Suspended God

Maeve Louise Heaney

Heaney traces the hidden history of music's presence in Christian thought, including its often unrecognized influence on key figures such as von Balthasar, Barth and Bonhoeffer. She uses Lonergan's theological framework to explore musical composition as a theological act, showing why, when and how music is a useful symbolic form. The book introduces eleven ground-breaking theologians, and each chapter offers an entry point into the thought of the theologian being presented through an original piece of music, which can be found on the companion website: https://bloomsbury.pub/suspended-god. Heaney argues that music is a universally important means of making sense of life with which theology needs to engage as a means of expression and of development. Musical composition is presented as an appropriate and even necessary form of doing theology in its quest to engage with the past, mediate truth to the present and tradition it into the future.

The book examines theology through words and music

Introduction:An Apologetics of Theological ThinkingPart I: The Theological Dimension of Christian Song WritingChapter 1:Truth Matters: Intellectual Honesty and Incomplete CertitudeChapter 2:The Hidden History of Music in TheologyChapter 3:Unsung Sources: Theology in the Public Square of Music-MakingChapter 4:From Theory to Interiority: When is Music-Making Theological?Part II: Musicking theology: A Theopoetical Weaving of Christian ThinkersChapter 5:Can the Arts Contribute to our Knowledge of Truth?Chapter 6:Is Scripture a World for Women?Chapter 7:Is Beauty Superfluous to Human Life and Christian Faith?Chapter 8:How to Believe in God in such an Unjust World?Chapter 9:Is Original Sin an Outdated Doctrine?Chapter 10:Who's Going to Go to Heaven?Chapter 11:What is it with Christianity and Martyrdom?Chapter 12:Is Celibacy Ever a Good Idea?Chapter 13:Where on Earth is God?Chapter 14:Is How we Name God Important?Chapter 15:How can we Know if God is Trustworthy?Chapter 16:What Role does Sexuality have in Christian faith?BibliographyIndex