Theology and the Arts

Ruth Illman is Director of the Donner Institute for Research in Religious and Cultural History, associated to Åbo Akademi University in Åbo, Finland. She is committed to research on interreligious dialogue and the role of the arts in this dialogue, cultural encounters and peace research. She is also the editor-in-chief of the international peer-reviewed journal Temenos. Nordic Journal of Comparative Religion. Illman has published widely in international journals such as the International Journal of Public Theology, the Journal of Contemporary Religion, and Studies in Interreligious Dialogue. Her book entitled Art and Belief: Artists Engaged in Interreligious Dialogue was published by Equinox Publications in 2012. You find her website at: http://web.abo.fi/instut/di/english/ruth.html. W. Alan Smith is Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Florida Southern College. An ordained minister, he has been active in regional and general levels of work in the denomination as well as in higher education. He was most recently the Executive Secretary of the Religious Education Association. He is the author of numerous articles in journals including Religious Education, Teaching Theology and Religion, and the Forum on Public Policy.

Part 1. A Practical Theology of the Arts Introduction: A Prelude 1. When the Center No Longer Holds: Challenges to Modernism 2. Otherness and Meaning: Dialogue and Interpersonal Relatedness 3. Outlining a Practical Approach to Theology and the Arts Part 2. Études 4. Art as Community Practice: Murals from the Voice of the Community 5. Fabric Arts in Peru as Identity 6. Literature as a Scene for Dialogue 7. Eliminating Walls, Honoring Stories: Improvised Theatre "Creating Space" 8. Film as an Embodiment of Interpersonal Relations 9. Music as an Attentive and Creative Interplay 10. Embodied Grace: Dance—An Art Form that Transforms 11. Finale and Recapitulation