C.M. Howell offers the first systematic account of the theological aesthetics implicit in the thought of Eberhard Jüngel (1934-2021). He argues that aesthetics forms a persistent yet largely unrecognized dimension of Jüngel's theology and that his doctrine of revelation is fundamentally aesthetic in structure. Working within the context of twentieth-century German Protestant theology and the broader tradition of German aesthetics from Alexander Baumgarten to Hans-Georg Gadamer, the author reconstructs Jüngel's scattered remarks on perception, play, art, and worship in order to articulate a coherent theoretical framework.
The methodology combines historical-theological analysis of Jüngel's major writings (from Paulus und Jesus to his later essays of the 2000s) with conceptual comparison to key interlocutors such as Wolfhart Pannenberg and Hans Urs von Balthasar. Through close textual interpretation, the book demonstrates that aesthetics in Jüngel operates in three interrelated dimensions: as a theory of perception, as a category of freedom expressed through play and artistic production, and as a theological distinction between worldly beauty and divine glory.
The study's main finding is that aesthetic experience provides the anthropological and hermeneutical conditions for recognizing God's self-revelation while simultaneously preserving the radical difference between God and the world. Beauty discloses the fragile meaning of worldly existence, whereas glory names the event in which God's self-revealing love transforms human existence through faith and worship. By uncovering this structure, the book contributes to a new interpretation of Jüngel's theological anthropology, clarifies debates concerning his divine ontology, and situates his work as a distinctive Protestant alternative within contemporary theological aesthetics.
Introduction
0.1 Aesthetics Revealed: The Task of This Work
0.2 Aesthetic Rumors in Jüngel
0.3 A More Beautiful Anthropology: The Relevance of Aesthetics in Jüngel
0.4 The Question of Context and Aesthetic Influences
0.5 Outline of the Work
Chapter 1: The Possibility of Beauty
1.1 Introduction: Aesthetic Possibilities
1.2 The Creativity of the Cartesian Ego
1.3 A Theological History of Cartesian Creativity
1.3.1 The Theological Origins of Cartesian Creativity
1.3.2 The Modern Construction of Cartesian Creativity
1.4 The Unrest of Cartesian Creativity
1.4.1 Breaking Through the Cartesian Shell
1.4.2 The Dogmatic Alternative
1.4.3 The Secular Alternative
1.5 Displacing the Weight of the Cartesian Ego
1.5.1 Pannenberg’s Aesthetics
1.5.2 Balthasar’s Aesthetics
1.5.3 Romantic Intimations
1.6 Conclusion
Part I: The Beauty of the World
Chapter 2: “True Perception,” or,
“Truly Beautiful Perception”
2.1 Introduction: Clearing for Vision
2.2 Perception of Freedom in Modern German Aesthetics
2.2.1 Alexander Baumgarten: “The Art of Beautiful Thinking”
2.2.2 Immanuel Kant: The Perception of Freedom
2.2.3 Martin Heidegger: Ontological Events
2.3 Perception of Freedom in Jüngel
2.3.1 Perception in Paulus und Jesus (1962)
2.3.2 Perception in God as the Mystery of the World (1977)
2.3.3 Perception in “Even the Beautiful Must Die” (1984)
2.4 Conclusion
Chapter 3: From Homo Faber to Homo Ludens
3.1 Introduction: New Liberations
3.2 A Brief History of Playful Action
3.2.1 Immanuel Kant: Free Play of Cognition
3.2.2 Friedrich Schiller: The Kingdom of Play
3.2.3 F.D.E. Schleiermacher: The Feeling of Play
3.2.4 Hans - Georg Gadamer: Ontological Play
3.3 The Meaning of Play in Jüngel
3.3.1 A Source of Freedom
3.3.2 A Source of Harmony
3.4 Different Modes of Play
3.4.1 Play in Pannenberg
3.4.2 Theater in Balthasar
3.5 Conclusion: The Dangers of Play
Chapter 4: Art as the Opium of the World
4.1 Introduction: The Light of Beauty
4.2 Post - Metaphysical Aesthetics
4.2.1 Beauty as Event
4.2.2 Beauty as Pre - Event of Goodness
4.2.3 Beauty as Pre - Appearance of Truth
4.3 (Non) Beautiful Art
4.3.1 The Brokenness of Modern Art
4.3.2 The Harmony of Music
4.4 The Hope of Beauty
4.5 Conclusion: The Eschatological End of Beauty
Part II: The Glory of God
Chapter 5: The Origin of Glory
5.1 Introduction: God’s Self - Determination as Self - Revelation
5.2 A Prodigal Return to Modern Metaphysics
5.2.1 Glory as Essence into Existence
5.2.2 Divine Freedom
5.2.3 Creative Love
5.3 The Theological Significance of Hegel
5.3.1 Hegel’s Modal Logic
5.3.2 Schelling’s Critique
5.3.3 God as More than Necessary
5.4 The Aesthetics of the Cross
5.4.1 Love as the Motif of God’s Story
5.1 Conclusion: The Depth of Glory
Chapter 6: “Where Love is, There is Vision!”
6.1 Introduction: God’s Self - Revelation as Self - Determination
6.2 Faith as Theological Perception
6.2.1 Revelation as Perception
6.2.2 Perception as Hearing
6.2.3 The Perception of Love’s Creativity
6.2.4 The Perception of Love in History
6.3 Metaphor of Grace - Possibility of Freedom
6.3.1 The Possibility of Freedom
6.3.2 The Possibilities of Freedom
6.4 The Absence of God’s Presence
6.4.1 The Light of a Deus Absconditus
6.4.2 The Ambiguity of Light
6.4.3 The Movement of Love sub contrario to God’s (Hi)story 258
6.5 Conclusion: A More Aesthetic Perception
Chapter 7: The Festival of Worship
as the Image of Freedom
7.1 Introduction: The Creativity of Glory
7.2 The Rhythms of Worship
7.2.1 Structural Preamble
7.2.2 Festival in Pannenberg
7.3 Structures of Worship - From Absolute to Event
7.3.1 Relationality and Self - Consciousness
7.4 Love as the Possibility of Freedom
7.4.1 Love as the Content and Communication of Worship in Schleiermacher
7.4.2 Worship as a Poem of Love in Jüngel
7.4.3 Freedom of Festival
7.5 Conclusion: The End as Glory
Conclusion: A More Theological Aesthetics
8.1 Created by Interruption
8.2 Contributions to Interpretations of Jüngel
8.2.1 Distinction from Barth
8.2.2 “Interruption” in Light of Beauty and Glory
8.2.3 Reproductive Action and the Response of Faith
8.3 Critiques of Theological Aspects in Jüngel
8.3.1 Massively Underdeveloped
8.3.2 Lack of Immanent Trinity
8.3.3 Remnant of Metaphysics
8.4 Conclusion: Strange Lights