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Hans Urs von Balthasar's teaching on the beatific vision has been drawing scholarly attention. By building upon the works of Thomas Dalzell, Aidan Nichols, and Anne Carpenter, I advance the discussion by demonstrating that the dramatic and artistic-poetic grounding of Balthasar's theo-drama shapes the way he understands the beatific vision. In his later work, Balthasar transposes the Catholic understanding of the beatific vision according to the art form and logic of drama. Specifically, using the notions of the visio immediata Dei and the visio mortis, he transposes the meaning of the beatific vision such that the divine essence is understood as a union of love in conversation with the Thomistic perspective of an immediate knowledge of God. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The work of the late Alejandro García-Rivera has been overlooked as a contribution to theological engagement with science. A significant obstacle to appreciating it as such is the view that his theological cosmology marks a problematic shift from Latinx theological aesthetics to an uncritical engagement with the work of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. This article engages his oeuvre in response to that critique. Using Hans Urs von Balthasar's concept of "theo-drama," it argues that García-Rivera not only fits Teilhard into the broader mosaic of his work successfully, but that García-Rivera's final work illumines his whole oeuvre as a "gift to science." It shows how García-Rivera adapts his account of the beauty in the "little stories" of the pueblo to little places in the natural world, in order to help us see their beauty as an objective reality calling us to participate in their care. Thus, the article portrays García-Rivera's body of work as a way to engage the scientifically-minded through a sensibility for natural beauty, born of mestizaje , popular piety, and the cross. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite recent developments in the fields of olfactory aesthetics, phenomenology of liturgy, religious aesthetics, and theological aesthetics, the complex presence of odours in the Christian culture has been scarcely discussed. This study is meant as a contribution to a future systematic exploration of the aesthetic ‘osmology’ of theology, by focusing on the fragrant chrism oil (in the Eastern Church called Holy Myron). Technical-historical explanations regarding the olfactory composition, preparation and use of this sacramental oil are followed by an examination of the semantics of its odour in patristic theology and medieval popular imaginary. This rich symbolism has been lost in the ‘anosmic’ modern Catholic and Orthodox sacramental theology.

The article is dedicated to the research approach of аcademician S. S. Averintsev, which is widely discussed in modern humanitarian science. Averintsev’s “method” is one of the problems in modern theory and history of culture. In this article it is considered basing on the principles of his approach outlined by famous modern scientists. Averintsev’s “method” is one of the problems in modern theory and history of culture. In this article it is considered basing on the principles of Averintsev’s approach outlined by famous modern scientists. The purpose of the article is to consider a symbol, the central concept of Averintsev, the interpretation of which, according to the scientist, is the main aim of a humanitarian researcher. The research methods used in the article are: comparative — so that to identify the peculiarities of understanding the symbol relative to other concepts (for example, Paul Tillich); contextual — to define disciplinary boundaries (or their absence) of the concept symbol; theological — to identify the doctrinal foundations of Averintsev’s definitions; structural-practical — to show the effectiveness of Averintsev’s approach and the correspondence of the methodological vector given by him to the specific study of one of the basic symbols of Russian spiritual culture — Sophia the Wisdom. The concept of a symbol in Averintsev’s representations turns out to be not just a universal unit of aesthetics, but also a method of Christian thinking that expresses its dogmatic basis. The essence of the phenomenon of the “symbol” turns out to be the “conjugation” of the material and the otherworldly in the image of God’s descent into the world, that is, it corresponds to the Chalcedonian dogma. The composition and structure of the symbol, thus, sets a methodological and ethical norm for the humanitarian, philologist, culturologist, philosopher or theologian. As an illustration, the article provides an analysis of the article by S. S. Averintsev “To clarify the meaning of the inscription over the konha of the central apse of Sofia of Kyiv”, which shows the relevance and fruitfulness of Averintsev’s symbolology.

This essay aims at an appraisal of Nicholas Wolterstorff's magum opus on the subject of art, the book Works and Worlds of Art , published in 1980 by the Clarendon Press in Oxford. The book is well known by analytic philosophers of religion, but its innovative value still seems to receive less recognition from other schools of thought and from artists and scholars in the area of Arts. Therefore, this introduction situates the book in the history of Philosophy of Art, with special focus on the state of affairs for the discipline in the twentieth century, engaging dialogue with other philosophical proposals in the period. Finally, the core concepts of Wolterstorff's philosophy of art will be presented and defined in order to offer a glimpse of the richness that this book could still provide to contemporary scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This comparative theological article expands on John Thiel's article on aporias in theological method. Through an Islamic theo-poetics, it complements the import of hermeneutics in theological method with poetics. In an Islamic theo-poetics, aporias are inverted: they are not impassable walls, but "liminal spaces" through which creative imagination and revelation emerge. Reading Eriugena's Periphyseon through two Persian love lyrics by Ḥāfiẓ (and a later commentary) draws out the poetics of the former, a dialogue often described as an exercise in dialectical reasoning. Attention to the poetics of aporetics offers another way to understand the role of aporia in theology: to cultivate (infinite) desire for God. Theology is a theo-poetic reflection on the mystery of our communal theo(poïe)sis. Along the way, I indicate how theology construed as poetics—not merely hermeneutics—makes theological aesthetics possible, underscores the role of affective knowledge, and reveals how Eriugena the poet shaped Eriugena the dialectician. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to demonstrate why Catholic theology should actively engage with artistic images and elucidate how they could serve as a valuable resource for theological knowledge and content. The discussion is articulated in three distinct steps. Firstly, drawing from theological-historical perspectives within Christian tradition, it is shown that certain images possess significant theological potential. There have been various forms of interaction between theology and the visual representation of faith. The second step discusses the gradual reduction of theological reflection towards rational and conceptual cognition. The author relies predominantly on inner-theological arguments to advocate for the necessity of expanding the intellectual and conceptual horizons of contemporary Catholic theology so as to include the aesthetic dimension. In the final, third part, these insights are substantiated through the examination of two examples from contemporary Catholic theology: the works of Alex Stock and Peter Hofmann, exploring how artistic images can enrich systematic theology by serving as a "locus theologicus". In conclusion, the author asserts that images have the potential to expand and concretize abstracted topics within dogmatic theology. They can also facilitate the reintegration of fragmented theological disciplines and forge a more direct link between theology and the lived experience of faith. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I bring Terrence Malick's 2019 film, A Hidden Life, into conversation with two of philosopher Paul Ricoeur's concepts: (1) the "social imaginary" as the interplay of ideals, images, ideologies and utopias, and (2) Ricoeur's description of the genre of "parable" as a narrative-metaphor which provokes a "re-orientation by disorientation" within an audience's imagination. Drawing from Ricoeur's thought, I apply a theological film criticism I call "theocinematics" to A Hidden Life in order to call attention to the ways in which the cinematic form itself engenders sociopolitical and theological thought. Through emphasizing film aesthetics in my analysis, I am ultimately suggesting that A Hidden Life as a cinematic parable has the potential power to affect and inform our social imaginaries for the good. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intersection between religious experience and aesthetic experience has become so obvious that the current "aesthetic turn" in Christian theology no longer needs to be defended. In this essay, I discuss that intersection point from the point of view of Roman Catholicism, in order to demonstrate the bold claim that the arts and the performance they evoke from us are as important as the creed for Catholicism. The essay aims to do three things: first, to examine that intersection point and emphasize the elements of intentionality and desire; second, to analyze one expression of that intersection, namely the connection among Catholic faith claims, the visual arts, and Catholicism's incarnational-sacramental imagination (using depictions of the post-Resurrection Emmaus story); third, to use hints from Hartmut Rosa's recent work on "resonance" to tease out how revelation and transformation occur at this intersection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Teologia w Polsce is the property of Society of Dogmatic Theologians and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In these interview transcripts, Jamie Ong engages in an in-depth conversation with Dr Jeffrey Bryan Grubbs, delving into the personal aspects of his life. The interview explores Dr Grubbs's experiences, challenges and pivotal moments, offering a unique glimpse into the person behind the profession. Through this exchange, the student seeks to understand the teacher's life journey and interest in theological art education. The dialogue creates a meaningful narrative of Dr Grubbs's life and research over the years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between religion and poetry is a complex and dynamic subject that requires consideration of many factors, including theological, cultural, historical, and personal contexts. The relationship between these two spheres throughout history was motivated differently, which is why various questions were raised on the theoretical level, such as: is literature a part of theological discourse and/or is theology a part of literary discourse? It is possible that literature and theology intertwine and influence each other in different ways, but accepting their definitive affiliation with each other remains a matter of theoretical debate. In the Eurocentric circle, the most pronounced relationship between theology and literature continues intensively in medieval literature, when the Bible becomes the paradigm according to which all other forms of human and cultural activity are determined, while in the Balkans (from the end of the 15th to the end of the 19th century) the Qur'an will also be literature of the oriental-Islamic circle. Based on several shorter theses that we presented from the Islamic theological aspect, we concluded that Islam allows, even praises, poetry, but does not give it complete autonomy. These restrictions are depicted in the form of the necessary respect and adherence to the norms of Islamic belief and religious laws, which the poet must not renounce, nor express himself poetically in terms of content, while the form of the poem itself is left to the poet's full freedom of choice. The beginning of the 21st century was marked by several literary-critical works that point to the problem of naming and classifying Islamic religious poetry in our speaking area, which indicates the necessity of forming the principles of Islamic theological aesthetics and literary theory.

The aim of this study is an attempt to continue the discussion started by the extremely useful and competent synthesis of views on the relations between art and matter, presented in the article The Transformations of the Symbolic and Theological Meaning of Matter Reflected in Christian Aesthetics and Art by Janusz Królikowski Since the 16th century, European thought on the nature of beauty has been marked by interpretations that draw on the achievements of many academic disciplines. Numerous secular views on aesthetics were expressed in the period between the Baroque and positivism, and the ecclesiastical ones between the era of post-Tridentine theology to the time of accomodata renovatio of the Second Vatican Council and the concept of culture born out of it. Philosophers and art historians, especially of the nineteenth century, sought new justifications for changing views on beauty and its role in building the generational identity of the human being. In the field of philosophy, the views of George Berkeley and Immanuel Kant, among others, are experiencing a renaissance, and in religious thought, the same is true for the views of Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith during the pontificate of John Paul II, concretised by the thought of Hans Urs von Balthasar. They correspond with the ideological inspirations of contemporary artists. Christian Churches undertake a dialogue with them in their Magisterium. In this way they develop elements of Christian aesthetics. Polish researchers have also made their contributions to this field.

This essay reflects theologically on rhythm by turning to the North African church father Augustine, specifically his work De musica. It begins by briefly referring to recent theological work on rhythm, before introducing Augustine and discussing the role music played during and after his conversion to Christianity. This is followed by an exposition of De musica: a work which comprises six books. It is shown how the first five books offer a comprehensive rhythmic theory, which is then followed - in Book 6 - by a theological discussion of the topic. Finally, the essay briefly explores what we can learn from Augustine's text, not only in terms of rhythm but also about theological engagements with the arts more generally. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: As part of the larger interdisciplinary conversation between theology and the arts, this essay focuses on the theological dimensions and implications of rhythm by turning to what could probably be viewed as one of Christian theology's first interdisciplinary texts, namely Augustine's De musica. Interdisciplinarity thus stands at the very heart of the contribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Teología is the property of Pontificia Universidad Catolica Argentina and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The aim of this article is to demonstrate why Catholic theology should actively engage with artistic images and elucidate how they could serve as a valuable resource for theological knowledge and content. The discussion is articulated in three distinct steps. Firstly, drawing from theological-historical perspectives within Christian tradition, it is shown that certain images possess significant theological potential. There have been various forms of interaction between theology and the visual representation of faith. The second step discusses the gradual reduction of theological reflection towards rational and conceptual cognition. The author relies predominantly on inner-theological arguments to advocate for the necessity of expanding the intellectual and conceptual horizons of contemporary Catholic theology so as to include the aesthetic dimension. In the final, third part, these insights are substantiated through the examination of two examples from contemporary Catholic theology: the works of Alex Stock and Peter Hofmann, exploring how artistic images can enrich systematic theology by serving as a “locus theologicus”. In conclusion, the author asserts that images have the potential to expand and concretize abstracted topics within dogmatic theology. They can also facilitate the reintegration of fragmented theological disciplines and forge a more direct link between theology and the lived experience of faith.

This article places the conceptual artist Gordon Matta-Clark in conversation with hermeneutical debates within the field of theological aesthetics. By exploring the transformative effect Matta-Clark's Splitting evokes on spatially related categories, I argue that place is a locus of meaning, and that absence is a constitutive feature of that meaning. The hermeneutics at play in Matta-Clark have a set of formal features which is in accord with certain positions within theological aesthetics, namely: the particularities of place over the generalities of space, the constitutive role of both absence and presence for perception, and the formative power of these on human identity. A final section argues that while meaning is embedded in place, the imagination retains a vital place in the hermeneutical process through its "imaging" function in events of perception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a new theological approach, called “theogastronomy”. This theological aesthetic argues that the relationship that a person, a people and a civilization establish with their “gastronomy” – in the etymological sense of the term – has a theophanic value and holds a discreet pastoral and theoretical fecundity. To demonstrate this hypothesis, the present article proceeds in three stages. First, it reflects on the concept of theogastronomy, as well as on the relationship between this approach and the religious knowledge of the biblical Revelation. Then, it places this theological aesthetic in its own literary and spiritual “cradle”, namely, the sapiential writings. Finally, it shows how this sapiential branch of theology can lead us to revisit, in depth, the living core of the Christian faith: the paschal mystery of Jesus Christ, the definitive expression of his free choice to give his life as food for the countless multitude of men and women seeking life in its fullness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intersection between religious experience and aesthetic experience has become so obvious that the current “aesthetic turn” in Christian theology no longer needs to be defended. In this essay, I discuss that intersection point from the point of view of Roman Catholicism, in order to demonstrate the bold claim that the arts and the performance they evoke from us are as important as the creed for Catholicism. The essay aims to do three things: first, to examine that intersection point and emphasize the elements of intentionality and desire; second, to analyze one expression of that intersection, namely the connection among Catholic faith claims, the visual arts, and Catholicism’s incarnational-sacramental imagination (using depictions of the post-Resurrection Emmaus story); third, to use hints from Hartmut Rosa’s recent work on “resonance” to tease out how revelation and transformation occur at this intersection.

This article draws attention to the need for a theological approach to sentimentality in the arts that is informed by context. During the Covid pandemic, the value of sentimental artworks that afford respite and distraction from the grim realities of death and disease has been evident. To illustrate the dangers of absolutist, anti-sentimentalist theological arguments that overlook the significance of context in such circumstances, this article presents a challenge to the theological 'countersentimentality' set out by Jeremy Begbie. I argue that condemning all sentimentality in contemporary culture as a 'disease of the feelings' manifested in people and the arts, without paying attention to the context in which people seek out sentimental artworks, is inadvisable. Then, through analysis of two examples from literary fiction, I illustrate the weaknesses of a theological countersentimentality that evaluates artworks without reference to the situation in which they were created and received. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Of the two aspects that make up the consciousness of the Logos in the Christian tradition the modern rationalist paradigm unilaterally considers only one of them; the moment of the pure concept, outlawing that of the eidos or imaginal form. The response that Balthasar suggests to restore the form, and in particular the Christi form, is not to fight in vain against the consummation of historical events that have reduced the Logos in this way, but to conceive a new alternative that is not properly a Theology but rather an Aesthetics that is theological. In relation to the novel by Herman Hesse, The Glass Bead Game, I postulate that this project of Theological Aesthetics displays useful elements not only for theological reflection, but also for the ecclesiological one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study begins in the analysis of the new Directory for Catechesis, centering in the concept of Christian experience. Here the «aesthetic » vision of the said experience is the object of interest. Several times the Directory speaks about the beauty of the Gospel, the beauty of God, or the beauty of Christ. These terms are not just mere metaphors. Rather it is a new way of presenting the Christian faith that would be more adequate to the sensibility of the contemporary man. After analysing the text of the document, the theological roots of its aesthetic language are enunciated and an attempt to evaluate the advantages and risks in dealing with faith through the aesthetic approach is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article places the conceptual artist Gordon Matta-Clark in conversation with hermeneutical debates within the field of theological aesthetics. By exploring the transformative effect Matta-Clark’s Splitting evokes on spatially related categories, I argue that place is a locus of meaning, and that absence is a constitutive feature of that meaning. The hermeneutics at play in Matta-Clark have a set of formal features which is in accord with certain positions within theological aesthetics, namely: the particularities of place over the generalities of space, the constitutive role of both absence and presence for perception, and the formative power of these on human identity. A final section argues that while meaning is embedded in place, the imagination retains a vital place in the hermeneutical process through its “imaging” function in events of perception.

Copyright of Sacrum et Decorum is the property of Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Rzeszowskiego and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Letras (Lima) is the property of Letras, Facultad de Letras y Ciencias Humanas. Universidad Nacional Mayor De San Marcos and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Recent publications on theology and film attempting to explain what a parable is remain less clear about how or why a parable works for cinema, and many definitions do not fully take into account the formal dynamics of film qua film nor parable qua parable. I seek to demonstrate the benefits of a more precise conception of cinematic parables by utilizing philosopher Paul Ricoeur's understanding of "parable" to make theological interpretations of film that take audio-visual aesthetics into consideration. I conclude with three recent examples of cinematic parables in order to demonstrate this Ricoeurian parabolic hermeneutic: Asghar Farhadi's Iranian melodrama, A Separation (2011), American filmmaker Anna Rose Holmer's enigmatic The Fits (2016), and Aki Kaurismäki's droll Finnish comedy, The Other Side of Hope (2017). Ultimately, I make a case for film as theology, what I am calling "theocinematics." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Is the body a grid or a window? For Gilles Deleuze, as for most post-structuralists, the body does not express the person but rather functions as a surface upon which desire writes. Deleuze's aesthetics of the surface echoes the inchoate convictions of transgenderism. In contrast, for classical Christian aesthetics, the beauty of the surface is an expression of depth. Hans Urs von Balthasar's theological aesthetics is analyzed along John Paul II's theology of the body, in which the body expresses the person. I close with a trinitarian analogy of the body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay explores the relation between beauty and justice by turning to the thought of the Swiss Catholic theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar. It begins by giving an exposition of Balthasar's theological aesthetics, as developed in his work The glory of the Lord, which shows how, for Von Balthasar, earthly beauty participates in, and expresses something of God's divine glory and reaches its apex in the revelation of the beautiful form of Jesus Christ. This is then followed by an exposition of Von Balthasar's theological dramatics, as developed in his work Theo-drama, which shows how, for Von Balthasar, this beautiful form of Christ is not merely a static image, icon, or artwork but, in fact, a dynamic event, a dramatic act, an embodied performance which reveals to us, along with God's glory and beauty, God's unbounded goodness. The essay subsequently turns to questions of justice (in light of Von Balthasar's understanding of the relation between beauty and goodness), and ultimately argues that, according to Von Balthasar's thought, justice can be viewed as a form of beauty-in-action that asks to be performed in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, two papers, previously published in A Theological Odyssey. My Life in Writing (2014a), both based on Christianity, Art and Transformation (2001), are conflated. The first is a paper on "Christianity and Transformation" presented at a symposium on "Christianity and the Arts" at Andover - Newton Theological Seminary, Boston, 26 October, 1999. The second is a paper on "Art, Culture and Transformation" presented at the Conference on Arts and Reconciliation in Civil Society, University of Pretoria, 14-20 March 2005. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay highlights the dynamic theology of nature and grace expressed within The Divine Narcissus by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1651–95). Inspired by thinkers such as Augustine and Bernard of Clairvaux and, later in her life, an emphasis on the Immaculate Conception, she details an aesthetic relationship between grace and nature: human nature is created to reflect, in grace, the perfect beauty of the incarnate Son of God. Moreover, by securing positive roles for the contributions of women and for indigenous Mexican religious devotion, she highlights the way in which this dynamic between nature and grace recovers the authentic voice of the least in society—those whose voices have been unjustly suppressed by violent domination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay introduces and examines aspects of the theological aesthetics of contemporary Canadian artist, Michael D. O’Brien (1948–). It also considers how his philosophy of the arts informs understandings of the Catholic imagination. In so doing, it focuses on his view that prayer is the primary source of imaginative expression, allowing the artist to operate from a position of humble receptivity to the transcendent. O’Brien studies is a nascent field, owing much of its development in recent years to the pioneering work of Clemens Cavallin. Apart from Cavallin, few scholars have focused on O’Brien’s extensive collection of paintings (principally because the first catalogue of his art was only published in 2019). Instead, they have worked on his prodigious output of novels and essays. In prioritising O’Brien’s paintings, this study will assess the relationship between his theological reflections on the Catholic imagination and art practice. By focusing on the interface between theory and practice in O’Brien’s art, this article shows that conversations about the philosophy of the Catholic imagination benefit from attending to the inner standing points of contemporary artists who see in the arts a place where faith and praxis meet. In certain instances, I will include images of O’Brien’s devotional art to further illustrate his contemplative, Christ-centred approach to aesthetics. Overall, this study offers new directions in O’Brien studies and scholarship on the philosophy of the Catholic imagination.

This paper introduces practical and theoretical appreciation of the phenomenon of beauty of nature in its theological and aesthetic dimension. It is partly based on a philosophical point of view involving the opinion of a number of experts and following a theological appreciation of this phenomenon. The topicality of theological approach is demonstrated by presentation of the conclusions of a qualitative research, which, by means of an empirical method, examines the ways of human perception of the beauty of nature. The aim of this empirical research was to evaluate whether and to what extent a contemporary man addresses the phenomenon of the beauty of nature, and whether this type of experience also contains the elements of numinosity. The outcomes of this research can be used in pastoral practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theological power of Literature. Literature, and poetry in particular, aren't the only useful instruments of the expression of faith. The poetic language, which comes from the creative imagination, seems to be the most suitable to describe the mystery and the ineffable. For this reason beside the conceptual theology, the poetic dimension must be taken in the theological language again, above all in those register that express the human background more particularly. From all this an extraordinary theological "power" of the poetic word stands out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Karl Barth's Epistle to the Romans is often criticised for its theological inadequacies, chiefly its problematic doctrine of God. Consequently, it is frequently located as an interesting moment in Barth's thought, but one that must be looked beyond. In this paper I linger over the text, putting aside some of the more formal doctrinal problems, focusing on the relation between theological rhetoric and political rationale. Concentrating on these issues, particularly in the early stages of the commentary, will reveal the way political and theological aesthetics are innately linked in the text. This will be seen through Barth's careful deconstructive use of the language of Grund and his play on its resonance both with the ratio and the language of Boden. This deconstructive rationality is intrinsically political, as it shadows an earlier political logic from his Tambach lecture. Further, we shall see that Barth explicitly articulates his project, in contrast to his teachers, as a playful Geschichte rather than Historie. It will be argued that built into these plays is a further sense of the inevitability of the failure of theological writing itself. Barth understands that the failure of the theological academy in supporting WW I is as political as it is theological, and vice versa. His respondent theological aesthetic, itself a performative failure of another kind, is equally politically motivated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]