“Put crudely, one is left with a choice between two unsatisfactory combinations: artistic integrity married to spiritual compromise; and spiritual integrity married to artistic banality-or, worse, art compromised on both counts. Neither one will satisfy those who recognize the fundamental necessity of integrity in both faith and art.” ArtTwoSpiritualChoicesCultureLeftChristianityIntegrityMarriedFundamentalsCompromiseArtisticCombinationBanalityArtistic IntegritySpiritual Integrity Author:John Walford
“The cumulative effect of the Romantic theory of creativity, as played out in the context of belief in the virtue of the avant-garde, is that while the art world has effectively freed itself from the tyranny of artistic tradition and its historic patronage system, it has ended up inhabiting an autonomous but perceived irrelevance.” WorldArtCultureBeliefChristianityCreativityVirtueEffectsTheoryTraditionTyrannyArtisticHistoricArt WorldAvant GardeAutonomousCumulativePatronageIrrelevance Author:John Walford
“Narcissism and Christianity have little in common, yet the Romantic paradigm of artistic creativity, particularly in light of subsequent Freudian ideas, has tended to foster its share of narcissism. It was the tragic fate of Narcissus that he was so preoccupied with self that he could not appreciate God, nature, or the other.” LittlesIdeasSelfLightCultureCommonChristianityCreativityFateShareAppreciateArtisticTragicNarcissismParadigmNarcissusArtistic CreativityGod NatureTragic Fate Author:John Walford
“In as much as Christ's mission was to bring all things into submission to God, and to restore not only humanity, but also the whole creation to its proper purposes, to make straight what is crooked, and to redeem both humanity and the creation from the curse of sin, then herein can be found the possibility for a full and wholesome realization of human artistic activity.” HumansArtWholePurposeHumanityFoundChristSinCreationPossibilityActivityAll ThingsMissionsRealizationArtisticCurseSubmissionCrookedSubmission To God Author:John Walford
“It would be a serious oversight to limit our understanding of the impact of theology to strictly religious art, and overlook its pervasive role in shaping human understanding and artistic expression thereof within any given culture-regardless of the subject matter at hand.” HumansArtMatterHandsWould BeCultureGivenUnderstandingReligiousRolesSubjectsSeriousExpressionLimitsImpactTheologyArtisticSubject MatterArtistic ExpressionOversightReligious Art Author:John Walford