Natalie Carnes: Iconoclasm, Beauty and Aesthetics

Natalie is a constructive theologian interested in how Christian doctrine can speak to the complexities of modern life. Drawing on literary and visual works, she interprets theological ideas together with a range of themes, including images, iconoclasm, beauty, gender, and feminism. She trained at Harvard, the University of Chicago, and Duke before arriving at Baylor University, where she is currently the Associate Professor of Theology in the Religion Department and an affiliated faculty member of Women’s and Gender Studies. ​In this episode, Natalie and I discussed the controversy around public monuments, how beauty factors into our response to images, and the rich and complex ways that beauty can be approached from a Christian perspective. We also talked about feminist theology and Natalie’s ideas about the relationship between asceticism and abundance.