Hans Boersma, “Architecture and Metaphysics”
Advanced studies’ seminar on sacred space hosted by Eric Parry Architects, 24 January 2024. With Fr Hans Boersma:
00:00:00 Fr Hans Boersma
00:29:30 Fr Peter Newby
00:33:35 Christian Frost
00:39:11 José de Paiva
00:53:57 David Leatherbarrow
01:00:39 Tracey Winton
01:05:06 Eric Parry
Online talks on sacred space:
Presence, Person, Beauty
This series brings contemporary authors to reflect on some of the most primary questions for theology and philosophy as well as the history of art and architecture. From divine dwelling in the Old Testament to its Christian understanding, the question of divine presence in the visible world has been at the heart of the community of the faithful. From the ancient search for the face of God to the traditional understanding of person, the question of personhood and its myriad implications have challenged our understanding throughout history. They have also guided our understanding of what it means to live together and build our world. And yet, in our contemporary lives, we often seem oblivious to the natural goodness and beauty of the created world in which we dwell and build; even in today’s sacred art and architecture, the word beauty is scarcely, if ever, used. These online seminars on presence, person and the theology of beauty – of the created world, of art and architecture – explore these topics in a way that is by no means exclusive to the sacred, but hopefully provocative in the best sense of the term.
Synopsis: “In his Ecclesiastical Mystagogy, Maximus the Confessor explains the architectural structure of a church building. Far from being arbitrary, the building’s architecture (composed of sanctuary and nave) parallels the structure of the universe (made up of an intellectual and a sensible realm). This lecture explains how Saint Maximus regards the church building as a key instance of the sacramental unity of heavenly and earthly realities. In this talk, I will explain how it is that Maximus’s mystagogical treatise aims not simply to introduce his readers to the truths of the Christian faith but to draw them into the presence of God by articulating a thoroughly participatory theological metaphysic.” – Hans Boersma
Fr. Hans Boersma holds the St. Benedict Servants of Christ Chair in Ascetical Theology at Nashotah House Theological Seminary in Wisconsin. His latest book is entitled Pierced by Love: Divine Reading with the Christian Tradition (Lexham Press, 2023). His other books include Five Things Theologians Wish Biblical Scholars Knew (IVP Academic, 2021); Seeing God (Eerdmans, 2018); and Heavenly Participation (Eerdmans, 2011). His main theological interest is the retrieval of the sacramental ontology of the Great Tradition of the church. Fr. Boersma is an ordained priest within the Anglican Church in North America.
