Networking: Contemporary and Classic Books on Arts and Faith

– “Art in Action: Toward a Christian Aesthetic” (Eerdmans, 1980); Yale professor Nicholas Wolterstorff’s assessment of what Christians can contribute to contemporary art; a neo-Calvinist view.

– “Art Needs No Justification” (IVP, 1978); Hans Rookmaaker’s brief but compelling booklet, the first to supply a biblical rationale for Christians who are called to make art.

– “Christ and Culture” (Harper & Row, 1956); H. Richard Niebuhr’s seminal discussion of whether to be in the world, of it, or out of it as Christians.

– “Crying for a Vision” (Stride/Cornerstone, 1991); West Coast poet Steve Scott’s radical view of the need for Christians to interact with postmodern art, and what that might entail.

– “Image as Insight” (Beacon Press, 1985); Harvard Divinity School theologian Margaret Miles suggests how sight can be transformed into insight within the framework of Western religion. Excellent review of historical, theological, and philosophical discussions concerning the mechanics of vision. Lightly illustrated (b&w).

– “The Liberated Imagination: Thinking Christianly About the Arts” (Harold Shaw, 1986); one of several sturdy books from the evangelical viewpoint by Leland Ryken. Illustrated.

– “The Mind of the Maker” (HarperSanFrancisco, 1987 reprint); Dorothy L. Sayers’s persuasive essay that the creative mind is an extension of the Creator God’s mind.

– “My Name Is Asher Lev” (Fawcett/Ballantine, 1976); novelist Chaim Potok’s excellent portrait of the clash of conscience that occurs when an Orthodox Jew mixes the Christian artistic tradition with modern art.

– “Mystery and Manners” (Noonday Press, 1969); Flannery O’Connor’s classic consideration of literary creativity.

– “The Refining Fire” (Albatross Books AUS, 1987); Dawn Mendham’s essays of 16 contemporary Australian artists with widely differing expressions of art and faith.

– “The Shock of the New” (Knopf, 1991); Time magazine critic Robert Hughes’s assessment of the path modern art took toward becoming laughable to the viewing public. Illustrated.

– “Sacred and Profane Beauty: The Holy in Art” (Abingdon Press, 1963); Dutch scholar G. van der Leeuw’s foundational explanation of the Christian tradition in art.

– “State of the Arts: From Bezalel to Mapplethorpe” (Crossway Books, 1991); Gene Edward Veith’s reissue of The Gift of Art, about the biblical basis that supports Christian work in the arts. Illustrated.

– “Toward a Christian Poetics” (Macmillan UK, 1984); essays encapsulating British critic Michael Edwards’s unique view that the scriptural themes of Creation, Fall, and Redemption are the basis for all forms of Western art.

– “Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art” (North Point Press, 1980); Madeleine L’Engle’s gracious musings over the daily impact of art on life, and vice versa.

– “The Visual Arts and Christianity in America” (Harper & Row, 1985); Berkeley professor emeritus John Dillenberger’s historical record of Christian art from colonial times to the present.

– “Voicing Creation’s Praise: Towards a Theology of the Arts” (HarperCollins, 1991); Cambridge University theologian Jeremy Begbie critiques recent Protestant efforts to explain the arts, and our involvement in them, in light of a Christ-centered approach to life.