The Liberated Imagination: Thinking Christianly About the Arts

This is the most thorough book on arts in general that I've found. As I began researching how Christianity should relate to art, I found Ryken's book addressed every major question I had. As always, Ryken is insightful, compelling, and graceful in his writing. He addresses what art is, how it works, why and how we are affected by it, how we might define "Christian art," what it means to be a Christian artist, how Christians can be inspired, challenged, and aided by non-Christian artists, and a variety of other important topics. As a professor of literature, the majority of Ryken’s examples come from literature, but he also delves into painting and other art forms. For my brief review on this book and most of the books out there on Christianity and the arts, see: theologyforreallife.com/artsbooks

The intro lists the key doctrines related to the arts. other highlights (for this painter/art educator)include chapter 2: "What the Bible says about the Arts", ch.4: "The World of Imagination", ch.7:"What is Christian Art?". the summaries at the end of the chapters, along with the lists for further reading and bibliographies are also very valuable. readable & helpful. I appreciate the hard questions that Ryken asks, and his devotion to the arts and literature in a day that embraces trivial pop culture.

Lee Ryken offers the world of biblical scholarship a wake up call to an all too often ignored subject in church circles - the arts. the question of how exactly those seriously pursuing a life of artistic integrity melded their passion with Christ and his message - has been a tight-rope walk for the christian artist for decades. Insightful and well written, this book brings to bear a reconciliation of too-often-thought diametrically opposed disciplines into a marrage of calling and creatorship.