A Case for the Arts
For my grad. class on Philippians, we had to read the first chapter of The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind by Mark A. Noll. I will say now that I didn't read the whole book; this post is discussing only what the author stated in this first chapter.
That being said, I encourage people to (critically) read at least this first chapter of the book. Don't just swallow all that he says, but as I hope to point out bellow, there are some things that Noll makes a good case for. My own thoughts and ideas will be interjected into the discussion.
Noll's main point seems to be that evangelicals (used in a somewhat broad sense) have abandoned the arts and critical thinking fields of education and life. His point is true; where are the scientists, composers, and artists who made and did great things because of, not in spite of, their Christian beliefs? He says that it's not Christian academia that has faltered but the evangelical mindset itself. I can't agree with Noll when he says that to have abandoned these fields is sin, but I must say that it definitely shows a lack on our part in what we pursue.
In defense of "evangelicals," though, we still have far too few pastors, missionaries, and church leaders/helpers. We have had to somewhat abandon the arts, etc. simply to fill the need we already have.
Or perhaps we have abandoned the arts because we somehow view them as "less holy" or not as important as full-time ministry. Or because we see the arts and sciences has having been taken over completely by the world, making them a sort of icon for worldliness and godlessness.
But can we simply abandon these pursuits? Noll points out that because evangelicals have pulled out of the secular institutions, there is no longer a voice to combat the ungodly teaching that is going on there. Still, I wonder how much headway a believer would make in these academic circles when theory is taken as proven fact [evolution] and direct proof [such as for the Flood] is ignored and mocked.
My personal thoughts on the matter... Noll is correct in saying that evangelicals have largely - if not completely - abandoned the higher/logical pursuits and the arts. Just for example: the movies, novels, and plays written by believers generally not only have pathetic writing style (weak story line, dry and uninteresting characters, and cheesy plots) but are generally off on one or more major points of theology that most believers would hold to. In our music circles, we proclaim the superiorty of classical music because of it's style and yet have produced no composers (of note) in how many years? Rather than curse the darkness, we need to remove the darkness by bringing in the light. Has the world taken over the sciences, arts, and academia as a whole? I would have to say, "yes." But we as believers should seek to at least produce quality Christian alternatives to those areas, if not seek to "reconquest" them from the world. I am not expecting the world to agree with our faith, nor am I even hinting that we should water down our beliefs in order to be accepted. On the contrary, we should use our beliefs as the very fuel to drive us to excell in the arts and sciences, using these avenues to show the world the truth about God.
That being said, I encourage people to (critically) read at least this first chapter of the book. Don't just swallow all that he says, but as I hope to point out bellow, there are some things that Noll makes a good case for. My own thoughts and ideas will be interjected into the discussion.
Noll's main point seems to be that evangelicals (used in a somewhat broad sense) have abandoned the arts and critical thinking fields of education and life. His point is true; where are the scientists, composers, and artists who made and did great things because of, not in spite of, their Christian beliefs? He says that it's not Christian academia that has faltered but the evangelical mindset itself. I can't agree with Noll when he says that to have abandoned these fields is sin, but I must say that it definitely shows a lack on our part in what we pursue.
In defense of "evangelicals," though, we still have far too few pastors, missionaries, and church leaders/helpers. We have had to somewhat abandon the arts, etc. simply to fill the need we already have.
Or perhaps we have abandoned the arts because we somehow view them as "less holy" or not as important as full-time ministry. Or because we see the arts and sciences has having been taken over completely by the world, making them a sort of icon for worldliness and godlessness.
But can we simply abandon these pursuits? Noll points out that because evangelicals have pulled out of the secular institutions, there is no longer a voice to combat the ungodly teaching that is going on there. Still, I wonder how much headway a believer would make in these academic circles when theory is taken as proven fact [evolution] and direct proof [such as for the Flood] is ignored and mocked.
My personal thoughts on the matter... Noll is correct in saying that evangelicals have largely - if not completely - abandoned the higher/logical pursuits and the arts. Just for example: the movies, novels, and plays written by believers generally not only have pathetic writing style (weak story line, dry and uninteresting characters, and cheesy plots) but are generally off on one or more major points of theology that most believers would hold to. In our music circles, we proclaim the superiorty of classical music because of it's style and yet have produced no composers (of note) in how many years? Rather than curse the darkness, we need to remove the darkness by bringing in the light. Has the world taken over the sciences, arts, and academia as a whole? I would have to say, "yes." But we as believers should seek to at least produce quality Christian alternatives to those areas, if not seek to "reconquest" them from the world. I am not expecting the world to agree with our faith, nor am I even hinting that we should water down our beliefs in order to be accepted. On the contrary, we should use our beliefs as the very fuel to drive us to excell in the arts and sciences, using these avenues to show the world the truth about God.
posted by Monk at 11:15 AM
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