“The forces of the Enlightenment and modernity routed the standing armies of the faith in Europe, accomplishing what we currently see there, which is a nearly total hegemony on the part of unbelief. In this country, the forces of modernity captured all the key cultural centers, and metaphorically speaking forced the faithful up into the …
Part of a Larger Work of Art
“The art world today tends to scorn art that is ‘merely decorative.’ Choosing a painting because it matches the furniture does tend to minimize the work of art. The meaning of the work and its self-contained identity is neglected, giving the object of art no more status than the coffee table or the wallpaper. Decorative …
The Edges of His Ways
“We must not trifle with God. God is not restricted in what He is able to do. Nothing outside His own good purposes, His own nature and character, restricts Him in any way. ‘Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways, and how small a whisper we hear of Him! But the thunder of …
Art Need Not Be About Ego
“We do not know who designed the dazzling stained glass windows at Chartres, nor do we know who illuminated the Book of Kells or who wrote ‘Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight’” [Gene Veith, State of the Arts (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1991), p. 32]
Almost Forgot
“The same is true when we encounter figures that relate to God’s knowledge — for example, those figures which represent God as repenting or relenting (Gen. 6:6; Exod. 32:12, 14), remembering (Gen. 9:15-16; Exod. 6:5), or forgetting (Ps. 9:18; Ps. 13:1; Jer. 23:39). ‘The God remembered Noah’ (Gen. 8:1). Does God smack His forehead in …
Whatever the Artist Does
“The purpose is not to give the audience pleasure, but to assault them with a ‘decentering’ experience. Art becomes defined as ‘whatever an artist does.’ As a result, the work of art becomes less important than the artist, a view which encourages posturing, egotism, and self-indulgence instead of artistic excellence. These new assumptions about art …
God or Zeus
“Two basic options are open to us. We can either recognize that all of Scripture is consistent, and that an infinite God condescends to appear, from time to time, to finite men in finite form, or we wind up with an Olympian Zeus — a god who sleeps, finds things out, gets hungry, and, if …
You Can Run But You Can’t Hide
“Christians might think that the confusions in the art world are no concern to them, simply another example of the vanity of this world. The arts, though, are important. We cannot escape them. They permeate our lives and our culture. The décor of our surroundings; the music we listen to; the entertainment we enjoy in …
Reason As Servant
“Suppose someone rejects the teaching of the Bible on God’s omniscience, but not because of any grammatical or exegetical reason. Suppose he rejects it because it contradicts something that his ‘reason’ insists on keeping. Who then is his Lord? Reason, or Christ? And who is the servant? Reason, or Christ? And to press it back …
Can Reason Run With Horses?
“The use of the phrase ‘if words have meaning’ is very important here. It is ironic that people can hold reason in very high esteem adn say that it is competent to investigate the depths of the wisdom and knowledge of God, as well as the nature of time and eternity, and yet when it …