This book is a collection of over twenty essays on issues relating to making art from a Christian perspective. The volume is filled with color artwork from Michelangelo to Makoto Fujimura and from Rembrandt to Tim Hawkinson.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
. . a valuable, insightful and penetrating collection. -- Jeremy Begbie, author of Voicing Creation's Praise
For anyone anywhere who cares about beauty and truth and goodness ... It Was Good is very good. -- Steve Garber, Author of Weaving Together Belief and Behavior
It Was Good is good, very, very good. For goodness' sake, taste its goodness for yourself. -- Luci Shaw, author of The Green Earth: Poems of Creation
Read this book and love God and life more deeply. Then give a copy to all your friends. -- Denis Haack, Co-director of Ransom Fellowship
What we have needed is a thick description both of Christianity and of art making. And both are here ... -- William Dyrness, Professor of Fuller Theological Seminary
For anyone anywhere who cares about beauty and truth and goodness ... It Was Good is very good. -- Steve Garber, Author of Weaving Together Belief and Behavior
It Was Good is good, very, very good. For goodness' sake, taste its goodness for yourself. -- Luci Shaw, author of The Green Earth: Poems of Creation
Read this book and love God and life more deeply. Then give a copy to all your friends. -- Denis Haack, Co-director of Ransom Fellowship
What we have needed is a thick description both of Christianity and of art making. And both are here ... -- William Dyrness, Professor of Fuller Theological Seminary
From the Publisher
The goal of this book is to provide a deeper discussion of what believers practicing their discipline for God’s glory would (or should) look like. Rather than defending the believer’s place in the arts—which has been done very well in other works—this book is intended to be primarily about issues related to making art.
The premise of this work is that a Christian looks at the world differently than the non-Christian due to a restored relationship with the Creator. With that restored relationship comes certain responsibilities which are presented in True Spirituality by Francis Schaeffer when he says, "Christians are to demonstrate God’s character, which is a moral demonstration, but it is not only to be a demonstration of moral principles; it is a demonstration of His being, His existence."
This moral demonstration will be worked out in the creative process. If not seen thematically in their work, it will be seen foundationally in their existence. It is not the believers’ goal to integrate their art with the Faith, rather the art of God’s chosen people must spring from faith. Our relationship to our Creator is the one core issue that matters and this relationship gives us the freedom to have "no prescriptions for subject matter," as Hans Rookmaaker says.
Imagine a Christian sitting down to create a piece of pottery, write a novel, or paint a picture. This believer has decisions to make: color, form, content, theme . . . as well as where they fit into their church and larger community. Of course this book can’t dictate things such as, "Paint a red bird . . . write the song in standard time . . . the pot should have three handles . . . " But decisions do need to be made and it is the intent of this book to give the readers ideas to work through so they can develop the internal tools needed to carry out their artwork with a biblical worldview.
In this way, It Was Good—Making Art to the Glory of God will offer both theoretical and practical insights into the making of art from a biblical perspective. And this is crucially important in our age since the area of Beauty is the only point of connection with society since the bridges of Truth and Goodness have been burned. Kuyper’s concept of the dual purpose of art to imitate and transcend nature resonates at this point. We as believers in the arts can show through the common grace of art a fleeting picture of Eden. We should not allow the arts to be the sole dominion of the enemies of God but instead we should join with Martin Luther in affirming our desire to see all the arts "in the service of Him who has given and created them." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It is Great!,
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This review is from: It Was Good: Making Art to the Glory of God (Paperback)
It Was Good is a collection of twenty-one artists and their very insightful essays on art. The book isn't just a "write what you want about art" sort of book. It covers various subjects in an orderly fashion. Some of the topics are: Beauty, Substance, Presence, Mission, Community, Essence, Identity. Every chapter is very well written, well laid out and inspiring.
Color plates of some of the art help to crystalize the comments of the artist. This book gives real meaning and purpose for the artist today. The book clarifies what it is to live life giving glory to God through art, not because it is "Christian" art or art that preaches but rather because you serve the triune God your art can have meaning and depth. Makoto Fujimoro states, "Such a Christocentric perspective on the arts can also release our creativity from being enslaved to a particular form, or style of art." And that is just one fully laden sentence in a book of 355 pages! This book will make you want to get out your pencils, paints, paper and brushes and start expressing yourself through art again.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best in this category,
By
This review is from: It Was Good: Making Art to the Glory of God (Paperback)
Ned Bustard did a great job with this book.
There are so many thoughtful authors from very different disciplines. There are a number of books trying to address the dynamics surrounding the arts and a Christian Aesthetic. This book is one of the best in the growing conversation. If you want to think seriously about the arts without giving facile answers this book should be in your library. Thankful for Square Halo.
2 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
HARD TO READ,
By AM Cox "squiggy505" (ABQ.,NM) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: It Was Good: Making Art to the Glory of God (Paperback)
THIS BOOK IS VERY HARD TO READ AS IT IS LOFTY AND WORDY.
I'M AN ARTIST. I GO FOR SIMPLE AND STRAIGHT FORWARD. THIS BOOK TAKES WAY TO MUCH OF MY TIME TRYING TO READ IT. NOW THAT BEING SAID, IT IS A GOOD, WELL WRITTEN BOOK GIVING GLORY TO FATHER GOD FOR ALL OUR TALENTS. I'M AFAID ONE OF THE TALENTS I'M LACKING IS STAYING FOCUSED ON THIS READ.SORRY.
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