What we express through an artistic medium is not just ideas abstractly stated; rather, an artistic expression is a person’s interpretation of ideas in concrete forms. Therefore, we must recognize that all cultural expression, whether produced by citizens of God’s common kingdom or citizens of God’s redemptive kingdom, embodies implied interpretations of God’s revelation. And so, we Christians must always ask about any work of culture: Does the interpretation of reality in this work conform or fail to conform to Christian doctrine?[5] In other words, do the qualities embodied in this work of art accord with sound doctrine?

Culture is not neutral; artistic expression is not neutral. Rather, culture is the product of human creativity such that we take what God has made, interpret that natural revelation, and then creatively communicate that interpretation by reorganizing what God is made into something new.

However, an artist’s creative interpretation of God’s natural revelation is subject to his humanity. As Ryken insists, “Since art not only presents experience but also interprets it—since it has ideational content and embodies a world view or ethical outlook—it will always be open to classification as true or false.”[1] Therefore, for Christians, making or evaluating culture must always be measured against God’s special revelation.

A helpful text that helps articulate this idea is Titus 2:1: “But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.” What is Paul talking about here when he refers to “what accords with sound doctrine”? Is he talking about other intellectual truths that accord with doctrine. No, he tells us what kinds of things accord with sound doctrine in the following verses (vv 2–10). Some of what Paul lists there involve specific kinds of behavior, but most of what he lists as that which “accords with sound doctrine” or what “adorns the doctrine of God our Savior” (v 10) involve inward qualities like sobriety, dignity, reverence, self-control, integrity, steadfastness, and purity.

But here’s the thing: these are inward qualities that in many ways are difficult to precisely define or articulate. Take reverence, for example. What is it? Clearly there must be an objective reality called “reverence,” but how would you define it? It’s difficult, right?

Yet the difficulty in describing a character quality does not render it subjective. God commands us to be characterized by reverence, dignity, and self-control—these are what “accord with sound doctrine.” So we have a responsibility to discern what these qualities are like and cultivate them in our lives. These are applications of sound doctrine (words) in life behavior (works).

So how do we both communicate and cultivate these kinds of non-verbal qualities to others? This is the power of art. Scripture itself embodies and communicates these kinds of qualities like reverence and dignity through the artistic imagery it employs in the communication of God’s truth—Scripture itself artistically embodies sound doctrine. It is filled with imagery, poetry, narrative, and other artistic devices that do communicate truth through propositions, but Scripture also communicates embodied qualities that accord with sound doctrine through artistic imagery. As Ryken observes, “Everything that is communicated in a piece of writing is communicated through the forms in which it is embodied.”[2]

So Scripture commands us to be reverent, and then various artistic elements in Scripture show us what reverence is like. Scripture tells us to love God, and then its artistic expressions embody appropriate love. Scripture admonishes us to be godly, and its artistic expressions form our conception of what godliness should be like.

Embodying God’s Truth, Goodness, and Beauty

This is the importance of culture making for Christians. Through creating art, Christians are able to communicate and cultivate interpretations of God’s world that accord with sound doctrine through beauty.

Art embodies qualities in the way we have been discussing because as we have seen, art presents an interpretation of the ideas it carries. As Ryken notes,

Artists do more than present human experience; they also interpret it from a specific perspective. Works of art make implied assertions about reality.[3]

How so? In exactly the same way that reverence, dignity, and self-control accord with sound doctrine. Reverence is not just another way of articulating sound doctrine—reverence embodies sound doctrine; it applies sound doctrine in real life.

In the same way, art can embody ideas. Ryken explains:

The method of art is to incarnate meaning in concrete form. The artist shows, and is never content to only tell in the form of propositions. The strategy of art is to enact rather than summarize.[4]

This makes sense when we remember that art—whether we’re talking about poetry, literature, drama, or music—is itself human behavior; art is human expression. What we express through an artistic medium is not just ideas abstractly stated; rather, an artistic expression is a person’s interpretation of ideas in concrete forms.

Therefore, we must recognize that all cultural expression, whether produced by citizens of God’s common kingdom or citizens of God’s redemptive kingdom, embodies implied interpretations of God’s revelation. And so, we Christians must always ask about any work of culture:

Does the interpretation of reality in this work conform or fail to conform to Christian doctrine?[5]

In other words, do the qualities embodied in this work of art accord with sound doctrine?

I am afraid that most Christians do not recognize this, and this is evidenced at very least by the fact that many Christians are afraid to affirm and defend absolute beauty in the same way we do absolute truth and morality. We have bought into the modernist idea that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and the postmodern multicultural agenda that argues art is merely neutral contextualization of a given civilization. We still view beauty and the arts as means to the end of making truth interesting instead of as ends in themselves. We view beauty as something to see rather than something by which we see.

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