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Theology and Aesthetics
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Theology and Aesthetics

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2023) | Viewed by 10418

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Jakob Deibl

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Research Centre for Religion and Transformation in Contemporary Society, University of Vienna, 1010 Vienna, Austria
Interests: theology; philosophy; aesthetics; sacred architecture; Hölderlin; poetry and prayer

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

This Special Issue explores aesthetic perspectives in the light of a rich approach to the phenomenon of religion. Aesthetics here understood in a very broad sense, as there is no commonly accepted agreement on its definition, and its relationship with religious experience still offers much scope for further exploration. The concept of aesthetics, as a philosophical discipline in its own right, was established in the 18th century, and is thus (unlike ethics, for example) still a young proponent of religious studies and theological reflection.

The main element that links aesthetic perspectives together with religion is the fact that these perspectives do not primarily consider religions in their doctrinal, legal, moral, ethical, political and sociological dimensions, but rather look at religions as aesthetic programs; the context of their doctrine and law, their cultic and ritual prescriptions, their forms of institutionalisation and community building, etc., are always to be understood as aesthetic expressions as well. The aesthetic dimension pervades all religious domains. In line with this, the articles in this Special Issue should not consider the aesthetic dimension of religion(s) as peripheral but rather as a pivotal point for its (their) understanding. This particular approach to religion(s) can have significance for art studies as well.

This Special Issue examines religions as an aesthetic program. By considering religions’ aesthetic dimension, such questions as the following have been asked:

  • How are the geography and architecture of the spaces designed by religions to be understood?
  • In what way does religious structuring of time have the character of an aesthetic inhabiting of the world?
  • To what extent are cult, ritual and bodily practices in religions forms of aesthetic human expression?
  • What role do perception, resonance and affection play in religious experience?
  • Can religions’ doctrinal and legal texts also be interpreted from an aesthetic perspective?
  • Is there a connection between fundamentalisation of religions and the negation of their constitutive aesthetic dimension?
  • What can (the science of) art and aesthetics contribute constitutively to the understanding of religions?
  • Can artistic practices be understood through the knowledge and experience religion(s) offer?
  • What can theological/religious readings contribute to the understanding of contemporary art and architecture?

Articles may refer to any religious traditions and have a comparative character. They should focus on religious studies from a certain perspective or an aesthetic outlook or art studies research. Research lens of theology, philosophy, religious studies and art studies are equally welcome.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 400–600 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send these items to the guest editors (helmut.jakob.deibl@univie.ac.at) or to the /Religions/ Editorial Office (religions@mdpi.com). Abstracts will be reviewed by the guest editors to ensure their topics fall within the scope of the special issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer-review.

Dr. Jakob Deibl
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 350 KiB  
Article
“A Sign We Are”: A Poetical Theology of Passing in Hölderlin’s “Rousseau” and Other Late Poems
by Laurens ten Kate and Bart Philipsen
Religions 2023, 14(8), 1053; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14081053 - 17 Aug 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 858
Abstract
The birth of modern aesthetics cannot be separated from the emergence of a new, non-dogmatic conception of religion and theology. Friedrich Schlegel advocated ‘art as new religion’ while Friedrich Schleiermacher developed a vision on religion as a deeply aesthetic experience. In this rich [...] Read more.
The birth of modern aesthetics cannot be separated from the emergence of a new, non-dogmatic conception of religion and theology. Friedrich Schlegel advocated ‘art as new religion’ while Friedrich Schleiermacher developed a vision on religion as a deeply aesthetic experience. In this rich intellectual context, one author stands out as deeply steeped in this field of innovative dialogues between philosophy, religion and art (against the backdrop of profound historical transformations) and as a singular figure beckoning towards a future (and a future language) that was still to come: Friedrich Hölderlin. In his later work, Hölderlin’s poetic voice retreats into a process of meticulous reading and writing, a complex score of traces and signs that articulate difference, not-yet-presence and potentiality, which is nothing other than the experience of finite time. In doing so, Hölderlin retraces the divine in history and in human existence: its retreat and expected arrival. In this article, we present readings and interpretations of Hölderlin’s later poetry, with a specific focus on the Winke or hints of the gods, and the vocabulary of nods and signs (Zeichen) signifying the experience of time’s passing as the announcement of an unthinkable future. By involving Jean-Luc Nancy’s rethinking of the Winke as intersections of the divinity of humanity and the humanity of divinity, we will arrive at a new understanding of Hölderlin’s emblematic figures of modernity: the stranger and the passer-by as receivers and transmitters of these Winke. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theology and Aesthetics)
14 pages, 281 KiB  
Article
Five Looks at Emmaus: Revelation, Resonance, and the Sacramental Imagination
by Anthony J. Godzieba
Religions 2023, 14(7), 895; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14070895 - 11 Jul 2023
Viewed by 756
Abstract
The intersection between religious experience and aesthetic experience has become so obvious that the current “aesthetic turn” in Christian theology no longer needs to be defended. In this essay, I discuss that intersection point from the point of view of Roman Catholicism, in [...] Read more.
The intersection between religious experience and aesthetic experience has become so obvious that the current “aesthetic turn” in Christian theology no longer needs to be defended. In this essay, I discuss that intersection point from the point of view of Roman Catholicism, in order to demonstrate the bold claim that the arts and the performance they evoke from us are as important as the creed for Catholicism. The essay aims to do three things: first, to examine that intersection point and emphasize the elements of intentionality and desire; second, to analyze one expression of that intersection, namely the connection among Catholic faith claims, the visual arts, and Catholicism’s incarnational-sacramental imagination (using depictions of the post-Resurrection Emmaus story); third, to use hints from Hartmut Rosa’s recent work on “resonance” to tease out how revelation and transformation occur at this intersection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theology and Aesthetics)
8 pages, 229 KiB  
Article
Aisthesis–Perception–Anaesthetics: Inspirations from Wolfgang Welsch’s Aesthetics for a Perception-Sensitive Theology
by Sibylle Trawöger
Religions 2023, 14(7), 871; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14070871 - 04 Jul 2023
Viewed by 689
Abstract
In contrast to “experience” (Erfahrung), the concept and phenomenon of perception is still underexposed in systematic theology. Aesthetics in the sense of aisthesis illuminates perception as an independent mode of existence and cognition and not merely as a preliminary stage of [...] Read more.
In contrast to “experience” (Erfahrung), the concept and phenomenon of perception is still underexposed in systematic theology. Aesthetics in the sense of aisthesis illuminates perception as an independent mode of existence and cognition and not merely as a preliminary stage of Erfahrung. This is made clear by the differentiations and concretisations on aesthetics by the philosopher Wolfgang Welsch. His work on aesthetics is valuable for systematic theology on an epistemological level on the one hand and is based on contemporary questions about a good life in an “experience society” (Erlebnisgesellschaft, Gerhard Schulze) and the ecological crisis on the other hand. As a result, cornerstones of a perception-sensitive theology become visible. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theology and Aesthetics)
13 pages, 4973 KiB  
Article
Architectural Strategies of Dis- and Re-Enchantment: Building for the European Union Is Not a Master Narrative
by Julia Rüdiger
Religions 2023, 14(7), 823; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14070823 - 23 Jun 2023
Viewed by 1026
Abstract
This contribution looks at the different architectures for the institutions of the European Union in Brussels. Based on the ideas of the sociologist Max Weber, and later the theologian Harvey Cox, of an increasingly secularized, disenchanted urban society, the author first analyzes the [...] Read more.
This contribution looks at the different architectures for the institutions of the European Union in Brussels. Based on the ideas of the sociologist Max Weber, and later the theologian Harvey Cox, of an increasingly secularized, disenchanted urban society, the author first analyzes the earlier buildings for the European Community as an expression of a rationalist, even ‘disenchanted’ architectural strategy. This contrasts with the efforts of the European Union in the 21st century, which attempts to strengthen identification with the European Union by various means. One of these strategies—as the author points out—is to increasingly charge architecture with auratic meaning, in other words, to re-enchant it. Nevertheless, both architectural solutions do not offer a nation-like master narrative but are intended—each in its own manner—to represent a network of many individual parts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theology and Aesthetics)
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14 pages, 871 KiB  
Article
Wounded Beauty: Aesthetic-Theological Motifs in the Work of Alberto Burri and Anselm Kiefer
by Isabella Guanzini
Religions 2023, 14(6), 813; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14060813 - 20 Jun 2023
Viewed by 979
Abstract
In their different languages, codes of expression, practices and worldviews, art and religion share a reflexive intention to symbolize the chaos, suffering and ambivalence of the real. In particular, the aesthetic programme of Christianity has sought to combine the opposites of divine revelation [...] Read more.
In their different languages, codes of expression, practices and worldviews, art and religion share a reflexive intention to symbolize the chaos, suffering and ambivalence of the real. In particular, the aesthetic programme of Christianity has sought to combine the opposites of divine revelation attested in Scripture: chaos and cosmos, earth and heaven, betrayal and reconciliation, wounding and transfiguration, cross and resurrection, sin and forgiveness. This paper aims to explore this compositional dialectic, which over the centuries has oscillated between idealization and realism, despair and aestheticization, the ideology of pain and the mythology of redemption. In order to better understand this aesthetic religious programme in all its ambivalences and polarizations, reference will be made to two emblematic contemporary artists, Alberto Burri and Anselm Kiefer. Their aesthetic programme revolves around the memory of the suffering and wounds of history and in seeking to understand these develops a compassionate perspective on them. In their works, the artistic gesture is what saves reality from its horror and reveals a ‘wounded beauty’ that does not remove the signs of its struggle and contingency. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theology and Aesthetics)
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19 pages, 4149 KiB  
Article
Thy Kingdom Come? Visualizing (Post)Colonial Futures in the German Southwest
by Katharina Krause and Sebastian Pittl
Religions 2023, 14(6), 763; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14060763 - 09 Jun 2023
Viewed by 1233
Abstract
The future of colonial pasts still haunts Christian imagination and theology. This is especially true in the field of eschatology, which is dedicated to Christian ways of conceiving the future. This article examines the manifold entanglements that collude in the fabrication of Christian [...] Read more.
The future of colonial pasts still haunts Christian imagination and theology. This is especially true in the field of eschatology, which is dedicated to Christian ways of conceiving the future. This article examines the manifold entanglements that collude in the fabrication of Christian imaginaries of time, future, and global community within (post)colonial conditions. At the center of the article resides the case study of a lithograph distributed by missionary networks in the second half of the 19th century and passed down over three generations in a German Swabian craftsman’s family. The first part of the article offers a detailed image analysis of the lithograph, paying special attention to its ways of religious and colonial worlding. The second examines the social milieu of the addressees of the lithograph and analyzes its embeddedness in intersectional webs of religious, aesthetic, and social disciplining. It draws attention to the complex, often ambiguous dynamics involved in producing colonial inferiority. Against this background, the third part explores, in the form of a provisional thought experiment, ways of a decolonial revision of the lithograph, which bring the aforementioned ambivalences “into view” and interrupt its temporal hierarchization. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theology and Aesthetics)
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25 pages, 24876 KiB  
Article
Baptismal Aesthetics In-Between: Reflections on the Interplay of Text, Rite, and Image in the Sanctuaries of Ravenna
by Isabella Bruckner
Religions 2023, 14(6), 743; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14060743 - 05 Jun 2023
Viewed by 1367
Abstract
Baptism is the sacramental celebration of Christian initiation. Paul’s letter to the Romans, which is central to the understanding of baptism, characterizes this sacramental event as a dying with Christ and the beginning of a new existence. This new mode of existence gains [...] Read more.
Baptism is the sacramental celebration of Christian initiation. Paul’s letter to the Romans, which is central to the understanding of baptism, characterizes this sacramental event as a dying with Christ and the beginning of a new existence. This new mode of existence gains an aesthetic-performative form in the liturgical rites. The design of the liturgical spaces can then be understood as “petrified rites”. The imperial church basilicas and baptisteries of the Byzantine period in Ravenna bear particular witness to such petrified manifestations of liturgy. What took place in the liturgical rites found an aesthetic counterpart in the interior design and in the rich mosaic art of the ancient buildings. The Ravennese color-intensive wall and ceiling motifs substantiate in a sensuous way the eschatological aesthetic, which is opened to believers through baptism. Biblical texts, architecture, rite, and pictorial program thus form an aesthetic ensemble whose elements mutually illuminate each other and only gain their full depth of meaning in the context of this performative dynamic. This contribution analyzes the interplay of these different registers, based on some selected examples of Ravenna’s sacred buildings, and explores how the baptismal event is conveyed in them as an aesthetic access to the world. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theology and Aesthetics)
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15 pages, 355 KiB  
Article
Religious Boundaries through Emotions: The Representation of Emotions and Their Group-Forming Function in Alevi Poetry
by Cem Kara
Religions 2023, 14(6), 732; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14060732 - 01 Jun 2023
Viewed by 1013
Abstract
Although emotions occupy an important place in Alevism, their representation in Alevi history and the present has not yet been sufficiently researched. This study addresses this desideratum and discusses the representation and codification of emotions on the basis of central representatives of Alevi [...] Read more.
Although emotions occupy an important place in Alevism, their representation in Alevi history and the present has not yet been sufficiently researched. This study addresses this desideratum and discusses the representation and codification of emotions on the basis of central representatives of Alevi poetry. The focus of this study is the conjunction of constitutive teachings with basic emotions. In the poems, religious beliefs that are considered constitutive are explicitly linked to emotions such as love, grief and anger. In this way, central beliefs become emotionally charged and correspondingly more accentuated. At the same time, the poems convey an emotional expectation to the target audience: various rhetorical stylistic devices are used to convey to the addressees how they should react emotionally to certain ideas, memories and beliefs. In this way, these emotions fulfil the function of feeling rules that must be observed in order to be part of the collective. The analysis of Alevi poetry suggests that emotions have been an important factor in the history of Alevism for social order, group formation and religio-cultural demarcation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theology and Aesthetics)
18 pages, 304 KiB  
Article
Religion and the Expressionless—A Religious Perspective on Art in Benjamin
by Daniel Kuran
Religions 2023, 14(6), 703; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14060703 - 25 May 2023
Viewed by 1454
Abstract
In this article, I investigate the relationship between religion and art in the work of Walter Benjamin. I demonstrate how this relation is embedded in Benjamin’s understanding of a dialectic of secularization, which has recently been examined by Sigrid Weigel and Daniel Weidner. [...] Read more.
In this article, I investigate the relationship between religion and art in the work of Walter Benjamin. I demonstrate how this relation is embedded in Benjamin’s understanding of a dialectic of secularization, which has recently been examined by Sigrid Weigel and Daniel Weidner. Within this context, I focus on the “expressionless” and its relation to the holy in Benjamin’s thought. I follow different applications of the expressionless in Benjamin’s texts from different periods and analyze their overall significance. My thesis is that the expressionless is a specifically aesthetic category that can rescue the difference between the holy and the profane, granting both spheres their own rights and thereby resisting any sacralization of art in an aesthetic cult. Therefore, with reference to the holy and to the expressionless, one can claim with Benjamin that a religious perspective on art in a secular context is of irreplaceable value, while the expressionless simultaneously safeguards the autonomy of art. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Theology and Aesthetics)
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