In his book «Dass Gott schön werde» [That God may become beautiful], published in 1975, the Reformed theologian Rudolf Bohren (1920-2010) enters the battle for an aesthetic awareness among Christians and in the church. If this is to come about, we have to develop a better understanding of the Creation and the working of the Holy Spirit. Here (and in TUNE IN 313) follows a short outline in quotations from what is still a topical and also provocative book.
Sharp words from the son of a pastor
The German writer «Gottfried Benn [1886-1956], an aesthetic mind par excellence, jotted down this line regarding the pastor’s house he grew up in: ‘Thought-world entirely without the Muses’, and this line characterizes not only a provincial minister’s dwelling but is also largely true of the house built by our theology. Even ‘thought-world’ already carries a negative connotation and suggests an existence without Gainsboroughs, without Chopin... If I speak Benn’s line as my own, ‘thought-world entirely without the Muses’ means a life in which the world of the Muses is not perceived as a sign of grace, a life which has lost the aesthetic dimension. It can hardly be imagined what power the church and theology have lost because the ‘thought-world without the Muses’ has become predominant. Here I am only generally indicating that, with this contempt for aesthetics, faith has lost its strength to create a style which could be representative of the gospel heard and lived in this time.»
The praise of God in the Creation – and in art
Not only is the Creation «good», it is also «beautiful». It praises the Creator.
«By praising his work himself, the Creator anticipates the purpose of his Creation, namely to be praise. The Creator intones what is to be echoed in every creature. (...) Art follows the lead of the Creator and praises, even when it ... complains and accuses. Art also follows the lead of the Creator in singing psalms when it does not know him or rejects him. Art justifies existence, even when it curses him – for, in the artistic use of its materials, of language, of colours and sounds, it concedes that the Creator is right, even when it denies or blasphemes him. The justification of art is that it justifies the Creation.»
In other words: Bohren says that in all cases good art points back to the Creation and to the Creator (God).
Without lilies and butterflies...
«Discipleship which no longer knows anything of blossom and butterfly loses the weightless quality of light. It can no longer shine as light. Without the lilies and butterflies, the disciples of Jesus all too easily become figures who certainly cast shadows, but from whom no light shines forth: they are zealots who confuse their earnestness with the Holy Spirit... He who no longer sees the flowers can dedicate himself to a ‘thought-world without the Muses’. (...) With this, I have already begun to suggest that Christianity loses its missionary power when it fails to take note of the Creation.»
«The church can no more exist in a world beyond culture and art than it can live in a world beyond nature.» «This is why we must lament the lack of theological aesthetics as the reason for the Christian boredom throughout the land...»
God’s beauty among the heathen
«God becomes practical and beautiful not only in those who know him, but also in those who do not know him... But his becoming beautiful among the heathen angers many Christians, especially those who have quite a conceit of themselves as knowing their God. Anger of this kind could be a sign that they are mistaken in their knowledge, that they do not yet know God in his goodness and greatness and therefore do not understand that God’s Spirit is a wind which blows where he wishes.»
The task of faith
«God’s becoming beautiful in culture and art remains hidden if it is not named; it does not remain hidden as beauty, but it does remain hidden as God’s becoming beautiful if it is not made known as God’s beauty. Such naming and making known is certainly always the task of faith...».
According to Bohren, then, faith has the task of interpreting beauty of every kind with reference to God. This also applies to works by non-Christians. In view of the fact that there is a «thought-world entirely without the Muses» in many Christians, such works may unfortunately be in the majority.
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