Spirit of Polyphony

Joanna Tarassenko is Assistant Curate at St Clement's Church in Oxford, UK.

• Introduction Part One: Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Musico-Theology Chapter One: A Musico-Theological Life Introduction A. Bonhoeffer’s musical existence B. Bonhoeffer’s musico-theological imagination 1. Aesthetic existence 2. The music of Heinrich Schütz and recapitulation 3. Bach’s Art of Fugue and Eschatology ConclusionChapter Two: A Musico-Theological Invention Introduction A. Polyphony: a musical term B. Polyphony in the prison letters C. A musico-theological invention for love D. A musico-theological invention for life Conclusion Part Two: The Polyphonic Shape of Christian Formation Chapter Three: The Polyphony of Christ Introduction A. A Christological construct B. The Christology Lectures C. The Polyphonic Christ Conclusion Chapter Four: The Contrapuntal Christian Introduction A. Christian formation B. The church through Christ and the Spirit C. Christian formation through the Holy Spirit Conclusion Part Three: Space for the Holy Spirit Chapter Five: A Musico-Pneumatology Introduction A. The ‘indirect but pervasive pneumatology’ of Ethics B. Space and the Spirit in Ethics C. Musico-pneumatologyConclusionChapter Six: A Spirit Christology acoustically defined A. Pneumatic Chalcedonianism: an orthodox Spirit ChristologyB. Spirit Christology for Christian formationC. Acoustic space for the SpiritConclusionConclusion Bibliography

The Spirit of Polyphony not only provides a penetrating exposition of musical metaphors in Bonhoeffer’s thought, but also deploys these insights in developing a constructive pneumatology for the church today. In clear and fluid prose, Tarassenko draws on the full range of Bonhoeffer's corpus to provide a compelling model for how through the Spirit divinity and humanity work together in Christ, the believer, and the church as a whole.