Theatrical Theology: Explorations in Performing the Faith

Theology is inherently theatrical rooted in Gods performance on the world stage and oriented toward faith seeking performative understanding in the theatre of everyday life. Following Hans Urs von Balthasars 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. It is one thing to say that ethics is performative or that the incarnation is theatrical. It is another thing to presume that these sorts of statements are self-evidential when they are far from it. This collection of essays offers us a clear-headed and stimulating treatment of the various ways in which theatre orients the work of Christian theology. This is a very welcome volume for both academy and church. --W. David O. Taylor Fuller Theological Seminary Houston TX The dynamic cast of voices in Theatrical Theology enacts a rich and vibrant dialogue rarely heard in academic conversations about theology and the arts. More than merely appropriating a new conceptual vocabulary for theology Theatrical Theology actually reckons with the cultural practice of theatre in generative and illuminating ways. This text models a careful engagement with the theorists practitioners and canons of theatre while also opening up fresh modes of faithful Christian practice. --Taylor Worley Union University Jackson TN For those who have been intrigued by the growing talk of the theatrical turn in theology this book allows you to enter the conversation. In these suggestive essays the performance of faith is explored in such a way that the possibilities of this approach begin to surface. By the end of the book the reader knows that the conversation is not over it is just beginning. --Kelly M. Kapic Covenant College Lookout Mountain GA Wesley Vander Lugt is Lead Pastor of Warehouse 242 in Charlotte North Carolina. He is the author of Living Theodrama: Reimagining Theological Ethics (2014) and the coauthor of Pocket Dictionary of the Reformed Tradition (2013). Trevor Hart is Rector of Saint Andrews Episcopal Church and Honorary Professor at the University of St Andrews. His recent publications include Between the Image and the Word: Theological Engagements with Imagination Literature and Language (2013) and Making Good: Creation Creativity and Artistry (2014).