God as Artist: Expressions of Goodness « Cross-Cultural Impact for the 21st Century

Here is an interesting blog post from Mark Naylor at Cross Cultural Impact in the 21st Century, on the topic of God as artist. I think the last paragraph has some subtle implications for contextualization of the arts (as well as for us as we represent Jesus to everyone we meet). I like the paraphrase of John 1:14 that he includes from The Message towards the end of the post: "The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood."  With that in mind, here's something for visual artists to think about vis a vis the contextualization of the Gospel in indigenous art forms: what would it look like if, when the Word moves into a neighborhood (within the heart of you or me), he/she is an artist instead of a carpenter?  What it look like to "speak" through the artistic language of the people there?  How would Jesus do it?  Food for thought.

The Son and the Crescent

While I work on future blog posts, take a look at this interesting article in Christianity Today. It explores the debate over whether or not to use the phrase "Son of God" in Bible translations for followers/potential followers of Jesus among Muslim populations:

The Son and the Crescent | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction

And along those lines, in June the Presbyterian Church of America (one of which I attend) is going to be discussing/debating this very topic, within the larger subject of "insider movements" and contextualization in missions:

http://jonesiv.com/2011/05/17/contextualization-in-foreign-missions/

This blog post also contains links to pro and con views of insider movements.

Indonesian Christian Shadow Puppets

Today I'd like to discuss the Indonesian art form of Wayang, or shadow puppetry, and its use by Christians to express the Gospel.  Much of my information for this post came from an article by Marzanna Poplawska for the Asian Theatre Journal.  In order to download a copy of the article, I signed up for a free trial account on Questia, downloaded the article, and then cancelled the subscription.  It's well worth a read.

Sorry for the delay...

I haven't been very a very productive blogger for the last couple of weeks!  Unfortunately, I've had to postpone a couple of potential topics for various reasons, which has left me empty-handed for today's post.  Not to mention that I've had spring fever since my last post and have been spending a lot of time working on the shade garden!  I will try to redouble my efforts in the coming week and hopefully generate a new post in about a week.

In the meantime, here's a great audio link from the Anglican1000 website that was sent to me by my friend Marcia.  It's a lecture by Tim Keller on contextualization, where he discusses why contextualization (of preaching, in his case) is necessary in expressing the Gospel and reaching those who need to hear it.  Although he doesn't deal specifically with the arts, what he discusses would apply to them also.  So I hope you will enjoy listening to it while I'm working on another post!

Here's the link: http://c808066.r66.cf2.rackcdn.com/04_2011_A1K_Keller_P3.mp3
To download the mp3, right-click on the player itself and select "Save video as...".

You can also access the lecture through iTunes here (Lecture #12).

Mehndi Gospel Paintings

God's Promise to Abraham.
Mehandi and acrylic on canvas. 2010

On this Easter weekend, I hope you are well and will have a chance to reflect on God' passion, mercy and love for you.  The resurrection is the event around which all of history and the universe revolves.  It is our reason for hope and joy in a world deeply scarred and broken:  "Behold, I make all things new" (Rev. 21:5).  So with a heart full of gladness, I wanted to celebrate Easter with a post about an example of artistic contextualization that portrays the story of mankind's fall and God's desire to save and redeem us (see my previous post about contextualized henna here).

Artist Profile: Watanabe Sadao

The Prodigal Son

Japanese Christian artist Watanabe Sadao (1913–1996) was a textile artist who worked in the katazome technique of stenciling and dyeing, which he learned while studying under master artist Serizawa Keisuke (1895-1984).  Keisuke had originally been trained in graphic design, but later became very involved in the mingei movement, which sought to recognize the beauty and significance of Japanese folk art of various media.  Keisuke studied under Yanagi Soetsu (1889-1961), the founder of the mingei movement.  Soetsu and his associates had scoured Japan for the finest examples of Japanese folk art of various media and in 1936 created the Japan Folk Craft Museum in Tokyo in which to display them.  Anne H. H. Pyle writes that Soetsu's

concept of mingei folk art consisted of objects made by hand from natural materials in sufficient number to serve or to be used by the masses of people daily, and he argued that “it was because they were used that they were beautiful” (p. 21).

Idols

Last week I was reading Isaiah 46:1-7 where God is speaking about the idols of Babylon and how powerless they are.  Along with the passage, I was also reading John N. Oswalt's commentary The Book of Isaiah.  His note on verses 5-7 caught my eye:

...Isaiah is not denying that the deity could be more than the idol.  He is simply saying that once a deity is associated with an idol, then it is impossible for that deity to be genuinely independent of creation.  The continuity with creation defines the deity's identity and forges its limitations.  It cannot be independent from history and cannot, therefore, deliver from history (p. 231).