The Beauty of God

Catalog description

This course explores how beauty serves as a way to God. In the history of all three major monotheistic faith traditions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), it was believed that God identified himself through various divine names. Focusing primarily, though not exclusively, on the Judeo-Christian tradition, this course examines beauty as one of these divine names. Consequently, the mode of theology that will ground this exploration is what has recently come to be called theological aesthetics. As a mode of theology, or a theo-logic, theological aesthetics draws from the principles of human reason as the art of thinking well (hence as a logic) and the event of divine revelation. Insofar as it unites theology with beauty, a theological aesthetic not only draws from the grammar, language, and thinking associated with beauty and art, but attempts to tie these more deeply to both human reason and divine revelation. Taking its cue from aesthetic experience, this course is divided into three basic parts: part 1 is the encounter with the object of interest, namely God's existence; part 2 examines the subjective aspects of the encounter, namely, the socio-cultural dimensions of how we come to understand God, "religion," faith, etc.; and part 3 examines the results inspired by the encounter, namely, the reception of divine beauty in revelation, music, responding to evil and human suffering, and mysticism.