Creator Spirit

R. Guthrie Steven

Description

Art is often viewed as being inherently spiritual. But what does it mean to describe an experience of art or beauty as "spiritual"? Is there a relationship between the spiritual experience a person has in the presence of a work of art and the Holy Spirit of Christian faith? Skilled theologian, musician, and educator Steven Guthrie examines areas of overlap between spirituality, human creativity, and the arts with the goal of sharpening and refining how we speak and think about the Holy Spirit. By exploring various connections between art and spirituality, he helps Christians better understand the doctrine of the Holy Spirit and offers a clear, engaging theology of the arts. The book includes a foreword by renowned theologian and musician Jeremy Begbie.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Christian theology

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 01 mai 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781441231987
• Langue: English

Extrait

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© 2011 by Steven R. Guthrie
Published by Baker Academic
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakeracademic.com
E-book edition created 2011
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
ISBN 978-1-4412-3198-7
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations labeled HCSB are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, copyright 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations labeled Message are from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson, copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations labeled NASB are from the New American Standard Bible®, copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org
Scripture quotations labeled NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com .
Scripture quotations labeled NLT are from the Holy Bible , New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“We have seen a spate of books offering an ‘incarnational’ affirmation of the arts or a ‘sacramental’ aesthetic. But in Creator Spirit Guthrie gives us something we have been waiting for in discussions of theology and the arts: a pneumatology. Unafraid to engage popular conceptions of spirituality and art, Guthrie challenges the latent gnosticism in so much talk of ‘spirituality,’ returning Christian spirituality to the rehumanizing work of the Holy Spirit. The result is a kind of chemical reaction of mutual illumination: I have a new appreciation for the Spirit’s work and a new excitement about the arts. I hope this book finds many, many readers.”
— James K. A. Smith , Calvin College and Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
“Talk of the relationship between spirituality and aesthetics has become so commonplace in our culture that it has become both cacophonous and banal at the same time. In the midst of this situation Guthrie has produced a theology of the Spirit and the arts that brings welcome clarity to the conversation while retaining an appropriate sense of mystery and openness. Creator Spirit is a compelling example of the sort of generous orthodoxy that is in keeping with the best intuitions of the Christian tradition.”
— John R. Franke , First Presbyterian Church, Allentown, PA
“A brilliant book! Guthrie makes nuances exceedingly accurately, so that his readers are able to distinguish various ideas in Christianity from their mistaken use in historical and postmodern philosophies about the arts. Guthrie consequently frees us to recognize more clearly and biblically the labors of diverse artists and the liberating presence of the Holy Spirit. You will devour this volume, and it will increase your faith!”
— Marva J. Dawn , Regent College, Vancouver; theologian; speaker
“Guthrie has offered to a varied audience a study that is both challenging and captivating as it traces how and in what way the Holy Spirit is active in sanctified human artistry. Indeed, Creator Spirit itself reflects the beauty that its author seeks to describe. First, the book displays admirable proportion, balancing an analysis of the arts (music, visual art, dance) with theological, philosophical, and cultural concerns. Next, it provides keen pleasure for the reader in terms of its lively and compelling style and its rich content. Finally, it moves admirably toward a satisfying telos, even if, with all other human projects, it is not perfect. That perfection is instead attributed to the Author and Creator of all, whom this book glorifies, as Guthrie rejoices in the gifts and in the Gift, the Spirit who humanizes those who receive.”
— Edith M. Humphrey , Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
“This book participates in a growing movement interested in the intersection of art, faith, and spirituality. But this book also stands out as a leading voice in this field because of its breadth of vision for the sources and functions of the arts in human life and because of the specificity and clarity of its theological convictions about the work of the Holy Spirit and the expansive nature of salvation offered in and through Jesus Christ. The book’s particular interest in Athanasius is especially welcome, inviting all of us to sharpen and deepen our theological vision and to wrestle with the astonishing implications of the incarnation for human flourishing.”
— John D. Witvliet , Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary
For Dick and Sally Guthrie
and Ron and Mary Waterloo.
My parents and parents-in-law,
and people of the Spirit.
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Endorsements
Dedication
Contents
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1: Is There Anything to Talk About Here?
Part 1: The Making of a Human
2: Remaking Humanity
3: Remaking Human Bodies
4: Remaking Community
Part 2: The Spirit’s Making and Ours
5: Ionized Inspiration
6: The Gift-Giving Spirit
7: Finding Our Voices
Part 3: A World Remade
8: Seeing the Spirit in All Things, Seeing All Things in the Spirit
9: Beautiful, Beautiful Zion
10: Perfection, Proportion, and Pleasure
Epilogue
Subject Index
Scripture Index
Notes
Foreword
Jeremy S. Begbie
This book has been provoked by something widespread in our culture: talk about the arts has a habit of veering into talk about “spirit,” “the spiritual,” and “spirituality”; and likewise, “spiritual” talk often slides into talk about the arts. In our culture, there seems to be an intuitive sense that “the spiritual” and the world of the arts are somehow intimately related.
And yet when we dig a little deeper we find that language about “the spiritual” covers, if not a multitude of sins, at least a multitude of meanings. We find ourselves in something of a semantic chaos. This might not matter much, if it weren’t for the fact that Christians, eager to find connections with the religious impulses of our culture at large, are prone to use the language of “spirit” in ways quite alien to the biblical texts. Most worrying, talk of “spirit” is used to justify a neglect, even a denigration of our humanness, especially our embodied, physical nature: to be “spiritual” is somehow to rise above our earthy, common humanity. And when the arts are drawn into this kind of confusion, the problems multiply.
Guthrie brings a welcome dose of fresh air into this foggy territory. He is immersed in the biblical texts, with an acute grasp of the multidimensional moves of the Spirit portrayed in the New Testament. He shows us that at the heart of the Spirit’s work is the renewal of our humanity—through the Spirit, as we are changed into the likeness of Christ. We are re-humanized by the Spirit, not de-humanized. With this perspective in mind, he invites us to enter the world of human artistry and reenvision the arts in ways that are illuminating, compelling, and always down to earth. Throughout, Guthrie is careful not to denigrate or downplay the stirrings of the Spirit beyond the church: this is a charitable, hospitable theology, eager to listen as well as speak. (Indeed, the book breathes the generous spirit of its author, with whom I was once fortunate enough to coteach a course on the Holy Spirit at the University of St. Andrews.) But Guthrie’s is a discerning generosity—as he shows, the eagerness to baptize everything in the arts that attracts the language of “spiritual” is naïve and in the end helps nobody.
In these pages, you will encounter John Coltrane, Annie Dillard, and Wassily Kandinsky. You will rub shoulders with Augustine, Miroslav Volf, Gordon Fee, and—Guthrie’s main theological companion—Athanasius. You will encounter a first-rate teacher who seems to be able to draw on a vast range of images and metaphors to press each point home. You will encounter a theologian who can bring clarity out of confusion without ever stifling a sense of openness and wonder. And most important, you will, by God’s grace, encounter the work of the Spirit, sharpening your thinking and enlarging your vision, the Spirit who alone can, and will, remake all things.
Acknowledgments
I am grateful to Brian Bolger of Baker Academic for inviting me to write this book and for continuing to pursue the idea despite my initial uncertainty. I am also very grateful to Baker Academic for not giving up on this project when significant health and family concerns forced long delays.
I thank my students from St. Mary’s College, University of St. Andrews. In particular, I am grateful for the thoughtful and enthusiastic reception of this material given by the students who took my class “The Holy Spirit: An Exploration through the Arts” the first time it was offered in Autumn 2001: Henriette Guthauser, Jen Kilps, Catriona Lang, Jeff McSwain, Andrew Rawnsley, and Dave and Chelle Stearns.
My students at Belmont continue to shape this material semester on semester, and I thank them for the creativity and energy they bring to our studies together. I owe a special debt to the students who t