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4.36 AVERAGE
4.36 AVERAGE
informative
inspiring
reflective
Being deeply interested in art, especially literature and literary scholarship, and also a Bible-believing, practicing Christian, this book was just the thing I needed. I have had questions about how the arts and my faith can and should work together, and reading this gave much-needed insight, and great resources for future research on the topic.
This is LONG and feels like a grad level textbook sometimes but well worth the read to understand how and why art is the way it is today. It makes a good case for an appropriate Christian response.
Excellent, Well-Informed, and Compelling
This book gives a solid, well-informed look at the history of modern philosophy and shows clearly how each of the leading world views expressed themselves in art. Simultaneously, the author equips the reader to critique and respond to these world views with a holistic Biblical worldview, and challenges Christians to think and create well.
This book gives a solid, well-informed look at the history of modern philosophy and shows clearly how each of the leading world views expressed themselves in art. Simultaneously, the author equips the reader to critique and respond to these world views with a holistic Biblical worldview, and challenges Christians to think and create well.
Highly recommended. Would be great assigned reading for high school.
Nutritious and well thought. Not just the content, even the medium; nice larger pages, glossy with images, concise sections.
I think we can often be so caught up with modern attempts to overcorrect a dogmatism by saying everything is open to interpretation. There is also the influence with existentialism saying that there is no Truth but many truths. And because of that, Christians can be wary of saying there is a Christian way to look at things. A Christian way to consume art. Part of this is because of what Pearcey describes as the secular/sacred split, where faith is isolated to the upper realm of subjective convictions, and the rest of the world can be seen as a realm where faith cannot really speak to outside of our own personal feelings. But I believe my Christian faith speaks to all things, because it is ultimately not just a personal conviction but a recognition of a reality and a worldview.
This was refreshing in that. Though Pearcey might not get all the nuances of different movements or get the exact sentiments of certain thinkers right, she also does not give superficial caricatures of the different artistic and philosophical movements so pervasive in modern society. On the contrary, she does due justice to the artists by identifying their philosophical beliefs which they *wanted* to proliferate and be known for (aka Duchamp didn't want people to look at his urinal and think it was beautiful. It is a misinterpretation of Duchamp’s stated intent, which was to find something with 0 aesthetic value and remove the hand of the artist. A deterministic reality without intelligible order.) And of course, she is not calling for the discarding of all secular art. Even if she does not get all the meticulous details right, her overarching principles are sound. I think it's important to note here that she does not expect the reader to end critical analyses of culture with her book. This should be a primer for continued engagement & wrestling with culture.
Pearcey right away addresses skepticisms I had about this book ( I mean it has a pretty strong title) by very straightforward clarifications that these analyses are not meant to be top-down hammers to end all conversation. Without personal transformation, talking about worldview can become ‘just another cover for pride and self-assertion’ (277). And by not holding back in identifying the 'secular assault on mind, morals, meaning,' Pearcey makes the point that ideas are important! Ideas are not just ideas. They shape life and death.
And because Pearcey once again roots the beauty, meaning, purpose of art in Christ and the gospel, she gives a great support for the arts, one that calls for more Christian artists rather than adopting a form of negative protest:
‘Christian art should grow out of the robust confidence that nothing is unredeemable– that Jesus himself entered into the darkest levels of human experience and transformed them into sources of life and renewal.’ (272)
An important, shrewd, book that not only introduces a very helpful framework to assess modern thought traditions but also exhorts Christians to think for themselves and to seek to be salt and light in the world.
I think we can often be so caught up with modern attempts to overcorrect a dogmatism by saying everything is open to interpretation. There is also the influence with existentialism saying that there is no Truth but many truths. And because of that, Christians can be wary of saying there is a Christian way to look at things. A Christian way to consume art. Part of this is because of what Pearcey describes as the secular/sacred split, where faith is isolated to the upper realm of subjective convictions, and the rest of the world can be seen as a realm where faith cannot really speak to outside of our own personal feelings. But I believe my Christian faith speaks to all things, because it is ultimately not just a personal conviction but a recognition of a reality and a worldview.
This was refreshing in that. Though Pearcey might not get all the nuances of different movements or get the exact sentiments of certain thinkers right, she also does not give superficial caricatures of the different artistic and philosophical movements so pervasive in modern society. On the contrary, she does due justice to the artists by identifying their philosophical beliefs which they *wanted* to proliferate and be known for (aka Duchamp didn't want people to look at his urinal and think it was beautiful. It is a misinterpretation of Duchamp’s stated intent, which was to find something with 0 aesthetic value and remove the hand of the artist. A deterministic reality without intelligible order.) And of course, she is not calling for the discarding of all secular art. Even if she does not get all the meticulous details right, her overarching principles are sound. I think it's important to note here that she does not expect the reader to end critical analyses of culture with her book. This should be a primer for continued engagement & wrestling with culture.
Pearcey right away addresses skepticisms I had about this book ( I mean it has a pretty strong title) by very straightforward clarifications that these analyses are not meant to be top-down hammers to end all conversation. Without personal transformation, talking about worldview can become ‘just another cover for pride and self-assertion’ (277). And by not holding back in identifying the 'secular assault on mind, morals, meaning,' Pearcey makes the point that ideas are important! Ideas are not just ideas. They shape life and death.
And because Pearcey once again roots the beauty, meaning, purpose of art in Christ and the gospel, she gives a great support for the arts, one that calls for more Christian artists rather than adopting a form of negative protest:
‘Christian art should grow out of the robust confidence that nothing is unredeemable– that Jesus himself entered into the darkest levels of human experience and transformed them into sources of life and renewal.’ (272)
An important, shrewd, book that not only introduces a very helpful framework to assess modern thought traditions but also exhorts Christians to think for themselves and to seek to be salt and light in the world.
I annotated this. I took notes. I underlined. It was a good time.
Eye-opening beyond belief.
Eye-opening beyond belief.
Oof, the information density was high with this one. But it was also really cool to learn all these new ways of looking at art. It makes museums a lot less boring.
If you are a Christian and you are a thinker (shame on you if you are a lazy Christian!) you should read this book! I'm so glad I did! I'm especially glad my copy was a gift -- so it will be a treasure for my family. Saving Leonardo reminds me of how important it is to be grounded in Biblical worldview so I can make a difference in a broken world especially with my art.
I annotated this. I took notes. I underlined. It was a good time.
Eye-opening beyond belief.
Eye-opening beyond belief.
Everything Pearcey writes is worth reading. She adapts and channels Schaeffer to the modern reader in a way few, if any, can. This is a helpful guide to how philosophy (or worldview) influences culture. What is so good about Pearcey is she sees where the lines fall and is able to discern the reductionism of any given worldview. The benefit of this is that it ultimately calls disciples of Christ to live the Lord with all their heart, not just their reason or their emotions.