Incarnation

…human creativity is supremely about sharing through the Spirit in the creative process of the Father as he draws all things to himself through his Son. – Jeremy Begbie

Art is ultimately for human flourishing—for that mode of human flourishing which the biblical writers called shalom. Shalom requires justice; of that, the biblical writers leave us in now doubt, as also they leave us in no doubt that it requires harmony and delight in our relation to God, to society, and to nature. But also it requires art. Of that there can be no doubt. In its contribution to shalom lies the justification of art. In that contribution lies its unmistakable glory. – Nicholas Wolterstorff

In very truth, a wise imagination, which is the presence of the spirit of God, is the best guide that man or woman can have; for it is not the things we see that the most clearly that influence us the most powerfully; undefined, yet vivid visions of something beyond, something which eye had not seen nor ear heard, have far more influence than any logical sequences whereby the same things may be demonstrated to the intellect. – George MacDonald

Speech should indeed inform, as food should indeed nourish, but what sane person will let either subject go at that? – Robert Farrar Capon

It falls to the artist to redeem language, to use imaginative language to restore what a language devoid of imagination has destroyed. – Malcolm Guite

It may be that language itself, and the very possibility of communication through words, bears witness to the primal act of communication in the incarnation of the eternal Word: every effort to incarnate our own thoughts in the web of language is underwritten by God’s expression of his Word in Christ. In that sense all literary art, even self-consciously atheist literary art, is in some way, consciously or unconsciously, modelling and bearing witness to the mystery of incarnation. – Malcolm Guite

Indeed, the incarnation must be realised before it is idealised, and we have missed the point if we cage it away from its natural habitat as the main exhibit in the theological zoo. Christ belongs in the wilderness, for that is where we are. – Andrew Rumsey

And that is how it is with the incarnation. There is a crashing through, a breaking into the stream of human history. God is not shocked or embarrassed by anything human, and he values the diversity of our labour, art and invention. He fully comprehends our reality and our multiple realities. We don’t have to clean him up, prop him up, or protect him from harm, nor wonder if the world will change so much he will not recognise it. We are the ones who see things from a distance, ‘through a glass, darkly’. He comes up close and walks around in the thick of it. – Lynn Aldrich

Music can liberate our theology of some of its worst bad habits, and refresh it for the future. – Jeremy Bebgie

Every happening, great or small, that is to say, is a parable whereby God speaks to us; and the art of life is to get the message. In the same sort of way, listening to great music, or reading great literature, or standing before great buildings, an inner rhythm is detected, and the heart rejoices, and a light breaks, which is none other than God’s love shining through all his creation. – Malcolm Muggleridge

He shrugged. “Since you are here, maybe you could tell me a little about yourself?”

She shook her head. “I don’t talk about that. I just been wondering lately why things happen the way they do.”

“Oh!” he said. “Then I’m glad you have some time to spare. I’ve been wondering about that more or less my whole life.”- Marilyn Robinson Lila

Beauty if never “necessary,” “functional” or “useful.” And when, expecting someone whom we love, we put a beautiful tablecloth on the table and decorate it with candles and flowers, we do all this not out of necessity, but out of love. And the Church is love, expectation and joy. – Alexander Schmemann

For Christianity proclaims that Christ died for the life of the world, and not for an “eternal rest” from it. – Alexander Schmemann

Anarchism adjures us to be bold creative artists, and care for no laws or limits. But it is impossible to be an artist and care for no laws or limits. Art is limitation; the essence of every picture is the frame. – G.K. Chesterton