Professor Ben Quash

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.
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• 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