As is our family custom, we often discuss what our kids learned at school during our evening meal together. My daughter recently told us about an experience on a field trip to visit the Art Institute of Chicago. In the Modern Art Gallery there was an “art” piece that is essentially a pile of candy in multi-colored wrappers, lying in a corner of the room. It had a plaque next to it with the name of the “piece,” the artist’s name, date, description, etc. The plaque encouraged people to help themselves to a piece of candy.
This raised a topic of discussion around the table about “is this a piece of art?” If so, what makes it art? If not, why not?
As a Christian, my deeper question is… what does God have to say about this? Anything? Does He even care? What about Jesus? Is there anything in the Bible about this topic?
I subsequently happened to be looking through boxes of old books and found a old classic on this very subject called “Art and The Bible” by Francis Schaeffer.
Here is what some have said…
“Many Christians, wary of creating graven images, have steered clear of artistic creativity. But the Bible offers a robust affirmation of the arts. The human impulse to create reflects our being created in the image of a creator God.”
“Art and the Bible has been a foundational work for generations of Christians in the arts. In this book’s classic essays, Francis Schaeffer first examines the scriptural record of the use of various art forms, and then establishes a Christian perspective on art. With clarity and vigor, Schaeffer explains why ‘the Christian is the one whose imagination should fly beyond the stars.’”
I remember that quote which appears on the inside flyleaf of the book from the time when I first read it back in the 1970′s. It seemed like a very exciting and out-of-the-box thing to say about Christians and the arts at that time.
