Spirit of the Arts

A contribution to the field of theological aesthetics, this book explores the arts in and around the Pentecostal and charismatic renewal movements. It proposes a pneumatological model for creativity and the arts, and discusses different art forms from the perspective of that model. Pentecostals and other charismatic Christians have not sufficiently worked out matters of aesthetics, or teased out the great religious possibilities of engaging with the arts. With the flourishing of Pentecostal culture comes the potential for an equally flourishing artistic life. As this book demonstrates, renewal movements have participated in the arts but have not systematized their findings in ways that express their theological commitments-until now. The book examines how to approach art in ways that are communal, dialogical, and theologically cultivating.

Steven Félix-Jäger is a visual artist and theologian. He is the author of Pentecostal Aesthetics: Theological Reflections in a Pentecostal Philosophy of Art and Aesthetics (2015), and With God on Our Side: Towards a Transformational Theology of Rock and Roll (2017), as well as several articles on theology and art.

1. Introduction.- 2. Universal Outpour: A Pneumatological Model for Engaging the Arts.- 3. Dance: Moving Bodily Beyond Dualism.- 4. Music: Eros and Embodiment in Renewal Worship.- 5. Orality: A Narrative Aesthetics of Persuasion.- 6. Visual Art: Visions of Glory in Eschatological Community.- 7. Cinema: Transforming an Imaginative Community.- 8. Architecture: Communal Gathering in a Theo-Poetic Space.- 9. Conclusion.