Arts and Aesthetics

The Lord said to Moses, “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft. And behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. And I have given to all able men ability, that they may make all that I have commanded you: the tent of meeting, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy seat that is on it, and all the furnishings of the tent, the table and its utensils, and the pure lampstand with all its utensils, and the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin and its stand, and the finely worked garments, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, for their service as priests, and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense for the Holy Place. According to all that I have commanded you, they shall do.”

Exodus 31:1-11, ESV

A few years ago, I put together this lesson for our college bible study and recently recycled it for a Sunday School class. The reaction I received was pretty positive overall, so I thought it might be worthwhile to share it here.

Art Done Right – Foundations for Thinking

If we were to go back and read through some of the preceding chapters, we would know that Moses has been given all of these divine blueprints for the design of the Tabernacle. Calvin says:

Although God had omitted nothing which related to the form of the tabernacle, but had accurately prescribed every thing that was to be done, still the actual difficulty of the work might have overwhelmed both Moses and the whole people with despair; for this was no ordinary work, or one on which the most skillful artificers might exercise their ingenuity, but a marvelous structure, the pattern of which had been shewn on the Mount, so that it might seem incredible that any mortals should be able by their art to compass what God had commanded. Besides, they had been entirely engaged in servile tasks in Egypt, such as would extinguish all intellectual vigor, and prevent them from aspiring to any liberal arts.

Calvin’s Commentaries, Exodus 31

In addition to what Calvin mentions, these were a people living in a wilderness, dwelling in tents. It was into this setting that we see the first person described in the Bible as having been “filled with the Spirit.” Prior to the moment, Bezalel is someone previously unknown to us. But here Moses describes him as a virtual master of all crafts, a Da Vinci of his time. The Spirit empowered Bezalel to “devise artistic designs,” to be divinely creative. The Spirit gave him “ability” or talent. God filled Bezalel “with intelligence,” so that not only could Bezalel be inspired with the artistic designs, but he could work out the technical details of the divine blueprints Moses was handing him. Bezalel was given knowledge, that is an understanding of everything that was going to be involved in the building of the Tabernacle. He was called to deal with various species of wood, cast bronze, smith silver and gold, even hammer gold over wood  without damaging the underlying engraving work. He had to know the natural objects he would be representing: almonds, flowers, pomegranates, and such. He even had to know something about the supernatural cherubim, mighty angelic beings who minister in the immediate presence of God. Finally, we see that Bezalel was filled with “all craftsmanship.” Even with the gifts of ability, talent and knowledge, Bezalel would need a tremendous amount of patience, commitment to perfection, and attention to detail. He had to be a true craftsman, sticking to the project until it was done right. But God added something else to make this task manageable for even such a gifted artist: God “inspired him to teach.” (Exodus 35:34)

With the case of Bezalel providing a solid foundation for a Biblical idea of artistic gifting, it can easily be extended into other endeavours. Again, Calvin tells us:

Still, although the call of Bezaleel was special, because, as I have just said, God entrusted to him an unusual and by no means ordinary work, we gather that no one excels even in the most despised and humble handicraft, except in so far as God’s Spirit works in him. For, although “there are diversities of gifts,” still it is the same Spirit from whom they all flow, (1 Corinthians 12:4;) and also as God has seen fit to distribute and measure them out to every man. Nor is this only the case with respect to the spiritual gifts which follow regeneration, but in all the branches of knowledge which come into use in common life. It is, therefore, a false division, when ungodly men ascribe all the means of our support partly to nature and God’s blessing, and partly to the industry of man, since man’s industry itself is a blessing from God. The poets are more correct who acknowledge that all which is suggested by nature comes from God; that all the arts emanate from Him, and therefore ought to be accounted divine inventions

Calvin’s Commentaries, Exodus 31

The creating God who made us in His image has made us as creative beings. While Bezalel’s gifts and abilities focused on the visual arts, we should not forget that music is spoken of time and time again. It is no accident that God inspired an entire book of the Bible as a divine hymnal for the Israelite worshipers. Several times, we see singers appointed for worship. Not only singing, but instrumental music is exalted in Israel. In 1 Chronicles 23:5, we see that David assigns 4,000 to “offer praises to the Lord with the instruments that [he] made for praise.” The musicians weren’t only to play, but to “make melody” and “play skillfully” (Psalm 33:2-3). The music was to be beautiful. In the same manner, we should remember that most of the Bible is narrative. It is a story. Being people of the Word, we must also recognize and uphold excellence in word-craft and storytelling.

Art Gone Wrong – Developing an Aesthetic

Bezalel’s art would ultimately be employed in the sanctuary for God’s glorious worship. As we see the work done in chapters 36-39, culminating with the erecting of the tabernacle in chapter 40, Bezalel’s work was blessed by the Lord descending and dwelling in the tent of meeting. But we have something happen in chapter 32. I do not think it is an accident that immediately after the account of Bezalel’s gifting in Exodus 31, we discover Israel’s idolatry with the golden calf. In fact, I think the work of the golden calf is specifically set in contrast with the fashioning of the tabernacle. One is God-honoring work, another is despised by Him.

As we consider the golden calf, I think we can actually begin working toward a Biblically-defined aesthetic. In that vein, let me present a couple of historical virtues that should provide some guidance to us: truth, goodness, and beauty.

First, “good” art must be truthful. Aaron brought forth the golden calf and declared, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt” (Exodus 32:4). The work p All art tells a story. The largely post-modern idea that the interpreter (viewer or listener) is master of the artist’s message is false. This is a complicated idea that I’ll boil down to a short sentence or two, but we believe that there is no such thing as a self-existent (or “brute”) fact. All of creation is contingent upon God’s upholding it (Hebrews 1:3) and is designed to demonstrate His existence and attributes (Romans 1:19-20). God is the only One who is self-existent; He is the Divine Interpreter, and all facts must be interpreted in light of His revelation (both natural and special). In His upholding work, God provides our framework for interpretation. For example, something cannot be self-contradictory and still true. The Christian aesthetic must uphold the truth.

A Christian aesthetic must also uphold goodness. It cannot attempt to call evil “good” or good “evil.” In this, the visual arts are far easier to get a grip on because we can look back to God’s creative work at the beginning of history; He punctuated each creative act with a declaration of goodness. We can also say that, even if we don’t specifically understand His divine providences, all of His works are good. Anything that contradicts the goodness of His work or His character goes against a Christian aesthetic. Blasphemy, by definition, contradicts this virtue. For example, years ago, an “artist” put a crucifix upside down into a jar of urine. This should revolt us. Writing in general (and storytelling in particular) inevitably shapes the readers. We even tend to gravitate toward stories that tell of a hero’s journey, stories that extol virtue and expose evil. The most meaningful and memorable stories may portray noble self-sacrifice, the fight against evil, and the victory of the crushing of the serpent’s head. Clever writers can weave their worldview, whether good or ill, through their stories, subtly bringing their readers into alignment with their own thinking. Even though it may be more difficult, I believe that we can find guidelines inside of music. Please understand that I know nothing of musical theory and that my actual musical ability is pretty much limited to the operation of my car radio, but I do think that certain things can be nailed down. For example, does the music glorify the chaos God commanded us to take dominion over? Or does it serve to extend the boundaries of the Garden/City of God?

The most complicated of the categories that I think we should look at is beauty. Again, we must root our aesthetic in the character and works of God. Beauty, by the necessity of who God is, must itself be true and good. But our surface perception of it may provoke different attitudes within us: joy, awe, terror, sorrow, etc. Because of that, I do believe that we do a great deal of injustice if we limit beauty to “prettiness.” Instead, I think we can look judge beauty by the fitness to the story being told. All God’s works are done perfectly, skillfully and intentionally. Again, we know that the musicians playing in the temple service appointed by David were to play skillfully. A writer may tell a wonderful story in a terrible way, having no mastery of the written word. A sloppy painting or marred drawing is less beautiful than one skillfully done. Again, Bezalel’s story of craftsmanship speaks volumes. It calls us to excellence in whatever craft we pursue.