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Ben Quash

Professor Ben Quash

Professor of Christianity and the Arts

Research interests

  • Religion

Biography

Ben Quash grew up in County Durham and Monmouthshire. He read English as an undergraduate at Cambridge, and then (as a second degree, whilst in training for ordination at Westcott House) theology. Doctoral work on the theological dramatic theory of Hans Urs von Balthasar combined these literary and theological interests. He was Chaplain and Fellow of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, and a lecturer in the Cambridge Theological Federation from 1996-1999, then returned to Peterhouse as Dean and Fellow until he came to King’s as its first Professor of Christianity and the Arts in 2007.


From 2004-2007 Ben Quash was also Academic Director of the Cambridge Inter-Faith Programme in the University of Cambridge’s Faculty of Divinity, developing research and public education programmes in Judaism, Christianity and Islam and their interrelations - establishing the practice and theory of Scriptural Reasoning.

Research interests and PhD supervision

  • The visual arts, literature, drama, music, film, and dance, in their intrinsic theological interest, as well as the way in which the arts can stimulate renewed engagement with the Bible and Christian theology.
  • The theological critique, ressourcement, and repair of modern life and thought.
  •  
  • Christian ethics, especially as shaped by liturgy and Scripture.

Ben Quash works principally in the area of Christian theology, with a longstanding interest in the 19th-century background to modern theology, 20th-century systematics, philosophical theology, and Christian ethics. His recent collaborations with Jewish and Muslim theologians have sharpened his interest in how Christian theology may be done exegetically as well as systematically, and he is increasingly fascinated by how the arts can play a part in renewing and refreshing engagement with the Bible and Christian theology. His present research and writing are focussed on this theme.

Ben founded and directs the Centre for Arts & the Sacred at King’s (ASK), and direct two major research projects: the Visual Commentary on Scripture (TheVCS.org) and Theology & the Visual Arts.

Ben welcomes enquiries from prospective research students, who would like to work with him on projects relating to his research interests. For more details, please see his full research profile.

Teaching

Undergraduate

  • 5AAT2045 Salvation and the City

Postgraduate

  • 7AATC411 The Idea of Beauty in Western Theology
  • 7AATC412 The Devotional Use of Art in Christianity
  • 7AATC413 Art as a Theological Medium 

    Research

    Botticini image
    Centre for Arts and the Sacred at King's (ASK)

    The Centre for Arts and the Sacred at King’s (ASK) is a centre for research, teaching and public education in relation to the role of religion in the arts, and the role of the arts in religion.

    Screenshot 2023-01-03 at 09.18.28
    Theology and the Visual Arts

    Theology and the Visual Arts: Firming Foundations; Firing Imaginations is a five-year project.

    Project status: Starting

    b218_giovanni-di-paolo_the-creation-of-the-world-and-the-expulsion-from-paradise_1
    The Visual Commentary on Scripture

    A 10-year interdisciplinary project at King’s, this free online publication provides theological commentary on the Bible in dialogue with works of art.

    Project status: Ongoing

    News

    New collaborative project will unlock Christian art and foster interfaith discussions in the heart of Berlin

    The Visual Commentary on Scripture Project at King’s has launched a new partnership with the Bode-Museum and the Gemäldegalerie of the Staatliche Museen zu...

    51

    Theology and The Visual Arts project announced

    The Centre for Arts and the Sacred at King’s is delighted to announce that the McDonald Agape Foundation is generously sponsoring a new, five-year, project:...

    Theology and the Visual Arts

    Ben Quash and Wim Wenders on the Bible and its legacies

    King’s Visual Commentary on Scripture was delighted to release a new film on Easter Monday to inaugurate its 'Creative Conversations’ series. In these...

    The Road to Emmaus

    Alight app launches new remarkable conversations illuminating how art and religion intersect in the 21st century

    A collection of conversations between artists, theologians, art historians and curators about the place of religion in contemporary art is now available for...

    Image of the app logo featuring orange background with black tree and yellow flame

    Sacred Spaces

    Professor Ben Quash is among a panel discussing 'sacred spaces' on BBC Radio 4.

    chapel

    King's College London and Duke University are pleased to announce 'Idols and Taboos'

    The Department of Theology & Religious Studies at King's and Duke University presents 'Idols and Taboos: Modern & Contemporary Art and Theology Today' an...

    Image: Jean Baptiste Siméon Chardin, The White Tablecloth (1731-2). Oil on canvas. Art Institute of Chicago

    Events

    20FebQohelet event thumb 2

    Qohelet: A New Reading and a New Seeing

    Sacred Traditions & the Arts Seminar

    Please note: this event has passed.

    06NovArt Museums, the Sacred, and Theology seminar thumb

    Art Museums, the Sacred, and Theology

    Sacred Traditions & the Arts Seminar

    Please note: this event has passed.

    21FebSacred imagery and Normativity

    Normativity and the Visual: Art Historical and Theological Perspectives

    As is usual at the Sacred Traditions & the Arts Seminar, there will be two papers which are intended to open an interdisciplinary as well as a personal...

    Please note: this event has passed.

    01DecWilliam Holman Hunt, The Scapegoat  (1854–55). Oil on canvas. 33.7 x 45.9 cm. Photograph © Manchester Art Gallery

    Sacred Traditions and the Arts Seminar

    An interdisciplinary appraisal of a prohibited exhibition

    Please note: this event has passed.

    05FebBogside

    Looking Back and Looking Forward: Memory and Hope in Art Born of Conflict

    Panellists will discuss questions about how visual art produced in response to situations of conflict might work both to document and to transform memory

    Please note: this event has passed.

      Research

      Botticini image
      Centre for Arts and the Sacred at King's (ASK)

      The Centre for Arts and the Sacred at King’s (ASK) is a centre for research, teaching and public education in relation to the role of religion in the arts, and the role of the arts in religion.

      Screenshot 2023-01-03 at 09.18.28
      Theology and the Visual Arts

      Theology and the Visual Arts: Firming Foundations; Firing Imaginations is a five-year project.

      Project status: Starting

      b218_giovanni-di-paolo_the-creation-of-the-world-and-the-expulsion-from-paradise_1
      The Visual Commentary on Scripture

      A 10-year interdisciplinary project at King’s, this free online publication provides theological commentary on the Bible in dialogue with works of art.

      Project status: Ongoing

      News

      New collaborative project will unlock Christian art and foster interfaith discussions in the heart of Berlin

      The Visual Commentary on Scripture Project at King’s has launched a new partnership with the Bode-Museum and the Gemäldegalerie of the Staatliche Museen zu...

      51

      Theology and The Visual Arts project announced

      The Centre for Arts and the Sacred at King’s is delighted to announce that the McDonald Agape Foundation is generously sponsoring a new, five-year, project:...

      Theology and the Visual Arts

      Ben Quash and Wim Wenders on the Bible and its legacies

      King’s Visual Commentary on Scripture was delighted to release a new film on Easter Monday to inaugurate its 'Creative Conversations’ series. In these...

      The Road to Emmaus

      Alight app launches new remarkable conversations illuminating how art and religion intersect in the 21st century

      A collection of conversations between artists, theologians, art historians and curators about the place of religion in contemporary art is now available for...

      Image of the app logo featuring orange background with black tree and yellow flame

      Sacred Spaces

      Professor Ben Quash is among a panel discussing 'sacred spaces' on BBC Radio 4.

      chapel

      King's College London and Duke University are pleased to announce 'Idols and Taboos'

      The Department of Theology & Religious Studies at King's and Duke University presents 'Idols and Taboos: Modern & Contemporary Art and Theology Today' an...

      Image: Jean Baptiste Siméon Chardin, The White Tablecloth (1731-2). Oil on canvas. Art Institute of Chicago

      Events

      20FebQohelet event thumb 2

      Qohelet: A New Reading and a New Seeing

      Sacred Traditions & the Arts Seminar

      Please note: this event has passed.

      06NovArt Museums, the Sacred, and Theology seminar thumb

      Art Museums, the Sacred, and Theology

      Sacred Traditions & the Arts Seminar

      Please note: this event has passed.

      21FebSacred imagery and Normativity

      Normativity and the Visual: Art Historical and Theological Perspectives

      As is usual at the Sacred Traditions & the Arts Seminar, there will be two papers which are intended to open an interdisciplinary as well as a personal...

      Please note: this event has passed.

      01DecWilliam Holman Hunt, The Scapegoat  (1854–55). Oil on canvas. 33.7 x 45.9 cm. Photograph © Manchester Art Gallery

      Sacred Traditions and the Arts Seminar

      An interdisciplinary appraisal of a prohibited exhibition

      Please note: this event has passed.

      05FebBogside

      Looking Back and Looking Forward: Memory and Hope in Art Born of Conflict

      Panellists will discuss questions about how visual art produced in response to situations of conflict might work both to document and to transform memory

      Please note: this event has passed.