Initiatives in Theology and the Arts
DITA Director
Jeremy Begbie is the inaugural holder of the Thomas A. Langford Research Professorship in Theology.
He teaches systematic theology, and he specializes in the interface between theology and the arts. His particular research interest is the interplay between music and theology.
Professor Begbie spends one semester each year (currently spring) at Duke Divinity School and the other semester at Cambridge.
He is also Senior Member at Wolfson College, Cambridge, and an Affiliated Lecturer in the Faculty of Music at the University of Cambridge. Previously he has been Associate Principal at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, and Honorary Professor at the University of St Andrews where he directed the research project, Theology Through the Arts at the Institute for Theology, Imagination and the Arts.
He is author of a number of books, including Voicing Creation’s Praise: Towards a Theology of the Arts (T & T Clark); Theology, Music and Time (CUP), and most recently, Resounding Truth: Christian Wisdom in the World of Music (Baker/SPCK) which won the Christianity Today 2008 Book Award in the Theology/Ethics Category. He has taught widely in the UK, North America and South Africa, specializing in multimedia performance-lectures.
Recent Publications and Interviews
- Review of Tim Gorringe, Earthly Visions: Theology and the Challenges of Art in The Tablet (2012)
- "The Holy Spirit at Work in the Arts: Learning from George Herbert" in Interpretations Journal vol.66 no.1 (2012)
- "The Future of Theology Amid the Arts: Some Reformed Reflections" (pre-publication version pdf download)
- “Confidence and Anxiety in Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius” in Music and Theology in Nineteenth-Century Britain ed. M. V. Clarke (Ashgate, 2011)
- "Coda" in Church Music Quarterly (December 2011)
- Faith & Leadership video: Jeremy Begbie - What can we Learn about the Gospel from Music?
- “Pressing at the Boundaries of Modernity: Review of Bach’s Dialogue with Modernity: Perspectives on the Passions by John Butt”, in Christian Scholar’s Review vol.40 iss.4 (Summer 2011)
- "Faithful Novelty" in Divinity Magazine (Duke Divinity School, Fall 2011)
- "Minister of Music: An Interview with Jeremy Begbie" in Living Church (June 19, 2011), pp. 9-11
- Foreword to Creator Spirit: The Holy Spirit and the Art of Becoming Human by Steven R. Guthrie (Baker Books, 2011)
- “The Shape of Things to Come? Wright Amidst Emerging Ecclesiologies” in Jesus, Paul and the People of God: A Theological Dialogue with N.T. Wright: Proceedings of the 19th annual Wheaton Theology Conference (IVP, 2011), pp. 183-208
- “Created Beauty: The Witness of J. S. Bach” in Resonant Witness, ed. Steven R. Guthrie and Jeremy S. Begbie (Eerdmans, 2011)
- “Faithful Feelings: Music and Emotion in Worship” in Resonant Witness, ed. Steven R. Guthrie and Jeremy S. Begbie (Eerdmans, 2011)
- Resonant Witness: Conversations between Music and Theology, co-edited with Steven R. Guthrie (Eerdmans, 2011)
- Image Journal web exclusive interview with Jeremy Begbie
- Faith & Leadership video: Jeremy Begbie – Theology through the arts
- Resounding Truth: Christian Wisdom in the World of Music (Baker Books, 2007)
Selected Forthcoming Publications
- “Natural Theology and Music” in The Oxford Handbook of Natural Theology, ed. Russell Re Manning (Oxford University Press, 2013)
- “Openness and Specificity: A Conversation with David Brown on Theology and Classical Music” in Theology, Aesthetics, and Culture: Conversations with the Work of David Brown (OUP, 2012)
- Foreword to Restoring the Shamed: Towards a Theology of Shame by Robin Stockitt (Wipf and Stock, 2012)
- Foreword to Music as Theology by Maeve Heaney (Wipf and Stock, 2012)
- "The Future of Theology Amid the Arts: Some Reformed Reflections" (forthcoming collection of Wheaton Distinguished Lectures edited by Roger Lundin) (pre-publication version)
Forthcoming Speaking Engagements
2012
- May 27, Preacher, St John's College Chapel, Cambridge
- June 3, Preacher, Gonville and Caius College Chapel, Cambridge
- June 4, Guest speaker, Oxford Graduate Christian Union
- October 10, Keynote speaker, National Worship Leaders' Conference, San Diego, CA
- October 11-14, Keynote speaker, Telemachus Conference, Gasparilla Island, FL
- October 17, guest speaker, Why Believe conference, Glasgow
- November 13-15, Guest lecturer, Hope College, Holland, Michigan
- November 16, Guest lecturer, Spring Arbor University, Spring Arbor, Michigan
2013
- March 15-17, Guest speaker and preacher, Christ Church Cathedral, Nashville, TN
- April 11, Howie Lecturer, Union Presbyterian Seminary, Richmond, VA
- June 21-22, Guest speaker, Berlin
- June 23, Guest preacher, St George's Church, Berlin
- November 21-22, Staley Lecturer, Cedarville University, OH
2014
- January Worship Symposium, keynote speaker, Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, Calvin College, MI