ConferenceonChristianityandLiterature(CCL)BookoftheYear-LiteraryCriticismThegoodnewsofJesusChristisasubversivegospel,andfollowingJesusisasubversiveact.ThesenotionswereembodiedintheliteraryworkofAmericanauthorFlanneryO’Connor,whosewritingwasdeeplyinformedbybothherSoutherncontextandherChristianfaith.InthisStudiesinTheologyandtheArtsvolume,theologianMichaelBrunerexploresO’Connor’stheologicalaestheticandarguesthatsherevealswhatdiscipleshiptoChristentailsbysubvertingthetraditionalunderstandingsofbeauty,truth,andgoodnessthroughherfiction.Inaddition,Brunerchallengesrecentscholarshipbyexploringthelittle-knowninfluenceofBaronFriedrichvonH羹gel,atwentieth-centuryRomanCatholictheologian,onherwork.Bruner’sstudythusservesasaguideforthosewhoenjoyreadingO’Connorand--evenmoreso--thosewho,likeO’Connorherself,followthesubversivepathofthecrucifiedandrisenone.TheStudiesinTheologyandtheArtsseriesencouragesChristianstothoughtfullyengagewiththerelationshipbetweentheirfaithandartisticexpression,withcontributionsfromboththeologiansandartistsonarangeofartisticmediaincludingvisualart,music,poetry,literature,film,andmore.
