sulawesigirl4
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
This is something that I have thought about and discussed quite a lot with various friends over the last few years. Is there really a place for the word "Christian" to be an adjective? Or is it simply a noun? Now before you roll your eyes and say "oh come on, sula, picky about silly grammar, aren't we?", hear me out.
Adjective: A word that describes a noun, characterizes it.
Noun: A person, place, thing or idea.
So here's where I'm going with this. If "Christian" is a designation for a person who has made a decision that would lead them to call themselves this, how is it we so often use it to describe inanimate objects? "Christian" book, "Christian" values, "Christian" music, etc. Did the book decide to become a follower of Christ? Is there something inherent in the music that makes it Christ-like? I personally would argue in the negative.
The reason I feel this distinction is an important one has a lot to do with my views on Christianity and the arts. Why can we not allow artists who hold Christian beliefs (U2 being my best example) to let the music be a separate entity, a work of art that has its own voice, rather than put it in a box and stick a label on it saying "Christian product inside"... It seems that often within at least Evangelical circles (I can only speak of what I know and that is the area with which I have had the most contact) we tend to require art that is done by Christians to have some deeper "message" to it, to moralize, to preach, basically to have a utilitarian function of some sort. Why can art not simply be a reflection of God's amazingly diverse beauty as reflected in the world around us?
K, that was a bit of a ramble and really goes into more than one topic, but see what you think.
Recommended reading:
Hans Rookemaker "Art Needs No Justification"
Franky Schaeffer "Addicted to Mediocrity : 20th Century Christians and the Arts"
Madeline L'Engle "Walking on Water : Reflections on Faith and Art"
Adjective: A word that describes a noun, characterizes it.
Noun: A person, place, thing or idea.
So here's where I'm going with this. If "Christian" is a designation for a person who has made a decision that would lead them to call themselves this, how is it we so often use it to describe inanimate objects? "Christian" book, "Christian" values, "Christian" music, etc. Did the book decide to become a follower of Christ? Is there something inherent in the music that makes it Christ-like? I personally would argue in the negative.
The reason I feel this distinction is an important one has a lot to do with my views on Christianity and the arts. Why can we not allow artists who hold Christian beliefs (U2 being my best example) to let the music be a separate entity, a work of art that has its own voice, rather than put it in a box and stick a label on it saying "Christian product inside"... It seems that often within at least Evangelical circles (I can only speak of what I know and that is the area with which I have had the most contact) we tend to require art that is done by Christians to have some deeper "message" to it, to moralize, to preach, basically to have a utilitarian function of some sort. Why can art not simply be a reflection of God's amazingly diverse beauty as reflected in the world around us?
K, that was a bit of a ramble and really goes into more than one topic, but see what you think.
Recommended reading:
Hans Rookemaker "Art Needs No Justification"
Franky Schaeffer "Addicted to Mediocrity : 20th Century Christians and the Arts"
Madeline L'Engle "Walking on Water : Reflections on Faith and Art"