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Imagine: A Vision for Christians in the Arts Paperback – May 18, 2001
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Steve Turner
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Steve Turner
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Print length131 pages
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LanguageEnglish
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PublisherIVP Books
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Publication dateMay 18, 2001
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Dimensions5.5 x 0.4 x 8.25 inches
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ISBN-100830822917
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ISBN-13978-0830822911
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"I have long been a fan of Steve Turner's poetry and journalism--he has a way of illuminating the intersection of the sacred and the secular in our lives. Now, in Imagine, he lets us glimpse behind the curtain and see the philosophy that undergirds his work. Highly readable, insightful and provocative, Imagine draws on historical and contemporary examples and biblical insights to offer a refreshing and balanced perspective on how faith can inform our creativity. Turner challenges us to move beyond our ghetto mentality and engage our culture with art that is creative, authentic and relevant. His book should be required reading for every Christian interested in the arts." (Terry Glaspey, author of Booklover's Guide to Great Reading and Not a Tame Lion: The Spiritual Legacy of C. S. Lewis)
"Turner, in this well-rounded and thoroughly biblical book, issues a compelling invitation to everyone in the creative community to move redemptively as salt and light into the world of the arts precisely for Christ's sake." (Michael Card, recording artist and author of A Violent Grace)
"This affirming book says all the things I'd like my friends to understand about me as an artist. At the same time it challenged me to be more actively engaged with our culture through artmaking infused with the gospel." (Timothy R. Botts)
"Drawing on years of experience, a first-rate poet sketches a Christian vision for the arts and artists in our time. With disarming directness he calls Christians out of their ecclesiastical ghettos to live that vision out. Readable, entertaining and bold." (Dr. Jeremy Begbie, Ridley Hall, Cambridge and University of St. Andrews)
"There are those who would ask, 'What has New York to do with Jerusalem? or the arts with religion?' Steve Turner answers that question as he calls the believing aesthete and the Christian church to come to the table, sit down and talk. In this informed and rare treatment, Turner challenges the Christian community to encourage the artist's voice to be heard and then challenges believing artists to allow their art to be influenced and enhanced by sound theology." (Jim Thomas, musician and author)
"Imagine: A Vision For Christianity & the Arts is a wake-up call to the Christian community to fulfill the cultural mandate and to develop a theology of creativity that both embraces our humanness and engages the world with 'muscular' Christianity. Author Steve Turner addresses the church and its involvement in the arts with a prophetic challenge--an appeal to be salt and light in our world instead of withdrawing into mere Christian subculture or pietistic retreat. But he is eminently balanced in his challenge to those of us who have accepted a call to be 'in the world' of arts/entertainment but not of it. He helps us break out of the compartmentalization and secular-sacred dichotomy that so often paralyzes the Christian artist and community from real impact on our world. As a screenwriter in Hollywood, my heart was exhorted with his warning of those who have gradually shipwrecked their faith through incremental assimilation of the very world they are trying to reach. With a strong and decisive commitment to Christ, Scripture and truth, he helps draw guidelines for avoiding the ignorance of all extremes when approaching the arts. If you are a Christian who consumes culture without discrimination, then you need to read this book. If you are a Christian who considers arts and entertainment to be worldly or a waste of time, then you need to read this book. And even if you are a Christian who thinks you want to serve the Lord by being a light in the darkness of any creative industry today, you need to read this book." (Brian Godawa, screenwriter, To End All Wars)
"Turner, in this well-rounded and thoroughly biblical book, issues a compelling invitation to everyone in the creative community to move redemptively as salt and light into the world of the arts precisely for Christ's sake." (Michael Card, recording artist and author of A Violent Grace)
"This affirming book says all the things I'd like my friends to understand about me as an artist. At the same time it challenged me to be more actively engaged with our culture through artmaking infused with the gospel." (Timothy R. Botts)
"Drawing on years of experience, a first-rate poet sketches a Christian vision for the arts and artists in our time. With disarming directness he calls Christians out of their ecclesiastical ghettos to live that vision out. Readable, entertaining and bold." (Dr. Jeremy Begbie, Ridley Hall, Cambridge and University of St. Andrews)
"There are those who would ask, 'What has New York to do with Jerusalem? or the arts with religion?' Steve Turner answers that question as he calls the believing aesthete and the Christian church to come to the table, sit down and talk. In this informed and rare treatment, Turner challenges the Christian community to encourage the artist's voice to be heard and then challenges believing artists to allow their art to be influenced and enhanced by sound theology." (Jim Thomas, musician and author)
"Imagine: A Vision For Christianity & the Arts is a wake-up call to the Christian community to fulfill the cultural mandate and to develop a theology of creativity that both embraces our humanness and engages the world with 'muscular' Christianity. Author Steve Turner addresses the church and its involvement in the arts with a prophetic challenge--an appeal to be salt and light in our world instead of withdrawing into mere Christian subculture or pietistic retreat. But he is eminently balanced in his challenge to those of us who have accepted a call to be 'in the world' of arts/entertainment but not of it. He helps us break out of the compartmentalization and secular-sacred dichotomy that so often paralyzes the Christian artist and community from real impact on our world. As a screenwriter in Hollywood, my heart was exhorted with his warning of those who have gradually shipwrecked their faith through incremental assimilation of the very world they are trying to reach. With a strong and decisive commitment to Christ, Scripture and truth, he helps draw guidelines for avoiding the ignorance of all extremes when approaching the arts. If you are a Christian who consumes culture without discrimination, then you need to read this book. If you are a Christian who considers arts and entertainment to be worldly or a waste of time, then you need to read this book. And even if you are a Christian who thinks you want to serve the Lord by being a light in the darkness of any creative industry today, you need to read this book." (Brian Godawa, screenwriter, To End All Wars)
About the Author
Turner is a writer and poet living in London, England, where he regularly contributes to newspapers such as The Mail on Sunday and The Times. His many books include Conversations with Eric Clapton, U2: Rattle and Hum, Van Morrison: Too Late to Stop Now and A Hard Day's Write: The Stories Behind Every Beatles Song.
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Product details
- Publisher : IVP Books; 60319th edition (May 18, 2001)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 131 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0830822917
- ISBN-13 : 978-0830822911
- Item Weight : 5.6 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.5 x 0.4 x 8.25 inches
-
Best Sellers Rank:
#751,522 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #444 in Religious Arts & Photography
- #953 in Ritual Religious Practices
- #12,744 in Christian Worship & Devotion
- Customer Reviews:
Customer reviews
4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
72 global ratings
How are ratings calculated?
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2015
Verified Purchase
This is my favorite book on the arts overall. Steve Turner is a music journalist, which means that (1) his examples tend to come more from the world of music and (2) he is an excellent writer. Imagine addresses most (perhaps all?) of the pertinent issues related to what art is, what it means for art to be Christian (or not), what it looks like for a Christian to create art, how we can benefit from all types of art (whether created by a Christian or not), etc. His writing style is compelling and he is consistently insightful on this topic. If you’re going to read one book on Christianity and the arts in general, this is where you should start. For my brief review on this book and most of the books out there on Christianity and the arts, see: theologyforreallife.com/artsbooks
2 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2018
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This book should be essential reading for any artist or those of us who have an artistic heart. The thoughts and discussions provoked by the author are worthy subjects for all Christians should grapple with as we learn how to be “in the world, but not of it.”
7 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2020
Verified Purchase
The author has put into words what I have been trying to say for so many years. The reasons for why I have an art studio with classes is for all the reasons he points out in this book. Thank you for giving me the words to keep on track!
Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2016
Verified Purchase
This book was a real eye-opener for me as I am not involved in the arts. It helped to open up a whole new world of possibilities within the scope of Christendom. The arts play a huge role in culture and Christians have so many opportunities to express themselves outside of the traditional box. There is a fundamental difference between a "Christian artist" and an artist that just so happens to be a Christian. Christians are not limited to merely painting religious pictures...
Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2001
Verified Purchase
This is, quite simply, the best book on the issues surrounding the life of a modern day Christian artist that I have ever read--period. I say this for several reasons:
1. It is uncompromising, both in its descriptions of the artist's mind, dreams, and motivations, and also in its exacting analysis of what it means to be a Christian. Turner pulls no punches in describing the incredible dichotomy between the gift of new life we have been given as a result of faith in the death and resurrrection of Christ as atonement for our sins, and the very emotions, dreams, insecurities, and passions that drive the artist in his or her creative endeavors. It is true, at least in my experience (and as Rory Noland has written in his very good book, "The Heart of the Artist"), that Christians in the arts are often more prone to temptation since they allow their feelings and passions to not only enter in to their work, but to drive it.
2. It puts out a call for artists to not only do art in the church to glorify God, but especially to do art OUT in the world to carry His message of salvation to those who do not yet know Him. How often do we hear the statement that the "real" work of the Christian is religious in nature, or takes place in and around the church? But, as Turner writes, "Jesus is Lord" over the WHOLE of our lives, even and especially those parts that are very 'unreligious' in nature. We are called to live for Christ minute by minute.
3. It is also honest in its assessment that the church often does not know what to do with the artists in our midst, let alone present an atmosphere in which they can flourish in their gifts and talents. It is my sincere hope that books like this one and the aforementioned Noland book can serve as a wake up call, letting the modern day church know that there is a powerful group of servants here, and that we need to both minister to them and more importantly allow them to minister to us and to God with their creative talents.
4. Rather than a simplistic "Christian vs. secular" explanation of art in the world, Turner submits a very well-conceived philosophy of five concentric circles of varying degrees of the mix of faith and art. I found this very helpful both in better understanding the art I see in and out of churches around me, and developing my own philosophy of art and faith.
I am the Worship Arts Pastor for a medium-large (approx. 2000 members) Bible church near Dallas, Texas. This book makes statement after statement that my own heart (after nearly 5 years of leading artists, and creating worship services at our church) really resonated with. I found myself underlining sentence after sentence, and often entire paragraphs or pages! This stuff is really that profound.
I hope and pray that the book will help both church staffers and artists find their way to utlizing ALL that they are in the pursuit of God through their gifts. May the church once again become the incredible storehouse and "town square" for the arts that it has been in centuries past; and may more and more Christian artists embrace their gifts and calling, rather than feeling confused and dazed at the apparent lack of understanding by the world in general and the church in particular as to just what makes the artist tick.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It has already had a large impact on my thinking, and helped to clarify issues that have been clouded and murky for so long.
1. It is uncompromising, both in its descriptions of the artist's mind, dreams, and motivations, and also in its exacting analysis of what it means to be a Christian. Turner pulls no punches in describing the incredible dichotomy between the gift of new life we have been given as a result of faith in the death and resurrrection of Christ as atonement for our sins, and the very emotions, dreams, insecurities, and passions that drive the artist in his or her creative endeavors. It is true, at least in my experience (and as Rory Noland has written in his very good book, "The Heart of the Artist"), that Christians in the arts are often more prone to temptation since they allow their feelings and passions to not only enter in to their work, but to drive it.
2. It puts out a call for artists to not only do art in the church to glorify God, but especially to do art OUT in the world to carry His message of salvation to those who do not yet know Him. How often do we hear the statement that the "real" work of the Christian is religious in nature, or takes place in and around the church? But, as Turner writes, "Jesus is Lord" over the WHOLE of our lives, even and especially those parts that are very 'unreligious' in nature. We are called to live for Christ minute by minute.
3. It is also honest in its assessment that the church often does not know what to do with the artists in our midst, let alone present an atmosphere in which they can flourish in their gifts and talents. It is my sincere hope that books like this one and the aforementioned Noland book can serve as a wake up call, letting the modern day church know that there is a powerful group of servants here, and that we need to both minister to them and more importantly allow them to minister to us and to God with their creative talents.
4. Rather than a simplistic "Christian vs. secular" explanation of art in the world, Turner submits a very well-conceived philosophy of five concentric circles of varying degrees of the mix of faith and art. I found this very helpful both in better understanding the art I see in and out of churches around me, and developing my own philosophy of art and faith.
I am the Worship Arts Pastor for a medium-large (approx. 2000 members) Bible church near Dallas, Texas. This book makes statement after statement that my own heart (after nearly 5 years of leading artists, and creating worship services at our church) really resonated with. I found myself underlining sentence after sentence, and often entire paragraphs or pages! This stuff is really that profound.
I hope and pray that the book will help both church staffers and artists find their way to utlizing ALL that they are in the pursuit of God through their gifts. May the church once again become the incredible storehouse and "town square" for the arts that it has been in centuries past; and may more and more Christian artists embrace their gifts and calling, rather than feeling confused and dazed at the apparent lack of understanding by the world in general and the church in particular as to just what makes the artist tick.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It has already had a large impact on my thinking, and helped to clarify issues that have been clouded and murky for so long.
110 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2015
Verified Purchase
This was a textbook in one of my theater classes in college and I use it now in my own class. I reread it almost every year. The references to artist are dated of course but the perspective is fresh and inviting and challenging. A super easy read!
Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2014
Verified Purchase
I found this book liberating. As a Christian, I had sometimes felt guilty for enjoying secular art and music better than lots of "Christian" art and music. The author asks us to judge art by its message and merits, regardless of the artist's life style or philosophy. Hooray! I can enjoy love songs by the Beatles guilt free!
Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2011
Verified Purchase
This book provides an excellent concept for Christians who want to make a difference through their art, but it is just as relevant for those, artists or not, who just want to make a difference. Christians artists are encouraged to be relevant by understanding issues in society and speaking out about them from a godly perspective, and to find the way they can most effectively get their message across through the way they approach their art, and their lives. I would strongly recommend this book for any Christian who wants to evangelise more effectively, but especially, of course, for those involved in the arts.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries
JT
4.0 out of 5 stars
Four Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 4, 2015Verified Purchase
Well balanced and informative
Nigel Halliday
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent, clearly written
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 5, 2014Verified Purchase
An excellent, clearly written, engaging introduction to the subject. A must-read for any Christian interested in the arts. And a should-read for any Christian not (yet) interested in the arts.
One person found this helpful
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ropa
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book and really insightful
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 10, 2015Verified Purchase
Great book and really insightful. It's definitely inspired me as an artist and put into words some thoughts I've always difficult to articulate
R. Widdowson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Solid Book
Reviewed in Canada on November 15, 2011Verified Purchase
Steven Turner has done a fine job writing about Christians working in the cultural industry. Most of his examples are drawn from the music world since that's the sphere he knows best--he's been writing about the music scene since the early 70s. Not fringe art, but big business music. He knows his stuff without being pedantic or preachy.
He knocks much of the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) and provides an anecdote to illustrate his point. As a staff writer for a major (secular) music magazine, Turner handed his editor a sample of CCM for his boss's professional opinion. After listening to the sample, his editor reluctantly said exactly what Turner already knew: it was superficial, outdated, and second-rate. OUCH! But so true. If Christians wish to hear music that's artistically sophisticated, intellectually stimulating, and emotionally mature they're forced to leave CCM in the dust and turn to secular artists for satisfaction. It doesn't need to be that way, but Christian artists who choose to work within the CCM scene are severely restricted by an extremely peurile worldview. After regeneration, I tried listening to CCM for a few years, because I thought it was my duty. But it drove me crazy. No meat, just milk and cookies.
The great thing is, Turner isn't a sell out. He doesn't advocate conforming to worldly standards. Far from it. He warns of those who have compromised and have fallen from grace (my term, not his). A story of a friend who began life as a leader in the Christian music scene, went through many changes, and ended life dying in a car crash hopped-up on drugs is absolutely heartbreaking. 'In the world, not of the world' is the challenge all Christians face--and Christian artists are no different. We do so by grace.
Turner provides a thoughtful discussion of the ways that Christian artists may remain faithful to the Lord, keep growing intellectually, and produce art that is mature, well-rounded, insightful and current with the best art of the day. He cites U2 as a band that kept their faith (mostly) while remaining cutting edge during their prime years. Although, as I said, he writes about the music world, his comments are applicable to other artistic spheres as well.
Worth the read. Very thought-provoking.
He knocks much of the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) and provides an anecdote to illustrate his point. As a staff writer for a major (secular) music magazine, Turner handed his editor a sample of CCM for his boss's professional opinion. After listening to the sample, his editor reluctantly said exactly what Turner already knew: it was superficial, outdated, and second-rate. OUCH! But so true. If Christians wish to hear music that's artistically sophisticated, intellectually stimulating, and emotionally mature they're forced to leave CCM in the dust and turn to secular artists for satisfaction. It doesn't need to be that way, but Christian artists who choose to work within the CCM scene are severely restricted by an extremely peurile worldview. After regeneration, I tried listening to CCM for a few years, because I thought it was my duty. But it drove me crazy. No meat, just milk and cookies.
The great thing is, Turner isn't a sell out. He doesn't advocate conforming to worldly standards. Far from it. He warns of those who have compromised and have fallen from grace (my term, not his). A story of a friend who began life as a leader in the Christian music scene, went through many changes, and ended life dying in a car crash hopped-up on drugs is absolutely heartbreaking. 'In the world, not of the world' is the challenge all Christians face--and Christian artists are no different. We do so by grace.
Turner provides a thoughtful discussion of the ways that Christian artists may remain faithful to the Lord, keep growing intellectually, and produce art that is mature, well-rounded, insightful and current with the best art of the day. He cites U2 as a band that kept their faith (mostly) while remaining cutting edge during their prime years. Although, as I said, he writes about the music world, his comments are applicable to other artistic spheres as well.
Worth the read. Very thought-provoking.
One person found this helpful
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Greg Labine
5.0 out of 5 stars
Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on July 12, 2018Verified Purchase
Great book, interesting read
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