Worship 106 • Worship and the Visual Arts

Winter Quarter 2009
Class Time: CANCELLED
Instructor: The Rev. Dan Conklin

This course will deal with how the visual arts have been -- and are -- used in Christian worship and devotional life. We will delve into the history of the Christian use of images, examining the theological justifications, as well as the history of intermittent iconoclasm and the theological arguments for the rejection of images. The course will focus on three specific periods of history: the early church and icons, the Late Middle Ages and Andachtsbilder, and the modern and post-modern period. The course will deal with the subject matter not only from an academic perspective but will also incorporate experiential elements, which seek to reveal a connection between the visual arts and prayer.