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
- “Natural Theology and Music” in The Oxford Handbook of Natural Theology, ed. Russell Re Manning (Oxford University Press, 2013)
- Art, Imagination and Christian Hope: Patterns of Promise, co-edited with Trevor Hart and Gavin Hopps (Ashgate, 2012)
- “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 Music as Theology by Maeve Heaney (Wipf and Stock, 2012)
- Foreword to Restoring the Shamed: Towards a Theology of Shame by Robin Stockitt (Wipf and Stock, 2012)
- 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
- Music Modernity, and God: Essays in Listening (Oxford: Oxford University Press, in press)
- "The Future of Theology Amid the Arts: Some Reformed Reflections" in Christ Across the Disciplines: Past, Present, Future, ed. Roger Lundin (Eerdmans, 2013) (pre-publication version)
Forthcoming Speaking Engagements
2013
- May 25, Keynote speaker, Convergent worship conference, St Peter's Church, Notting Hill, London
- June 21-22, Guest speaker, Berlin
- June 23, Guest preacher, St George's Church, Berlin
- June 24-25, Keynote speaker, Chester Diocese Clergy Conference, Swanwick
- July 19-20, panel speaker, Music and Philosophy conference, Royal Musical Association Music and Philosophy Study Group, King's College, London
- November 15-18, invited guest, IMAGE colloquy, Seattle, WA
- November 21-22, Staley Lecturer, Cedarville University, OH
2014
- January 28, January Series Lecturer, Calvin College, MI
- January 30 - February 1, keynote speaker, Worship Symposium, Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, Calvin College, MI
- February 22-23, guest speaker, Faith Forum, Christ Episcopal Church, Charlotte
- March 14-15, keynote speaker, Stone-Campbell Journal Conference, Johnson University, Knoxville, TN
- March 28, guest speaker, Centenary UMC, Winston Salem, NC
- May 26-30, Lecturer, Regent Summer School, Regent College, Vancouver
- September 4, Guest lecturer, Golden Gate Seminary, San Francisco, CA
- November 20-21, Henry Stob Lectures, Calvin College, MI