Theology and the Arts: Embodied Belief

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 December 2024 | Viewed by 4020

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
The Miller Institute, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, 616 N Highland Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15206, USA
Interests: religious ethics; carceral studies; theology and visual culture; Asian and Asian American theology

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Guest Editor
The Miller Institute, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, 616 N Highland Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15206, USA
Interests: womanist theology; embodied theology and the arts; diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and justice; contemplative practices

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We cordially invite article submissions based on original research for the upcoming Special Issue, “Theology and the Arts: Embodied Belief”. The purpose of the Special Issue is to gather new scholarship by practitioners and theologians from a variety of backgrounds who are working at the intersection of the interdisciplinary study of theology and the arts. While most scholarship in this emerging field focuses on “theology through the arts” or on the ways in which a particular genre of art illustrates a specific doctrine, this volume centers on embodiment as it relates to a theological understanding of the arts—that is, the ways in which the arts can come to embody and reflect (both through various media but also through the human body itself) experiences of the divine. In this way, art that embodies and re-presents revelation is rooted in a theology of incarnation, where the experience of God is mediated by material structures. By inviting not just theoretical perspectives on the notion of embodiment vis à vis the arts, but also theological reflections rooted in the experience of making and performing art, we hope to enhance the existing body of literature on the topic by bridging gaps between theology and the practice of art making. To this end, we invite work that engages a theology of embodiment from the perspective of the full range of artistic genres—the visual arts, dance, literature and poetry, music, and performance—as well as work that engages the ethics of art making as it relates these themes.

Dr. Franklin Tanner Capps
Dr. Josie Hoover
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • theology and the arts
  • ritual
  • embodiment
  • performance
  • incarnation
  • liturgical studies

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 2419 KiB  
Article
The Tripartite Qibla Wall as a Visual Form of Embodied Belief: From Al-Andalus to Mudejar and Morisco Mosques in Exile—Memory and Identity
by Belén Cuenca-Abellán
Religions 2024, 15(10), 1151; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15101151 - 24 Sep 2024
Viewed by 598
Abstract
The maqṣūrah commissioned by Caliph al-Hakam II in the 10th-century Mosque of Córdoba epitomizes the blend of sacred grandeur and political symbolism in Islamic architecture. This structure enhances aesthetic experiences, allowing worshippers to connect with divinity during Friday prayers. A distinctive feature is [...] Read more.
The maqṣūrah commissioned by Caliph al-Hakam II in the 10th-century Mosque of Córdoba epitomizes the blend of sacred grandeur and political symbolism in Islamic architecture. This structure enhances aesthetic experiences, allowing worshippers to connect with divinity during Friday prayers. A distinctive feature is its qibla wall, divided into three parts, with a central empty miḥrāb symbolizing sacred force. This spatial organization, reminiscent of Late Antique basilicas in the Iberian Peninsula and the Mediterranean, persisted in peninsular mosques even after the Christian conquest of al-Andalus. Mudejar Islamic communities replicated this design in smaller mosques, perhaps to preserve al-Andalus’s memory amidst growing repression. Following the 17th-century expulsion of the Moriscos, similar architectural elements appeared in Testour, Tunisia, built by Morisco exiles. These visual codes, shared among Hispanic Islamic communities, reflect the enduring memory of the exile. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theology and the Arts: Embodied Belief)
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8 pages, 162 KiB  
Article
Mary of Bethany: Creation through Conversation
by Susan Fish
Religions 2024, 15(4), 411; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15040411 - 27 Mar 2024
Viewed by 838
Abstract
The author uses the story of Mary of Bethany anointing Jesus’s feet in John 12 as a jumping-off point for considering the prophetic role of artistic conversation, in the Gospel of John, in the whole Bible and in her own artistic life. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theology and the Arts: Embodied Belief)
15 pages, 236 KiB  
Article
The Body of the Artist, in the Body of Christ: Toward a Theology of the Embodied Arts
by Dennis P. Bray
Religions 2024, 15(3), 345; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15030345 - 13 Mar 2024
Viewed by 1250
Abstract
One insight at the heart of embodiment research is that the particular, material human body is the nexus of two loci: as an integration of sensory apparatuses, the body is the receptive locus of the world; at the same time, the body is [...] Read more.
One insight at the heart of embodiment research is that the particular, material human body is the nexus of two loci: as an integration of sensory apparatuses, the body is the receptive locus of the world; at the same time, the body is the locus of responsive engagement with the world. Working from the framework of embodiment, this essay is a theological exploration of the arts, with particular attention given to the artist. The first half details two controlling ideas about the nature of embodiment and the arts: (i) the arts are necessarily embodied, and (ii) the Christian artist is in Christ’s body. Here I examine how the artwork and the artist are necessarily embodied—the body is the horizon on which the arts are possible. With these two controlling ideas in hand, the second half of the essay considers three implications: (i) the artist works in and for the church; (ii) the arts are a gift of the Holy Spirit; and (iii) the arts are a place where the church experiences the Spirit’s working. These implications yield, among other insights, the finding that Christ’s body is the horizon on which the Christian arts are possible. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theology and the Arts: Embodied Belief)
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