Is Art Essential?
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1
It’s fitting to frame any discussion on the value of art by quoting the very first verse of the Bible. If we truly believe Scripture to be theopneustos or “God-breathed”, we must then recognize that the first description that God provides about Himself is that He is a creator.
In Classical Christian education, the traditional academic rigor we strive for should always be infused with our Christ-centered worldview. The Classical trivium of logic, grammar, and rhetoric provides a seemingly endless buffet of touchpoints for students to experience and absorb truth, goodness, and beauty before they graduate. Through mathematics, history, great books, and the sciences to name a few, students are exposed to the grandeur of Western ideas, and ultimately God’s order and will. Equally important though, is that students learn to see beauty with their own eyes and replicate it with their own hands.
As our students at Chapel Field know, we are created Imago Dei, or “in the image of God”. With the aforementioned knowledge that God has revealed Himself to be the original and ultimate creator, we are then faced with a challenge. As God’s image-bearers, we are not only called to study the vast beauty of God’s creation, as important as that is, but we are also called to mirror it. We too are called to create.
Sepia wash drawing of Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris, by J. Quéré, 1942. (Credit: Gallerie Napoléon)
Humans are naturally creative beings. We’ve taken stones and built cathedrals. Likewise, we at Chapel Field, as a body of lifelong learners, should not simply rest on our innate drive to create. As children of a perfect God, we must constantly work to hone our imperfect gifts and abilities. We are called to be faithful stewards of our God-given resources and talents.
In his book, Beauty, the late philosopher, Sir Roger Scruton wrote that “beauty is vanishing from our world because we live as though it did not matter”. Travel around the globe and you will find much to marvel at, but anyone paying attention will see that the increasingly secular West has all but abandoned its God-glorifying quest for beauty. Cultures, including our own, that once strove for beauty now prioritize practicality at best, and shock at worst. This of course does not foster a love for God or the truth, goodness, and beauty he created.
At Chapel Field, we live as though beauty matters, because as God’s image-bearers, we know it in fact does. We’ve lined our walls with beautiful paintings; we open and close our school days with beautiful songs; our students look upon the great works of art history with reverence and discernment; and we get our hands dirty in the art studio as we seek to replicate a small portion of the beauty God has granted us.
“And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” Genesis 1:31
At the end of Genesis 1, God looked back on his creation and saw that it was “good”. What a privilege it is for us to create. When we mimic our creator, we too take part in that good. This year, I hope you will join this wonderful community of students, parents, faculty, staff, supporters, and friends in stewarding the artistic talents and abilities that the Great Creator has bestowed upon us. Classical Christian education is a tremendous gift, and the pursuance of beauty is but one of its essential ingredients.
Andy Spanjer serves as Director of our Art Department at Chapel Field.
