I’ve been doing some work beyond my weekly posts here at CULTIVARE and so I thought I’d share them with you: Over at ThinkChristian I used the occasion of a new book on Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece, The Last Supper, to reflect on the continued importance of this painting. At Good Letters, the blog of IMAGE Journal (hosted by Patheos), I’m in the midst of a four-part series called, “The Poetics of Painting,” which explores the nuts and bolts... Read more
In what has become an annual tradition with no connection to Elvis, churches around the country are sponsoring “blue Christmas” services aimed at people for whom the joys of the holiday season are elusive. Candles are still lit and ornaments hung, but they symbolize different things. For instance in one church, tree ornaments were pieces of paper inscribed with the names of people who had died or who were suffering particular hardship. Christmas merriment exacerbates personal pain for people who... Read more
The market for artist Damien Hirst’s work seems to have bottomed out. And those who find his stuffed sharks, bejeweled skulls, and dot paintings overhyped and unjustifiable are delighted. The invisible hand of the art market has finally pulled back the curtain, they will say, revealing Hirst to be the sham they all thought he was in the first place. I admire Hirst’s work and feel that it possesses a depth that is often overlooked by both his supporters and... Read more
Advent season formally begins this Sunday. I love this period of intentional reflection on the meanings of the “coming of God,” in Jesus of Nazareth. The incarnation. Emmanuel–God with us! Theologian Letty Russell wrote of “advent shock,” a poignant phrase that suggests that the current state of history and the “way things are” is being interrupted, even if quite behind the scenes and in hidden ways, by the righteousness and justice of God. The current state of things cannot hold... Read more
I’m an Lincolnphile. Love Abe. I have all his books. Read all the biographies. Whenever I’m asked who in history I’d most want to meet if ever given the chance, I always say Abraham Lincoln even though I know I’m supposed to say Jesus. (Of course I believe I get to meet Jesus, so he’s already covered). It was with absolute giddyness that I went to see Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln this week. Knowing that Spielberg would do my icon justice, especially by... Read more
There is a habit of thinking among Christian artists, philosophers, and theologians that conceives of the work of art as a ladder. It uplifts, drawing one closer to God. It is believed to do this in two ways. First, it operates in the register of philosophy, participating in the timeless ideas and eternal forms of the Good, the True, and the Beautiful. It is a means by which thinking Christians re-invest art with seriousness and significance through the abstract categories... Read more
Black Friday is receding into Thanksgiving. A U.S. News articlereports that Wal-Mart, Sears and Toys-R-Us will have flung wide their gates at 8 pm on Thursday. Target is exercising remarkable restraint, waiting an hour later to begin the madness. I’ve been reflecting on this phenomenon in the context of reading William Cavanaugh’s Being Consumed, where he suggests: What really characterizes consumer culture is not attachment to things but detachment. People do not hoard money; they spend it. People do not cling... Read more
“Father in heaven! You hold all the good gifts in your gentle hand. Your abundance is richer than can be grasped by human understanding. You are very willing to give, and your goodness is beyond the understanding of a human heart, because you fulfill every prayer and give what we pray for or what is far better than what we pray for. Give everyone [their] allotted share as it is well pleasing to you, but also give everyone the assurance... Read more
One of the most enjoyable aspects of teaching art history to college students is presenting to them an artist or work of art with which they have been long familiar, perhaps Michelangelo and his famous Pietà or Marcel Duchamp and his infamous Fountain, and opening it up to reveal something they hadn’t noticed, taking it out of their familiar categories and re-enchanting it. So from time to time I will try to do the same here. And if there are works... Read more
Today’s guest blogger is Tim Conder, the founding pastor of Emmaus Way in Durham, NC. He is currently a PhD Candidate in “Culture, Curriculum, & Change” at the University of North Carolina. Tim is the author of Free for All: Rediscovering the Bible in Community and The Church in Transition: The Journey of Existing Churches into the Emerging Culture. He is a contributor to The Emergent Manifesto, Baptimergent, and an upcoming book on Eugene Peterson as well as currently editing a... Read more
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