Book Review- Art and the Bible

I recently read Francis Schaeffer's collection of essays "Art and the Bible". (Do two essays constitute a "collection"?) If I'm being totally honest, and I am, I must confess to not having read much Schaeffer. I know he has a great many fans in Christendom, but I am not familiar enough with his work (yet) to be counted as one of them. Having established this, let me say that I enjoyed this little volume.

As I stated above, there are two essays in the book. The first essay is the one titled "Art and the Bible". In this section Schaeffer disputes the belief that art has no place in the life of the Christian. Rather, he argues, that art should be in the life of the follower of Jesus. In fact, the Scriptures are replete with examples of not only God-pleasing art, by art mandates by God himself simply for beauty. Examples that Schaeffer uses to support this thesis are the tabernacle and the Temple descriptions and directives found in the Old Testament.

Quite helpful in the section is his discussion of "graven images"; those things which are expressly forbidden by God in the 10 Commandments (depending on which numbering system you employ). This particular commandment, Schaeffer notes, is the first one to which those who argue against art in the life of believers point in support of their position. Schaeffer argues, convincingly I think, that God does not specify "Thou shalt not make representational art". Rather, the prohibition is on worshipping the art that is made.

The second essay, "Some perspectives on Art" is helpful as well. Here Schaeffer lays out what constitutes art, good art, and Christian art. To be sure this is not a detailed excursus on art theory. But, it does provide some introductory material for those looking to see how the arts can fit into their Christian faith and life. Further, it helps in clarifying the distinction between Christian art and "religious art". In other words, Schaeffer argues, again, convincingly I think, that a work of art may be considered Christian, even if it does not deal with or depict Jesus or any other traditional Christian icon. Schaeffer argues, that it is not so much content which makes a work or art Christian, but rather the worldview of the artist.

Schaeffer cautions against trying to determine an artist's worldview, or at least the totality of it in one painting. This, he says, is futile. He places the work of art in the context of the artist's entire body of work.

I would recommend this book for anyone who is looking to explore all dimensions of their walk with Christ. By this, I mean, art and aesthetics are often judged in Christian circles by their content and/or message and then deemed "bad" or "good", which are often synonyms for "appropriate" and "inappropriate". Both sets of terms have their place, but the distinction should be made.

There are any number of art theory and textbooks on aesthetics which expand on the principles Schaeffer puts forth in his essays.But, this read, as I said, is good for beginners and explorers.

One minor flaw in this book is that Schaeffer omits any discussion of film as an art form. This is easily remedied by applying his principles to film study and viewing.