Glimpses of the New Creation: Worship and the Formative Power of the Arts

by W. David O. Taylor, Jeremy Begbie

How do the arts in worship form individuals and communities? Every choice of art in worship opens up and closes down possibilities for the formation of our humanity. Every practice of music, every decision about language, every use of our bodies, every approach to visual media or church buildings forms our desires, shapes our imaginations, habituates our emotional instincts, and reconfigures our identity as Christians in contextually meaningful ways, generating thereby a sense of the triune God and of our place in the world. Glimpses of the New Creation  argues that the arts form us in worship by bringing us into intentional and intensive participation in the aesthetic aspect of our humanity—that is, our physical, emotional, imaginative, and metaphorical capacities. In so doing they invite the people of God to be conformed to Christ and to participate in the praise of Christ and in the praise of creation, which by the Spirit’s power raises its peculiar voice to the Father in heaven, for the sake of the world that God so loves. 

Genres: Theology, Art, Religion

312 pages, Paperback

Published September 3, 2019

About the author

W. David O. Taylor is Assistant Professor of Theology and Culture at Fuller Theological Seminary. He is the author of "Open and Unafraid: The Psalms and the Life of Faith" (Thomas Nelson: 2020), "Glimpses of the New Creation: Worship and the Formative Power of the Arts" (Eerdmans: 2019) and editor of "For the Beauty of the Church: Casting a Vision for the Arts" (Baker: 2010). He has written for The Washington Post, Image Journal, Christ & Pop Culture, and Christianity Today, among others. An Anglican priest, he has lectured widely on the arts, from Thailand to South Africa. He lives in Austin with his wife Phaedra, a visual artist and gardener, and his daughter Blythe and son Sebastian. Twitter: @wdavidotaylor. Instagram: @davidtaylor_theologian.

Reviews

[Neil R. Coulter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting and helpful way to think about the arts as used in worship. After some good introductory material about “the meanings of art and worship,” David Taylor looks at one art genre in each chapter (music, visual and architectural arts, poetry, narrative, theater, and kinetic), exploring what possibilities for worship the use of each genre opens up, and what possibilities it closes down. No artistic choice is neutral, and the meanings associated with each choice are not universal or constant through time; everything changes and so is to some extent context-dependent. With architecture, for example, the way the seating is arranged in a sanctuary makes a difference. Different arrangements will activate certain possibilities and shut down others.

This framework is a helpful doorway into thinking well about the arts. I would pair this with the seven lenses for art analysis that Brian Schrag presents in Create Local Arts Together. In fact, I plan to teach through this book in a class next semester, and that’s exactly what I’ll do—start with Taylor’s general overview of each art, and then go into greater depth with Schrag’s lenses.

One thing I appreciate about Taylor’s book is that he has clearly read more widely than some theologians in the arts about artistry outside of Western cultural contexts. He still focuses mostly on Western (American and British) traditions, but he acknowledges some of the factors that may be different in other contexts, and he references books that are helpful for further reading in those areas. This is a good improvement from the tone of Frank Burch Brown, Jeremy Begbie, and others who are very, very focused on Western contexts.

[Raf Nieves · Rating 5 out of 5]

AMAZING! If you want to read about the arts in worship THIS IS THE BOOK!!!

[Devon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book to be delightful. In my Pentecostal tradition, this book could be a helpful guidepost on how to helpfully integrate art into our worship. In our tradition, the idea of a structured liturgy will generally not be received with joy. The problem with this mindset is that we do have a liturgy, but it is unstructured and haphazard at best. Also, within that, we give little to no concern for the arts. I think that this is helpful for how we can use art to display the truth of the gospel in ways that are both God-honoring and highly contextualized to individual church communities. If we are people who believe that we are indwelled by the Spirit to do good works, we should preach the Good News to all people through the arts. This, I also believe, is a tool that can be used to help contextualize in missional contexts. The arts are clear media that can be culturally influenced and yet be evangelically precise. It takes effort to get the arts right. Many are right in their worry and skepticism when it comes to using certain types of art. The culture has used this with great effect. However, I think that one of the reasons that culture has had such a stranglehold on the arts is because churches have ceded them instead of doing the hard work of redemption. One of the greatest tools we have to display the truth of the Gospel is its beauty and we should use every means possible to display that beauty.

[John Gardner · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are surprisingly few books focusing on the role of the arts in worship, so this book was a delightful read despite its somewhat academic tone. It focuses on the "formative power" of the arts and their uses in the worship of the Church. For each type of art (including musical, poetic, visual, kinetic, theatrical, and architectural arts), Taylor investigates the "singular powers" of that art; in other words, what can this kind of art uniquely teach us that we can't get from anything else?

While Taylor writes from an Anglican perspective, his insights will benefit pastors and artists from any stream of Christianity. Written shortly before COVID-19, his thoughts on the "singular powers" of video and other technological arts are particularly interesting given how nearly every church in the world suddenly became reliant on video. As someone who wholeheartedly believes that the Church (specifically: local churches) should reclaim its former place as patron, curator, and cultivator of the arts, this was a great encouragement as Taylor also proposes similar "powers" for other art forms which I hope to see better and more thoughtfully utilized in local churches in the near future. Starting with my own!

[Josh Trice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Taylor explores how the arts (music, visuals, poetry, narrative, theater, etc.) are intricate and important parts of worship. Also, Taylor offers insight and analysis into how each of these can and are played out in a liturgical sense.
While this is not a how-to handbook, it is a deeply theological look into the world of worship that is accessible to any level of reader!

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5