Affective Anaesthesia
You can recognize popular art not only through its form (or formlessness), but through the feelings it evokes, according to Kaplan. He disagrees with the… Read More »Affective Anaesthesia
Articles on Aesthetics
Mere Recognition
Kaplan argues that popular art is formless. It does not possess form in the truest sense. Form in good art, is precisely what invites true… Read More »Mere Recognition
Crystallized Prejudices
The popular arts are often criticized by aesthetes for their form, or perhaps formlessness. Kaplan responds to this by directing us once again to how… Read More »Crystallized Prejudices
What The Popular Arts Are Not
Kaplan begins by defining what he means by the popular arts. In his definition, popular arts does not refer to: 1) Pop art, the dadaistic… Read More »What The Popular Arts Are Not
Cheap Thrills – Pop Art and Transcendence
In the land of TolerateAll, the outlaw is the realist critic. Civil order is maintained by quelling all disagreements over beauty with a few simple,… Read More »Cheap Thrills – Pop Art and Transcendence
A Catechism on Judgment in Worship
How are we to worship God? We should worship in all of life, but we have been told most explicitly to worship God corporately through… Read More »A Catechism on Judgment in Worship
The Sacrifices of God
I subscribe to the “poem-a-day” e-mail service from Rattle, a well-regarded and above-average publication. I thought yesterday’s poem, a prose poem, might be of interest… Read More »The Sacrifices of God
Why “Subjective” Doesn’t Get You Out of Jail Free
I was one of those who used the word ‘subjective’ to defend my own prejudices. My approach was to enter into debate with someone on… Read More »Why “Subjective” Doesn’t Get You Out of Jail Free
The Double-Edge of Beautiful Music
The created world is to be prized for its usefulness, loved for its beauty and esteemed as the gift of God to His children. Love… Read More »The Double-Edge of Beautiful Music
William Logan on Medium and Message
(Note: For anyone who’s been missing them, I plan to return to sharing insights from Tozer over the coming weeks.) Any review of The Cantos‘… Read More »William Logan on Medium and Message
Tozer on Medium and Message
It is probably impossible to think without words, but if we permit ourselves to think with the wrong words, we shall soon be entertaining erroneous… Read More »Tozer on Medium and Message
Sincerity or Profanity – 2
This time, in the words of Richard Weaver: “He is therefore trained to see things under the aspect of eternity, because form is the enduring… Read More »Sincerity or Profanity – 2
Worship: Effective or Affective
In a striking work published a century ago the Italian philosopher Benedetto Croce pointed to a radical distinction, as he saw it, between art properly… Read More »Worship: Effective or Affective
The Poetry of Ron Rash
In his answer to the first question in this interview, poet and editor Justin Evans advances the idea that it is a sense of… Read More »The Poetry of Ron Rash
Unformed Expression
Richard Weaver’s book Ideas Have Consequences is one of the more demanding reads you’ll encounter. I’ll confess it took me more than one reading to begin to… Read More »Unformed Expression
The Hymns of Timothy Dudley-Smith
If Timothy Dudley-Smith is known to Protestants in the United States, it is more likely as the biographer of theologian John Stott than as a… Read More »The Hymns of Timothy Dudley-Smith
Review: Art in Action: Toward a Christian Aesthetic by Nicholas Wolterstorff
Nicholas Wolterstorff, the Noah Porter Emeritus Professor of Philosophical Theology at Yale University, confronts the common trends in aesthetics in 1980 with his engaging Art… Read More »Review: Art in Action: Toward a Christian Aesthetic by Nicholas Wolterstorff
Discernment for the Glory of God (Part 1)
Yesterday, Phil Johnson highlighted the “preposterous claims, unhinged behavior, and spiritual quackery” of the charismatic movement, with Mark Driscoll as “Exhibit A.” I agree with… Read More »Discernment for the Glory of God (Part 1)
The Religious Affections and Beauty
Probably the greatest difference between a thoroughly conservative Christian church and more nominally conservative Christian churches will be found in differences over the religious affections.… Read More »The Religious Affections and Beauty
Truth and Worship Forms
I have argued to this point that preserving the truth must include not only the preservation of right doctrine, but also the preservation of right imagination.… Read More »Truth and Worship Forms