‘The shock of the new’: a theological reflection on art, the Incarnation and doctrine within contemporary Higher Education Chaplaincy

ABSTRACT

This paper is a theological reflection utilizing the Killen and de Beer method, on an ‘art installation’ at King’s College London Chaplaincy in which a jar of Marmite, labelled ‘Lord Jesus’ was placed in a manger, causing some controversy. Instead of the usual progression in this method, beginning with experience and the feelings it provokes, to lead to an image, I begin with the image itself and explore it as a feeling-producing experience, which leads to a further image, to insight and action. Themes in this exploration include the nature of art in a Christian context (is this art?), and its missional role; the doctrine of the Incarnation, including the extent to which it is/was shocking and how anthropological ideas of sacred and profane can assist us in understanding this; how we present and understand doctrine in Higher Education Chaplaincy and in our postmodern context.

KEYWORDS:

• Incarnation
• art
• doctrine
• University Chaplaincy
• Marmite

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributor

Mary Kells is an Assistant Curate in the Church of England in a parish on the Hampshire coast, and currently completing a Master of Theology (MTh) in Applied Theology at the University of Oxford. Her theological training was at Ripon College, Cuddesdon and she is from Northern Ireland. Her previous academic discipline was Social Anthropology, and she also enjoyed stints working in the Voluntary Sector in London and running her own garden design business. She is married with one child.

Notes

1 This phrase was coined by Ian Dunlop in relation to modern art in 1972 but popularised by art critic Robert Hughes. (Rees 2004, 601-602.)

2 Identified with permission.

3 The Antiochene school’s focus. The Alexandrian school favoured “flesh”.

4 See also Prov.8.2; Phil.2.6-11; Col.1.15; Heb1.3f.

5 Space does not permit an investigation of this but see Macquarrie (1990) and McGrath (1996).