At the Salisbury University, Maryland, art gallery there is an exhibit of abstract art.  Although abstract art is often difficult for most people to understand and is therefore controversial, this exhibit is totally unique, for it is art done by a dog named Sammy.  Sammy’s trainer, Mary Stadelbacher, taught Sammy how to paint, with a brush in his teeth, as a fundraising technique.  One collector paid $350 for one of Sammy’s paintings.  Arguably, such a development in the art world raises a profoundly important question:  What constitutes art?—the subject of this edition of Issues in Perspective.

• Creativity: A Christian Concept

When the Christian thinks of creativity, it is usually in the context of the arts.  Those with artistic ability are said to be “creative types,” while the untalented look on with envy.  But this is totally unbiblical.  Creativity is basic to life.  God is a God of beauty, creativity and variety; one only need look at His physical creation for proof.  Because we bear His image (Genesis 1:26), creativity is a part of being in the image of God.

A Definition of Creativity.  Peter Angeles defines “creation” as “bringing something new into existence out of something previously existing” (Dictionary of Philosophy, New York: Harper and Row, 1981, p. 51).  The noun, “creation,” refers to the act of creation or the product of the act.  The adjective, “creative,” refers to the quality one possesses to create.  The verb is transitive, meaning to produce, to give rise to something. 

Several conclusions flow from this definition:  (1) creativity is not quantitative but qualitative; (2) creativity is a process that involves movement, progression and change.  There is no single creative act, only creative action.  Painting a picture involves many acts; taken as a whole painting is a process.  (3) Because creativity is a quality and a process, it cannot be measured.  The only way to “see” creativity is though its effects (e.g., paintings, compositions, sculptures, etc.).  (4) Because “create” is a transitive verb, it always has an object.  Thus, the creative process always has a product.  The composer produces a composition; the painter a painting and the sculptor a sculpture.  The product of Genesis 1:1 is the universe.  (5) Finally, creativity is an actualizing of potential.  Things that exist have the potential to be rearranged, put together or simply become different.

Biblical Principles of Creativity.  Rooted in the proposition that God is the creator and we are His creatures, the following principles provide the basis for thinking and acting biblically when it comes to creativity.  Such a foundation, then, enables the Christian to gain an appreciation for and an involvement in the arts.

• Human creativity derives its value from God’s creativity.  In Genesis 1:26-30, after God had finished His creative work, He detailed His creation mandate for humanity.  Humans are to subdue and have dominion over His creation.  When we exercise that dominion, we are responding to the creativity He entrusted to us.
• Human creativity manifests God’s image.  Bearing God’s image means at least that we resemble Him.  Creative imagination is vested in the physical world, along with the human capacity for sensory, intellectual and emotional delight and pleasure.  Because God is creative, we carry that same capacity as His creatures.
• Creativity is a capacity to be developed in all persons, not just a creative elite.  There really is no person who does not have some significant creative potential.  Since all bear His image, all have some dimension of creativity.
• Creativity extends to all cultural activities, including art, science, work, play, thought and action.  One of the clear teachings of God’s Word is the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  If He is Lord of all, then that Lordship extends to all dimensions of life; there are no exceptions.  Since we have dominion status over His creation, we exercise that dominion in a creative way; and there are no exceptions to that either.
• Human creativity exists for the glory of God.  As 1 Corinthians 10:31 makes clear, we are to do all to the glory of God.  Each time we exercise our creative potential, we are giving glory to the One who created and gifted us.  All praise to Him!  (These principles are deduced from a seminar presented on the campus of Grace University by Dr. Howard Hendricks of Dallas Theological Seminary entitled, “Creativity in Ministry,” in the summer of 1992.  Also see Arthur Holmes, Contours of a World View. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989, pp. 206-210.)

• The Value of Art 

Many evangelicals have a vague discomfort about the arts.  They often are not certain whether art has any meaningful value and are confused about where it fits into God’s priorities.  Such confusion results in simplistic judgments about art’s value in general. 

This confusion and misunderstanding further result in one of two attitudes about art:  either antagonism or neglect.  Gordon Jackson observes, “Whether by the activism of hostility and antagonism . . . or by the passivity of inaction and neglect, the outcome is the same:  there is within evangelical circles minimal patronage of the arts, and even less interest in integrating that segment of culture with the Christian faith.”  Cultural illiteracy, Jackson argues, is one result; little production of quality art by evangelical Christians is another.  For example, writing in 1976, he noted that out of an estimated 33 million church-going evangelicals in the United States, “not even one outstanding novelist has emerged” (“Evangelicals and the Arts: Divorce or Reconciliation?” Spectrum [Summer 1976]: 17-19).

• Dorothy Sayers notes that the very first thing we learn about God is that He creates (quoted in Frank E. Gaebelein, “Toward a Biblical View of Aesthetics,” Christianity Today [30 August 1968]: 5).  Indeed, as the creator of the universe, God is the ultimate example of creative expression:

If from this world around us we can learn anything about God’s character, surely it is that we have a creative God, a God of diversity, a God whose interest in beauty and detail must be unquestioned when one looks at the world which he has made around us, and people themselves as the result of his craftsmanship (See Francis Schaeffer, Art and the Bible. InterVarsity, 1974, p. 17).

God did not create only for its usefulness, for our enjoyment or even as a means of revealing His character.  Some aspects of His creation are beautiful exhibitions of His creativity and yet never seen by humans.  Philip Yancey, in his book I Was Just Wandering, asks the question, “Why is it that the most beautiful animals on earth are hidden away from all humans except those wearing SCUBA equipment?  Who are they beautiful for?”  (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989, p. 3).  Evidently, their beauty is for God alone.  Schaeffer remarks, “we live in a world full of ‘useless’ beauty” (17).  Therefore, art and beauty have intrinsic value.

Because we are God’s image-bearers, this “takes us deep into the nature of our human creative ability.  For one of the marks of the image of God that we bear is that we, too, in our creaturely way, are makers.  And in no human activity is this aspect of God’s image more evident than in our making art” (Gaebelein, 5).  Just as God’s artwork needs no utilitarian justification, neither does ours; it has inherent value because it is given by God as part of His image.  It is inherently good in His eyes.

• A basic function of art is that it both expresses and shapes people’s values and their worldview (H.R. Rookmaaker. Art Needs No Justification.  Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1978, p. 31).  This is obvious because art usually deals with the major issues of life: life and death, love and hate, etc.  The worldview expressed in a culture’s art reflects the worldview of that culture’s people.  Witness the impact of modern music and entertainment.  That is why withdrawal from the arts is so potentially devastating for Christianity.  Schaeffer contends, “Any group that willingly or unconsciously sidesteps creativity and human expression gives up their effective role in the society in which they live.  In Christian terms, their ability to be the salt of that society is greatly diminished” (24).

• A related but slightly different value for artistic expression is that it offers insight into reality.  Artistic expression communicates the familiar in a fresh, enlightening way.  Art enables one to experience newfound insights into ourselves, others and the world around us.  For example, reading a well-written story about someone grieving over the death of one’s father enables one to know what it is like to lose a father.  A good painting of poverty enriches understanding of what it means to be poor.

• Art likewise has emotional power.  It is able to communicate one perspective of truth as nothing else can.  For example, one of the best expressions of God’s glory is Handel’s Messiah.  Handel’s Messiah communicates that subjective element of truth like few other musical works.

• The Value of Specific Art 

Artists create works of art and the diversity of literature, music, dance, cinema and graphic arts is the result.  Within these widely different fields each piece of art is unique and demands its own critique.  If art in general is inherently valuable, is every art work inherently valuable?  Are all artworks equally valuable, or should their value be determined relative to certain standards?

Although human creative ability is part of bearing God’s image, this image was marred through the fall into sin.  Gaebelein reminds us, “No biblical thinker, whether in aesthetics or in any other field, can afford to slight the fact that, because of the fall, man has an innate bent toward sin, and that bent is reflected in what he does” (5).

As one looks at the art produced in our culture today, much of it is in the realm of good as well as evil, ugliness instead of beauty, falsehood instead of truth.  Can such art really have inherent value, really be of inherent good in God’s sight?  If art has a great potential for good, it also has a great potential for evil.  As products of fallen humanity, art is tainted by humanity’s sin nature.  As products of finite beings, art is an imperfect expression of the creative nature of God.  What then should we do?  What criteria should Christians use in evaluating art?

Allow me to suggest three basic criteria for evaluating art and beauty.  First, is the artist skilled (i.e., mastered the artistic medium)?  Second, what is the content of the artwork?  What is the artist attempting to convey?  Is it truth or falsehood?  What morals are reflected?  What is the worldview?  Finally, how creative is the artwork?  Does it provide fresh perspective?  Does it speak profoundly to the viewer? 

In each of the three criteria, God has an ideal for artistic beauty.  In skill, He is pleased with excellence; in content, he is pleased with truth; in creativity, He is pleased with quality and depth.  Each of these criteria is a refection of His character–excellence, truth and creativity.  Without trying to oversimplify this complex issue, it seems that the closer a piece of art is to these ideals, the more pleasing it is to God.   But beauty remains nebulous, argues Gaebelein:
“. . . to justify beauty exclusively with harmony and orderliness does scant justice to the power and truth the arts are capable of . . . . Dissonance in music, stark realism in literature, and the ‘ugly’ in visual art all have an indispensable relation to beauty.  The concept of beauty in art must be large enough to include the aesthetic astringencies.  For beauty wears different faces” (13).

To be a Christian is not to be taken out of the world and made a purely “spiritual” being.  Rather, it is to be transformed into the image God had for humans at creation.  Rookmaaker argues that “. . . God is the God of life and . . . the Bible teaches people how to live, how to deal with our world, God’s creation” (18).  This certainly gives focus to the need for a biblical view of art.

• A Brief Survey of Western Art History:

1. During the Middle Ages, AD 500—1500, painting lacked perspective and was wooden, ethereal.  Architecture for some of the period was Gothic which drove your eyes upward toward God.
2. During the Reformation (1517-1648), portraits were genuine and real, focusing on the uniqueness of each individual.  Humans were made in God’s image.
3. During the Enlightenment of the 18th century, portraits were of heroic individuals of power and authority.  Landscapes were neat and orderly, reflecting the Scientific Revolution—a world of order and structure.
4. During the Romantic period of the 19th century, the chaotic.  Roaring seas, rugged mountains and the savageness of nature was emphasized in painting and sculpture.
5. As you move into the late 19th and into the 20th centuries, Impressionism, with its emphasis on bright colors, light and subjective expression, gave way to Expressionism, Surrealism, Dadaism, etc.—all with subjective experience at the center.  Art is what the artist says it is.  There are no standards and there are no boundaries.  Hence, a dog who paints with a brush in his mouth produces art.

Art does indeed reflect the values and worldview of a culture.

See “Breakpoint” (14 August 2007) and James P. Eckman, Ethics in a Postmodern World (ETA), pp. 77-86.