Great, Thanks Geoff
I’m so glad to have you smart guys on the case. I’m not surrounded by many people as thoughtful on these issues as the folks on this board, so I appreciate any and all comments, especially when as insightful as Geoff’s!
About the “theology” thing – as I say in the original post, I’m not sure if this is a theology or a philosophy. These things are intertwined in a way that I don’t quite know how to separate when God is involved. If I understand that aesthetics is a branch of philosophy, then you could say this is close to being an aesthetic of art from a Christian worldview. I would love to push it in that direction, however, I fear my intended audience (Christians illiterate in the arts) might not be as interested in an aesthetic as a theology – so in that regard there may be some marketing required.
Also, I believe we need all three – a vigorous theology, philosophy and aesthetic. People approach these things from different directions, and we need to have a well thought out starting point for all of them.
As for the Greek thing. I only added that really as an afterthought after I realized it kind of did fit, and would give it a little poetic zip, along with some cred with secularists, or classicists (once again marketing).
For many years I have felt that truth and beauty were indeed at the core of art – and that the Greeks discovering that was only a result of their honest inquiry into the nature of things, and although they may have surrounded it with a lot of other baggage (which I don’t really know much about), I think that is superfluous. I find quite often that thoughtful non-Christians often get to the true roots of things because they are simply observing what God has put here. Their problem is application, and augmentation.
After seeing the truth side, and then the beauty side of art, I feel that my response then becomes, “This is good”. To a degree I only separate them for human dialog, but there is a sense that they are intertwined – that truth is beautiful, and that beauty cannot be untrue, and that both reflect the goodness which comes from God alone.
God of the universe – this ever expanding glorious place, is a God of expansion. Christians who know this God have ever expanding lives of fruitfulness – they are always creating and renewing – whether amongst the lives of their neighbors or the works of their hands. When understanding art to be one of the magnificent mediums of the expanding goodness of God – Christians will be vigorous creators of truth and beauty that blesses all around with a glimpse of that God, or of our community of humanity (so we all feel closer to one another). A church that has lost touch with these realities, is a church in dysfunction. A church in dysfunction is not reaching those around it well, and therefore, lacking in fruitfulness. I actually believe that as we have a renewal in understanding these things that it will be at the core of a general renewal in the body of Christ. This is my plan for reaching America – renew the church to re-engage the culture and the people in it, and watch the Kingdom grow.
Kursonis
Apr 18 2005
10:48 am
Great, Thanks Geoff
I’m so glad to have you smart guys on the case. I’m not surrounded by many people as thoughtful on these issues as the folks on this board, so I appreciate any and all comments, especially when as insightful as Geoff’s!
About the “theology” thing – as I say in the original post, I’m not sure if this is a theology or a philosophy. These things are intertwined in a way that I don’t quite know how to separate when God is involved. If I understand that aesthetics is a branch of philosophy, then you could say this is close to being an aesthetic of art from a Christian worldview. I would love to push it in that direction, however, I fear my intended audience (Christians illiterate in the arts) might not be as interested in an aesthetic as a theology – so in that regard there may be some marketing required.
Also, I believe we need all three – a vigorous theology, philosophy and aesthetic. People approach these things from different directions, and we need to have a well thought out starting point for all of them.
As for the Greek thing. I only added that really as an afterthought after I realized it kind of did fit, and would give it a little poetic zip, along with some cred with secularists, or classicists (once again marketing).
For many years I have felt that truth and beauty were indeed at the core of art – and that the Greeks discovering that was only a result of their honest inquiry into the nature of things, and although they may have surrounded it with a lot of other baggage (which I don’t really know much about), I think that is superfluous. I find quite often that thoughtful non-Christians often get to the true roots of things because they are simply observing what God has put here. Their problem is application, and augmentation.
After seeing the truth side, and then the beauty side of art, I feel that my response then becomes, “This is good”. To a degree I only separate them for human dialog, but there is a sense that they are intertwined – that truth is beautiful, and that beauty cannot be untrue, and that both reflect the goodness which comes from God alone.
God of the universe – this ever expanding glorious place, is a God of expansion. Christians who know this God have ever expanding lives of fruitfulness – they are always creating and renewing – whether amongst the lives of their neighbors or the works of their hands. When understanding art to be one of the magnificent mediums of the expanding goodness of God – Christians will be vigorous creators of truth and beauty that blesses all around with a glimpse of that God, or of our community of humanity (so we all feel closer to one another). A church that has lost touch with these realities, is a church in dysfunction. A church in dysfunction is not reaching those around it well, and therefore, lacking in fruitfulness. I actually believe that as we have a renewal in understanding these things that it will be at the core of a general renewal in the body of Christ. This is my plan for reaching America – renew the church to re-engage the culture and the people in it, and watch the Kingdom grow.