Imagine: A Vision for Christians in the Arts

by Steve Turner

Imagine art that is risky, complex and subtle! Imagine music, movies, books and paintings of the highest quality! Imagine art that permeates society, challenging conventional thinking and standard morals to their core! Imagine that it is all created by Christians! This is the bold vision of Steve Turner, someone who has worked among artists--many Christian and many not--for three decades. He believes Christians should confront society and the church with the powerful impact art can convey. He believes art can faithfully chronicle the lives of ordinary people and equally express the transcendence of God. He believes that Christians should be involved in every level of the art world and in every media. Yet art and artists have not always been held in high esteem by conservative Christians. Art rarely seems to communicate clear propositional truth, rarely deals with certainties and absolutes. And the lifestyles of artists too frequently seem at odds with the gospel. So the arts have often been discouraged among Christians. Throughout this stimulating book, however, Turner builds a compelling case against such a perspective. He shows that if Jesus is Lord of all of life and creation, then art is not out of bounds for Christians. Rather it can and should be a way of expressing faith in creatively, beautifully, truthfully arranged words, sounds and sights. This stirring call is must reading for every Christian who has been drawn to the arts or been influenced by them.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Theology, Christian, Christianity, Spirituality, Religion

131 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Steve Turner is an English music journalist, biographer and poet, who grew up in Northamptonshire, England. His first published article was in the Beatles Monthly in 1969. His career as a journalist began as features editor of Beat Instrumental where he interviewed many of the prominent rock musicians of the 1970s. He subsequently freelanced for music papers including NME, Melody Maker and Rolling Stone.

During the 1980s he wrote extensively for British newspapers and magazines on a range of subjects as well as producing his study of the relationship between rock music and religion, Hungry For Heaven, and co-authoring U2: Rattle & Hum, the book of the film. In the 1990s he began devoting himself to full-length books, the first being a best selling biography of British music star Cliff Richard, Cliff Richard: The Biography, in 1993, which stayed in the Sunday Times bestseller list for six weeks. At the same time he has written a number of poetry books for both adults and children. The first of his books for children, The Day I Fell Down The Toilet, has now sold over 120,000 copies, and total sales for his children's poetry collection now exceeds 200,000.

His published poetry books for adults are Tonight We Will Fake Love, Nice and Nasty, Up To Date, The King of Twist and Poems. His published poetry collections for children are The Day I Fell Down The Toilet, Dad, You're Not Funny, The Moon Has Got His Pants On, I Was Only Asking and Don't Take Your Elephant To School.

He now combines his book writing and journalism with poetry readings, lecture tours of America and Europe and consultancies. He lives in London.
Hungry for Heaven: Rock and Roll and the Search for Redemption(1988)
Van Morrison: Too Late to Stop Now (1993) Van Morrison
Cliff Richard: The Biography (1993) Cliff Richard
A Hard Day's Write: The Stories Behind Every Beatles Song (1994; updated in 1999 and 2005)
Jack Kerouac: Angelheaded Hipster (1996)
Trouble Man: The Life and Death of Marvin Gaye (1998)
Imagine: A Vision for Christians in the Arts (2001)
The Man Called Cash: The Life, Love and Faith of an American Legend (2004) Johnny Cash
Amazing Grace: John Newton, Slavery and the World's Most Enduring Song (2005)
The Gospel According to the Beatles (2006)
An Illustrated History of Gospel(2010)
The Band That Played On (2011)

Reviews

[Carla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need to read this book every year. It absolutely transformed my view of myself as a Christian and as a musician. Must read for any artist of faith.

[F.C. Shultz]

A great take on making art as a Christian. I need to circle back to his five circles idea and see where some of my own stories fit. Also, this quote is great:

“Jesus surely didn’t mark all his carpentry with a relevant saying, and Paul didn’t embroider memory verses on his tents.”

And this:

“Art, it must be remembered, has intrinsic value.”

Last one:

“Yet the renewed mind is not just obvious in its response to such big issues as death but in its response to the minutiae of life. We feel differently about trees, leaves, rain, bad housing, animals, food, money, sex, social standing, leisure, poverty.”

[Kristina]

Lit a hope in me that Christianity is compatible with the arts, and that Christians in fact have a responsibility to them.

[John Ayena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll admit that I did not have the highest expectations coming into this book - I have read and listened to takes on art and culture from a Christian perspective in the past that were full of fluff, and a part of me expected this to be similar. After finishing up this book I would say that my expectations were mistaken.

Turner gives a brief summary of the history of Christian art, rethinks what it means for art to be "Christian", bridges the "split" between secular and Christian art and emphasizes the importance of both the spiritual and physical realms for the Christian creative. Turner makes compelling points, and tries to do all of the above without forgetting to ground his thoughts in the Bible. He is mostly successful - however, there were a couple passages that I felt he misapplied even if the connections made were well-intentioned. Another small gripe of mine (potentially a publisher issue rather than an author issue) were the quote call-out boxes found on 40% of the pages - I found some of these quotes (from a range of creatives, both Christian and non) to be irrelevant to what was being discussed on the page, and they made it hard to focus on Turner's own writing.

Despite some of my critiques, I felt that Steve Turner was able to thoughtfully craft an argument for why Christians should be at the forefront of artistic innovation, and does well to encourage artists who are jaded by the mediocrity of contemporary Christian art. 3.5/5

Quotes I liked:

"By continuously "praising the Lord" the CCM artist rarely shows evidence of a comprehensive worldview. In fact, the world is not viewed at all. What is viewed is personal spiritual experience and usually only its more beautiful peaks... The casual nonbelieving browser is effectively excluded because there is no overlap of experience."

"The best art doesn't tell people what to believe but enables them, for a short while, to see things differently, and the Christian can enable people to momentarily glimpse the world through eyes that have been touched by Christ."

[Carolynda Sayers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably now one of my favourite books of all time! (Thank you Eilidh) - Right from the beginning the writer states “Some people think you are only really glorifying God if you are doing something religious.” This sets the tone for the book. The writer then goes on to talk about art in all its forms from music, painting, writing, dance, poetry and many other genres and how they influence culture but also how they in turn are influenced BY culture. He goes on to say that being a Christian artist can influence what form our art takes but it doesn’t have to be immediately obvious. “We do not need to overtly refer to God in everything we create. Not even every book in the Bible refers to God. Jesus surely didn’t mark all his carpentry with a relevant saying, and Paul didn’t embroider memory verses on his tents.” Steve Turner, himself an artist, explains how as Christians we all have the ability to glorify God in whatever we do - some will do it well and others will do it badly - just because you have talent as a musician for example, it does not mean you HAVE to suddenly start singing and playing overtly Christian music - you can still play your own style of music to glorify God. His prime example of this is the band U2 who have, over the years, integrated their faith firmly in the lyrics of their songs but not so that it causes people to cringe. In the same way, whatever your gift, be it music, poetry, painting or photography, you can do it all to glorify God either obviously or subtly as long as it is done well. When God created the world he sat back and saw “...everything that he had made, and behold, It was VERY good.” (Gen 1:31)

[Porter Sprigg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amen

[johanna (jo) · Rating 5 out of 5]

"there is one great distinction between the productions of heathen and Christian art. while the first exhibits the perfection of physical form and of intellectual beauty, the latter expresses, also, the majesty of sorrow, the grandeur of endurance, the idea of triumph refined from agony." - E.H. Chapin

the concept of Christianity working in harmony with the arts is not a new idea, but it does seem to be a forgotten one. turner swings the perception of art vs. faith on its head with all the ruthlessness of a frustrated artist, but also with clarity and caution. any time I was concerned about the direction this book was taking, it surprised me by consistently returning to the original point and taking care to back up any statement with verses, quotes and examples. it's thorough and methodical without being dull and long-winded; well-researched and written from the standpoint of someone with a long career in the music/arts industry who has asked all the same questions you have and has come up with answers.

tl;dr this is the book I needed when I was fifteen, and I am about to go and recommend it to every single person I know.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was good overall - definitely should be in a must-read section of anyone who's a believer pursuing a vocation in art. the part that really caught my attention was on dealing w/ the subject of the uneasiness a believing artist feel in both in christian and art circles. in some ways, lot of us feel we're too christian for non-christians and too non-chrisitian for christians. throughout the book, turner gave a good analysis on the nature of such struggle.

however, one part i didn't like too much was on a chapter where he devotes a lot of time analyzing u2. i understand the purpose behind it. but, i am also aware of the christian tendency of jumping on the bandwagon of putting a token-believing artist [or a pop icon:] on a special pedestal. if that wasn't the case, i would have liked the book a lot more - i would still be a huge fan of u2 as well...

[Courtney Deberry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book I have read on the topic of the meaning of christian art. I was delighted to find that the subject matter provided biblical answers to many of the most challenging problems facing christian artists. There are many quotes in this book that are true not only to artists but Christians in general. The book was written in plain English and referenced many well known artists. The lack of "Christianese" made it a practical resource for all denominations and people at every level of faith. I would keep this book as a reference as my career develops.

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started off strong for me. But as I moved through it is slowly deteriorated and got more and more boring. I think he started belaboring points and that is where I found the deficit in the book. Not a bad book, but not a great one either.

[Crystal ✬ Lost in Storyland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like how Turner has broken down the chapters to address the major points on the topic, and I appreciate the conciseness of his words. He doesn't say more than he needs to say; this makes it easier to track ideas. He provides many examples from his own experiences and what he has seen in the lives of other Christian artists. In the end, it is clear that, while he believes that Christian art need not contain overt Christian references, we cannot make Christian art without a spiritual life grounded in proper theology. A fantastic read that I recommend to Christians struggling with how to bring together their faith and their art (or interest in the arts).

[Dianne Butts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book for Christians in, or interested in, the arts -- music, film, painting, etc. The author makes some good points and hosts an interesting discussion, but I can't say I agree with many of his statements. Sprinkled through the book are quotes from artists, which adds another level of interest and fun. I went through the book with a group of Christian filmmakers and screenwriters, so the discussion questions at the end of each chapter were helpful. The book and questions led us to some good discussions.

[Val · Rating 3 out of 5]

Turner’s perspective as a Christian artist gives his work credibility, but I found his communication style hard to track - not as linearly coherent as it should have been - and generally repetitive. I appreciated his viewpoint, though I personally benefited more from other authors’ treatment of Christian vocation, art included. I think I also have grown up in a context where I can’t see any possible basis for divorcing art from the church!

[Hannah Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe I'll write that essay based on info from this book and others (faith and art and all that) one day and post it here. I've had that essay on my heart for a while now.

But for now, all you need to do is read this book. Buy it. It is worth the money. I'll be re reading this again this year.

[Jordan Tomeš · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good intro to what it means to be an artist and a Christian. Encouraging read, touching on things that are very dear to me. Could go a bit deeper though. Will probably buy this to some of my Christian artist friends.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely book that offers Christians solid and timely advice on how to be faithfully present in their art forms. It’s a way to break out of the Christian arts echo chamber that is so desperately needed.

[Gina Mcandrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book!

The author has put into words what I have been trying to say for so many years. The reasons for why I have an art studio with classes is for all the reasons he points out in this book. Thank you for giving me the words to keep on track!

[Sarah]

really dry, and too academic for what I was looking for. possibly suited more to musical-type creatives as this is the experience he is writing from.

honestly this book was just too boring for me to persevere with right now hahah maybe I'll pick it up again sometime in the future ?

[Rich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent resource. I did not give it five stars because there were sections that lost me. It certainly begs a repeated reading, which I will give it, likely over the summer. I felt that the author really "got me," and how I think and perceive the world. Thank you, Lauren for loaning it.

[Mo Hickman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I had found this book in undergrad so I could have read it earlier and re-read it sooner. It's one that I expect to return to and recommend often. I haven't read the original edition yet, but appreciated the updated references. The discussion questions and quotes are nice but likely unnecessary additions for most readers.

[James Best · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book provided a fair amount of encouragement and really made me think about how I could best represent Christ in my work. There were some points I didn't agree with and others that could have used more development, but I found it rather insightful overall.

[Joshua Hernandez · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great introduction to the question: "Where does a Christian fit into the arts?" It also offers good reasoning and defense for the Christian to become an artist.

[Sherry Elmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

If the subject of Christianity and the arts appeals to you, it is very likely you will enjoy this book with an interesting take on this important subject. Definitely worth the time.

[Courtney Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent perspective. A must read for any Believing artist, writer, or creative.

[JHC · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read on the christian worldview and the arts. Very informative and perspective shaping.

[Daniel LeTexier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple concise read. Was encouraging to hear this perspective on arts when it seems like a lot of my peers seem to be very pessimistic about the arts in general.

[Randy Bowen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid argument for why I do what I do.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book for Christian artists and musicians. This was my second reading of it.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent, thoughtful resource for Christians in the arts.

[Kaylee James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! I highly recommend to any Christian artists. It tied together Christianity and the arts in a way that is so refreshing and helpful!