God and Art: Are Christians Supposed to Create?

As a christian who greatly appreciates art, I tend to lean more towards the side that Art has a purpose. All art is meant to display a certain amount of feelings/emotions. All art is supposed to depict something; to be symbolic. I greatly enjoy looking at abstract and modern art that has a hidden meaning. I really enjoy trying to figure out what the artist meant when he painted that picture, or wrote that poem. I enjoy trying to find what emotion the writer and dancer and photographer were trying to portray.

But does God like art? Are we supposed to "create"? Are we supposed to "make"?

I recently saw a question asking about whether or not God liked art. There was a statement following the question about the Bible saying that we are not to make any graven images. Was this statement referring to paintings, drawings, sculptures, writings, and photography? Of course, photography wasn't around back in the Bible times, but could it apply now? Was God saying that we aren't supposed to "create"?



I set out to research. During this research time, my dad emailed me a video and poem about art and God. He had no idea I was researching this topic, so kind of neat timing. I watched this 28 minute video, researched more, and came to the conclusion that God does, indeed, like art. He uses art all the time to draw people closer to Him, or to reveal Himself to people.

Good or Bad?

Sometimes Christians have a hard time figuring out what art is good and what art is bad. In today's age, it's hard to figure out what art is pleasing to Him and what is not. Such as dance. A lot of Christians think dance is a bad thing and no one is supposed to. Psalm 149:3 says: "Let them praise his name in the dance." (KJV, italics added.) I do think there are bad dances that aren't pleasing to him. I'm not saying that all dance is good, but it's not all bad, either.

What about music? Some people think music is bad and don't even have it in their churches. Israel is God's chosen people, right? There are so many occasions where the Children of Israel played instruments and danced and sang. They played instruments before going into war. They played instruments when God helped them with a victory. They sang in the streets to worship God. Music was very important and they used it to please Him. Again, not all music is pleasing to God, but it's not all bad. 

What about movies and theatre? I think they can have the same influence as dance. The story line can draw people closer or farther away from God.

What about paintings? Could that possibly fall under the "idols" in the Bible? I honestly believe it could go either way. It is the persons' heart and mind that determine whether or not they were painting that image to worship it, or to bring praise to God. If you paint a picture of Jesus in an attempt to tell others about God, then that is okay. But if you paint the image of Jesus to worship the picture itself and not to bring Him glory, then it's not okay. It's mindset. It's motive. 

Okay, but what about books? What about writing? 

Let's look at the definition of the word create, shall we? The Oxford Dictionary defines "create" as: Verb: 1. to bring something into existence. 

What do writers do? Create. We quite literally take nothing and make it into something. New languages, new species, new worlds. Out of what? Well, basically out of nothing. We use our God-given minds to create. Now, of course, it isn't "create" as in the same thing that God did when He made the earth. It is slightly different, but still along the same lines. 

So then, is God okay with us creating? I think so. If you look at how many people came to know God through literature, then you would see how God has used this form of art to His glory. J.R.R. Tolkien created new creatures and worlds. C.S. Lewis did the same thing in his literature. God has used those books in mighty ways throughout the years. Lewis and Tolkien knew how to subtly put in Christian ethics, and how to throw in Christian symbolism where it wasn't too preachy, but it still got across the point. Many people have come to know Christ through their books. 

God uses art, because it is powerful and it is everywhere. Paintings, drawings, sculptures, literature, photography are all imaginative apologetics. The possibilities for art being used to His glory are endless. So, yes. Art is good and Christians are supposed to use this very powerful thing to help tell people about Jesus. 

You can find out more about this topic here. Good video and I highly suggest watching it if you have half an hour to spare. 

Got any questions or input? I would love hear from you all!