Fallacy # 4: The Usefulness of Art Depends on Its Philosophic Viewpoint

I have been discussing, for sometime now...(I know, perhaps too long), that the imagination, and art, convey truths. And that this has great benefit for us. But what are we to do when we run into a piece of imaginative art where the truth is not told? What do we do with the musical compositions of John Cage, whose nihilistic philosophy shaped his approach to composing? The answer for those who hold to this particular fallacy is that we throw it out! There is no value, they say, in works that do not tell the truth. The value is wholly dependent upon the artwork's worldview.

At one level we can appreciate this group's adherence to objective truth, and applaud them for not simply lumping all art together as present viable options for truth. On the other hand, their view is extremely narrow and misses a key feature of all artwork. As Leland Ryken writes, "Works of art clarify the human situation to which the Christian faith speaks, even if their interpretation of reality is wrong."

Art, whether it is visual art, music, or literature, tells us something about the people who create and enjoy it. A painting paints for us a picture of the thoughts and feelings, and values of the culture. If Christians wish to have relevant ministry to their neighbors they can learn something from their art. Picasso's painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon reveals a man who had shifted his thought from humans born in a state of innocence to the loss of humanity (observe the picture moving from left to right). Of course Christians deny this to be true...the fall did misshape humans, but we still bear the evidences of being made in the image of God. But this does tell us something about the deeply depressed soul of a man.

Art's value far exceeds its philosophic viewpoint (not that it should be ignored or downplayed. Art tells us about the world, art furthers thoughts about specific worldview points, and art, even with its sometimes fallacious views, can be of good to Christians for evangelism, apologetics, and general life in this sinful world.