A helpful article in thinking about our attitudes towards those called to the vocation of the? arts.? While the focus of the article is on the place of the arts in the church gathered, there are implications for how we view the arts in the wider context of the church scattered.
Two very helpful quotes are included:
In my experience the Christian painter or poet, sculptor or dancer, is regularly regarded as something of a curiosity, to be tolerated, humoured even, maybe even allowed to put on a show once in a while. But the idea that they are, or could be, anything more than that?that they have a vocation to re-imagine and re-express the beauty of God, to lift our sights and change our vision of reality?is often not even considered. [N.T. Wright]
Whether through paint or sound, metaphor or movement, we are given the inestimable gift of participating in the re-creative work of the Triune God, anticipating that final and unimaginable re-creation of all matter, space, and time, the fulfillment of all things visible and invisible. [W. David O. Taylor]