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Studies in Theology and the Arts
The Faithful Artist: A Vision for Evangelicalism and the Arts
The tension between Christianity and the arts is often real. But it also offers a false dichotomy. Many Christian artists think that they must choose between their faith and their artistic calling. Drawing upon his experiences as both a Christian and a practicing artist, Cameron J. Anderson explores the dynamics of faith and art in this Studies in Theology and the Arts volume. Tracing the relationship between evangelicalism and modern art in postwar America―two entities that often found themselves at odds with each other―Anderson raises several issues that confront artists. With skill, sensitivity, and insight, he considers questions such as the role of our bodies and our senses in our experience of the arts, the relationship between text and image, the persistent dangers of idolatry, the possibility of pursuing God through an encounter with beauty, and more. Throughout this study, Anderson's principal concern is how Christian artists can faithfully pursue their vocational calling in contemporary culture. Readers will find here not only an informed and thoughtful response, but also a vision that offers guidance and hope. The Studies in Theology and the Arts series encourages Christians to thoughtfully engage with the relationship between their faith and artistic expression, with contributions from both theologians and artists on a range of artistic media including visual art, music, poetry, literature, film, and more.
283 pages, Paperback
Published October 10, 2016
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About the author
Cameron J. Anderson
5 books6 followersCameron J. Anderson (MFA, Cranbrook Academy of Art) is an artist and the executive director of Christians in the Visual Arts (CIVA). Prior to joining CIVA, he served on the staff of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship for thirty years, most recently as the national director for graduate and faculty ministries. He lectures frequently on the arts, media, advertising, and contemporary culture, and he coedited, with Sandra Bowden, Faith and Vision: Twenty-five Years of Christians in the Visual Arts.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 27, 2016
Summary: Addresses the tensions between the world of modern art and evangelical faith, where opportunities for creative engagement might be found in tensions, and what values might shape the life of one sensing a call to be both faithful Christian and artist.
The world of modern art, and the world of faith, particularly evangelical Christian faith have often been at odds with, or not even in conversation with each other. This is the challenge the author has wrestled with since his teenage years as an aspiring artist who embraced the evangelical faith in which he was raised. In the introduction, he describes his own struggle with the absence of mentors, the disregard of his church for the visual arts, and the parallel hostility toward religious faith he encountered in the art world.
Much of this work explores these tensions between evangelical faith and modern art. He begins by tracing the post World War Two parallel rise of modern evangelicalism as an effort to "guard the gospel" and modern art, as an effort to throw off the shackles of tradition and the "double consciousness" artists struggled with, often by either muting faith, or lapsing into sentimentalized art appealing to their faith community. He uses My Name is Asher Lev to discuss one of the fundamental challenges facing the aspiring Christian artist in training: the practice of drawing the nude human figure, both central to the development of artistic skill and raising questions of whether this is proper, and deeper questions about the Christian understanding of the body, and our embodied existence. Building on this, he considers the senses, and how we think about this aspect of our embodied existence as we engage the arts.
He then turns to the conflicts between word and image that have been at the heart of some of the conflict between faith and art, whether it is the iconoclastic movements, ancient and modern, that favor word over image, and the inconsistency of a faith community that denounces icons while creating its own versions of these. He points toward a theology of word and image that finds its ultimate fulfillment in the incarnate Word. He also explores the radical doubts about language in post-modern thought and its appropriation by artists, sometimes portraying the deconstruction of language. Anderson gestures toward a theology in which word and image cohere, and for the possibility of meaning.
He also gestures toward the transcendental of beauty in art, once again contended territory, both by artists who seek to lay bare the exploitive ways beauty has been used, and an evangelicalism focused on goodness and truth to the exclusion of beauty. Against the art world's often legitimate protest about the manipulation of beauty for tawdry or oppressive purposes, Anderson holds out the possibility of being beholders of beauty, and for the artist of faith, the seeing in beauty, even co-mixed with pain, evil, and suffering, the hand of the Creator. He acknowledges that this may be a quixotic, yet for the faithful artist, necessary endeavor.
Anderson contends that these collisions of faith and art may "reveal a third way, a great vista where biblical and theological reflection--especially the doctrines of creation and incarnation--become the wellspring of inspiration." Each of his chapters includes models of this kind of biblical and theological reflection that serve, not to give definitive answers, but to point other artists who wrestle with the same tensions toward this "third way" in the practice of their art. Indeed, his conclusion is an invitation to both the church and artists to embrace this work, and for artists to give themselves as called people to the work of culture-making and good studio practice. He writes,"
"...the artists whom most of us deem to be successful share a common trait--they do the work. At some point they set romantic ideas about being an artist to the side and commenced doing the artist's work. Arriving at this place requires one to accept delayed gratification, the awkwardness that is sure to come from making bad art and the reality of negative cash flow. Pushing beyond distraction and discouragement, they accomplished something Herculean--they pushed beyond musing and imagining to establish regular studio practices, to take on habits of making" (p. 252).
Cameron Anderson is executive director of Christians in the Visual Arts (CIVA) and what he offers in this book is nothing less than a recent analysis of the visual arts and the challenges and opportunities for Christians who are called to work in this field. It reflects his lifelong familiarity with the art world and his presence as an leader, teacher and thinker in the Christian community. I might add, both by way of disclosure and appreciation, that I worked closely with Cam in his previous role as national director of InterVarsity's Graduate and Faculty Ministry, and owe twenty years in a job I love to his influence. I saw parts of an early version of this manuscript, kind of like the blocking in of shapes on a canvas that mark the beginning of a painting. It is a delight to see the finished work, which reflects the deep reflection on faith and art that I had come to appreciate in presentations by Cam, disciplined by extensive research and enriched by years of experience working with visual artists.
[This is the second work in the series Studies in Theology and the Arts. The first volume in the series, Modern Art and the Life of a Culture was reviewed earlier this year at Bob on Books.]
_______________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher . I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
The world of modern art, and the world of faith, particularly evangelical Christian faith have often been at odds with, or not even in conversation with each other. This is the challenge the author has wrestled with since his teenage years as an aspiring artist who embraced the evangelical faith in which he was raised. In the introduction, he describes his own struggle with the absence of mentors, the disregard of his church for the visual arts, and the parallel hostility toward religious faith he encountered in the art world.
Much of this work explores these tensions between evangelical faith and modern art. He begins by tracing the post World War Two parallel rise of modern evangelicalism as an effort to "guard the gospel" and modern art, as an effort to throw off the shackles of tradition and the "double consciousness" artists struggled with, often by either muting faith, or lapsing into sentimentalized art appealing to their faith community. He uses My Name is Asher Lev to discuss one of the fundamental challenges facing the aspiring Christian artist in training: the practice of drawing the nude human figure, both central to the development of artistic skill and raising questions of whether this is proper, and deeper questions about the Christian understanding of the body, and our embodied existence. Building on this, he considers the senses, and how we think about this aspect of our embodied existence as we engage the arts.
He then turns to the conflicts between word and image that have been at the heart of some of the conflict between faith and art, whether it is the iconoclastic movements, ancient and modern, that favor word over image, and the inconsistency of a faith community that denounces icons while creating its own versions of these. He points toward a theology of word and image that finds its ultimate fulfillment in the incarnate Word. He also explores the radical doubts about language in post-modern thought and its appropriation by artists, sometimes portraying the deconstruction of language. Anderson gestures toward a theology in which word and image cohere, and for the possibility of meaning.
He also gestures toward the transcendental of beauty in art, once again contended territory, both by artists who seek to lay bare the exploitive ways beauty has been used, and an evangelicalism focused on goodness and truth to the exclusion of beauty. Against the art world's often legitimate protest about the manipulation of beauty for tawdry or oppressive purposes, Anderson holds out the possibility of being beholders of beauty, and for the artist of faith, the seeing in beauty, even co-mixed with pain, evil, and suffering, the hand of the Creator. He acknowledges that this may be a quixotic, yet for the faithful artist, necessary endeavor.
Anderson contends that these collisions of faith and art may "reveal a third way, a great vista where biblical and theological reflection--especially the doctrines of creation and incarnation--become the wellspring of inspiration." Each of his chapters includes models of this kind of biblical and theological reflection that serve, not to give definitive answers, but to point other artists who wrestle with the same tensions toward this "third way" in the practice of their art. Indeed, his conclusion is an invitation to both the church and artists to embrace this work, and for artists to give themselves as called people to the work of culture-making and good studio practice. He writes,"
"...the artists whom most of us deem to be successful share a common trait--they do the work. At some point they set romantic ideas about being an artist to the side and commenced doing the artist's work. Arriving at this place requires one to accept delayed gratification, the awkwardness that is sure to come from making bad art and the reality of negative cash flow. Pushing beyond distraction and discouragement, they accomplished something Herculean--they pushed beyond musing and imagining to establish regular studio practices, to take on habits of making" (p. 252).
Cameron Anderson is executive director of Christians in the Visual Arts (CIVA) and what he offers in this book is nothing less than a recent analysis of the visual arts and the challenges and opportunities for Christians who are called to work in this field. It reflects his lifelong familiarity with the art world and his presence as an leader, teacher and thinker in the Christian community. I might add, both by way of disclosure and appreciation, that I worked closely with Cam in his previous role as national director of InterVarsity's Graduate and Faculty Ministry, and owe twenty years in a job I love to his influence. I saw parts of an early version of this manuscript, kind of like the blocking in of shapes on a canvas that mark the beginning of a painting. It is a delight to see the finished work, which reflects the deep reflection on faith and art that I had come to appreciate in presentations by Cam, disciplined by extensive research and enriched by years of experience working with visual artists.
[This is the second work in the series Studies in Theology and the Arts. The first volume in the series, Modern Art and the Life of a Culture was reviewed earlier this year at Bob on Books.]
_______________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher . I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
October 16, 2024
On the blurb of The Faithful Artist: A Vision for Evangelicalism and the Arts, Cameron J. Anderson writes The Tension between Christianity and the arts is often real. But it also offers a false dichotomy. Many Christian artists think they must choose between their faith and artistic calling.
I have always been interested in that tension between art (in my case--fiction writing) and Evangelical Christianity. In recent years, I have been reading nonfiction books that explore the complex relationship between art and religion. Some titles I have delved into include Art and the Bible by Francis Schaeffer, Christian Imagination by Leland Ryken, Imagine by Steve Turner, Scribbling in the Sand by Michael Card, and Art + Faith by Makoto Fujimara. Through these books, I have been trying to grasp this intricate connection from a layperson’s point of view. Why does this tension exist? Is there a way to overcome the tension between art and Evangelical Christianity?
Anderson delves into this subject through eight chapters filled with valuable information. These chapters provide a historical context, exploring the origins of the tension and its impact on both religious and non-religious aspects of society. The book concludes by offering a vision of how artists can integrate their professional calling with their faith. Furthermore, he offers insights into his personal experiences as an artist and a person of faith, shedding light on the obstacles he confronted when trying to integrate these two elements into his life.
This paragraph in the introduction lays the groundwork for Anderson's argument in the book: I write fully persuaded that art, in its most exalted form, can be used by God to transform women and men, to extend his common grace to the world and to lead the church to worship. I believe with equal conviction that the content and character of contemporary art could gain the gravitas that it seeks if the artists who produce it were able to discover or recover the deep things of God.
Artists require faith just as faith requires artists. The relationship should be characterized by interdependence, where both sides contribute and benefit.
Among the chapters in the book, my favorites were the fifth chapter titled “A People of the Book and the Image.” In this section, Anderson discusses the importance of reading, especially The Bible, and how Evangelical Christians sought to prioritize it as the primary means of deepening their faith through the principle of Sola Scriptura. In the sixth chapter, called A Semblance of a Whole, the author explores how both religious and non-religious artists have used words and images to communicate their ideas. Anderson investigates how artists who did not adhere to any religious faith sought to deconstruct their art and remove any traces of Christian influence. In concluding the chapter, he emphasizes that Christians who believe in the Bible should not prioritize the written word over visuals in their spiritual journey and should comprehend how Christ unifies all aspects of life.
The Faithful Artist: A Vision for Evangelicalism and the Arts provides a much-needed perspective on the intersection of art and Christianity, adding to the growing body of scholarship in this area. While I may not be familiar with all the historical details Anderson covers in the book, I have a general understanding of where this conflict between the arts and Evangelical Christianity originated. Furthermore, I have a distinct perspective on how to navigate two significant aspects of my life successfully, and I wholeheartedly recommend this book to others who are undertaking a similar journey
I have always been interested in that tension between art (in my case--fiction writing) and Evangelical Christianity. In recent years, I have been reading nonfiction books that explore the complex relationship between art and religion. Some titles I have delved into include Art and the Bible by Francis Schaeffer, Christian Imagination by Leland Ryken, Imagine by Steve Turner, Scribbling in the Sand by Michael Card, and Art + Faith by Makoto Fujimara. Through these books, I have been trying to grasp this intricate connection from a layperson’s point of view. Why does this tension exist? Is there a way to overcome the tension between art and Evangelical Christianity?
Anderson delves into this subject through eight chapters filled with valuable information. These chapters provide a historical context, exploring the origins of the tension and its impact on both religious and non-religious aspects of society. The book concludes by offering a vision of how artists can integrate their professional calling with their faith. Furthermore, he offers insights into his personal experiences as an artist and a person of faith, shedding light on the obstacles he confronted when trying to integrate these two elements into his life.
This paragraph in the introduction lays the groundwork for Anderson's argument in the book: I write fully persuaded that art, in its most exalted form, can be used by God to transform women and men, to extend his common grace to the world and to lead the church to worship. I believe with equal conviction that the content and character of contemporary art could gain the gravitas that it seeks if the artists who produce it were able to discover or recover the deep things of God.
Artists require faith just as faith requires artists. The relationship should be characterized by interdependence, where both sides contribute and benefit.
Among the chapters in the book, my favorites were the fifth chapter titled “A People of the Book and the Image.” In this section, Anderson discusses the importance of reading, especially The Bible, and how Evangelical Christians sought to prioritize it as the primary means of deepening their faith through the principle of Sola Scriptura. In the sixth chapter, called A Semblance of a Whole, the author explores how both religious and non-religious artists have used words and images to communicate their ideas. Anderson investigates how artists who did not adhere to any religious faith sought to deconstruct their art and remove any traces of Christian influence. In concluding the chapter, he emphasizes that Christians who believe in the Bible should not prioritize the written word over visuals in their spiritual journey and should comprehend how Christ unifies all aspects of life.
The Faithful Artist: A Vision for Evangelicalism and the Arts provides a much-needed perspective on the intersection of art and Christianity, adding to the growing body of scholarship in this area. While I may not be familiar with all the historical details Anderson covers in the book, I have a general understanding of where this conflict between the arts and Evangelical Christianity originated. Furthermore, I have a distinct perspective on how to navigate two significant aspects of my life successfully, and I wholeheartedly recommend this book to others who are undertaking a similar journey
January 21, 2021
In all fairness, the reason I didn’t care for this book lies more within me than with the book. I wasn’t interested in it (required class reading), but I thought I would like it; I was wrong. Lots of talk about evangelicals and their perspective on visual art, which I don’t understand or agree with. The author provides a detailed perspective but it tends to be a bit dry. I love art museums and find them inspiring, with no dichotomy between art and my spiritual/religious beliefs.
August 4, 2017
So much has been lost in the evangelical circle as to the calling of an artist. Anderson has written a must-read volume on the need for churches and Christian artist to realign and re-evaluate the importance of aesthetic and beauty as part of the Christian faith and its place in being human.
September 9, 2016
Thank you to Intervarsity and Netgalley for the ARC! I appreciated the chance to read and review this book. Although I don't create visual art, much of what Anderson has to say applies to creative arts in general, and therefore gave me (as a writer) many points to consider. I appreciate the lines of spiritual and philosophical inquiry opened in this book. As someone who operates in the arts world as a Christian (as opposed to someone who produces only "Christian art"), I could really relate to the points Anderson made regarding how little the arts are appreciated within the broader Evangelical community and how their ability to fuel worship is overlooked. My hope is that with more work like this on the market, the gap will soon be bridged and the arts used properly in worship. Recommended to Christian creatives.
December 24, 2017
This is a very profound and richly documented study that analizes the reasons of antagonism between Church (especially Evangelical) and the art world (mostly secular), quoting artists, art historians, philosophers and religious sources. This antagonism has diminuished a lot since the author has choosen to study art (some decades ago), a very courageous decision at that time. In the book he treats with great sincerity and seriousness important questions that a person with faith and a calling to artistic activities may (and should) ask himself/herself. Just a few: relation of the visual arts and the religion, the nude, the beauty.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews