Notable theologians and philosophers that have dealt with this subject include Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, Jonathan Edwards, Søren Kierkegaard, Karl Barth, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and David Bentley Hart among others.
[2] During the Middle Ages, Western theologians such as Anselm of Canterbury, John Scotus Eriugena, Bonaventure, Thomas Aquinas, Nicholas of Cusa, and Bernard of Clairvaux touched upon themes such as "the idea of beauty, the vision of God, the image of Christ, the iconodule-iconoclast conflict, and the strong presence of personally grounded and poetic doxologies".
[3] Concerning aesthetics, the theologians of the 16th century Protestant Reformation (Martin Luther, Jean Calvin, and Huldrych Zwingli) dealt primarily with "the theology of the image, in particular, idolatry and iconoclasm".
[4] Theological aesthetics increased in diversity during this period, with activity such as "the composition of hymns in Protestant circles, Edwards' writing on beauty, the Romantic artists and intellectuals with their panentheist sensibilities, Schleiermacher's idea of religion as feeling and intuition, the decline of religious art, and the ground-breaking philosophical contributions of thinkers such as Burke, Baumgarten, Kant and Hegel.
"[5] Some major themes which emerged and developed in the 20th century included the question of "how art can function as a source of and in theology"[6] (Tillich, Rahner, Dillenberger), the question of "the art work as a shaper of meaning in today's culture"[7] (Burch Brown, Cox, Küng), "the essential role of imagination in theology"[8] (Lynch, McIntyre, Green), and the beauty of God (van der Leeuw, Barth, von Balthasar).