Jeremy Begbie, the inaugural Thomas A. Langford Distinguished Professor of Theology and director of the Duke Initiatives in Theology and the Arts, both at Duke Divinity School, has written a new book exploring how theology and the arts can enrich each other.
The book, A Peculiar Orthodoxy: Reflections on Theology and the Arts, was published by Baker Publishing Group in August. In the book, Begbie emphasizes the role of a biblically grounded creedal orthodoxy as he shows how Christian theology and the arts can not only enrich each other in doing so but recover fresh confidence in its power.
Begbie, who has been at the forefront worldwide of teaching and writing on theology and the arts for more than 20 years, explains the importance of critically examining key terms, concepts, and thought patterns commonly employed in theology-arts discourse today. In the book, he argues that notions such as "beauty" and "sacrament" are too often adopted uncritically without due attention given to how an orientation to the Triune God's self-disclosure in Christ might lead us to reshape and invest these notions with fresh content.
Throughout A Peculiar Orthodoxy, Begbie demonstrates the power of classic trinitarian faith to bring illumination, surprise, and delight whenever it engages with the arts.
Begbie is the author of several books, including Redeeming Transcendence in the Arts: Bearing Witness to the Triune God, which was published earlier this year and discusses how the arts can witness to the transcendence of the Christian God. He is also a senior member at Wolfson College, Cambridge, and an affiliated lecturer in the faculty of music at the University of Cambridge.