Calvin Seminars in Christian Scholarship - The Arts, Aesthetic Theory, and the Practice of Christian Worship

Course Description:
Christian worship has been an incubator for artistic expression for 2000 years. Worshiping communities all over the world have produced a dazzling array of works of music, architecture, sculpture, dance, drama, fabric arts, all for the use of Christian community in its worship services. These works raise many questions: What is the role of art in liturgy? What about the role of the artist in the Christian community? What is "good" liturgical art? What about "artistic taste" in the Christian community? What can be done to nurture the most thoughtful, authentic artworks in Christian worship today? This seminar will include studies of significant liturgical artworks, conversations with practicing artists, and readings in liturgical and aesthetic theory.

Nicholas Wolterstorff is the Noah Porter Professor of Philosophical Theology at Yale University. In addition to writing leading publications in philosophy of religion, political theory, and epistemology, he is the author of Works and Worlds of Art (Oxford University Press), Art in Action (Eerdmans), and several articles on the history, theology, and practice of Christian worship that have appeared in Worship, Theology Today, and Perspectives.

Program Description:
This seminar, which is the first in a series of three cosponsored by the Luce Foundation and the Calvin Institute for Christian Worship, will enable faculty to participate in high-level academic discussions of critical worship-related topics. The seminar leaders for each of the three seminars will be senior scholars who are widely recognized as leading authorities in their fields. Ten scholars will be selected to participate in each seminar. This group could also include clergy with an interest in academic discussions of these topics, as well as especially qualified graduate students. The seminar leader and participants will devote four weeks to intensive research and discussion geared toward producing publishable essays. A follow-up colloquium will be held for each seminar during the following January, in conjunction with the Calvin Symposium on Worship and the Arts.

Participant Projects