Once again, Francis Schaeffer blew my mind and brought such joy to my heart in this book simply titled: Art and the Bible. I’ve come to love Schaeffer’s passion for truth and the way he brings to light the way we live out the lies we don’t even know we believe. His practical philosophy gets to the heart of the modern believer, and this book was no exception.

The book is a compilation of two essays: “Art in the Bible” and “Some Perspectives on Art.” I appreciated the publisher’s choice to publish them together as they build on each other to create a complete and yet concise presentation of his thoughts.

“What is the place of art in the Christian life?” “Shouldn’t a Christian focus his gaze steadily on ‘religious things’ alone and forget about art and culture?” These are the questions Schaeffer seeks to answer in his first essay. He speaks to God as Creator and all the times that God commands that art be erected in His honor. Scripture is, in a fashion, a piece of art, with poetry, music, drama, and dance all portrayed and utilized by God Himself. Such false ideas as misinterpretations of the First Commandment and the mindset of art as primarily secular are quickly addressed in the light of Scripture and proper hermeneutics, as the glory of mankind as image-bearers of the Creator of the Universe is revealed.

“How should we as creators and enjoyers of beauty comprehend and evaluate it?” In the second essay, Schaeffer speaks to a matter that has often laid heavy on my heart—namely, that the Church has fallen from being at the forefront of great art and beauty to being pleased with ourselves if we can manage to produce passible imitations of secular art. God has given us more to reach the lost with the Gospel than just apologetics and solid reasoning. He has also given us beauty, empathy, expression, and a thirst for something greater than ourselves. By relegating art to the secular world in order to focus on “religious things,” we may be equipping the mind, but we are abandoning the soul in the process. The arts are full of styles, mediums, and modes in which the full realm of the human soul can be expressed from one person to another in a way that simply nothing else can.

I will take the risk in saying that never have we been more in need of awe-inspiring, God-glorying, raw, beautiful art than today in this post-Informational Age where compassion and connection are quickly becoming the most important qualities to the culture in which we strive to bring the truth. As Schaeffer says, “The Christian’s life is to be a thing of truth and also a thing of beauty in the midst of a lost and despairing world.” This book was truly a blessing, and I would highly recommend this short and easy read to anyone wondering what art can do for the believer.