Theology as performance: The theological use of musical aesthetics in Friedrich Schleiermacher, Karl Barth, and Ludwig Wittgenstein

Reflection upon musical materials has long provided Western theology with resources for the formulation of novel methods and concepts of God. I offer an historical and constructive investigation into the aesthetics of performed music as a way of challenging the prevailing textual and linguistic methodologies employed in narrative, analytical, and postmodern theologies. In particular, the performance model stands in contrast to systematic theologies conceived as descriptions of interior (Schleiermacher) or exterior (Barth) states of being. Drawing upon Wittgenstein, I re-imagine theological activity as an ongoing, multi-media process of construction and critique.;In the articulation of this view, I trace two trajectories of musical-aesthetic thinking which emerged out of the Greek legends of Orpheus and Pythagoras, and were further elaborated upon by Plato, Aristotle, Clement Plotinus, Augustine, Tinctoris, Luther, Calvin, Zarlino, Galilei, Mattheson, and Schelling. These discourses have had a significant influence upon the formulation of metaphors of spiritual affectivity and temporality, as well as divine One-ness and cosmic harmony. In the modern period, Schleiermacher and Barth exemplify these rival approaches of expressivism and formalism. Schleiermacher's notion of musical "feeling," drawn from Heinrich Wackenroder, is used to articulate a view of theology as the direct expression in words of pious affections, and a concept of God as "the feeling of utter dependence." Barth's deep appreciation for the "form" of Mozart's music reflects parallels indirectly to Eduard Hanslick, and directly to Ferruccio Busoni, informing Barth's construction of themes of divine autonomy, objectivity, form, and freedom.;Wittgenstein offers a critical counter-proposal to both theologians. in conversation with Schopenhauer, and parallel to the emergence of performance practice as a musicological discipline in the 1930s, Wittgenstein engages with examples of performed music as a tool to deconstruct correspondence theories of interiority and exteriority. Along the way, he develops a distinctive language of action, play, and "praxis." Theology, in his view, is best carried out as a performative investigation into everyday language and action.;Wittgenstein thus most adequately points toward a contemporary "theology as performance" approach. In this view, aesthetic resources from the performing arts are employed as an enhancement to Gordon Kaufman's understanding of theology as imaginative construction. I advocate for an orientation of theological activity around pragmatic and socially engaged criteria irreducibly wedded to the "authenticity" and "obligation" of public performance.