Christianity and the Arts 2015

2019

Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), 2022

I presented my paper, "The Artistic Reception of Luke 16:19–31: Medieval, Modern, and Contemporary," for the Bible and Visual Arts Program Unit at the 2022 SBL Annual Meeting in Denver CO on Nov. 19, 2022. I am grateful to the chairs (Drs. Ian Boxall [CUA], Heidi J. Hornik [Baylor], and Meredith Massar Munson [GTU]) for affording me the opportunity to present my research, which is an abridged chapter in my forthcoming monograph with Lexington/Fortress Academic Press. From the Program Unit CFP: Description: The purpose of the section is to provide a forum at the national SBL to explore historical, hermeneutical, theological, iconographic, and/or theoretical aspects related to the interpretation of the Jewish and Christian Scriptures in visual art through the centuries. Call for papers: The Bible and Visual Art section welcomes submissions for the following two sessions at the Annual Meeting in 2022: (1) We invite proposals on the Bible and art of Indigenous North American and Latin American cultures, and especially encourage proposals related to biblical art in public spaces in the Denver area; (2) For our open session, we invite proposals that fall within our broad purpose: to explore historical, hermeneutical, theological, iconographic and/or theoretical aspects related to the interpretation of the Jewish and Christian Scriptures in visual art through the centuries. There will also be a third session, joint with the Gospel of Luke section, postponed from 2021 (papers already approved).

Mallorn, 2016

Published in the 2016 Winter Issue of The Tolkien Society's Mallorn, my article's aim is to shine a light on the theological implications of patience and holiness in the quest of the Fellowship, which have been directly influenced by Tolkien’s Roman Catholicism.

1988

Argues that the tendency of many critics of The Lord of the Rings to “[mine] it for Christian content” does the work a disservice, since Tolkien explicitly states that a Secondary World should not contain Primary World elements. Examines the “natural religion” present in The Lord of the Rings, without obvious ritual, dogma, or god

2022

What does 'performance' mean in Christian culture? How is it connected to rituals, dramatic and visual arts, and the written word? Performing the Sacred: Christian Representation and the Arts explores both the meaning of re-presentation and the role of performance within the Christian tradition between arts and drama. The essays in this book demonstrate that the idea of performance was central to Christian theology and that—from the Middle Ages to the Early Modern era—it became a device through which people saw, prayed, preached, wrote, imagined, officiated rites, celebrated cults, and practiced devotions. Seen that performance is a habitus within Christianity, performing the sacred does not just mean representing it, but rather enacting it in a tangible, visible and involved way.

2015

A S THE WORLD REMEMBERS what Used CO be known as the Great War, we would do well to reflect upon how it ended poetic praises of war and heroism. The great poets of World War I, such as Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen, left to the world a picture of war that was anything but heroic. Many will be familiar with Owen's "Duke et Decorum E sf and his line about "children ardent for some ancient glory."

1988

Argues that the tendency of many critics of The Lord of the Rings to “[mine] it for Christian content” does the work a disservice, since Tolkien explicitly states that a Secondary World should not contain Primary World elements. Examines the “natural religion” present in The Lord of the Rings, without obvious ritual, dogma, or

Imaginatio et Ratio: A Journal of Theology and the Arts, 2012

What does Hollywood have to do with Jerusalem? Put differently, how might film function as an entry point into theological reflection? In this article, I explore the eschatological import of J. R. R. Tolkien’s “far green country” in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. I argue that Tolkien’s spectral imagery opens an imaginative space for theological discourse on the afterlife, even if the Undying Lands in Tolkien’s mythology do not exactly correspond to heaven in his theology. From my cinematic exegesis of a poignant moment in the film I demonstrate the plurality of ways film might stimulate creative theological dialogue by awakening our theological imaginations.