Christian Art History

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This week, we are going on a field trip to Rome where we will see a lot of ar masterpieces including architecture, painting, and sculpture. Before we explore some of the world’s best art, music, and theater in Rome, I would like to remind you that we are going to experience them as a Christian. Therefore, let us take some time to reflect and think on the importance of the arts to Christian and the significance of appreciating the arts. We will discuss these topics in three themes: Biblical understanding of aesthetics and beauty, God's creative attributes in art, and Guidelines for interpreting the arts.
Biblical understanding of aesthetics and beauty
First of all, what is aesthetics? By definition, Aesthetics is “the philosophy of beauty and …show more content…

Art might be a means of living of artists, but the original main purpose of art is to express human urges and experiences. Then, what does the Bible tell us about the arts? What does the Bible teach us about the beauty? In fact, you can find a number of confirmation of the aesthetic aspect in the Old testament and the New testament. For example, God commanded people to build the Tabernacle by saying, “And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it” (Exodus 25:8-9, English Standard Version). God also gave people the similar instruction when they built the temple constructed by King Solomon. These scriptures show that God is concerned with beauty and wants to create beauty through people’s work. Another art form we can often find in the Bible is music. David in 2 Chronicles commended to play music in the temple and praise God through music. The bible says that, “And he stationed the …show more content…

As a Christian, we should see, evaluate, and appreciate on the art with a Christian Worldview. Trace Embry, the Founder and Executive Director of Shepherds Hill Academy, explains us the importance of interpreting the arts with Christian Worldview; “Evaluating art in this manner will lead us to true beauty and keep us away from the twisted “art” that Satan and our sinful culture would have us consume” (Embry, 2017). We can use the statement by Paul mentioned earlier as an instruction to interpreting the arts with Christian belief. As we look at the arts, we can ask, “Does a work of art exhibit the truth? Does it protest injustice in our world? Does it contain purity? Does it give us something that we can appreciate as a beauty? Does it display a good quality? And What impact does the artwork have on