Art and the Bible
Schaeffer, Francis. Art and the Bible. 1973. IVP Classics, 2009.
“Art and the Bible” was written as a response to the prevailing evangelical worldview that art has no place in the church; the book contains two essays written by Francis Schaeffer.
In the first essay, Shaffer proves that God is an advocate for the arts because artistic work exists in the bible. He uses multiple examples of art not only taking place in the bible, but also being delegated directly by God to his people. He cites the temple and the tabernacle, the worship of King David, the Song of Solomon and even Ezekiel’s performance of the siege of Israel as proof that God sees art as a natural and intrinsic part of man’s mannishness (in Shaeffer’s words). In the introduction to his argument, Schaffer argues that the lordship of Christ over the whole life of a person means there are no “platonic areas in Christianity” - Jesus is concerned with the whole person, not just with what a person claims to believe. Not only that, but it is clear in Genesis that people were given authority over the earth and expected to reflect the image of God in their creativity. God’s world reflects his deep love of beauty, so should the work of human beings. He addresses and comes up against many arguments that state art does not belong in the church. An example of this is when he argues against those who cite the commandment not to create graven images. Schaffer offers the counter argument that it was really a command not to worship graven images. The instructions given for the tabernacle (complete with graven images of angels, flowers and fruit) were given at the very same time, and God would not have contradicted himself in such a way. He also shows places in the bible where secular art is celebrated, and shows biblical proof that God asked people to create beautiful things simply because they were beautiful and not to serve a function.
In the second essay, Shaeffer offers practical ways that art should be analyzed, stating that art should be viewed for its technical aptitude, validity (did the artist create their work just to make money or for a patron?) worldview, and how that worldview fits into the artform selected. From there he shares his thoughts on what Christian art should reflect, first by separating Christian art from Religious art, then speaking to the importance of Christian art reflecting a Christian worldview. His final challenge in this essay is that the greatest work of art for a Christian ought to be the lives they have lived.
I saw this essay as a tight and tidy look at the validity and necessity of Christian Artists, and have no doubt that it has had a great impact on the modern Christian Arts movements as I have heard all of Shaeffer’s arguments before, but never so succinctly worded. This essay lays important groundwork for the Christian Artist, but I did not find it inspirational. “Art and the Bible” gives the Christian artist freedom to create, but my reading of it did not give me a good reason to create. Perhaps this dichotomy is because Shaeffer was writing to the intellectuals in defense of artists, or maybe he did not see artists as a group needing encouragement to create. Whatever the reason, I took away a lack of purpose from this essay, even while I appreciated the intellectual arguments. “Art and the Bible” lays a foundation for a Christian Artist that the artist themselves will have to build upon.