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Re: they call this Christian?!?

>but really?
>    I'm curious of what believer's would call
>Christian art.
>    I'm curious of what those who don't believe would
>call Christian art.

Actually, I've been thinking around and about this topic lately.

You've got a double problem-- a) is it Christian? b) is it Art?

Is OTR's work Christian?  Is Carmen's work Art?  Does it count if it *was*
Christian, but now it's not, like Bob Dylan?

Is Rock Art?  Is Rock Dead?  Does output with a Christian or semi-christian
theme from a non-believer count as Christian, like Big Star's "Jesus
Christ," or VU's "I'm Beginning To See The Light?"  Does a cover of a
secular song by a Christian (the current faithful version of "In Your
Eyes," for example) make it Christian Art?

What about Chaim Potok's "My Name is Asher Lev?"  Does the appropriation of
Christian imagery make this book Christian as opposed to Jewish Art?

Is John Irving's "A Prayer For Owen Meany" a Christian novel?  Can a novel
be Christian?

What about Paul's Letter to the Ephesians?  Is that Christian Art?  It *is*
artful.  He *is* a Christian.  But it *is* just a letter (albeit a
peculiarly significant one).

I do think you duck the question by saying that art is art, and to call an
item Christian is to cheapen Christ.  I vaguely recall the theory being
proposed on this list that one's discourse is an extension of one's self--
if so, the output of a Christian is directly related to that person's
inhabiting Christ.  I mean, it sounds good to let art be art, but art is
famously "not made in a vaccuum."  If a Christian makes it with Christ on
his or her mind and heart, it probably has something to do with Christ.  I
imagine we've justifiably adopted the word "Christian" to describe that
fact, in much the same way that we use the word "love" to mean all manner
of subtly different things.  Presto-- Christian Art.  Art issuing from or
describing or having something to do with Christ or Christians or Christianity.

Of course, this line of thinking causes difficulty when I start to examine
Christian Crap, or Christian Invective.

Ah, well, Jesus is King.

jnf
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