More on Culture Making
the book by Andy Crouch.

Review by Gideon Strauss in Books & Culture

A thorough and fairly critical review by John Seel

Seel's lambasts Crouch for his failure to emphasize the role of institutions in culture-making. Instead, following the approach I largely espouse, he focuses on how individuals can and should get culturally involved. I think that this small-scale, local approach at the present cultural circumstances, makes the most sense.

I suspect that the way one views culture has a lot to do with the macro vs micro approach. If you see culture in terms paintings, novels, poems and ravioli, the micro/local approach makes sense - it doesn't take much to get started in making faithful Christian culture on this scale. But if you see culture in terms of movies and ipods, individuals - even rich individuals - can't cut it. These kinds of cultural artifacts need institutions to make them.

Of course this is not an eithor/or situation but a both/and. Though in the near term the local option seems to be the smarter play.
posted by Dave at Tuesday, September 02, 2008 -

More Cultural Convergence
I first heard about this book in a review from Comment:



Additional info and excerpts can be found here:

Covers much of the same terrain as Plowing.

Here's a quote I like:

Cultural goods too will be transformed and redeemed, yet they will be recognizably what they were in the old creation—or perhaps more accurately, they will be what they always could have been. The new Jerusalem will be truly a city: a place suffused with culture, a place where culture has reached its full flourishing. It will be the place where God's instruction to the first human being is fulfilled, where all the latent potentialities of the world will be discovered and released by creative, cultivating people

posted by Dave at Tuesday, August 12, 2008 -

"a clumsy tumble like airport luggage"
So reads Larry Woiwode's self-description of his writing. Wrestling. Work. And Survival.

Here are a couple of reviews of Woiwode's most recent memoir, A Step from Death, one recently published in Books & Culture, the other from the Christian Science Monitor.

Larry is an excellent example of cultural providence. A hard life has - in the hands of the Potter - resulted in a rich body of literature.
posted by Dave at Tuesday, August 05, 2008 -

The Loss of Reading
The quotes are taken from an article from the New York Times looking at the effect of technology on the way people read:

"What we are losing in this country and presumably around the world is the sustained, focused, linear attention developed by reading. I would believe people who tell me that the Internet develops reading if I did not see such a universal decline in reading ability and reading comprehension on virtually all tests."

-- Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts

"Reading a book, and taking the time to ruminate and make inferences and engage the imaginational processing, is more cognitively enriching, without doubt, than the short little bits that you might get if you're into the 30-second digital mode."

-- Ken Pugh, a cognitive neuroscientist at Yale

This makes me that much more thankful for the Classical Christian education my kids receive.
posted by Dave at Tuesday, July 29, 2008 -

Thinking about Trees



Trees are surely one of the marvelous parts of God's creation. They figure prominantly in scripture both in the original garden and the New Jerusalem as well as the place (figuratively at least) of crucifixion.

Essayist Alan Jacob's has a really fine piece in Books and Culture on trees well worth the read.
posted by Dave at Tuesday, July 01, 2008 -

Landscape Origins
According to one source, the two most used words in English taken from the Dutch language are aparteid and landscape. Here is the etymology of landscape from American Heritage Dictionary via Answers.com:

[Dutch landschap, from Middle Dutch landscap, region : land, land + -scap, state, condition (collective suff.).]

It would be interesting to probe more the meaning of "scap" in Dutch.

Here is an additonal note on the origin of "landscape" fom Answers.com:

WORD HISTORY Landscape, first recorded in 1598, was borrowed as a painters' term from Dutch during the 16th century, when Dutch artists were pioneering the landscape genre. The Dutch word landschap had earlier meant simply “region, tract of land” but had acquired the artistic sense, which it brought over into English, of “a picture depicting scenery on land.” Interestingly, 34 years pass after the first recorded use of landscape in English before the word is used of a view or vista of natural scenery. This delay suggests that people were first introduced to landscapes in paintings and then saw landscapes in real life.

posted by Dave at Wednesday, June 25, 2008 -

Postumous Accolades
for Larry Norman's resently released (after his death in February) The Anthology (Rebel Poet, Jukebox Balladeer) which has received a review in Rolling Stone .
posted by Dave at Tuesday, June 17, 2008 -

Perspective


posted by Dave at Wednesday, June 11, 2008 -

Work: Back to the Basics
as in forming a biblical view of work. Work Research Foundation has just published a fine article on this from Ray Pennings. Here's a snippet:

Reformed, Calvinist teaching regarding work can be summarized as follows:

1. God works, and we are called to bear His image;
2. God derives satisfaction from His work;
3. God provides for us through our work;
4. God has commanded man to work, and to work within the framework of His commands;
5. God holds us accountable for our work and expects to be acknowledged through it;
6. God provides particular gifts designed to meet particular needs in the advancement of His kingdom;
7. The Fall has radically affected our work. Work became toil; thorns and thistles frustrate our efforts. Fallen man seeks to glorify himself rather than his Creator through work;
8. Work is an individual as well as a social activity;
God takes pleasure in beauty, and the Scriptures do not focus simply on the functional and utilitarian aspects of work; and
9. Christ worked as part of His active obedience, and the believer's work through Christ is part of that obedience.

A nice summary, dontcha think?

The article is also really worth reading for the excerpts from William Perkins "A Treatise of the Vocations or Callings of Men" which I had never heard of before. Perkins - the quintessential Puritan - sound like a Kyperian when he says:

Every particular calling must be practiced in and with the general calling of a Christian. It is not sufficient for a man in the congregation, and in common conversation, to be a Christian, but in his very personal calling, he must show himself to be so. For example, a Magistrate must not only in general be a Christian, as every man is, but he must be a Christian Magistrate, in bearing the sword.

posted by Dave at Friday, June 06, 2008 -

More Busy Times
This is going to quite a summer! Our oldest daughter is getting married in July (to the son of neo-Calvinist history prof at George Fox University here in Newberg). My oldest son is busy gearing up for college applications next fall to a program in industrial design (we visited U of O Product Design program on Monday). And there is the usual array of house projects: I hope to install a retracting attic stair next week.
posted by Dave at Thursday, June 05, 2008 -

Frame on Culture
from Doctrine of the Christian Life By John M. Frame:


Chapter 45: What is Culture?

Chapter 46: Christ and Culture

Chapter 47: Christ and Our Culture

Chapter 48: Christians In Our Culture

Chapter 49: Culture in the Church


All of these are available via pdf, Word, html.

HT: Mark Horne
posted by Dave at Tuesday, May 27, 2008 -

The Times they Are a Changin'
I suppose this isn't exactly new news. But Cnet has a piece on how the old audiophile approach to music is all but dead. The "high fidelity" approach to music is all but dead (or at the very least has been pushed to a far-off corner niche).

It is striking how difference music listening is today. Ipods and the like have made music into a ubiquitous, mostly solo affair. When I was a college undergraduate audio systems were a pretty big deal (often literally). Listening to records was often a communal activity in a particular space. Now this is all but a ghost from the past.

Music today is a commodity--ripped for free track by track, or bought for 99 cents and eventually added to a vast digital library, either destined to become a favorite, or more likely forgotten for good after a couple of listens. Today's music players are regarded the same way--mostly as disposable. Either the player will work for two or three years before sputtering and dying, or a newer, faster, smaller, better player that has far more cachet will be released in six months.

"I often wonder about the 30-year-old iPod," Guttenberg mused. "Will someone still use an iPod in 30 years," like audiophiles do high-end speakers?

The answer is, of course, not a chance.

posted by Dave at Friday, May 23, 2008 -

You Are Here




This map gave me a pleasant chuckle.

According to the map I live in "U.L.M.P.", but experience tells me I am more likely situated in humble state of Granola.

Crunch. Crunch.

HT: Alan Jacobs
posted by Dave at Monday, May 19, 2008 -

Robert Rauschenberg is Dead



His evocative works (along with Jasper Johns) were very influencial on my early interest in painting and art, though you would never know it today.

He once quipped: "A pair of socks is not less suitable to make a painting with than wood, nails, turpentine, oil and fabric."

He is usually called a pop artist, but his approach is actually closer to Dada. A really fine book that captures his early development and relationship to Duchamp is Calvin Tomkins Off the Wall - really good read.
posted by Dave at Tuesday, May 13, 2008 -

Convergence?
Its seems that I am running into the idea of our future life being lived on earth - with buildings and culture, etc. - more and more.

The idea was first powerfully introduced to me in Richard Mouw's When Kings Come Marching in and was reinforced by Anthony Hoekema's books. But this idea goes back (at least) to Kuyper and Bavinck and can be seen in many other reformed writers. The idea is prominant in my book Plowing in Hope, and is featured in other recently published books such as Nathan Bierma's Bringing Heaven Down to Earth and Michael Wittmer's Heaven is a Place on Earth.

Most recently I saw this in a book excerpt published by Christianity Today by NT Wright:

Thus the church that takes sacred space seriously (not as a retreat from the world but as a bridgehead into it) will go straight from worshiping in the sanctuary to debating in the council chamber; to discussing matters of town planning, of harmonizing and humanizing beauty in architecture, green spaces, and road traffic schemes; and to environmental work, creative and healthy farming methods, and proper use of resources. If it is true, as I have argued, that the whole world is now God's holy land, we must not rest as long as that land is spoiled and defaced. This is not an extra to the church's mission. It is central.

This is a very powerful idea. I think it is key to healthy Christian cultural activity - in addition to the restorative work that Wright discusses in his essay.
posted by Dave at Tuesday, May 13, 2008 -

Just Passing Through
But Where?

Doug Wilson puts it quite well:

Many Christians believe the cosmos has an upper and lower story, with earth as the lower and heaven as the upper. You live the first chapters of your life here. Then you die, and you move upstairs to live with the nice people in part two. There might be some kind of sequel after that, but it is all kind of hazy. The basic movement in this thinking is from Philippi “below” to Rome “above.”

But what Paul teaches us here is quite different. We are establishing the colonies of heaven here, now. When we die, we get the privilege of visiting the heavenly motherland, which is quite different than moving there permanently. After this brief visit, the Lord will bring us all back here for the final and great transformation of the colonists (and the colonies). In short, our time in heaven is the intermediate state. It is not the case that our time here is the intermediate state. There is an old folk song that says, “This world is not my home, I’m just passing through.” This captures the mistake almost perfectly. But as the saints gather in heaven, which is the real intermediate state, the growing question is, “When do we get to go back home?” And so this means that heaven is the place that we are just “passing through.”

As they say, home is where the heart is.
posted by Dave at Tuesday, May 06, 2008 -

Just Incredible
Please allow me to digress a tiny bit from my usual musings and discuss the all to common use of the word incredible.

"Incredible" means/used to mean "untrue", as in "the slippery witness was utterly incredible in their testimony." Yet all too often the word is used to mean more or less the opposite: "this food tastes incredible." I suppose the idea is that such a something is too good to be true.

Every time I hear the word used this way it is like fingernails on the blackboard. The epitome of this lexical abuse is phrase penned/spoken by Christians again and again: "God is so incredible." Ouch! Jesus is "the way, the truth, the life" and is so "incredible" is doing so.

Does anybody else out there experience pain when they hear/read this?

I know that language evolves over time but this seems to be a subtle undermining of God's absolutely credible character. Will you join me in stopping the abuse?
posted by Dave at Tuesday, April 29, 2008 -

The Origin of Spin?

Until Duchamp, criticism was aesthetically based. The critic talked about a painting's subject, the way the artist handled color, drawing, composition and the like. With Readymades, the object's appearance and beauty were no longer the issue -- indeed, they were irrelevant. What mattered was the idea behind the work -- the point the artist was trying to make. So art criticism moved from the realm of visual experience to that of philosophy. The writer no longer had to base his critical observations on a close scrutiny of the work of art. He could simply riff.

--from article on the crisis of writing on art from Wall Street Journal

posted by Dave at Monday, April 21, 2008 -

More on Cranach
(or More on Ancient Hip)

“It attracts crossover buyers, who are drawn by the artist’s sharp-edged, pared-down, weird modern aesthetic.”

--comments on the portrait of Princess Sybille of Cleve by Cranach which recently was auctioned for over 7 million dollars

(story)
posted by Dave at Friday, April 18, 2008 -

Survey Says...

Report: "Unchurched prefer cathedrals to contemporary church designs"

So much for "missional", "authentic" and "hip".





(HT: Russ Reeves)
posted by Dave at Tuesday, April 15, 2008 -

Should Art Take a Stand?
Before there was Thomas Kinkade there was the German Renaissance painter Lucas Cranach. There is a show of his stuff at the Royal Academy in London that has been getting some press.

Cranach had close ties to Martin Luther and is often heralded as an artist who embodied Reformation principles in his art. But a closer look at his art shows that he was more of an astute businessman that theologically driven/inspired artist. He employed a large workshop which produced hundreds of his popular portraits of Luther and other Reformational luminaries. But also continued to create devotional images of Mary and Saints for Roman Catholic clientele.

As one reviewer of the London exhibit observes:

When Luther took the dramatic and scandalous step of marrying a former nun in 1525, the timid Melancthon stayed away, but Cranach was Luther's best man. He sold mass-produced sets of paired wedding portraits of the couple, a defiant proclamation of the reformer's evangelical freedom from monkish vows. Painter and preacher were godfathers to each other's children, and in 1527 Cranach painted tender portraits of Luther's aged father and mother. The insight into character and obvious affection of these great pictures were another testimony to the painter's love for Luther and his family.

And yet, during these same years, Cranach's workshop was also turning out scores of Catholic pictures for Catholic patrons, including Luther's bête noire, Cardinal Albrecht, the archbishop of Mainz. These included altarpieces for Albrecht's cathedral, devotional panels of Christ as the Man of Sorrows (an image closely associated with the doctrine of transubstantiation), images of favourite Catholic saints, or of Mary assumed into heaven. Cranach and his assistants painted Cardinal Albrecht himself as Saint Jerome in his study (in a composition borrowed from a famous print by Dürer), and as witness to the miraculous Mass of Saint Gregory, a subject associated not only with transubstantiation and the sacrifice of the mass, but also with the release of souls from purgatory, and so absolute anathema to Luther. Characteristically, however, Cranach never drew Albrecht from the life, and probably never met him: instead, he copied Albrecht's features from Dürer's 1519 portrait.

How can we account for this duality? Was it the almighty Mark?

Or maybe it was because Cranach followed Luther in a Two Kingdom approach to artmaking?!!!
posted by Dave at Friday, April 11, 2008 -

Public Sculpture Turns the Church on its Head
Read about the controversy in Vancouver, BC here.



The title of the work by artist Dennis Oppenheim is "Device to Root Out Evil". Is this a light flight of whimsy, or sly put-down of Christendom? Hard to say.

I wonder what they are thinking about this at nearby Regent College...
posted by Dave at Tuesday, April 08, 2008 -

When in Seattle, do...
Sorry for the lack of posts last week.



Part of my busy week included a trip up to the Seattle Art Museum to see Roman Art from Louvre exhibit and the small display of three Gates of Paradise panels by Ghiberti from the Baptistry in Florence. Both shows were wonderful. The Louvre show was truly exceptional - at least here on the West Coast of North America. Dozens of life-size sculptures and friezes, plus pottery, glass and silver from the period. Much better than I expected.

See the Ghiberti panels in person (since I have never been to Florence) was also worthwhile. Its always nice to actually encounter something that is so prominantly featured in my art history classes.

I am glad my son could see this as well!
posted by Dave at Monday, April 07, 2008 -

Builder-King
Something to keep in mind: Jesus had a job:

He was a tekton, the son of a tekton, which meant that He was a builder of some sort. Most have taken this to mean carpenter, but Schneider suggests the additional possibilities of masonry, or jack of all trades. I have elsewhere seen the suggestion that it may have meant an architect. In any case, it was a respectable trade...

(quote taken from Doug Wilson's blog)
posted by Dave at Monday, March 31, 2008 -

Teaching Culture
Exerpts from the "Trinity Catechism" authored by Doug Jones focusing on our cultural calling:

V. What marriage in creation is this?

Adam and Eve were married in the Garden,
a king and queen, enjoying peaches, hawks,
each other, sent to build bridges, phones, toys.

...

V’. What is the purpose of this marriage of Son and Church?

This new Adam and Eve pick-up the work
abandoned by the first - to raise a godly
seed, expand the feast, and build a garden city.

Jones calls this a catapoem - and with good reason. It is truly a catachism and a poem rolled into one.
posted by Dave at Wednesday, March 26, 2008 -

More on the Exit of Polaroid Film
Article at the Boston Globe.

Here are some of my favorite creative examples of Polaroid film:



Talking Heads album cover.



David Hockney photo-collage (click on image to enlarge)
posted by Dave at Monday, March 24, 2008 -

Judging a Book...
Here some more background on the design of the new cover for Plowing from the Canon Press Blog:

Another cover that went through several revisions was Plowing in Hope written by David Hegeman. Once we eliminated the idea of a cello in the middle of a plowed field, simply because it was winter and the chance of finding a dirt field that wasn’t buried under snow was slim to none, David came up with the new concept. I wanted Brussels Sprouts on the cover and David initially stacked them on the picture frame. But he just couldn’t wrap his head around it, so you’ll now find a lone sprout on the back cover under a lighted pedestal. Here’s the little snippet from Plowing in Hope on The Brussels Sprouts Syndrome that captured my attention. If you look closely, you can see the Brussels Sprout on the white pedestal in the picture on the left.

The "David" here is David Dalbey. You can read the designer's thoughts on other cover changes as well.
posted by Dave at Wednesday, March 19, 2008 -

Say What?
Here is a thesis only a Two-Kingdom advocate could love"

Keynote Address : James Elkins

“ON THE STRANGE PLACE OF RELIGION
IN CONTEMPORARY ART”

On the Strange Place of Religion in Contemporary Art explains the curious disconnect between spirituality & current art. In his talk, Dr. Elkins will show why committed, engaged, ambitious, informed art does not mix w/ dedicated, serious, thoughtful, heartfelt religion. Wherever the two meet, one wrecks the other. Modern spirituality & contemporary art are rum companions; either the art is loose & unambitious, or the religion is one-dimensional & unpersuasive. That is not to imply the two sides should maintain their mutual distrust, but that talk needs to be very slow and careful.

--from a symposium held at Biola University this past weekend.

Hmm. I wonder if Elkins has ever heard of, say, Michelangelo or Rembrandt or Roualt or...
posted by Dave at Tuesday, March 18, 2008 -

Degas at the PAM



I went to the Portland Art Museum last night with my wife, daughter and a friend to see the Degas, Forain and Lautrec show.

The Degas artworks were particularly excellent. There was a veriety of oil paintings, pastel works, sketches and monotypes all based around the theme of dance/ballet. He is an absolute master of drawing - a few quick marks or smudges capturing the essence of a scene or thing. He also excels in adding just the smallest bit of extra color to his studies to give them a bit of extra life and interest.



Makes me want to draw more...
posted by Dave at Friday, March 14, 2008 -

Stop Thinking Dualistically Now!
One of the ways that Christians devalue the physicality of creation and culture-making is to talk about the afterlife as "heaven." We are not going to spend eternity in heaven but rather on the New Earth.

Or more correctly, heaven and earth will be joined together as God's-realm - heaven - will be married to the earth. God will dwell with redeemed men and women on the redeemed earth. One such argument can be found in this essay by Richard Middleton:

Heaven is also the realm—in contradistinction to earth—where God’s will is perfectly accomplished prior to the eschaton. This is the assumption behind the prayer Jesus taught his disciples: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). It is the biblical eschatological hope that one day God’s salvation (which is being prepared in heaven) will be manifest fully on earth. Then earth will be fully conformed to heaven

But “heaven” simply does not describe the Christian eschatological hope. Not only is the term “heaven” never used in Scripture for the eternal destiny of the redeemed, but continued use of “heaven” to name the Christian hope may well divert our attention from the legitimate biblical expectation for the present transformatin of our earthly life to conform to God’s purposes. Indeed, to focus our expectation on an otherworldly salvation has the potential to dissipate our resistance to societal evil and the ddication needed to work for the redemptive transformation of this world. Therefore, for reasons exegetical, theological and ethical, I have come to repent of using the term “heaven” to describe the future God has in store for the faithful. It is my hope that all readers of this essay would—after thoughtful consideration—join me in this repentance.

 
posted by Dave at Thursday, March 06, 2008 -

Bad Instant Karma
I suppose this is somewhat old news. But I just heard on NPR Friday that Polaroid will soon stop making instant film. I find this really sad.

I have been a fan of Polaroid film for years. I own an SX-70 and an old peel-apart camera (the kind with the bellows) which I have used off and on for years. These cameras have always intregued me.

I can only hope (along with countless artists) that someone steps up to the plate and licenses these products and continues to make this wonderful film.
posted by Dave at Monday, March 03, 2008 -

Two Books I'm Looking forward to Reading




posted by Dave at Wednesday, February 27, 2008 -

Larry Norman, R.I.P.
A friend sent me an email that Christian Rock legend Larry Norman died Sunday. My first encounter with Norman's music came when I was a new Christian in the 70s: his song "I Wish we'd All Been Ready" was featured in the goofy apocalyptic movie A Thief in the Night.

I really only listened Larry Norman's music after I got married. He was a bit before my time. But he and the other "Jesus Music" pioneers of the late 60s/early 70s are hugely influential on the present-day church. Just as we owe the present state of cultural involvement to the likes of Francis Schaeffer and Hans Rookmaaker and their influential books, we also owe a large portion of this to the Christian musicians who broke away from frozen, mediocre cultural hegemony of the conservative church in the 60s. They made it much easier for the rest of us.

Larry Norman lived in Salem, Oregon, which is where I work. Maybe it will work out for me to go to his funeral. We'll see.
posted by Dave at Tuesday, February 26, 2008 -

Top-Down or Bottom-Up?
From an book-review essay in Comment by John Seel"

This strategy stems from a general acceptance that cultural change is top-down and guided by strategically placed gatekeepers. Infiltrating these gatekeeper networks has been one of the overarching objectives of these institutions. . . . Latent evangelical populism has resisted this overt elitism. Charles Colson writes, "I don't believe societies are moved as much by the social elites as they are by changes in the habits of the heart. I think you have to give people, the mass of people, a different vision to live by . . . John Naisbitt said that fads start from the top down, movements from the bottom up."

And yet, the reality-defining institutions of the academy, art, media, and entertainment, which are controlled by economic, social, and cultural elites, shape the "habits of the heart" of any given society. Having once worked for John Naisbitt, I can say with confidence that he was speaking about consumer trends, not cultural dynamics. The achievement of these institutions is to be applauded.

Readers of TNT will know that I largely reject the top-down approach to renewing culture. Working on the local level and on a smaller scale, and working and expanding from there - all the while remaining exclusively and distinctly Christian - is the way to grow a genuinely Christian culture. Compromise and cooperative ventures end up with a diluted product - losing most of its saltiness in the process.

What we need, I think, is a Christian subversive sub-culture and a patient, long-term, outlook. We also need at the same time to actively resist the mind-shaping effects of the dominant culture around us ("be not conformed...") and we celebrate the cultural offerings of the local Christian culture around us...
posted by Dave at Monday, February 25, 2008 -

Five-O



Not the Hawaiian kind. The mid-life "crisis" kind...

Your's truly turned a half-century old a week ago.

I'd like to blame my lack of posts last week to old age. But this, alas, would be highly untrue.
posted by Dave at Monday, February 25, 2008 -

Last Tuesday
I went to see the James Lavadour exhibit during lunch at the local art museum. What a treat to have this (albeit small) resource right near where I work!

Lavadour has such a unique way of making his panels: a series of squeegyings, scrapings, transparent layers, irredecent pigments. He really captures something of the open landscape of the American West.


posted by Dave at Thursday, February 14, 2008 -

Perpective & Generations
Doug Wilson has been observing the scene in the UK. In the course of his analysis, he makes the following comments worth pondering...

Re: Christian cultural change/transformation:

we have constantly urged "reformation, not revolution," and one godly pastor here put the same need in terms of "evolution, not revolution." Patience and balance are key.

Re: the mutual exasperation between the younger and older generations within the church:

As these two generations of evangelicals talk with each other, there is a basic attitude that should be remembered by all -- those who are coming up through the ranks should cultivate a deep spirit of gratitude. Without the previous work of "unreasonable and intractable conservatives," there would be nothing here to work with. And those older heads who see the newer generation coming up, more filled with beans than wisdom, the sensation should be gratitude as well. The glory of young men is their strength, and the wisdom will come in due course. This is God's way. Each generation should be grateful to the other, and both to God.

I know I need to take this to heart...
posted by Dave at Tuesday, February 12, 2008 -

Reformed Aesthetic Heritage
I don't usually provide links to Ebay listings - but check this listing on a book on Calvinistic Churches in Hungary. Lots of Pics!

For the most part the spaces celebrate simplicity - with rich carvings in pulpits, ceilings and pews. It also seems that family arms are prominantly featured. I wonder if this is because of an emphasis on covenant succession?
posted by Dave at Friday, February 08, 2008 -

Educational Opportunities
I recently came across this article about an LDS member who has made his old master print collection available for display as LDS churches in the Denver area.

This has me thinking. Why not do the same thing for and by evangelical Christians. We need to get rank-and-file church members exposed and thinking about the arts - especially examples of well crafted art works. Having a loan collection that can be temporarily displayed at churches, Christain schools, and Christian colleges would do much to increase cultural literacy and appreciation in the Christian community.

Of course this should be limited to visual art. Opportunities for prefessional quality performing art concerts, plays and dance should also be considered.
posted by Dave at Thursday, February 07, 2008 -

Jordan Responds
You can read James Jordan's response to my question regarding his view of tools in the garden of Eden here. (Part of the comments to a post by Barb Harvey)
posted by Dave at Tuesday, February 05, 2008 -

Curious
I wonder why James Jordan would propose this:

Musical instruments were not in Eden. No tools were. It is when we graduate from Eden into the world that we use tools to make bread and wine and to play music.

It is when the Kingdom comes that instruments come, and instruments are particularly given as weapons to war against demons. Demons are not allowed near until David has a weapon to drive them away. The demon David drove from Saul is the first demon to appear.

No tools in Eden? How did Adam "work" or "till" the garden (Gen 2:15), with his bare hands?
posted by Dave at Monday, February 04, 2008 -

Exhibitions
A couple of weeks ago we visited the Portland Art Museum where I saw a very interesting show on the printmaking of Chuck Close. Often called a photorealist, Close's art is really about process. Many of his monumental prints (some over 7 feed!) were displayed in various sequential states. One silkscreen he did had more than 120 colors. Having done prints in the past - some with as many as 14 colors, this is an amazing thing. Printmaking on this scale is surely a team effort.

I also saw the new Van Gogh.

I am looking forward to:

James Lavadour at the Halley Ford Museum in Salem two blocks from where I work (Lavadour is my favorite contemporary Oregon painter - aguably the best in our state right now)

The Dancer at the Portland Art Museum (featuring Degas a great draftsman)

The Gates of Paradise and Roman art from Louvre at rhe Seattle Art Museum

Also I might go to see Inspiring Impressionism at Seattle Art Museum which compares Old Master works with the Impressionists
posted by Dave at Friday, February 01, 2008 -

Kewl
Frederica Mathewes-Green is lecturing two blocks from my house tonight and tomorrow night at George Fox University.

Part of a lecture series that included Craig Detweiler and Paul Marshall of Heaven is not my Home fame.
posted by Dave at Monday, January 28, 2008 -

Just Say No! to Hyphens
Richard M Gamble reviews D.G. Hart's Secular Faith and summarizes his take in part the way:

Hart's argument stands on the refreshingly countercultural premise that Jesus and the apostles founded Christianity to be an otherworldly, apolitical, and unavoidably divisive faith practiced largely in private by adherents who live "hyphenated" lives as citizens of two cities. Hart sees these attributes as normative for the Christian life.

Refreshing?

While I agree the Christian faith is certainly devisive, even polarizing (can someone say antithesis?), our faith NOT otherworldly or apolitical.

Christianity is decidedly THISworldly - that is to say the next world IS the world we are now living in. There is a profound continuity. Likewise, I would say that Christianity is not apolitical but transpolicial. Christianity involves the political sphere and everything else in creation - church, culture, family, the academy, etc. The Bible has much to say about political/governmental matters even if it doesn't offer a "blueprint". To stick with this metaphor, purhaps it is best to say that Christianity offers a "building program" - an outline or set of contours to direct us in politics and the rest of life.

Christians should be anything but hyphenated. Our cultural calling isn't an add-on. Its completely integral to our faith and who we are.
posted by Dave at Friday, January 25, 2008 -

The Ceiling Turns 500
This newspaper article discusses the creation of Michelangelo's Sistine chapel ceiling, which be began five centuries ago (it was a long project). The author does a good job pointing out the mysteries of just how the artist actually planned this monumental work. This especially is true if, as recent scholarship proposes, many of the "working" drawings for the ceiling are fact copies of finished ceiling.

I was fortunate to have as an undergraduate an entire course on Michelangelo taught by David Summers who is a leading authority on the artist. It was an amazing course. Although I don't favor the ceiling's blatant breaking of the fourth commandment, it is a great aesthetic achievement nontheless. Surely Michelangelo is greatest artist who ever lived.

At the bottom of the article the author gets into the question of assistants helping, or some cases, primarily making works of art. This is a vexing question. I have thought about putting together an essay exploring this practice viz. the artistic production of everyone's favorite wipping boy - Thomas Kinkade.
posted by Dave at Thursday, January 24, 2008 -

Kuyperian vs. TKV Discussion
Russ Reeves wrote a really good pro-Christian culture response to this recent anti-Kuperian post on Heidelblog.

The discussion continues (briefly, so far) here.

Worth a read.
posted by Dave at Wednesday, January 16, 2008 -

A Lost Art?
One of the things that should mark Christian culture is Eloquence. John Wilson of Books & Culture discusses this lost virtue. Classical Christian schools are trying to capture this, yet it is somewhat elusive...

Yes, all true, and this is why eloquence is precious. "Eloquence, as distinct from rhetoric, has no aim: it is a play of words or other expressive means. It is a gift to be enjoyed in appreciation and practice." Those earnest folk who scorn frivolity should recognize that their argument is with God himself. He has given us this world, with all its wonders and perplexities.

posted by Dave at Tuesday, January 15, 2008 -

A Blog for a Friday
Simply Breakfast

Surely one of the great blessings of life is a fine breakfast. (In our house we frequently have breakfast for dinner!)

While we're on the topic of breakfast, its worth mentioning the dutch "breakfast piece" still life form. Here is a link to such a painting by Peter Claesz.
posted by Dave at Friday, January 11, 2008 -

Homage



Some copies of the new edition of my book arrived yesterday. What you can't see (below) is the back cover - which has a subtle reference to one of the sidebars I wrote: "The Brussels Sprouts Syndrome".

You read this in its entirely here.
posted by Dave at Wednesday, January 09, 2008 -

Its Official!

The new edition of Plowing is now out. Only minor edits. But it is still in print after eight years...


posted by Dave at Monday, January 07, 2008 -

Quote
In response to a recent situation which came a Calvin College where a professor was dismissed because they would not join the CRC, Russ Reeves remarks that

the life of the renewed Christian mind cannot be separated from the renewing power of the Church as the body of Christ. To require Christian thinking without regard to Christian worship is a peculiarly modern heresy, and if a college is going to adopt a confessional requirement at all, it seems to me essential that some requirements for worship be included as well.

To fill this out a little bit: Calvin College takes this position as a matter of eccliastical authority (rarely enforced), not worship per se. The worship styles and content within the CRC are very diverse, esp. within the churches in the Grand Rapids area.

Still, this is a great summary about why worship, church membership and Christian thinking matter.
posted by Dave at Monday, January 07, 2008 -

Googling for God
Google has recently put out its 2007 Year-End Zeitgeist. Under the category "Mind - Who Is...", "Who is God" ranked 1, "Who is Jesus" ranked 4. ("Who is the devil" came in number ten. "What is love" was first in the "What is..." category.

Now here is a scary thought: what do people find when they do these searches?

(Are they feeling lucky?)
posted by Dave at Friday, January 04, 2008 -

Treat
While I am waiting for something significant to say, you can check out illustrator John Hendrix blog. He had a show in September.

You can also ponder what Mako Fujimura's new book River Grace might be like.
posted by Dave at Wednesday, January 02, 2008 -