Art and the Bible Quotes

“The Christian is the one whose imagination should fly beyond the stars.”
― Francis A. Schaeffer, Art and the Bible: Two Essays

“A Christian should use these arts to the glory of God, not just as tracts, mind you, but as things of beauty to the praise of God. An art work can be a doxology in itself.”
― Francis Schaeffer, Art and the Bible: Two Essays

“Christianity is not just involved with "salvation", but with the total man in the total world. The Christian message begins with the existence of God forever, and then with creation. It does not begin with salvation. We must be thankful for salvation, but the Christian message is more than that. Man has a value because he is made in the image of God.”
― Francis A. Schaeffer, Art and the Bible: Two Essays

“Christian art is the expression of the whole life of the whole person as a Christian. What a Christian portrays in his art is the totality of life. Art is not to be solely a vehicle for some sort of self-conscious evangelism.”
― Francis A. Schaeffer, Art and the Bible: Two Essays

“Christians . . . ought not to be threatened by fantasy and imagination. Great painting is not "photographic": think of the Old Testament art commanded by God. There were blue pomegranates on the robes of the priest who went into the Holy of Holies. In nature there are no blue pomegranates. Christian artists do not need to be threatened by fantasy and imagination, for they have a basis for knowing the difference between them and the real world "out there." The Christian is the really free person--he is free to have imagination. This too is our heritage. The Christian is the one whose imagination should fly beyond the stars.”
― Francis A. Schaeffer, Art and the Bible: Two Essays

“The ancients were afraid that if they went to the end of the earth they would fall off and be consumed by dragons. But once we understand that Christianity is true to what is there, true to the ultimate environment - the infinite, personal God who is really there - then our minds are freed. We can pursue any question and can be sure that we will not fall off the end of the earth.”
― Francis Schaeffer, Art and the Bible: Two Essays

“I am afraid that as evangelicals, we think that a work of art only has value if we reduce it to a tract.”
― Francis A. Schaeffer, Art and the Bible: Two Essays

“How should an artist begin to do his work as an artist? I would insist that he begin his work as an artist by setting out to make a work of art.”
― Francis Schaeffer, Art and the Bible: Two Essays

“When a man comes under the blood of Christ, his whole capacity as a man is refashioned. His soul is saved, yes, but so are his mind and his body. True spirituality means the lordship of Christ over the total man.”
― Francis A. Schaeffer, Art and the Bible: Two Essays

“We are not being true to the artist as a man if we consider his art work junk simply because we differ with his outlook on life. Christian schools, Christian parents, and Christian pastors often have turned off young people at just this point. Because the schools, the pastors, and the parents did not make a distinction between technical excellence and content, the whole of much great art has been rejected with scorn and ridicule. Instead, if the artist's technical excellence is high, he is to be praised for this, even if we differ with his world view. Man must be treated fairly as man.”
― Francis A. Schaeffer, Art and the Bible: Two Essays

“In God's world the individual counts. Therefore, Christian art should deal with the individual.”
― Francis Schaeffer, Art and the Bible: Two Essays

“As Christians, we must see that just because an artist -even a great artist- portrays a worldview in writing or on canvas, it does not mean that we should automatically accept that worldview. Good art heightens the impact of that worldview, but it does not make it true.”
― Francis A. Schaeffer, Art and the Bible: Two Essays

“What is the place of art in the Christian life? Is art- especially the fine arts- simply a way to bring worldliness in through the back door? What about sculpture or drama, music or painting? Do these have any place in the Christian life? Shouldn't a Christian focus his gaze steadily on "religious things" alone and forget about art and culture?

As evangelical Christians, we have tended to relegate art to the very fringe of life. The rest of human life we feel is more important.

Despite our constant talk about the lordship of Christ, we have narrowed its scope to a very small area of reality. We have misunderstood the concept of the lordship of Christ over the whole man and the whole of the universe and have not taken to us the riches that the Bible gives us for ourselves, for our lives, and for our culture.

The lordship of Christ over the whole of life means that there are no platonic areas in Christianity, no dichotomy or hierarchy between the body and the soul. God made the body as well as the soul, and redemption is for the whole man.”
― Francis A. Schaeffer, Art and the Bible: Two Essays

“And with truth comes beauty and with this beauty a freedom before God.”
― Francis A. Schaeffer, Art and the Bible

“We were free to create, as long as we never forgot that we are slaves to Jesus.”
― Francis A. Schaeffer, Art and the Bible

“Christian art today should be twentieth-century art.”
― Francis Schaeffer, Art and the Bible: Two Essays

“As a Christian we know why a work of art has value. Why? First, because a work of art is a work of creativity, and creativity has value because God is the Creator. The first sentence in the Bible is the declaration that the Creator created: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
― Francis A. Schaeffer, Art and the Bible

“The Christian’s life is to be a thing of truth and also a thing of beauty in the midst of a lost and despairing world.”
― Francis A. Schaeffer, Art and the Bible

“Second, an art work has value as a creation because man is made in the image of God, and therefore man not only can love and think and feel emotion but also has the capacity to create. Being in the image of the Creator, we are called upon to have creativity.”
― Francis A. Schaeffer, Art and the Bible

“How can art be sufficiently meaningful? If it is offered up merely before men, then it does not have a sufficient integration point.”
― Francis A. Schaeffer, Art and the Bible

“We should realize that if something untrue or immoral is stated in great art, it can be far more devastating than if it is expressed in poor art. The greater the artistic expression, the more important it is to consciously bring it and it's worldview under the judgment of Christ and the Bible. The common reaction among many however, is just the opposite. Ordinarily, many seem to feel that the greater the art, the less we ought to be critical of its worldview. This we must reverse.”
― Francis A. Schaeffer, Art and the Bible: Two Essays

“God, because he is infinite, can create out of nothing by his spoken word. We, because we are finite, must create from something else that has already been created.”
― Francis A. Schaeffer, Art and the Bible

“if Christianity is really true, then it involves the whole man, including his intellect and creativeness.”
― Francis A. Schaeffer, Art and the Bible

“Religious subjects are no guarantee that a work of art is Christian.”
― Francis A. Schaeffer, Art and the Bible

“Is the creative part of our life committed to Christ? Christ is the Lord of our whole life and the Christian life should produce not only truth—flaming truth—but also beauty.”
― Francis A. Schaeffer, Art and the Bible

“And beauty has a place in the worship of God. Young people often point out the ugliness of many evangelical church buildings. Unfortunately, they are often right. Fixed down in our hearts is a failure to understand that beauty should be to the praise of God. But here in the temple which Solomon built under the leadership of God himself beauty was given an important place.”
― Francis A. Schaeffer, Art and the Bible

“What kind of judgment does one apply, then, to a work of art? I believe that there are four basic standards: (1) technical excellence, (2) validity, (3) intellectual content, the world view which comes through and (4) the integration of content and vehicle.”
― Francis A. Schaeffer, Art and the Bible

“it is impossible for any single painting, for example, to reflect the totality of an artist’s view of reality.”
― Francis A. Schaeffer, Art and the Bible

“I am convinced that one of the reasons men spend millions in making art museums is not just so that there will be something “aesthetic” but because the art works in them are an expression of the mannishness of man himself. When I look at the pre-Columbian silver or African masks or ancient Chinese bronzes, not only do I see them as works of art but I see them as expressions of the nature and character of humanity. As a man, in a certain way they are myself, and I see there the outworking of the creativity that is inherent in the nature of man.”
― Francis A. Schaeffer, Art and the Bible

“The temple was covered with precious stones for beauty. There was no pragmatic reason for the precious stones. They had no utilitarian purpose. God simply wanted beauty in the temple. God is interested in beauty.”
― Francis A. Schaeffer, Art and the Bible