Protestants embrace the arts
9 January 2007 4 Comments
In response to a thread in the Arts and Faith forums, Andy Whitman posted an entry on his blog suggesting that Protestants stereotyped as “anti-art” have come around — that Orthodox and Catholic parishoners are no longer the only people in Christendom embracing the arts.
Andy does not suggest that all Protestants embrace the arts, but instead proposes that there are at least as many Protestant artists of repute (citing Sufjan Stevens, Marilynne Robinson and John Updike) as in other branches of Christianity. And he makes a very interesting point. In fact, he might be right. I had never considered this perspective, and — although a Protestant myself — always pointed to these more mainline demoninations’ appreciation of art when speaking about visual art and Christian faith.
Perhaps my speaking is in need of revision.
Andy suggests that Schaeffer’s and Rookmaaker’s influence from three decades ago is coming to bear. However, I still feel as though most people in the churches I’ve attended need some art appreciation lessons. This is not lost on Whitman either:
- Are there still more Protestants who don’t give a rip about art than those who care about it passionately? Probably, but I’m not convinced that theology has much to do with it, and my guess is that there are also more Catholics, Orthodox, Episcopalians, Buddhists, and good old-fashioned Capitalist Consumer Materialists who don’t give a rip about art than those who do.
Even if Protestants have embraced the arts to the same degree as their peers, I believe this embrace is in its infancy. There is still work to be done — sermons to be preached and Sunday school classes to be taught on the theology of the arts, the arts in Scripture. As much as Christians should be able to list the fruit of the Spirit, they should know that the first two people as recorded in the Bible to be empowered by the Spirit were artists. We should know that a myriad of the psalms were musical, that God sanctioned abstract art and Himself used metaphor.
So Protestants accept the arts. Now we need to make certain they also appreciate, utilize and engage in the arts.
While I would agree with your words here, I would like to add something else. I am a student at Asbury Theological Seminary and an artist and the amount of post graduate training available dealing with theology and art is VERY slim. There are a few programs in Canada, and Asbury allows a sort of redirect towards this field. I think that the availability of an education in this should be something that is strived for as well. Maybe even some required courses for all going into vocational ministry to understand these issues?
Chad,
Thank you for reminding me of my own plight! This is one aspect of Protestantism which is still sorely deficient in the arts, you are right. Just after finishing my BFA I looked intently for a Christian school (all of my education to that point had been at public schools) to get an MFA in studio art from. I found three things:
Biola used to have an MFA program, but it was draining too much from their BFA program.
The University of Dallas, a catholic university, offered an MFA in studio art. That didn’t appeal to me at the time (being Protestant).
Bob Jones University — yes, THAT Bob Jones — offered a masters in studio art, but it wasn’t an “MFA” and hence my ability to get a university job with their degree was not very good.
At the time I felt as though I had left no stone unturned, although I probably could have been more throrough in my search. Your point is well made, but I suppose my use of the term “infancy” in relationship to the Protestant’s embrace of the arts allows for such lack, no?
Pingback: The Protestant embrace of visual art is “in its infancy” « The Aesthetic Elevator
Pingback: Follow up: JBU Gallery St. Francis benefit « The Aesthetic Elevator