A lecture may not be your idea of a fun date for Valentine's Day, but in this case I would like to suggest that you at least consider it. On Monday, February 14, at 7:30pm, Jeremy S. Begbie will give a lecture at Belmont University's Massey Concert Hall. And when Dr. Begbie lectures, beautiful music and beautiful thought go together. I have heard him a couple of times, and listening to him was both entertaining and intellectually stimulating. The free lecture is sponsored by the Religion and Arts program of the Belmont University School of Religion.
It is one of the hallmarks of the modern era that human creativity is seen basically as a matter of bringing our own order to the physical world, constructing things out of nature but without regard for nature. Discovery and creativity are thus assumed to work against each other.
Through music, this lecture will explore the roots of this assumption. By examining some of the music of J. S. Bach (1685-1750), a very different vista is opened up, a trinitarian vision of creation in which the discovery of God-given order is seen as integral to all human making. The lecture will include musical performance and recordings, in addition to extensive visual material.
Jeremy Begbie is the inaugural holder of the Thomas A. Langford Research Professorship in Theology at Duke University. He teaches systematic theology, and he specializes in the interface between theology and the arts. His particular research interest is the interplay between music and theology.
He is also Senior Member at Wolfson College, Cambridge, and an Affiliated Lecturer in the Faculties of Divinity and Music at the University of Cambridge. Previously he has been Associate Principal at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, and Honorary Professor at the University of St Andrews.
He is author of a number of books, including Voicing Creation’s Praise: Towards a Theology of the Arts (T & T Clark); Theology, Music and Time (CUP), and most recently, Resounding Truth: Christian Wisdom in the World of Music (Baker/SPCK). He is a professionally trained and active musician, and has taught widely in the UK, North America and South Africa, specializing in multimedia performance-lectures.
