Ben Quash, Found Theology: History, Imagination, and the Holy Spirit, London: Bloomsbury

T&T Clark, 2013, 317 pp.

Continuing the trajectory of his first book Theology and the Drama of History, Ben Quash’s
Found Theology represents a fresh proposal about the nature of Christian revelation as an
ongoing and dynamic activity of relating “the given to the found.” In other words, the ‘givens’ of
Christian theology – the Scriptures and traditions issuing from the Incarnation of Christ – come
alive through encounter with new wonders placed in the path of history. This “foundness” of
God in the world, he argues, emerges from both a continual discovery and a renewing process of
remembering that is principally animated by the work of the Holy Spirit and fueled by the human
imagination. As in his previous work, the category of history remains a generative space of
theological reflection that disciplines the Church’s efforts toward both their growth in knowledge
and in holiness. For this proposal, Quash has incorporated the insights of philosophers, theorists,
and scholars of religion to adapt and appropriate fresh imaginative categories for this study in the
elements of his hermeneutical scheme; namely maculation, reception, and abduction. In four
parts, he then conducts an expedition into these stages of the process of ‘found theology’ by
drawing on artistic touchstones – both literary and visual – and the concepts of relevant theorists,
along with the collective discernment of multiple theological voices. The final product is a rich
account of the Spirit’s generativity through the past, in the present, and unto the age to come.
Quash’s monograph provides a stimulating new proposal to the broader conversation about how
the dialogue between theology and the arts can proceed. It will be of particular interest to post-
graduate researchers in the related fields of Christianity and the arts.

Taylor Worley, Ph.D.

Union University