Jerram Barrs Christianity And The Arts

After reading Jerram Barrs article “Christianity and the Arts”, I gather he is very passionate the arts. In the article he argues that we as Christians should support the arts because they are of God. He claims we should support the arts because they are good, we are attracted to them and even Jesus himself took part in the creative arts. On the other hand, some object to Barrs views, perceiving that the arts are not spiritual but extravagant and secular. These conflicting views often create a divide in the church. We read in Genisis1:31 that “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good”. The arts are good because they were created by Him. The bible says delight in His creation is good and instruction us to agree. God has inspired the arts, if you read through the Bible you will find segments of poems printed in the Bible, the book inspired by the words of our heavenly father. “We are created in the image of a creative God, and part of our nature is to praise him by letting loose our own creativity” (Thomas ). Contrary to Barrs belief, some think art is not spiritual. They reason because of the fall the world is “contaminated by the spirit of antichrist, indwelt by the Devil, and under the power of darkness…therefore, that the enjoyment of life and of God’s daily gifts is no longer genuinely spiritual; for such enjoyment is

He goes on to explain that Jesus worked with his hands as a carpenter and fisherman “for many more years than he was a preacher and teacher. It would be blasphemous to suppose that during these years Jesus was living in a manner that was not fully godly and completely pleasing to his Father in heaven”. (Barrs, ). The art of music is almost always used in church worship. If our work praises the Lord, we cannot be wrong. As believers our goal is to strive to be more Christ like each day and just as Jesue partook in the “arts” and we should follow in his