Christian Renewal & Visual Art: From Kitsch to Quality

 

James Davison Hunter, To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World, Oxford UP, 2010.

87 – Noncommercialized art by Christians is, as I said, vital, and growing through organizations such as Image, Christians In the Visual Arts (or CIVA) [which ended operations in 2022], and the international arts movement (IAM), but such efforts are small and constantly underfunded and, like the commercial art (e.g., Thomas Kinkade), it is typically peripheral to the major galleries and reviews. What is more, this vast commercial empire [of Evangelical cultural production] does not operate in the major centers of culture formation (such as New York City, Washington, Chicago, San Francisco, or Los Angeles) but rather in medium-sized cities on the periphery (such as Wheaton, Illinois; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Orlando, Florida; and Virginia Beach, Virginia). Third, cultural production in the Evangelical world is overwhelmingly oriented toward the popular. Very much like its retail politics, its music is popular music, its art tends to be popular (highly sentimentalized and commercialized) art . . . . While there are exceptions to the rule, overall, the populist orientation of Evangelical cultural production reflects the most kitschy expressions of consumerism and often the most crude forms of market instrumentalism.

265 – [I]n the visual arts, literature, and music, the first challenge is to simply demonstrate a commitment to excellence in aesthetics (the theory of art) and in the production of artifacts of art generally. I says this is first because such a commitment among Christians generally has been weak over the past century, and among Protestants all but absent. The obligation artists who are Christians is, among other things, to demonstrate in ways that are imaginative and compelling that materiality is not enough for a proper understanding of human experience; that there is durability and permanence as well as eternal qualities that exist beyond we see on the surface of life. in this, they must show a depth and complexity to people and the world that defy the one- and two-dimensional existence  of modern life. In the process, it is possible to symbolically portray possibilities of beauty and fullness we have not yet imagined.

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Tim Keller’s views are consistent with those expressed by Prof. Hunter.

Tim Keller on Visual Art

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Tim Keller, “The Decline and Renewal of the American Church” (White Paper),  Gospel in Life, 2022, p. 75

Proposed initiatives toward Renewal of the Church (excerpt):

2. Vocational networks/guilds - The coming together of believers locally and nationally within professions and work vocations for mutual support, mentoring, instructing and public witness. At least these networks— Law/politics; Arts; Academics; Media; Business; Government; Medicine—but there are others and each of these needs to be broken down.

3. Two arenas: We want to multiply believers both in the existing cultural economy (dominant cultural institutions) and also in an alternate cultural economy. In the secular world, especially in the academy, the media, and the arts, but also now in much of the corporate world, Christians are unwelcome or under pressure to conform to cultural narratives. Therefore an alternate ‘economy’ of art galleries, academies, think tanks, small businesses, media companies, etc. etc. should flourish under the leadership of Christians.

4. Ideas: (a) Genius grants each year for believers (a la MacArthur Foundation and LGBT networks), (b) “Praxis” on steroids—major new funding and expansion, (c) Theological education for non-ministers—either re-tool current seminaries or form ‘seminaries’ for professionals that delivers high level intensive and contextual biblical and theological education to them.

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We envision a day when – . . .  12. An increasing number of Christian artists—working out both the realism of the Christian worldview about sin and the confident expectation of restorative grace—produce high-quality stories, music, and visual art, all so that (a) more people see the beauty and intuitive plausibility of Christianity and at the same time, (b) people across our society will increase in hope. 

[Dr. Timothy Keller, “The Decline and Renewal of the American Church: Part 4 – The Strategy for Renewal,” Life in the Gospel, Summer 2022]

(p. 49) We envision a day when – 9. An increasing number of Christian artists—working out both the realism of the Christian worldview about sin and the confident expectation of restorative grace— produce high quality stories, music, visual art all with the results that (a) more people see the beauty and intuitive plausibility of Christianity and at the same time, (b) people in general across our society will increase in hope. [Tim Keller, “The Decline and Renewal of the American Church,” Gospel In Life, 2022]

(p. 79) 3. Two arenas: We want to multiply believers both in the existing cultural economy (dominant cultural institutions) and also in an alternate cultural economy. In the secular world, especially in the academy, the media, and the arts, but also now in much of the corporate world, Christians are unwelcome or under pressure to conform to cultural narratives. Therefore an alternate ‘economy’ of art galleries, academies, think tanks, small businesses, media companies, etc. etc. should flourish under the leadership of Christians. [Tim Keller, “The Decline and Renewal of the American Church,” Gospel In Life, 2022]

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 OTHER WRITINGS ON VISUAL ART BY TIM KELLER

Tim Keller, “Engaging the Renewed Imagination,” 2004 lecture

Christians cannot abdicate the arts to secular society. We must consume, study, and participate in the arts if we are to have a seat at the table. Whether it has a religious theme or strikes us as irreligious, we must be patrons if we are to have an impact on how the world interprets and responds to the arts. We cannot be wary, we cannot be afraid, we cannot be self-righteous. Christians must look, listen, read, and experience the arts if we are to lead our culture to renewal.

Justin Taylor, How Christians Can Make the Arts a Regular Part of Their Lives, The Gospel Coalition, May 28, 2009

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/how-christians-can-make-arts-regular/

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Tim Keller, “Why We Need Artists,” in: Ned Bustard, ed.,  It Was Good: Making Art to the Glory of God, Square Halo Books, 2007.

EXCERPTS:

Why does the Church and why does Christianity need artists? While we have artists because they have the ability to see the greater reality, we need artists because… we can’t understand truth without art. You see, reason tells me about the truth, but I really cannot grasp what it means; I can’t understand it without art. … [Jonathan] Edwards said that unless you use imagination, unless you take a truth and you image it – which of course is art – you don’t know what it means. If you cannot visualize it, you don’t have a sense of it on your heart.

The Church needs artists to assist the body in understanding truth, but just as importantly the Church needs artists to equip the Church to praise God. We cannot praise God without art.

Without art it is almost impossible to praise God because we have no means by which to get the praise out. We can’t enjoy God without art.

The Church needs artists because without art we cannot reach the world.

We need Christian artists because we are never going to reach the world without great Christian art to go with great Christian talk.

[Tim Keller, “Why We Need Artists,” in: Ned Bustard, ed.,  It Was Good: Making Art to the Glory of God, Square Halo Books, 2007.]

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Timothy Keller, “ Why Do We Need Artists?”, 1993

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivYADaF3O3c

https://navigatinghollywood.org/timkellertranscript

EXCERPT: Why are there artists and why do we need them so much? And I’m serious. Why are there so many artists and why do we need them so much? Martin Luther, believe it or not, he said, “The poor need beauty as well as bread. That’s why they’re so wretched,” he says, “because they’re starved from both. Go look and see where they live. They’ve got neither bread nor beauty, and if you’re really going to pull them out of their wretchedness, you need to give them both.” Now, that’s true, but why? Why do we need art? Let me give you a theory. It’s actually a very complex theory. I’ll just present it very briefly. The theory is that we need art so much because we’re cut off from something and art is our effort to try to get back to it, to try to get ahold of it.

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