{"id":757,"date":"2013-09-04T19:30:36","date_gmt":"2013-09-04T19:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beta.dminlgp.com\/?p=757"},"modified":"2014-10-28T17:47:46","modified_gmt":"2014-10-28T17:47:46","slug":"dyrness-on-visual-arts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/dyrness-on-visual-arts\/","title":{"rendered":"Dyrness on Visual Arts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dyrness on Visual Arts<\/p>\n

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Visual Faith: Art, Theology, and Worship in Dialogue by W. A. Dyrness addresses the topic of visual arts, a hot topic in today\u2019s worship leadership circles, and he states his purpose this way, \u201cThis book aims to extend and enrich a Christian conversation on the visual arts\u2026 . \u00a0As the subtitle indicates, it is also my purpose to bring questions of visual arts and theology into dialogue with worship.\u201d \u00a0(Kindle Locations 38-41). \u00a0As one who is not overly focused on the arts I approached the book with little enthusiasm. \u00a0However, I was encouraged. \u00a0Dyrness did a respectable job of setting a good foundation of Biblical context and then he ably reflected on the expression of the visual arts through history. \u00a0Though his focus is still not primary interest of mine he certainly helped me to embrace both the value of visual arts in worship and to understand better the pitfalls of errant critique.<\/div>\n
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I particularly appreciated the following comment that almost echoed sentiments found in Romans 1:18ff, \u201cHerein lies the significance of the visual arts for the Christian. Though there are limits and dangers, we all live our lives in a world that is loaded with symbolic possibilities. Whatever our faith commitments, or lack of them, we live in a world that invariably reflects God\u2019s values and even features echoes of his presence. People may miss the significance of these echoes, but as long as they are human they cannot miss the values embedded in creation.\u201d \u00a0(Kindle Locations 1112-5). \u00a0For me, the value of the visual arts is how they point to the creator God.<\/div>\n
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I was particularly interested in the author\u2019s section on art and discipleship. \u00a0He relates the concept of servanthood as expressed by the artist to discipleship. \u00a0The author contends that the artist is even more connected to creation because he\/she engages creation in their task in a way that others do not. \u00a0\u201dMathematicians and philosophers may live with ideas; the artist cannot live without the world of nighthawks and maple trees.\u201d (Kindle Locations 2142-3). \u00a0I do not agree with the author because at this point he overlooks the symbolism of numbers which relate often, if not always, to some thing. \u00a0I do agree, however, that the idea of servanthood can be expressed in the artist\u2019s task.<\/div>\n
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Dyrness even goes further to say that artists better understand the aspect of suffering in their following Jesus by virtue of handling the material of the creator, \u201cbut artists understand this call, it seems to me, in a particularly intimate way.\u201d \u00a0(Kindle Location 2148). \u00a0The author has not made his case that the work of the artist provides any more of an intimate venue than the work of a mathematician for instance. \u00a0He continues to press his point for a superior sensitivity on the point of an artist with this summary comment, \u201cArtists are not able to live such a life any easier than anyone else, but they should be the first to understand the basic structure of such a life.\u201d \u00a0(Kindle Locations 2173-4). \u00a0It is an interesting thesis but he has not convinced me.<\/div>\n
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The book was a good reminder of the importance and value of the arts in relationship to worship and theology. \u00a0It has prompted me to be more sensitive to giving space for the arts in my discipleship. \u00a0Even \u00a0the illustrations I use during conferences the power of those visual arts could be enhanced if I give more thought as to how they are presented and discussed. \u00a0I will give much more attention to this process as a result of reading this book.<\/div>\n
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Dyrness, W. A.\u00a0Visual Faith: Art, Theology, and Worship in Dialogue.<\/em>\u00a0Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academics, 2001.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dyrness on Visual Arts Visual Faith: Art, Theology, and Worship in Dialogue by W. A. Dyrness addresses the topic of visual arts, a hot topic in today\u2019s worship leadership circles, and he states his purpose this way, \u201cThis book aims to extend and enrich a Christian conversation on the visual arts\u2026 . \u00a0As the subtitle […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2,289],"class_list":["post-757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dminlgp","tag-dyrness","cohort-lgp3"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=757"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2946,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757\/revisions\/2946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}