Letter from the Editor: The Beauty of Fellowship

As the leaves begin to quiver with the dynamic winds of anticipated change, it is with great pleasure that we emerge from the waning moments of extended daylight and forge ahead into the crisp days of autumn.  The summer has been a beneficent time of concentrated study, conference presentations and a gentle reminder to pursue the beauty of the ineffable that, as Albert Einstein maintained, ‘is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.’

Through various interactions with scholars over the summer and the quickening increase of readers at Transpositions, it appears that life indeed continues to abound and I am encouraged at the work that is being undertaken in exploring the intersection between theology and the arts.  This interest extends beyond the borders of the UK and into various areas of Western and Eastern Europe, North America, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and South America.

In particular, I had the pleasure of attending and participating in The Power of the Word conference for a second consecutive time.  With its focus upon the prophetic word, papers were presented from scholars throughout the world that examined the role and function of prophecy in the Bible, Poetry, Classical Antiquity and Philosophy found within diverse writers such as the prophet Ezekiel, William Blake, Martin Heidegger, Empedocles, R.S. Thomas and Tadeusz Różewicz, to name a few.

Moreover, this increased interest is witnessed further in the appearance of new students who have arrived at the Institute for Theology, Imagination and the Arts (ITIA) to increase their understanding of the ways in which theological knowledge is expressed through literature, film, music and painting.  We hope to feature many of these individuals and allow them a space to share their research into this interdisciplinary endeavour.

Finally, the transient waters of ITIA move even closer and into the staff here at Transpositions. Kimberley Anderson has departed from her position as Reviews Editor and Karen McClain Kiefer will be taking on the immense responsibility of finding new and relevant titles, whilst working alongside our reviewers to provide informative and intriguing analyses of these books. Likewise, Jake Morley has moved into the role of Guest Contributions Editor to continue our tradition of providing articles from individuals both within ITIA and the broader St Mary’s College community, as well as from various scholars residing throughout the world.

It is within this international focus that we are delighted to have Kevin Antlitz return as our Regular Contributor. Kevin’s musings are some of our most-read articles and we look forward to his engaging and illuminating insights into theology, culture and the arts.  We hope that our readers will benefit from this expanding fellowship of writers who have, in the words of the prize-winning Irish poet Evangeline Paterson, ‘broken through to the position that because God exists, everything has significance.’

As always, we are humbled and full of immense gratitude to all of our readers who continue to support us and who form an integral part of this increasing community of individuals interested in theology, imagination and the arts.  We hope you are informed, enlightened and challenged as we continue this foray in pursuit of the beauty found in both truth and goodness.

Laus Deo,

Brett H Speakman
Editor

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