Spiritual Beauty - The Theologizing of the Body, Vision, and Aesthetics in Orthodox Divine Liturgy

Beskrivning

Introduction – Abstract

The Eastern Orthodox notion of spiritual beauty, as it is understood in the Tradition and performed in the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, is the theme of this paper. Focus is on the conglomeration of corporeality, vision, theology, and aesthetics, and with them on the elucidation of certain core aspects of Orthodox worship and theology. The methodology used in this paper combines systematic theological analysis with anthropological and phenomenological perspectives. A combining methodological axis is found in the joining together of theological aesthetics and liturgical studies. An idiosyncratic understanding of beauty and the resulting notion “spiritual beauty” appear as essential in the shaping of liturgy: beauty understood as a spiritual-material, visual-corporeal dimension, and simultaneously as a transcendent and transcending divine energy that elevates sensual perception, purifies it, and works for human deification.

In sum: in this paper I focus on how the Orthodox have understood and used notions of beauty as related to worship, and the resulting theologizing of the body, vision, and aesthetics in Orthodox Divine Liturgy.

Period	20 juli 2021
Evenemangstitel	SLS Congress 2021 - Liturgy and the Arts
Typ av evenemang	Konferens
Plats	South Bend, Förenta Staterna (USA), IllinoisVisa på karta
Omfattning	Internationell