The Vicarious Beauty of Christ: The Aesthetics of the Atonement

A theology of the vicarious humanity, not just death, of Christ provides a fresh way to ground theological aesthetics in the reconciling life of Christ. Theological aesthetics can also bring a new perspective on the atonement as including the “Godward” movement of the Son to the Father, a movement of beauty that humanity has been invited to participate in, an act of both solidarity and substitution. This response reveals the uniqueness of Christ's beauty, a vicarious not analogous knowledge of beauty, thus creating a wholeness and openness to the beauty of the grace of God's creation.