>My pastor is going to be preaching on portions of early Genesis. He
>seems to be after our duty to be creative in carrying out the
>'dominion' directive. That is, he is disturbed by current
>Christianity's dereliction of its duty in the arts and sciences and
>the abandonment of these fields to the world. That God pronounced
>the world He created as 'good' but we seem to have pronounced it
>'bad'. It's probaly somewhat off-topic, but can anyone recommend
>some references that touch on this?<
The call to serve God with all our minds makes this an important
aspect of doing anything as a Christian. I touched on this with my
talk for the ASA regional section meeting in April and so have some
notes and references compiled:
Miller, Calvin. 1982. The Philippian Fragment. InterVarsity Press,
Downers Grove, Illinois. 175 p.
This is purportedly a translation of the correspondence of a
second-century pastor, facing problems rather familiar to
twentieth-century pastors. He ponders the problem of "those whose
gifts are more limited than their zeal to use them". This difficulty
is exemplified by a would-be Christian poetess, whose declaration
"'The Holy Spirit gave me this poem; I take no credit for it of
myself.'" led to "widespread belief that the Holy Spirit didn't want
the credit for it, either."
Sayers, Dorothy L. 1943. The Man Born to be King. 1990 edition.
Ignatius Press, San Francisco. 337 p.
In the introduction to The Man Born to be King, Sayers (1943) goes so
far as to assert that, in writing a play about the life of Christ,
"the dramatist must begin by ridding himself of all edificatory and
theological intentions" (p. 13) but instead must aim to tell the
story to the best of his dramatic ability. If a play is not a good
play, the presence of sound theology within it does not make it good.
Peter's advice to wives (I Pet. 3:1-6) gives the same message: the
best witness is being a good wife, not skilled argument.
The newsletters of Peculiar People, a Christian dramatic arts
ministry (www.PeculiarPeople.com), provide an "Evangelically Correct
Christmas Gift Catalog" spoofing this tendency to be of the world but
not in it in American Christian culture. They have featured Billy
Graham crackers, videos of Barnabus, the purple apostle (Hey kids!
Did you know that Barney is really the evil dragon from
Revelation?!), the Prayer of Isez (I sez bless me real good and give
me everything I want), Jezebel's Secret lingerie (who does actually
keep things secret, unlike that heathen tramp Victoria), and the
Evangelical Wrestling Federation (we already fight all the time,
might as well cash in on it).
Schaeffer, Franky. 1985. Addicted to Mediocrity, revised edition.
Crossway Books, Westchester, Illinois. 127 p.
This focuses almost entirely on the arts end of the problem.
Dr. David Campbell
Old Seashells
University of Alabama
Biodiversity & Systematics
Dept. Biological Sciences
Box 870345
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 USA
bivalve@mail.davidson.alumlink.com
That is Uncle Joe, taken in the masonic regalia of a Grand Exalted
Periwinkle of the Mystic Order of Whelks-P.G. Wodehouse, Romance at
Droitgate Spa
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