Wesley Vander Lugt

Beauty is oxygen because it comes from the lungs of God. Isolating individualism, rank injustice, and everyday monotony threaten to suffocate our souls. But Wesley Vander Lugt shows how beauty can breathe life back into us. Written in a graceful cadence that invites readers to turn these pages slowly, Beauty Is Oxygen weaves together theological reflection, poetry, cultural criticism, and Scripture. Throughout, Vander Lugt shows how beauty can break us out of self-centered malaise, promote healing and hope for our broken world, and reenchant our lives. Beauty is about more than positive feelings or pleasing aesthetics. Beauty is as essential to our souls as oxygen is to our bodies. As readers encounter these traces of divine glory in Vander Lugt's finely crafted meditations, they will find how Christ will "make all things new."

Finding a Faith That Breathes

Beauty Is Oxygen

Trevor Hart

Theology is inherently theatrical, rooted in God's performance on the world stage and oriented toward faith seeking performative understanding in the theatre of everyday life. Following Hans Urs von Balthasar's magisterial, five-volume Theo-Drama, a growing number of theologians and pastors have been engaging more widely with theatre and drama, producing what has been recognized as a "theatrical turn" in theology. This volume includes thirteen essays from theologians and pastors who have contributed in distinct ways to this theatrical turn and who desire to deepen interdisciplinary dialogue between theology and theatre. The result is an unprecedented collection of essays that embodies and advances theatrical theology for the purpose of enriching theological reflection and edifying the church. Contributors include: Kevin J. Vanhoozer Ivan Khovacs Timothy Gorringe Shannon Craigo-Snell George Pattison Jim Fodor Todd E. Johnson David Cunningham Marilyn McCord Adams Richard Carter Samuel Wells Peter Goodwin Heltzel David Brown

Explorations in Performing the Faith

Theatrical Theology

Theology is inherently theatrical, rooted in God's performance on the world stage and oriented toward faith seeking performative understanding in the theatre of everyday life. Following Hans Urs von Balthasar's magisterial, five-volume 'Theo-Drama', a growing number of theologians and pastors have been engaging more widely with theatre and drama, producing what has been recognized as a

Living Theodrama is a fresh, creative introduction to theological ethics. Offering an imaginative approach through dialogue with theatrical theory and practice, Vander Lugt demonstrates a new way to integrate actor-oriented and action-oriented approaches to Christian ethics within a comprehensive theodramatic model. This model affirms that life is a drama performed in the company of God and others, providing rich metaphors for relating theology to everyday formation and performance in this drama. Different chapters explore the role of the triune God, Scripture, tradition, the church, mission, and context in the process of formation and performance, thus dealing separately with major themes in theological ethics while incorporating them within an overarching model. This book contains not only a fruitful exchange between theological ethics and theatre, but it also presents a promising method for interdisciplinary dialogue between theology and the arts that will be valuable for students and practitioners across many different fields.

Wesley Vander Lugt

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