- Cover of Created in God’s Image
Over at Pilgrim Steward, Vaughn Hamilton has two blog posts related to art and modesty.
The first post, Christian modesty in art, begins to address how Christians are to think about biblical standards of propriety in art. The second post, Art, Nakedness, and Redemption, quotes from an article by Rev. William VanDoodewaard that discusses why nude artwork is against God’s law and contrary to God’s redemptive work. The truths and insights presented are very helpful to understanding a Christian view of art.
As a corollary to the above blog posts, I would like to discuss the origin of artistic abilities. To begin to understand anything about man, even his artistic and creative capacities, we must go back to the creation of man in the image of God. Anthony A. Hoekema writes,
Another quality is man’s aesthetic sense, whereby human beings not only can appreciate the beauty that God has lavished on his creation, but also can create artistic beauty of their own – in painting, sculpture, poetry, and music. In fact, the gifts of speech and of song are also qualities of man that belong to this aspect. Indeed, we could make this list much longer. In sum, then, we may say that by the image of God in the broader or structural sense we mean the entire endowment of gifts and capacities that enable man to function as he should in his various relationships and callings. [1]
The source of our artistic abilities is found in our creation by God. This is demonstrated in Adam’s response to God bringing Eve to him in Genesis 2:23.
And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
Adam was endowed with the gift of artistic speech by fact of his creation in the image of God. Adam was struck by the beauty of the woman God had created for him. This also demonstrates what Hoekema goes on to say about our sense of beauty. He writes,
Our sense of beauty is a feeble reflection of the God who scatters beauty profusely over snow-crowned peaks, lake-jewelled valleys, and awe-inspiring sunsets. [2]
Our artistic capacities and our sense of beauty find their source in our creation in the image of God. As demonstrated in the links at the beginning of this post, the standards of art are also found in the Lord. Therefore, our artistic and creative endeavors are to honor the Lord for three reasons.
- The Lord is the source of our artistic abilities
- The Lord’s law is the standard of our artistic abilities
- The Lord’s redemption frees us to glorify Him with our artistic abilities
May the Lord give His people a greater sense of these things that we may honor Him and develop the abilities He has given us for His glory!
[1] Hoekema, Anthony A., Created in God’s Image. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1986. pg. 70-71.
[2] Ibid., pg. 71.
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