A Few Books on Art

     Here is a list of books to check out on art. They give an alternate view to some of the books you may have read in art class, but they are pretty great. They all seek to come up with, or at least help in the construction of a Christian worldview through which to interpret the arts.

Art and the Bible

by: Francis Schaeffer

     A good introduction to the subject, it's only 2 essays, but has some really good information.

Art for God's Sake

by: Philip Graham Ryken

The creation sings to us with the visual beauty of God’s handiwork. But what of man-made art? Much of it is devoid of sacred beauty and is often rejected by Christians. Christian artists struggle to find acceptance within the church.

If all of life is to be viewed as “under the lordship of Christ,” can we rediscover what God’s plan is for the arts?

Voicing Creations Praise

by: Jeremy S. Begbie

     This is a heavier piece, but a great book nonetheless. It has given me more to chew on than any other book I've read this year.

The book Chronicles the philosophies of art which have contributed to our cultures current thoughts on art. Starting with Paul Tillich, then looking at the Dutch Neo-Calvinists and then to the ideas of Immanuel Kant. He then poses questions to try and lead us to a better worldview through which to interpret the arts.

The Heart of the Artist

by: Rory Noland

     Initially I thought this book would be a little lame based on the cover, but it turned out to be pretty helpful and got me thinking about how churches could start patroning artists to work for them again. An idea used in many different eras throughout the history of western culture, but unfortunately not in our current culture.

     This book also deals with a lot of the sin issues that artists tend to have trouble with.