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"What Did It Cost?" Sacrifice and Kenosis in The Infinity Saga

In Theology and the Marvel Universe, edited by Gregory Stevenson, Fortress Academic Press, 2019.

"Sacrifice" is not only a major underlying theme that is woven throughout Marvel's Infinity Saga, but it also serves as a motif in many of our culture's foundational mythologies and religions. This paper juxtaposes themes of sacrifice in The Infinity Saga with those found in the Bible, early Christianity, and the history of Western culture, to arrive at insights about both theology and the MCU. The question of whether "Thanos was right" is considered, and the saga as a whole is analyzed both from the perspective of René Girard's work on sacrifice as well as Walter Wink's concept of "the myth of redemptive violence." This analysis points to the the need for further differentiation between the popular understanding of sacrifice and the Christian concept of kenosis (self-emptying). Download

An Ascetic Aesthetic: St. John Chrysostom on the Discernment of Beauty in Music

In The Concept of Beauty in Patristic and Byzantine Theology, edited by John A McGuckin, Theotokos Press, 2012.

In the field of classical theological aesthetics, philosophical considerations of Beauty as a transcendental quality of existence abound. Meanwhile, the question of how Beauty with a capital "B" may relate to instances of perceived beauty in the artistic expressions and forms we encounter in the material world remains a subject of much scholarly neglect. If we hope to return "Beauty" to its proper place in our theological discourse, we will ultimately have to develop some theological apparatus for discussing "the beautiful" as it manifests in artistic, as well as cosmic, creation. This paper contributes to this effort through a discussion of John Chyrsostom's discernment of "beauty" in the musical expressions of his own time. Download

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Finding God in the In-Between: Towards a Postsecular Theology of Music and Art 

Advised by:  Dr. John Thatamanil, Union Theological Seminary; Dr. Thomas Beaudoin, Fordham University

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This paper examines the theology of music and art from a postsecular and postcolonial perspective, highlighting the religious underpinnings of modern Western "secularism," and deconstructing the contemporary understandings of spirituality and "the sacred" that have emerged as a result. This candid, creative, and at times humorous study looks at the symbiotic historical development of concepts like "art," "religion," and "culture" during the 18th and 19th centuries, revealing how our modern Western conventions surrounding these terms are inherently linked to colonialism, capitalism, and class values that are not only morally inconsistent with the Gospel tradition, but theologically incompatible with the Christian revelation of the incarnation. Drawing on the work of theologians like Paul Tillich, Karl Rahner, Frank Burch Brown, Richard Viladesau, and Karl Barth, the paper contains discussions of aesthetic taste, music and art in relation to global capitalism, and the rise of the "Christian music" industry. It offers a practical analysis of missteps commonly made by clergy and laypeople in trying to identify the spiritual and/or theological value of musical and artistic works, and suggests alternative methods of interpretation and discernment. Download

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This paper contains a soundtrack, which you can access on Spotify by clicking here.