W. David O. Taylor and Taylor Worley's text enters as the third of six recent titles released in rapid succession into IVP's Studies in Theology and the Arts series. The editors have assembled the presented essays from the 2015 Christians in the Visual Arts (CIVA) Biennial Conference.
Arguing that the arts and the church are two distinct worlds, the editors suggest that these worlds have “their own logics, … gravitational fields, … ecologies, … and their own motley collection of communities” (1). As many others have also noted, the relationships between these worlds are often characterized by frigidity, indifference, mistrust, and strong judgment. Rather than deepening this dichotomy, the writers in this volume seek to deal seriously with the other through “openness, charity, curiosity, and creative partnership” (4).
As each community is often misguided about the other, mending these complex relations requires deliberate and clear definitions to begin the process. In the editors’ view, contemporary art refers to artwork employing narratives of “marginal voices, transgressive activities, and the social and kinesthetic body,” while also alerting viewers to injustice, and playing with both banality and the exotic (2). By the “church,” the authors intend both local and universal aspects of the “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church … scattered across time and space in the communion of Christ” (2).
The text is divided into four sections: “Starting Points,” “Theology,” “Worship,” and “Culture.” In these sections the authors seek to address three primary questions: What does God have to do with contemporary art? What does the church have to do with contemporary art? And, what does the church's corporate worship have to do with contemporary art? (4).
Wayne Roosa's essay is a fine example of the desire to reckon seriously and charitably with the arts. Taking a cue from the conference and book title, Roosa begins his essay by deescalating the conversation. He deftly shifts the focus away from a demarcation of boundaries and territories by definitions, and turns to the life of relationships between the two worlds. There is much to admire in Roosa's methodology, and as he points out, there is already a substantial conversation happening between the two. Roosa notes that in spite of the significant differences between the communities, there are structural parallels. Both worlds make and express meaning, have prophetic roles, engage in social critique, and care. Yet, not enough mutual knowledge is shared to carry the conversation further. As is done over the whole book, Roosa emphasizes the idea of “good posture” toward the other, taking the other seriously, without ghettoizing or cartooning the other. It is an admirable and beautiful step toward deepening the relationship.
Some of the more fascinating essays and responses focus on the church's theology and worship. Ben Quash's essay, “Can Contemporary Art Be Devotional Art?,” was a cornerstone of the original conference. Quash helpfully explores several impediments to his essay's question, but also gives three remarkable case studies where contemporary art has been welcomed into the church. Jennifer Allen Craft takes an interesting approach to the discussion on contemporary art and worship by rooting it in a theology of place. After working through Protestantism's mistrust of the physical world, she helpfully addresses the idea that the arts add to a church's sense of belonging and place making.
The text is another welcome addition to the IVP's Studies in Theology and the Arts series. Most admirable is the charitable and methodological tone with which these essays live up to the challenge of taking art and its artists seriously without appropriating or colonizing them (perhaps something of a rarity in many earlier Evangelical engagements with culture).
The “clear definitions” that Taylor and Worley offer in the introduction are for readers with some grounding in both fields, not those looking to begin the conversation. Those looking for an introductory text on art and Christian theology must look elsewhere. This text is highly recommended as a valuable resource in both theology and art libraries, and as advanced reading for those engaged in similar conversations.
