Christian Ethics and
Modern Culture, Spring 2012
Francis
Schaeffer,
Art, and the Bible—with
reference to Rouault and fujimura
I.
Forms of Art in the Bible
A.
The
Lordship of Christ (Matthew 28:18-20; Colossians 1-2)
1.
No
false dichotomy
Spiritual/sacred:
the soul (good)
Material/secular:
the body (bad or indifferent)
2.
Four
principles
a.
God
made the whole person, body and soul
Creation mandate: Genesis
1:26-28; Psalm 8
b.
In
Christ, all is redeemed: physical and spiritual
c.
Christ
is Lord of the whole person and all of culture.
B.
Intellectual
form and freedom and adventure (16-17)
C.
Francis
Bacon quote on religion and culture (18)Future redemption of the whole person
(Revelation 21-22)
D. No graven image (Exodus 20:4-5)
1.
Forbids
worshiping images, not making image (of what?): Lev. 26:1
2.
Westminster
Catechism: all images of God forbidden. See J.I. Packer’s discussion in Knowing God
E.
Art
and the Tabernacle
1.
Representative
art “according to the pattern” revealed
2.
Types
of representations
a.
Cherubim
b.
Candlesticks
c.
Flowers
d.
Pomegranates:
freedom to dye and change from the natural (imagination)
e.
Dealing
with “technical problems”—how to make these things; requires human ingenuity
and hard work.
F.
The
Temple
1.
Divine
inspiration
2.
Beauty
(2 Chron. 3:6)
3.
Ornamentation
(not strictly functional) (27)
4.
Carved
figures: lions, palm trees, etc.
G. “Secular art” (not strictly for
worship)
Solomon’s throne
H. Jesus’ use of art
1.
Brazen
serpent (Numbers 21:6; John 3:14-15); smashed only when worshiped (2 Kings
18:4)
2.
Jesus
speaking was artistic, memorable, picturesque, witting, humorous (see D. Elton
Trueblood, The Humor of Christ)
I.
Poetry
1.
Psalms:
David as prophet and artist (musician also)
Contemporary
counterfeit: the artist as godless prophet, not subject to normal social and
moral standards: modern painters (Picasso); modern music (rock); etc.
2.
Song
of Solomon
3.
Artist
and the muse (35): whole personality is involved and inspired
4.
The
romantic and art
J.
Music
1.
Miriam
celebrating Israel ’s
victory (Exodus 15)
2.
Music
in the temple (1 Chronicles 23:5)
3.
Music,
worship after Hezekiah’s reforms ( 2 Chronicles 29:25-26)
No
reason not to have music in NT church (contra non-instrumental churches)
4.
The
liberating effect of offering art unto God (43)
K.
Drama
(Ezekiel 4:1-3) and dance (Psalm 149:3)
God
pleased with these forms when used wisely
L.
Art
and the world to come
1.
Art
in heaven (Revelation 15:2-3)
2. Artworks preserved in heaven
(Paul Robert); the “wealth of the nations brought in” See Richard Mouw, When the Kings Come Marching In.
II.
Some Perspectives on Art
A.
Some
important principles; not exhaustive
B.
Eleven
principles
1.
Art work (and art-making) has
value in itself.
See also Hans Rookmaaker, Art Needs No
Justification
a.
God
as Creator; humans as creators (Psalm 8)—unlike animals, who may exhibit beauty
(in their bodies and actions), but not create
it. Humans do both.
b.
But
not all creativity is good, godly. Blaise Pascal: We are “deposed royalty” See
Doug Groothuis, On Pascal, chapter
eight; Christian Apologetics, chapter
18. Something may be creatively evil.
c.
Art
may be too “intellectual” to reach and touch people (53); problem of opacity
d.
Three
views art work
(1) Art for art’s sake: elitist
opacity; but worldviews show through to some extent
(2) Art embodies a message; may
reduce to intellect and leave out artistic element
(3) Body of work articulates the
message of the artists
2. Art
forms add strength to a worldview, whatever that worldview may be
a.
Painting,
prose (C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton), poetry
b.
Rouault
on humans as “deposed royalty” (Pascal).
3.
In writing, is there a
continuity with normal syntax and semantics (see 1 Corinthians 14:1-11, on speaking in
tongues; Eccles. 12: careful writing)
Form and freedom
4.
That something is art does not
make it sacred. The
problem of counterfeit or “semantic mysticism” (see Schaeffer, The God Who is There)
5. Four
Standards of Judgment
a.
Technical
excellence: mastery of medium
b.
Validity:
honesty, integrity
Preaching
(Malachi 2:7; 1 Peter 4:11; James 3:1-2; Titus 2:7-8)
c.
Intellectual
content or worldview
(1.)
Not
Bohemian freedom (Rousseau, Gaugin, counterculture)
(2.)
Corollary:
good art makes bad philosophy seem better
Zen:
beauty in service of the self-destruction of the human as such.
(3) Non-Christian may make art
representing Christianity better than Christians. Four types of people in
relation to art
a.
Christian
who makes art to express a Christian worldview
b.
Non-Christian
who make art to express non-Christian worldview
c.
Non-Christian
who expressing something of a Christian worldview.
Georgia
O’Keefe and the beauty of the human touch on creation.
d.
Christian
who fails to make art congruent with Christianity: Thomas Kinkade
(4) How well is the vehicle suited
to the message?
6. Art
forms can be used for any type of message
There
is propositional content in all art. But this may be hard to discern in mere
images.
7. Styles
of art form change and there is nothing wrong with this
The
classic and the contemporary in creative tension; see the work of M. Fujimura.
a.
Art
should be contemporary
b.
Art
should vary from country to country
c.
Should
reflect Christian worldview (Romans 12:1-2)
8. No
such thing as godly or ungodly style
a.
Christian
style of music
b.
Sanskrit
c.
Japanese
and guilt (or Tao in John 1:1)
d.
T.S.
Eliot
e.
Key
statement (80); relate to jazz (more next class)
9. Christian
worldview has major and minor themes
a.
Minor:
the fall
In non-Christians and Christian
b.
Major:
purpose and meaning (creation and redemption)
10. Christian
art need not be “religious”
11. Every
artist has the problem of making an individual
work
of art and building up a body of work
The Christian life as a work of
art. See Psalm 90.
On Christianity
and art
1.
Kenneth
Myers, All God’s Children and Blue Suede
Shoes: Christians and Popular Culture (Crossway, 1989).
2.
Nancy
Pearcey, Saving Leonardo (Crossway,
2010).
3.
Hans
Rookmaaker, Art and the Death of a
Culture (Crossway reprint).
4.
Phillip
Ryken, Art for God’s Sake (Presbyterian
and Reformed, 2006). Reviewed by Doug Groothuis at: http://www.denverseminary.edu/article/art-for-gods-sake/
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