A Skeptic's Guide to Arts in the Church: Ruminations on Twenty Reservations

Evangelical discourse on the role of arts in the church can be radioactive, and the twenty-one contributors to this book walk right into the hot zone to pick up on twenty contentious questions. The volume is a series of written dialogues, each one keyed to a cranky question, one that a skeptic might raise (hence the title). Herein, the gainsayers are taken seriously and given their voice. They even find support in some of the contributors' comments. But apologists for greater use of arts and artists in the church have their say, and things can get edgy. Topics range from the biblically august (the Second Commandment; the regulative principle; Great Commission priorities) to the prudential (expense; bohemian influence; weaker brothers) to the programmatic (Christmas festivities; committee makeup). Some of the parties to the discussion are church staffers (pastors and ministers of music); some are professors; several are doctoral students; one is a college student; another, a gallery owner; yet another, a denominational ethicist; and there's a Canadian and a Korean in the mix. The collection of speakers and opinions is illuminating and bracing, and the fruit of their thinking makes for great reading and discussion. Bring together a select group of faith-based, post-graduate, arts-worship practitioners and mentors. Let the agenda be framed by questions about theology, culture, artistic practice, and the worshipping church and let this group fire away at them freely and frankly. You'll soon realize that you are not going to get a neatly packaged set of one-time, all-time answers, and that Christ-centered artistic practice is less a closed, artsy formulation than a vigorous exercise in skilled discernment, experiment, and steady growth. Read it and grow with them. --Harold Best, Dean Emeritus, Wheaton College Conservatory of Music This book deals with the objections to the use of art in the church by actually talking them through, with twenty-two pastors, artists, and laypeople joining in. All sides are taken seriously, and a consensus emerges about how churches can use the arts for effective ministry and God's glory. The stimulating conversations demonstrate why classic thinkers believed that dialogue--thrashing out issues by talking about them--is the best way of coming to understanding. --Gene Edward Veith, Professor Emeritus, Patrick Henry College Mark Coppenger is Professor of Christian Philosophy and Ethics at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville. He is the author of Moral Apologetics (2011).…