Bad “Christian” Art
Most “Christian” art/writing ends up landing on the corny, lackluster, shallow side. We paint the Christian life as a bright, cheery life without any suffering, even though we know that is not at all the case. Without suffering, there’s no learning. Without failure, there’s not need for the Cross.
This impacted my thoughts on writing — I don’t want to be a writer who hands the reader the connection to Christianity without them having to even think about it. I don’t want any story to present an unclear or wrong vision of what living for Christ looks like. I don’t like bad art, nor do I want to create bad art.
Check out this video, found on the Gospel Coalition’s blog. Make sure to read their article.
Best quote referring to your bad art that “God gave you”: “Don’t blame that trash on God!”
Enjoyed the discussion on bad Christian art very much. It chimes with some of my thoughts recently, which is partly why we have set up a Centre for Christian Art Practice to explore what the connections between Christianity and art really are, and help raise standards (www.christianartcyprus.org)
2011 at am
Thanks Dr Paraskos. It has been something I have been seeking as well. Thank you for your commitment to play a part in raising the standards of art with Christian undertones without losing the quality of fine art.
2012 at pm