Art and Biblical Worldview--Developing
Christian Discernment in the Visual Arts
By Jay Wegter
God is the „Master Artist‟
Our aesthetics are keyed to God‟s own expression of truth and beauty. Jonathan Edwards saw beauty as “consisting of the order in which parts are rightly related.” By this he meant that the things which make up an object of beauty (whether the creative work of God, or the craft of a human artisan) are „rightly set‟ or rightly related (Albert Mohler, A Christian View of Beauty, Part One, p. 3).
God‟s truth and goodness determine the standard of beauty. The beauty that God has placed in the creation is immediately related to His goodness. For Adam and Eve were placed in paradise—a place of limitless beauty—thus God‟s bounty and goodness are joined to beauty. Aesthetics have no independent existence apart from God.
“Beauty is related to order because God has given us a standard of unity, proportion, and clarity” (Thomas Aquinas). God has created a nearly infinite number of living things which are complexes containing parts. The individual parts (in an organism or plant) bear a precise relationship to the whole.
The standard of beauty is fixed; it is not evolving. God finished His creative work on the sixth day and rested on the seventh. There is no possibility of progress in the sphere of beauty because beauty is not evolving. The standard has been set once and for all by God when He pronounced all that He had made exceedingly good (Gen 1:31). God‟s unspoiled creation formed the original „canon‟ (or standard) of what is beautiful.
Beauty is to be admired and appreciated for its goodness—but beauty is not to be worshipped. Beauty is intended for our enjoyment that we might bless and glorify our Creator who is good—and who has placed His goodness in the creation as a testament to His creatures of His benevolence (see Mortimer J. Adler, Six Great Ideas, pp. 64-123).
Thus the doctrine of creation is the starting point when thinking about beauty and creativity within Biblical worldview. God‟s creative work is both beautiful and functional—colors, sounds, patterns, textures, and fragrances fill God‟s creation. Not only is creation evidence of God‟s infinite wisdom and power; it also testifies to His creativity and artistic imagination (Leland Ryken, “The Creative Arts,” in The Making of the Christian Mind). God‟s original creation „benediction‟ included aesthetics.
(Key questions regarding beauty: Where does secular culture believe that beauty comes from? Is beauty evolving? Can beauty be manufactured? How does the contemplation of beauty point us to God and encourage our devotion to God?)
The Christian understanding of aesthetics directly opposes the
world‟s conventional wisdom concerning beauty.
“Biblical worldview suggests that what is beautiful is simultaneously the good, the true, and the real” (Albert Mohler). Our Christian worldview ought to bring us to a greater awareness of the „transcendentals‟ which are inseparable from beauty—namely that every question of beauty is joined to a moral context and a truth context. It is precisely at this point (unity of trancendentals) that biblical worldview is on a collision course with the world‟s philosophy of beauty. The world is eager to call something “beautiful” which is NOT good, or true, or (in many cases) real. We as believers are called to be „salt and light‟; therefore a substantial part of living out our Christian worldview is to keep these transcendentals joined (goodness, beauty, truth, and reality). We violate Christian worldview if we “sever the good from the true, the true from the beautiful, the beautiful from the real, and the real from the good” (Mohler).
Since the Fall, we humans have willingly severed the unity which exists “between the good and the beautiful, between the true and the real, and between the beautiful and the true. Why would we want to call something that is ugly „true‟ [or „good‟]? . . . . [It] is a symptom of human sickness, and that sickness is sin” (ibid, p. 3).
Since the beginning, Satan has sought to tempt by means of a false understanding of beauty. By his lies the evil one separates beauty from truth and goodness—then draws into sin by offering evil as a greater allure than good. The restored union of transcendentals, which the Gospel alone can bring, is the destiny of the cosmos. In speaking of the beauty as an evangelistic category, Dostoevsky put it this way in The Brothers Karamazov, “‟Beauty is the battlefield where God and Satan contend with each other for the hearts of men.‟ . . .[T]he evil one tempts with prettiness, and lies about beauty, and corrupts the good, the beautiful, the true, and the real, sundering them from each other and celebrating confusion. . . Evangelism then is a matter of restoring unity of the transcendentals. . . [That unity] can only be put back together again by the One who created the world, and thus redeems” (ibid., p. 3).
“Beauty for us is an evangelistic mandate, a missiological purpose. We are the people who know what beauty is. . . we have seen it in a foretaste, and we have been promised it in an assured promise. In this life we live amidst the pretty, the corrupt, and the artificial. We live among those who do not believe beauty exists, and among those who think beauty can be manufactured. In such a context, we are the ones who have to say we know beauty, and it is none other than Jesus Christ the Lord” (ibid., p. 3-4).
When He returns; the reconciliation He accomplished at the cross will be consummated. He will ultimately make a new heavens and a new earth “in which righteousness dwells” (2 Pet 3:14). “[I]t was the Father‟s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself. . .” (Col 1:19-20a).
(Key questions regarding beauty: How may we esteem what is beautiful without worshipping and serving the creature and the creation? How can we as believers heighten our awareness that beauty is always joined to the true, the real, and the good? Do you agree with Dostoyevsky’s statement that beauty is a ‘battlefield’ for the hearts of men? If it is true that believers alone really know what beauty is—then how is the true knowledge of beauty to be joined to our missiological purpose?)
Art that is Beautiful communicates Truth
God the Master Designer has joined form and function in what He has made.
The Lord highlights His own creativity and imagination when speaking to Job about the diverse behaviors and lifestyles of the creatures He has made (Job 38-41). The original systems, plants and animals, and relationships in our world are purely the thought of God. The Creator has given us the concepts; the categories; the designations; and the first principles. It is these which we work with in the aesthetic realm. God has set the standard of beauty—it is not evolving because He has provided, and immutably set, the categories for reality.
Beautiful art communicates truth because without words it depicts the relationships God has ordered and ordained. “Beautiful art says that if God made it—it is worthy of being depicted in art and talked about” (Francis Schaeffer). God as Creator has filled His creation with subjects that are not immediately religious (galaxies, forests, birds, whales, mountains, and brooks). The created order is never bare information; it is always connected to divine goodness.
Therefore, art within the Christian worldview is not always identifiable as „religious‟ (that is not containing symbols and themes that are immediately recognizable as religious). Christianity is not just salvation—it is total truth which concerns the world in its totality and the cosmos itself. Man‟s emotions, body, values, and surroundings are therefore important subjects in God‟s world because the individual is made in the image of God and possesses an immortal soul. In a word, the individual counts (Francis Schaeffer, Art and the Bible).
(Key questions: What are some of the ways that popular culture promotes the myth that beauty exists apart from truth? What is the danger of believing that myth?)
Culture is regarded by Scripture as an extension of creation.
Culture is that which properly begins with creation. Human culture is part of man‟s life as he was created. The dominion mandate of Genesis 1:18 embraces man‟s cultural calling. According to Meredith Kline, culture was a „religious duty‟ (Ken Myers, All God’s Children and Blue Suede Shoes, p. 35-39).
In the original plan, there was no shadow between culture and devotion to God.
When we say that culture is an extension of creation, what we are saying is that culture (in order to be uplifting) must draw its principles from creation. It must point in some way to God‟s order (note, creation is “God‟s book,” “God‟s theatre of glory”).
The unchanging theme of Scripture is that the physical order in creation is inseparable from the moral order in creation (Ps 19). The Psalms tell us that the creation is not just randomly selected raw material—creation has order to it both physical and moral (Ps 96). A divinely established moral order is bound up in eternal fixity to the physical creation. In wisdom literature, the whole creation is pictured not as raw material but as a worshipping chorus of God proclaiming His wisdom, power, sovereign rule, beauty, goodness, and rationality.
Romans one is clear; those who disobey God are without excuse—for both the glory of God and the duty of man are evident in creation (ibid.). Romans one documents the „shadow‟ that exists in pagan culture—a shadow that obscures the knowledge of God.
Art imitates and perfects nature—it doesn‟t destroy it. Positive culture is developed in harmony with, and in resonance with, the order God established in the cosmos. Healthy cultural forms are those that are faithful to creation. Unhealthy cultural forms are those which deny and suppress creation order, and which are the product of human desires which deny or suppress the created order.
Therefore, would you as Christians agree with the following statement? “Culture only enriches our lives when it conforms itself to the way things truly are—when it takes shape in the world as it truly is. God‟s divinely established cosmic order determines man‟s place in the world and prescribes his norms and behaviors. Concerning unhealthy cultural forms, Ken Myers says, “There is a time to be counter-cultural” (Ken Myers, The Problem of Contextualization in a Decadent Culture ).
As Christians, we need to reestablish the fact that the divinely established cosmic order has everything to do with culture. This certainly is relevant to the issue of developing Christian discernment in the cultural arts. As Ravi Zacharias has stated, “Unless we get a glimpse of eternity; the arts will only take us to the edge of the abyss—if not into the abyss.” Why such a negative statement? The answer lies within our created purpose as the image of God. The meaningfulness and fixity of God‟s cosmic order determines man‟s place in the world.
(Key questions in regard to culture: What is the creation? What is the connection between positive culture and God’s order in the cosmos? Why does culture begin with creation? Provide a few examples from art which illustrate that culture is drawn from principles of creation. Explain how today’s cultural relativism denies the connection between creation and culture. Explain the following statement: an unhealthy cultural form is unfaithful to creation.)
Culture that is uplifting cultivates man‟s deepest yearnings.
What we are really longing for is the joy that only comes from contemplating our Creator and eternity. And that He has made His perfections clearly seen in what He has made. Positive culture points man to eternity. Therefore, to fixate on the sensual; the sensate; the book, the music; the art form (as if it is the true substance or object of our yearning) is to become subject to the dumb idol—and to have our hearts broken in the process. Worthwhile art is elevating because it is a pointer to realities and yearnings which transcend the temporal and the physical. Art is intended to point beyond itself (Zacharias, Mind Games in a World of Images).
Your identity as the very image of God is inseparable from the fact that your Creator has set eternity in your heart (Eccl 3:11). That is who you are—a being that yearns for the eternal. Therefore you cannot be satisfied with a finite integration point. Pop culture, in its preoccupation with individualism and sensuality, seems dead set on having us forget who we are and our God-created yearning for eternity. The purveyors of pop culture would have us sell our birthright for the stew of temporal pleasure and triviality.
How we need a Christian view of art—for pop culture has conducted a kind of cultural captivity that has replaced God with the self. With this captivity comes the prevailing error that the arts were never intended to point beyond themselves. It is the very opposite that is true. Once we understand this—then Christians can „redeem‟ the arts from their cultural captivity by showing anew that culture is an extension of creation.
The arts constitute a kind of language which reaches to touch, as well as to create, legitimate longings in the human heart which prose cannot do. Good art speaks of God‟s existence in a way that transcends words. Only then does art have the strength and usefulness it was intended to have (Zacharias).
(Key questions: How does popular culture sell us short of our God-given yearning for the eternal? Describe the role of the arts in pointing beyond art to the eternal and the transcendent? Read Ecclesiastes 2—what happened when Solomon pursued pleasure in culture directly? Read 1 Corinthians 10:31—why should every cultural enjoyment terminate upon the glory of God?)
Man as a creative spirit made in the image of God is „creatively
receptive‟ of God‟s truth and beauty.
By „creatively receptive‟ we mean that man is designed by God to receive divine general revelation and incorporate it into culture. In art creative receptivity manifests itself in countless combinations. When an artist incorporates a tulip motif into a stained glass window; he is being creatively receptive. In other words, he is taking what God has made and using it creatively.
We show our creativity by using what God has made in aesthetically pleasing ways; it is part of our stewardship and cultural calling. We see this in the design of musical instruments—yet another example of a manmade union of form and function (trumpet, violin, and kettle drum are made of different materials given to us by God).
God provides a wonderful example to mankind of creative receptivity when He gives the „blueprint‟ for the tabernacle in the book of Exodus. Instead of a structure of sanitary white; He employs bells, flowers, precious stones, sculptures, symbols, angles, animal likenesses, color tapestries, sweet fragrant incense and anointing oils.
Instead of commanding the construction of a tabernacle that is solely sanitary raw utilitarian; it is filled with aesthetics. In essence, He is guiding man in the process of creative receptivity; He is setting an example of constructing something that is creatively receptive. Craftsmen are selected to work in gems, hardwood, textiles, metallurgy, and gold leaf. The end result was that the sacred tent (and it accoutrements) was for glory and for beauty (Ex 25:33-36; 28:2, 40; 39:24).
Whether in the visual arts, drama, or literature; the creative process utilizes the „symbolic vocabulary‟ of God‟s world. By „symbolic vocabulary‟ is meant that all that it is around us belongs to God‟s world. The world in its unfallen state was the unblemished thought of God. “When artists and writers express themselves creatively, they are employing the „symbols‟ which exist in the real world” (Francis Schaeffer, Art and the Bible).
All effective communication depends upon the use of these symbols (home, family, mother, father, tree, cow, friendship, mealtime, sleep, work, dress, stars, emotions, etc.). Without the use of symbols; we cannot know what the artist is saying.
“Abstract art” may contain color and design; but without symbols it remains in the category of „non-representational‟. It misses an entire dimension—it has an undefined relationship with the viewer. It is alienated from the viewer so to speak—it does not connect so as to communicate.
(Key questions: How does much of the art produced by popular culture show its disdain for God’s categories and created symbols? In the Christian approach to art appreciation, why is it valuable to reiterate that God is the source of the categories and symbols utilized in art?)
„Evil Art‟ has certain Presuppositions which stand behind it.
Art forms add strength to the worldview which „shows through‟, no matter what that worldview is—or whether the worldview is true or false (Francis Schaeffer). The presuppositions of the Enlightenment which fed into the thinking of the French Revolution—sought to throw off the moral truths of God‟s Word. The Bohemian „freedom‟ concept promulgated by Jean-Jacques Rousseau lauded the idea of the autonomous man who lived above reason and the moral government of God (Schaeffer, Art and the Bible).
The lie that man can „be free‟ by throwing off God‟s Word permeates the cultural arts today. In nihilistic art, man is „junk‟—he is nothing but a trivial biological machine without freedom, dignity, or purpose. In the paintings of Francis Bacon (20ᵗʰ C.) the brokenness of man is depicted in the artist‟s very intentional painting style which uses gore and deformity to communicate the human condition. “Bacon painted half-truths. He presented deterioration and hopeless despair, but he did not present mans‟ honor and dignity” (Solomon and Williams, Art and the Christian).
The three great themes of redemptive history—Creation; Fall; and Redemption are inseparable from „truthfulness‟ in art. The „minor theme‟ in biblical worldview is that men have revolted from God—and as a result, evil, death, and decay are reigning. The „major theme‟ in Christian worldview is that life is not absurd; but meaningful. God has created us in His image—this is His world; it operates in a certain way; true morals exist. God‟s own character forms the law of the universe.
Majoring in the „minor theme‟ is the content of so much of contemporary art. Modern art galleries feature art pieces which major in man’s lost-ness, depravity, inhumanness, and brokenness. When the „minor theme‟ is turned into the major theme; pessimism reigns; and is treated as ultimate reality. Granted, the sinful human condition captures a „shard‟ of reality; but misses the major theme entirely. Life is indeed absurd apart from Christ—nihilism, pessimism, and hopelessness dominate life without Christ. „Evil art‟ is man seeking to make sense of the world without Christ.
Modern sinners prefer the „absurdity perspective‟ of life in order to free up their lusts and justify their apostasy from God. Man was created as a complex unity—he was designed to find wholeness and unity in the worship of his Creator. Idols fragment that unity. They are false integration points. Therefore in „evil art‟ we see false solutions to man‟s dilemma. Examples include the flowery romanticism of nature worship as well as sexual eroticism, humanism, utopianism, Marxism, pessimism, etc.
Ryken makes the following observation, “Human depravity and evil are one of the leading subjects of art. The fallen nature of people makes it possible for the arts to express falsehood and to have an immoral effect on an audience” (Leland Ryken, Culture in Christian Perspective, quoted in “Lost Arts” by Tamela Baker, Moody Monthly Magazine, June, 1995).
Artists who „normalize‟ immorality in their art are responsible for their willful rejection of divine revelation. God‟s good gifts—the overflowing bounty of His generosity—more often than not are set within a moral context. Work, food, resources, sexuality, relationships, and ownership are all gifts of God which have a moral context. The misuse of God‟s good gifts (their removal from the moral context in which they are given) results in selfish ambition, sexual immorality, idolatry, violence, animal passions, and greed.
Art based upon the worldview of secular humanism sends the message that life‟s joys and pleasures are ours for the taking—and not a sacred trust with a moral context set by the divine Giver.
(Key questions: How would you respond to the objection that the biblical definition of freedom stifles creativity in the arts? Why do modern sinners prefer the ‘absurdity perspective’ of life? Does the Christian duty to exercise discernment in the arts reduce, or enhance, the appreciation of the arts? Do you think that pointing out falsehood in art would be a valuable teaching device?)
Identifying the presuppositions of popular culture found in the
visual arts:
- “We can create our own reality.” Regarding today‟s popular culture, modern individualism encourages each person to define their own social reality apart from considerations about how the creation is ordered. Thus there is a huge dysfunction between reality in the created order and popular culture (Ken Myers, All God’s Children and Blue Suede Shoes, p. 85).
So much of popular culture operates on the false assumption that we create our own reality. God proclaims that there is one reality ordered by one God. We are answerable to Him for our conduct within that reality. Reality and its center is Jesus Christ (not self). Pop culture‟s dynamics tend to encourage self-centeredness—which Christians must avoid (ibid, p. 101).
- “The creation is merely „raw material‟ from which you may construct the self and establish your own meaning.” The art coming out of popular culture has lost touch with God‟s order in creation. The role of defining reality was once reserved for God. The Word of God says that God‟s will and Word establish the categories, the meaning, and the significance of all things. Consider how the electronic media of popular culture has usurped that role of defining reality (ibid, p. 161) (“We will tell you what is important in life; what life is about; what freedom is . . . etc.”)
The world‟s philosophies (which make up so much of pop culture) have reduced religion to a private preference. Salvation has been divorced from the purpose of the cosmos. This modern dualism has shoved the majesty of God in His creation to the periphery. It has torn God‟s created order from our consciousness. We have lost the vision to use the creation in a „sacramental‟ fashion.
The creation as the revelation of God‟s majesty, wisdom, and rule has been removed from our consciousness. With the image of God lost; reality is nothing more than what you choose to make it— an extension of the self. The sovereign self with its autonomously shaped identity now uses the world as „raw material‟ to construct the self.
- “The electronic media is a modern art form that provides legitimate worldview options.” The electronic media is a modern art form. The flood of images in the electronic media shapes a person‟s worldview. Electronic visual media totally shapes the way people perceive the world (Ravi Zacharias, Mind Games in a World of Images). Pop culture often has a low view of reason; instead it is characterized by clichés, political correctness, and sensuality—rather than by propositional truth. There is an accompanying unwillingness to think upon divine transcendence (the only true source of coherence and consolation) (ibid.).
(Key questions: The assumption that one can create one’s own reality is a patent denial of what divine truth? Explain what we mean when we say that popular culture has severed religion from the purpose of the cosmos. What are some of the ways that this divorcing of religion from the cosmos might show up in art? When the electronic media suggests people perceive the world in a certain way; is the media encouraging critical thinking?)
Art is not created in a „Worldview Vacuum‟ (the need for
discernment)
The artist will „view‟ life and depict life through his or her worldview. When a person is optimistic about life without God; he will lose his or her freedom. Freedom is only found in God‟s moral order—restored in Christ. It is impossible for mankind to create a new order, a new rationality, a new freedom, a new autonomy—man will ever be an image-bearer of God. The utopianism—found in so much of contemporary art—is not neutral. It is overtly hostile to freedom and dignity in Christ.
To live, and work, and create—as if one is NOT made in God‟s moral image (and as if it is not a moral universe) is to be enslaved and corrupted in sin. Sin is that which slays the life of God within man. By sinning man further breaks the moral image of God—and further fragments the unity which comprises a human being (H.R. Rookmaaker, The Creative Gift).
(Key questions: Why should a Christian be discerning in regards to the particular philosophy of freedom depicted in a piece of art?)
What is the role of believers in “redeeming” the arts?
The church today needs to heighten its discernment in regards to popular culture. Without discernment, we will be tempted to blithely allow popular culture to wash over us and tell us how to live. The answer is NOT to completely distance ourselves from it—but to learn to recognize its cultural forms.
One part of the „litmus test‟ for improving our discernment is to ask, “To what extent do the cultural changes of the moment (including the visual arts) give us a better view of reality—or, do they detract from, or misrepresent, reality?”
The church can play a key role in affirming the over-arching sacred canopy of biblical worldview. We reject the cultural relativism of our day which states that all cultural institutions are just social constructions which exist for human needs and desires but do not or are not sustained by any given-ness in nature.
The church needs discernment so as not to embrace cultural trends blindly. What is missing today in our discernment is that cultural forms have consequences. Cultural forms are not merely moral or immoral. Sometimes society adopts habits (cultural forms) which deny or distort important aspects of human nature. In extreme cases these are dehumanizing. In lesser cases they diminish our dignity and worth as bearers of God‟s image (you will live out your identity—whether it is from God‟s Word or contrived). Discernment is needed. The entertainment industry churns out a relentless agenda in every television program of removing the Christian worldview.
Students today are immersed in a pop culture that is market-driven. They bring a consumer worldview to school which pushes them into a particular mould of clothing and image. With the illusion that students are the architects of their own identity comes a palpable apathy. Students don‟t love the truth enough to argue for it. They have imbibed their sense of self from consumer culture in general and from television in particular.
We are to call people to an entire renewed life across their cultural experience—in a way that honors creation, human nature, and the commands of God. We ought to be able to encourage church members to have healthy cultural lives. It is just too easy to let the culture tell us how to live and then we‟ll add Christianity to it to season it. The church‟s mandate is to honor Christ‟s lordship in every aspect of life.
(Key questions: Why should Christians reject cultural relativism when it asserts that cultural institutions are merely social constructs which exist for human needs and desires? How can examples from art be used to teach that cultural forms have consequences? What are some of the deceptive ways popular culture offers an enhanced identity to young people? A preoccupation with fantasy in art says what about the divorce between the physical and the spiritual? Does the church have an intrinsic interest in culture, or just the message of the gospel? Is it possible to make sense of life without the gospel?)