The Visual Art of Käthe Kollwitz as Practical Theodicy and Its Relevance to Hope in Theoretical Theodicy

Abstract

Some theorists have characterized art that actively engages people in meaningfully religious ways as a form of “practical theology.” This paper analyzes how the visual art of German artist Käthe Kollwitz (1867–1945) functions as practical theology—with special attention to theodicy—that is, its role as religious response to the realities of suffering and evil. There is a call among some scholars and theologians to abandon all attempts to defend God's love and goodness in the face of destructive evil and suffering (theoretical theodicy), and rather to focus solely on how people ought to respond practically to such realities (practical theodicy). The paper illustrates Kollwitz's work as a powerful and pioneering form of practical theodicy, one that sensitively integrates ethical-feminist and socio-political concerns in stimulating compassion and consolation, supporting positive social change, and invoking theological hope. In proposing the creative integration of practical and theoretical theodicy, it also shows how such practical theodicy depends upon the hope in certain themes of theoretical theodicy.