Theology of Beauty

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

This class is premised on the orthodox and Catholic belief that “Beauty is the first name for God.” We will trace the historical discourse on theological aesthetics in the Christian tradition—from Augustine and Aquinas, to 20th century thinkers like Jacques Maritain and Urs von Balthasar. The questions of this course circle around the following: How do we assess what is beautiful? How has Christianity shaped the way we think about beauty? How is beauty related to those other transcendental qualities of life—the Good and the True? Designed as an interdisciplinary course that links theology with culture and its various productions, we will discuss works of western art—literature, music, architecture, sculpture, and painting. We will use the city of Florence as our classroom, visiting churches and museums to engage the art that has helped shape a western, Christian aesthetics of the beautiful.