Jeremy Begbie

Art and Christianity: An Interview with Dr. Glenn Kreider, Part Two

October 21, 2008 By heather Leave a Comment

This is the second part of my interview with Dr. Glenn Kreider, a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary. The interview is about beauty and sentimentality, and this segment looks specifically at the cross and resurrection.

The video runs about 5 minutes.

Related quotes from "Beauty, Sentimentality, and the Arts," an essay by Jeremy Begbie in The Beauty of God: Theology and the Arts:

"In a nutshell, Christian sentimentalism arises from a premature grasp for Easter morning, a refusal to follow the three days of Easter as three days in an irreversible sequence of victory over evil" (p. 61).

"Easter does of course throw its light on the ‘renting’ of Friday (to use Yeats’s word), but not a soothing glow so much as a white light that exposes the rupture between Creator and creature, the depths to which the human creature has sunk and the depths to which God’s love is prepared to reach" (p. 62).

"This is emphatically not to say that the crucifixion as an event of torture and death is really beautiful and not ugly, if only we would change our perspective. That would be gross sentimentality (and, of course, opens the door to sadism or sadomasochism). But it is to say that in and through this particular torture, crucifixion and death, God’s love is displayed at its most potent" (p.63).

You can see part one of the interview here.

Filed Under: aesthetics, art, beauty, Christianity, cross, crucifixion, Glenn Kreider, Jeremy Begbie, podcast, resurrection, sentimentality, video blog

What's on My Nightstand

July 30, 2008 By heather 9 Comments

5 Minutes for Books has a new monthly carnival–What’s on Your Nightstand. You know I can’t pass this up. So here goes:

Saint Maybe by Anne Tyler

Actually, I finished this book last night, but it lingers in spirit, mind, and nightstand. Ian told his brother, Danny, that Danny’s wife was cheating on him. Danny commits suicide, and not long after Danny’s wife also commits suicide, leaving behind three children. Overcome by guilt, Ian leaves college and gives up his life to help raise the kids. It’s a book about how people change our lives in unexpected ways and how burdens become blessings. Anne Tyler’s one of my favorite authors because of her subtlety.

The Beauty of God: Theology and the Arts

This is a collection of essays from a conference at Wheaton in 2006 of theological scholars and artists. I just began this yesterday, so I don’t have much to say about it except that two of the essays are by Jeremy Begbie, who is one of my favorite theologians after hearing him speak at the Transforming Culture back in April. Thus far, my impression is that this group of scholars/artists seek to challenge the Chuch to participate in beauty in a way that is founded on the trinity, creation, and redemption, and is aware of the brokenness of creation. And they seek an art that glorifies God. I look forward to diving in.

Reel Spirituality: Theology and Film in Dialogue (Engaging Culture) by Robert K. Johnston

Yes, I realize I’m coming rather late to this book. It’s not so much that I’m learning anything new from reading it as I’ve been studying this subject for a while, but he does have some good categories to think through things and into which I can fit some of my thinking. Also, it’s more than a book on film. It’s a book that challenges how we consider theology.

The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out

It seems to me that I’ve been reading this one for a while. I read it in chunks then let it alone for a bit. Or reread sections. It’s a beautiful and refreshing message on grace–recognizing, accepting, extending, and being grace. Some days it’s challenging. Other days it’s hydrating. It’s not a difficult or "scholarly" read but almost devotional.

Finally, A Patchwork Planet (Ballantine Reader’s Circle)by Anne Tyler

Because once I read a little Anne Tyler, I have to keep going for a bit. And at Half Price, I got a book with three of her novels: Saint Maybe, A Patchwork Planet, and Ladder of Years. So far, my favorite of hers is either Digging to America or Back When We Were Grown-ups.

So that’s what’s on my nightstand. Join the list of readers and tell us what you’re reading.

Filed Under: 5 Minutes for Books, Anne Tyler, books, carnival, Jeremy Begbie, Saint Maybe, The Beauty of God

There's No Place Like Home

May 27, 2008 By heather Leave a Comment

If N.T. Wright and music had a child, it would be Jeremy Begbie.

I’m pretty sure neither Wright nor Jeremy would endorse that statement, but there it is.

Begbie spoke of my two favorite things: the resurrection (meaning not just Christ’s, who is a foretaste, but the resurrection of the world) and arts. As a friend said, the resurrection makes me giddy. It’s true. I think of frolicking–yes, frolicking–at a beach with my grandparents or riding the back of a tiger (or even a unicorn!) or jamming on the piano with a jazz combo. Can you imagine what it’ll be like to play and sing and dance in the midst of the music of every tongue and nation? Can you imagine what it’ll be like to cuddle up next to a lion? Can you imagine what it’ll be like to sing with the mute, dance with the lame, and chat with the deaf? Who says being a Christian isn’t fun? (See–I mention the resurrection and end up on a digression.)

What’s more, Jeremy spoke in a language I understand: music. Throughout his session, he used Prokofieff’s Piano Sonata 7 to work through his points.

It made me happy.

I can’t begin to go through all of his points and do justice to them (I suggest buying the CD of his session).

Jeremy took on the topic, where do we go from here? What is the vision of arts and the Church? The vision comes from the future (rather than going into the future). Instead of moving from present to future, instead of keeping up with trends, trying to make the Church hip, dare I say trying to make our art edgy? (now there I go stepping on toes again), we move from the future to the present.

Amen.

We have a glimpse of the future in the resurrection of Christ, in Revelation 21-22, and in Isaiah and other prophetic writings. (My imagination often goes crazy with these passages thinking of a time when creation is beautiful and just and harmonious and radiant.) The Holy Spirit brings the future into the present, churning the culture. Begbie compared it to the transfiguration–God’s future erupting into the present.

This is our jam session. This is what we get to participate in.

The Spirit’s work is energizing, creative, unifying, deep, inverting. The possibilities of the Holy Spirit’s work are limitless.

How can we not get excited about this?

We taste the resurrection, don’t we? In relationships, in nature, in art, in a good meal, in dancing. This is what we are to cultivate.

Let me make a note (and this relates to the above statement about "edgy"): cultivating the resurrection does not mean ignoring or trivializing the evil. On the contrary, it’s willing to go to the depths of the evil around us. A story is only good if the hero has to overcomes obstacles, if he has to go through a trial. This story reflects the story of humanity and the story of Christ. Christ delved into the depths of evil. He resisted the temptation in the desert. He "descended into hell." From there comes the beauty of resurrection and victory. I say this relates to my comment about "edgy" art because there’s a difference between taking risks and trying to be edgy for the sake of being edgy, a trap into which I fear we sometimes fall. I’m not saying that anyone who uses the term "edgy" has fallen into this trap. I’m only saying let’s be careful. As C.S. Lewis said, "In literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it." This from the man who’s greatest work of literature is a retelling of an old myth (Till We Have Faces).

This journey is complete. We’ve been called to be beautifully unuseful to God, we’ve been mentored in the lifestyle, we’ve crossed the threshold, we’ve met our enemies, dealt with trials, and found allies, we’ve descended into the depths of the ordeal, and today we’ve been resurrected, our art has been resurrected.

The question is, our we willing to return to our Original World with the lessons we’ve learned from our journey, with this elixir to heal the nations? In other words, am I willing to use my art to participate in God’s kingdom work by showing Truth and creating beauty?

Filed Under: aesthetics, art, eschatology, Jeremy Begbie, resurrection, theology, transforming culture