i’m taking an introduction to fine arts class this semester, and quite honestly, i’ve been blown away by how much i really love the content of the course.  i was thinking that we would learn about different ages of music, types of paintings, and names of ballet moves … so, needless to say, i was incredibly pessimistic about it going in to the semester.

every time i thought of painting before taking this class, i used to think of a Jackson Pollock, or Andy Warhol’s soup can painting. i (kinda) thought it was just a scheme for people to make money off of each other, and that it was all kind of a big hoax.  (see the article regarding the $5 painting dubbed a Jackson Pollock, and causing a major stir in the art world.)  i mean, if someone else could paint something that sells for $50 million dollars, then why is it worth so much??

then i was confronted with something beautiful.  Rembrandt’s “Peter’s Denial of Jesus” was the first painting which really showed me the masterful skill and ability which it takes to craft something truly great.

Peter's Denial of Jesus - Rembrandt

in the center of this painting, we see Peter denying that he is a disciple of Jesus (located in the right of the painting).  rembrandt paints one of the accusers seemingly holding a light up to the future apostle and asking him about it.  images of John chapter one come rushing to mind when the apostle writes of John the Baptist “he came to bear witness about the light.“  the woman seems to be holding up “the light” to Peter and asking “do you know about this?”  there’s many more themes just like this which i don’t have time to expound upon here.

One of the things which is supposed to distinguish “great” art from other forms is its “in-exhaustability” or the ability of the work to hold the viewer’s attention for an unlimited amount of time.  each time you come back to the painting, it should capture your attention.  this painting (when viewed much larger) is a terrific example of a work which is inexhaustible.

there was a time when Christians engaged very heavily with the arts.  the church commissioned the greatest artists in the world to depict the beauty of the faith in various forms of art like painting, sculpture, music, even architecture.  in his article “Why We Need Artists,” Tim Keller says that we need art to fully understand the truth.  jonathan edwars also said that unless you take a truth and you imagine it, unless you visualize what it means, then you don’t have a sense of it on your heart.

admittedly, i’m at the very beginning of my study of these things, and i’m very anxious to test and think through the theories of the necessity of art in theology, or art as theology.  do any of you have any experiences with these things?  do you have a theology of art?  does the modern church properly engage with the arts?  what do you think?