nominee for the uniting bond between the various texts of the Bible, but not an entirely satisfying one. I argue that the thing that joins all the literary genres and individual books of the Bible is their aesthetic character. This is not a highly original statement, but rather something very obvious. The aesthetic character of the Bible can be perceived along the following traits: Musicality. Many texts of the Bible are made for singing, Psalms in particular. There are many other songs, too: in the Pro...