Truth in Art: Developing Your Christian
Worldview Through Examining Art

As you walk toward the rear entrance of the St. Louis Art Museum, look up and read the inscription on the pediment: “Art still has truth, take refuge there.”

Carved into stone 100 years ago, the words sit there like a well-seasoned grandparent, speaking wisdom in the ear of those willing to listen. Not everyone listens though. Some call the words old-fashioned and outdated.

Rejecting a belief in objective truth, our culture wallows in the muddy puddle of postmodernism. Lacking a fixed point of reference, people only speak of truth in terms of personal opinion and pragmatic operation. For proof, listen to the conversations around you.

Scarfing down White Castles, some guys in the next booth are talking about the problem of a pregnant girlfriend. “What am I going to do?” he laments, “I don’t want a kid! I’m not ready for a family! She just needs to get rid of it.” This statement spills out effortlessly, but then one of the guys says something about how the “it” is “a baby.” The conversation heats up and voices are raised until the reluctant father blurts out the ultimate postmodernist argument, “Well that may be true for you, but not for me!”

With this profound piece of illogic, the debate ends, for who can argue against personal opinion or taste? You like your belly-bombers with cheese, but I like them plain – end of story. Truth becomes nothing more than glorified opinion. This is postmodernism in a nutshell.

So we have a culture of disbelief. The problem however, as G.K. Chesterton once said, is that “When people stop believing in God, they don't believe in nothing -- they believe in anything.”

Intellectual gullibility is the passenger car on the postmodernist train, carrying folks mindlessly down the warped tracks of intellectual incoherence.

Postmodernism does not reside in philosophical ivory towers. This is not an abstract philosophical problem. For how do you speak about Christ, who claimed to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life, to people who are conditioned to accept the validity of all ways, any truth, and many lives? How do you respond to your co-worker who drives a car with bumper stickers touting gay-pride, abortion-rights, and the Christian fish symbol? Such conflicting ideology should create intellectual schizophrenia, but in a Seinfeld world of nothingness and nihilism it all becomes just a means of personal expression. What shall we do?

A Christian Response

We must boldly reform our thinking about God, and recapture the reality of His grandeur. He is the sovereign ruler of all, and all things ultimately have their meaning because He is.

Put another way, because we believe in a God who is the sovereign ruler of all things, there is absolutely no area of life that the reality of God does not address or affect.

Using the image of a spider web, all areas of life-science, history, mathematics, politics, economics, to name a few – are interconnected. Theology holds the central position within the web of belief, for change in this one area changes all other areas.

Does the theology of an astronomer affect how they look at the stars? Does it alter the way a biologist speaks of the origins of life? Do architects design differently if they are atheist? In what way does the worldview of an artist determine their end product? In every walk of life, theological conviction or lack thereof, forms the foundation for all other endeavors. Jesus Himself spoke a parable about wise and foolish builders. The wise builder submitted to the authority of God as revealed in His Word.

Francis Schaeffer and a Visual Art Apologetic

The great Christian apologist Francis Schaeffer used the visual arts as intellectual weapons, forcing a clueless generation to consider the claims of truth and the confusion of error. Truth, beauty, and goodness – these universals formed the basis of Schaeffer’s visual art apologetic.

Schaeffer talked about culture – art, music, movies, television - in order to talk about God. Believing that all truth is God’s truth, Schaeffer built a comprehensive Christian worldview encompassing all of life. He responded to prevailing philosophies of his day - existentialism, nihilism, relativism, and secular humanism - and showed how the Judeo-Christian God answered the questions posed.

Born in 1912, Francis Schaeffer served as pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church here in St. Louis during the 1940’s. At the time, the church was located at the corner of Union and Enright, just north of Forest Park. Therefore, while honing his apologetic skills, Schaeffer lived just a short drive from the St. Louis Art Museum. Imagine the young pastor, in his thirties, walking through the corridors of the museum, pausing to appreciate beauty, contemplate goodness, and think on truth. Rembrandt, Monet, Titian, Picasso, Van Gogh- what did he think when he saw the works of these artists? In what way did the museum cultivate growth of Schaeffer’s visual art apologetic?

Truth in Art

In the spirit of Francis Schaeffer, I am going to be writing a column called Truth in Art. Each month I will introduce you to one particular piece of art, currently on display in the St. Louis Art Museum. The purpose of doing so is two-fold.

First, great art brings great joy, for it causes a worshipful reflection on the original creative artist, God Himself. Even when a piece speaks falsehood, thrives on ugliness, or celebrates evil, the spiritual and intellectual rejection of the piece is an act of confirming belief in the ways of God.

Second, we will develop tools for evaluating each piece in light of truth, goodness, and beauty. Thinking through the message, style, mood, and technique of the piece, each column will build our Christian worldview, while at the same time developing our critical thinking skills. Rather than laying out all the so-called “right answers” about a piece, we will walk the path together.

It is my prayer that the column will teach your mind and warm your heart, drawing you closer to the God who is the author of truth, goodness, and beauty.

A picture of the piece itself will be reproduced alongside the column. However, the best results come from viewing the art firsthand. Perhaps you will collect several columns together, and then head off for a day at the museum.

When you go, make sure to enter through the back entrance, and when you do… look up. Meditate on the inscription. Spend a moment in prayer, asking God to reveal His grandeur to you while you stroll through the museum. Soli Deo Gloria!

Next Issue: How to Evaluate Art: Truth, Goodness, and Beauty

W. Scott Lamb is one of the pastors of Providence Baptist Church in South County. He and his wife Pearl enjoy the challenges and pleasures of raising their four sons. Feel free to contact Scott at www.pbcstlouis.com. Each of the pieces mentioned in this article can be examined online by visiting the web site www.wga.hu.