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008			180806s2023 SA ||||fom|d| 001 e eng |
040			_cZA-BrSAT
100			_9912 _aCurrie, Ryan _d1986–
245			_aAN EVANGELICAL PROTESTANT THEOLOGICAL AESTHETIC: A RESPONSE TO HANS URS VON BALTHASAR’S CRITIQUE
260			_aJohannesburg _bSouth African Theological Seminary _c2023
300			_a364p _bPDF _cA4 _eAbstract, TOC
502			_bDoctor of Philosophy in Theology _cSouth African Theological Seminary _d2023 _gRobert Falconer George Coon
520			_aIn the development of his theological aesthetic project, the Swiss theologian and Roman Catholic priest, Hans Urs von Balthasar, critiqued Protestantism for lacking a theological account of beauty. Balthasar claimed that Protestants explore the relationship of theology and worldly beauty in its various forms, but do not deal with beauty itself as a theological category and have eliminated beauty from theology completely. This thesis responds to this critique from an evangelical Protestant perspective. The purpose of this work is to develop a theological aesthetic for evangelical Protestants that builds on the insights of historical theology and is consistent with the biblical witness. The methodology employed is Falconer’s Architectonic Theology, which applies architectural design principles for the construction of a systematic theology. Following this methodology, this work examines the concepts of theological aesthetics in current evangelical Protestantism, the development of theological aesthetic concepts in the history of theology, Balthasar’s articulation of theological aesthetics, and the Johannine corpus. I argue that even though evangelical Protestants have neglected a theological account of beauty, they have a tacit theological aesthetic that needs further articulation and development. However, evangelical Protestants have much to offer in the field of theological aesthetics. In this thesis, I seek to develop a theological aesthetic that is based on a theology of the cross. I claim that beauty is inherently related to the concept of glory. Glory emphasizes the objective aspects of God’s fullness and perfection, while beauty emphasizes perception and drawing power. The perception of God’s beauty is made possible through the spiritual sense, given at regeneration. The spiritual sense also transforms the physical senses so that all created beauty becomes a communicative event where the beauty of God is displayed. This is significant because it provides a solution to the felt tension between spiritual and created beauty. Further, the beauty of God is transformative. Theological aesthetics has profound implications for life as the believer perceives God through faith and generates a beautiful life in the theo-drama.
650		0	_9913 _aAesthetics
650		0	_9915 _aGlory of God
650		0	_9368 _aChristology
942			_2ddc _cTHE
999			_c16899 _d16899