The Beauty of God: Theology and the Arts

Wheaton Theology Conference

by Daniel J. Treier (Editor), Mark Husbands (Editor), Roger Lundin (Editor)

God. Beauty. Art. Theology.

Editors Mark Husbands, Roger Lundin and Daniel J. Treier present ten essays from the 2006 Wheaton Theology Conference that explore a Christian approach to beauty and the arts.

Theology has much to contribute in providing a place for the arts in the Christian life, and the arts have much to contribute to the quality of Christian life, worship and witness.

The 2006 Wheaton Theology Conference explored a wide-ranging Christian approach to divine beauty and the earthly arts. Written and illustrated by artists and theologians, these essays illuminate for us the Christian significance of the visual arts, music and literature, as well as sounding forth the theological meaning and place of the arts in a fallen world--fallen, yet redeemed by Christ.

Here is a veritable feast for pastors, artists, theologians and students eager to consider the profound but not necessarily obvious connection between Christianity and the arts.

Genres: Theology, Art, Religion, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Christian

233 pages, Paperback

First published May 18, 2007

About the author

Daniel Treier is a Christian theologian and has been Associate Professor of Theology at Wheaton College in Wheaton, IL since 2001. Prior to Wheaton College, Treier taught at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School as Instructor of Biblical and Systematic Theology and at Cornerstone University. He has an M.Div. (1996) and Th.M. (1998) from Grand Rapids Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Systematic Theology (2002) under the supervision of Kevin J. Vanhoozer.

Treier is an expert in theological hermeneutics, having been the associate editor for the Dictionary for Theological Interpreation of the Bible (2005).

Reviews

[Rosie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Essays by Jeremy Begbie, Roger Lundin, Roy Anker, Jill Peláez Baumgaertner, John Walford, Bruce Ellis Benson, Bruce Herman, James Fodor, and Edward T. Oakes. Based on the 2006 Wheaton Theology Conference. The book is divided into three sections, on music, visual arts, and literature. Somewhat academic; wouldn't recommend it as a first introduction to the topic of faith and the arts. Begbie's essays "Created Beauty: The Witness of J.S. Bach" and "Beauty, Sentimentality and the Arts"; Walford's "The Case for a Broken Beauty"; Anker's "'Like Shining from Shook Foil': Art, Film and the Sacred"; and Lundin's "The Beauty of Belief" are particularly good. But there's something new for anyone who has been reading in this subject area for a while in most of the essays.

[John Gardner · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with most books made up of collections of essays (these from the 2006 Wheaton Theology Conference), this one is of variable quality. As with most things he writes, Jeremy Begbie's chapters ("Created Beauty: The Witness of J.S. Bach" and "Beauty, Sentimentality, and the Arts") are worth the price of the book by themselves. I also really appreciated the essays by Roger Lundin ("The Beauty of Belief") and Edward Oakes ("The Apologetics of Beauty"). The rest of the chapters were good, but not riveting. Will make for a good shelf reference, however!

[Rafael Salazar · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book has insightful remarks all over. A well-rounded evangelical overview of the subject. Not to be read uncritically.

[Zach McDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book for my "Religion and the Arts in Western Culture" class through Liberty University Online. Beauty and the arts are NOT a subject that I would normally study; however, this book was enormously encouraging, God glorifying, and eye opening. My favorite chapter by far was Begbie's chapter on the need to understand beauty from a Trinitarian perspective and his use of Bach to demonstrate this idea. Thankful that this was a part of my required readings!