A Credo Worth Repeating

Below is a statement, confession, or credo if you will, from Greg Wilbur's blog at King's Meadow. I am beginning to hear more discussion and even see some action being taken by Christians in the areas of art, but I do believe we still have a lot of work ahead and so let me add to the discussion by repeating Wilbur's post:

"I believe that beauty is an attribute of God and is therefore a theological issue. I believe that beauty and excellence are objective and that the Bible provides the standard for what is beautiful and excellent. I believe that since there is a biblical objective standard for what is beautiful and excellent that this should apply especially in areas of worship. I believe that an understanding of beauty enables a greater understanding of the nature and character of God. I believe that the arts are worldview incarnate. I believe that goodness, truth, and beauty are Trinitarian concepts and that each element requires the relationship of the other two for complete understanding. I believe that the saints need to know how to read music and how to sing for the sake of the worship of God. I believe that we should know, respect, and utilize the arts of the past as we continue to create new art that is historically informed but also biblically creative. I believe that originality is not a biblical notion. I believe that we weaken our understanding of art when we try to apply a narrative structure on all works instead of trying to understand music as music, painting as painting, etc. I believe Philippians 4:8 provides a strident critique of the actions of many modern Christians as they dabble in secular culture. I believe that the Church abdicated its rightful place as the leader of culture. I believe that the Church no longer knows how to train and equip artists because we have adopted a secular view of the arts."