Question:  Dear Greg,

            Can you please tell me of any biblical principles concerning the arts?  I am a poet, and I believe that God has given me this talent.  I have been told by a Christian friend that much of the arts are inspired by evil and based in sensuality, poetry especially being very introverted and causing one to focus on himself.  I can certainly see his point and agree that I must be careful and prayerful of where inspiration is coming from and of my motivations for writing.

            I am very concerned with living the way God wants me to live and being a creative writing student, I am wondering if I’m making a mistake in choosing this as a career.  This is why I am asking for advice based on biblical principles.  Thank you so much for this forum and your time!

            In Christian love,

            Terri

Answer:  Dear Terri,

            Glad to be of help!  It’s good to hear from you, and I do very much understand the experiences you describe, as well as the question confronting you.  PTM will be happy to be of help to you in any way we can.

            One of the best explanations of “Art and the Bible” is in the booklet by the same name, authored by the late Francis Schaeffer.  I only have one copy, otherwise I would send you one free of charge.  Most Christian bookstores should be able to order one for you.

            For a variety of reasons, many Christians have come to have negative views of music, fine art, poetry, drama, dance, the theatre, etc.  Some enforce prohibitions against music (some churches no not allow instrumental music at all), movies, dancing, fine art and literature, poetry, and all “modern music” (whatever that may mean).

            But the Bible is favorable toward art.  The Hebrews did not deny creativity, imagination or artistic expression, but encouraged it.  David was a musician, a poet, and he danced.  Much of the Bible is written in poetic style.  Human creativity and imagination are attributes given to us by God, and are in large part what is meant to be created in “God’s image.”  No other creation of God can dream, plan, create, imagine, build, etc.

            Of course there is much human artistic expression that has gone wrong, and does not follow appropriate moral and ethical boundaries given to us in the new covenant.  But this does not mean that the wrong use of something should drive us to deny that gift or ability altogether.  We are all given unique gifts and talents, and part of serving God involves using them to his glory.

            In Christ,

            Greg Albrecht