DESCRIPTION: This is a 6-unit doctoral seminar, also offered at the 500-level as a 4-unit course open to a limited number of master's level students by special permission. Ideas of beauty were in eclipse for much of the 20th century, but have received renewed attention recently. In this course students will explore historical, philosophical, biblical, theological and cultural understandings of beauty with the goal of understanding the role of beauty in theology and the Christian life.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: That students (1) practice a close reading of primary sources in order to articulate and analyze the various arguments; (2) understand a spectrum of theological and cultural traditions relating to a theology of beauty and be able to locate their cultural, historical, biblical, and philosophical rootage; (3) be able to assess critically and imaginatively the central issues and options present when developing a constructive theology of beauty so as to see its role in worship and the Christian life.

RELEVANCE FOR MINISTRY: In his address to the Pontifical Academies in 2004, Pope John Paul II suggested the path of beauty "as the best way for the Christian faith and the culture of our time to meet, besides being a valuable instrument for the formation of the young generations." This course will explore the theological significance of beauty not only in terms of human creativity and divine worship, but also with reference to issues of justice and human transformation.

COURSE FORMAT: The seminar will meet weekly for three-hour sessions.

REQUIRED READING:

Aristotle. Poetics. (Dover, 1997, or any edition.)

Brown, Frank Burch. Good Taste, Bad Taste and Christian Taste. Oxford University Press, 2000.

Danto, Arthur. The Abuse of Beauty. Carcus, 2003.

Goizueta. Robert. Caminemos con Jesús. Orbis, 2003.

Hart, David Bentley. The Beauty of the Infinite. Eerdmans, 2003.

Leeuw, G. van der. Sacred and Profane Beauty: The Holy in Art. Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1963.

Navone, John. Toward a Theology of Beauty. Liturgical, 1996.

von Balthasar, Han Urs. The Glory of the Lord. Vol. 1. Ignatius Press/Crossroad, 1983.

Wolterstorff, Nicholas. Art in Action: Toward a Christian Aesthetic. Eerdmans, 1980.

Course Reader with material from Schleiermacher, Plato, Eco, De Gruchy, Kuyper, Boyd, Postrel, Dyrness, Willis, Evdokimov, Tarkovsky, Barth.

Brown, Frank Burch. Religious Aesthetics. Princeton University Press, 1989.

Eco, Umberto. Art and Beauty in the Middle Ages. Yale University Press, 1986.

Evdokimov, Paul. The Art of the Icon: A Theology of Beauty. Redondo Beach, CA: Oakwood, 1990.

de Gruchy, John. Christianity, Art and Transformation. Cambridge University Press, 2001.

Milbank, John, G. Ward & E. Wyschogrod. Theological Perspectives on God and Beauty. Trinity, 2003.

Scarry, Elaine. On Beauty and Being Just. Princeton University Press, 1999.

Seerveld, Calvin. Rainbows for the Fallen World. Radix, 1980.

Sherry, Patrick. Spirit and Beauty: An Introduction to Theological Aesthetics. Clarendon, 1992.

Treier, T., J. M. Husbands & R. Lundin, eds. The Beauty of God: Theology & the Arts. IVP Academic, 2007.

Viladesau, Richard. Theological Aesthetics: God in Imagination, Beauty, and Art. Oxford UP, 1999.

Willis, Paul. Common Culture. Westview, 1990, 1994.