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ABSTRACTS
theology of our time. Luther’s theology of the cross, which renounces glory
altogether, is the foundation of the Christocentrism of the Reformation, so our
research explores the tension between Luther’s and Barth’s theology of the cross
from the angle of beauty. In the first chapter, examining the notion of beauty
(theological aesthetics) in Luther’s theology of the cross, I will point out that
for Luther beauty is found in the ugly (sinful), because, first of all, ugliness (sin)
can only be perceived in the presence of God, so that the one who feels ugly is
actually the most beautiful because divine wisdom shines into his mind. And
secondly, this divine brilliance that illuminates the mind is manifested in God’s
creative love when he justifies the sinner. Barth, in contrast to Luther, derives
God’s beauty from the glory of God. Though Barth’s concept of beauty seems
antithetical to Luther’s, he also able to speak of God’s beauty as a theology of the
cross, since he makes it known in the glory of the Trinity through the revelation
of Christ’s humiliation.