From Imago Dei to Missio Dei: An Art Experiment as Invitation to Spiritual Transformation

Abstract

Jesus told stories and weaved together metaphors that called his followers and detractors to consider their place in the Kingdom of God. Today church leaders are challenged to engage the theological imagination in order to inspire people to see themselves as participants in the mission of God. Positioned at the intersection of three disciplines: spiritual formation, devotional art, and missional theology, this study was designed to discover how art might be utilized to engage the theological imagination and invite people to consider specific realities of the Kingdom of God and their place in it. Created as a reflective journey through an art experience centered on the themes of Imago Dei and Missio Dei, this project and thesis studies, using hermeneutic phenomenology, the ways in which contextually specific art can bring about spiritual transformation. The findings demonstrate that art can play a very important role in the church's effort to invite people to see their identity and mission in ways that reflect Christ. This dissertation concludes by pointing to new horizons for shaping the missional imagination.