Looking for a Real Person in Monroe County
At the Ann Arbor Art Fair on Friday night Linda and I saw an exhibit of astonishingly lifelike human figures. In these pictures the people are not real, only artistic creations, to include the “policeman” behind the woman. A sizable crowd of “real” people stood staring at the fake “people.”
Art provokes the question “What is real and what is not real?” I have for many years been interested in this question. As a Christian (i.e., as someone who accepts the Judeo-Christian story about this life and world as essentially representative of the way things really are) here’s my take on this.
There’s not a truly real person in all of Monroe County. Not really. Not you, not me. On the Christian worldview I believe this is true. Why?
Sometimes I hear a person say, upon doing something wrong, “I’m only human.” If only that were true. True humanity, created by God and in the image of God, was lost upon the Fall of Man. The upshot of this is that you and I are not now what we were meant to be.
- The idea that humanity was “created” to be a certain way makes sense, of course, only if there is a God who is “Creator.” So note this:
- If God created humanity, then persons-as-created reflect their Creator.
- God did create humanity.
- Therefore, persons reflect their Creator. (Biblically, persons are created in the image of God.)
- Authentic personhood is that which gets restored in terms of the image of God in them.
- From a Christian standpoint, this is what it means to be really, truly human. It’s a restoration to or renovation of the marred image of God in us.
If you are interested, University of Southern California (USC) professor of philosophy Dallas Willard has a brilliant book about this called Renovation of the Heart. You and I are not all we were meant to be. But Jesus has come to renovate our hearts, the upshot of which includes greater humanity and greater authenticity. From the Christian standpoint it is possible to be in a process of heart-renovation. We are not truly human as Jesus was, but we can be on the way to real humanity.
The needed renovation is nothing less than transformation into greater and greater Christlikeness. Speaking of Jesus in Colossians 1 the apostle Paul writes, “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him…” Then he adds that there’s something in this for us, too: “…God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
A final point, FYI: On atheism persons have no “essence.” (This is called “Existentialism,” as opposed to “Essentialism.”) Philosophically, atheistic existentialism has argued this point very well. If I were an atheist, I’d agree here. If there is no God, then of course persons have no “essence” in the sense of having a “soul” or even a “mind.” All a “person” is, fundamentally (if we have no Creator), is matter and its various collocations. The deep issues in this discussion are really about worldviews. If the atheistic worldview were true, then there’s no real difference between us and the “people” in these pictures from the Art Fair.
July 23rd, 2007 at 2:52 pm
I love this post because I have been a long time fan of the Ann Arbor art festival. I attended EMU for a year (until I basically drank myself out of school) and since I was in high school loved to go there to see the people and art. I am a little confused by your interest in art. I guess I thought I needed to give up my love for art and music when I became a Christian. Isn’t that weird. No one ever said, “give that up”, I just thought that was something that was too worldly. I have always had a great love for anything artistic even as a child including poetry (I have wrote some myself), lyrics and music, painting ect. My question I guess is how do you know? I laughed at your post about Linkin Park because a while back when I heard the song Somewhere I Belong it reminded me so much of myself that I listened to it often when I would go jogging and thanked God for delivering me from a really scary, dark, and what seemed unreachable place. As I found out there is nowhere unreachable for Jesus. As a Christian is it something that is wrong to enjoy things or appreciate things that aren’t “Christian”? This may sound stupid but it is something I have wondered for a long time and never really knew who to ask! To me it seems as though Christians usually frown upon things that are out of the norm like art unless it is done in a certain traditional way. I am excited about the possibility of not having to leave my enjoyment of art behind but maybe use this somehow to glorify the Lord. What do you think?
July 23rd, 2007 at 5:02 pm
Thanks MAA for writing. Did you also see the previous post I made about the Art Fair?
Note this: Gary Wilson, long-time professor of art at MCCC, is one of our Redeemer leaders. A month ago at a confernence in Wisconsin I heard him give a phenomenal talk on God, Jesus, and creativity. He’s going to give that talk at Redeemer on Sunday morning, September 30. I hope you can come and hear him that morning!
The very first thing ever said about God was that God is a “Creator” - Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created…” God is the initiator of all creativity. I feel, as a follower of Jesus, that I can appreciate all kinds of true creativity, even if the artist is not a follower of Jesus. Personally I would make some exceptions to this; e.g., if the creative work expresses something sinful such as, e.g., child abuse, murder, rape, etc. etc.
I think that becoming a Christian should release you into an even greater appreciattion for creative things because now you are in touch with the great Creator of all things. And, when you hear Gary speak, he will talk about releasing the creativity of God in any person.
Make some sense?
Blessings,
John
July 27th, 2007 at 3:23 pm
I got a book from the library by J. P. Moreland. It wasn’t the one I saw on your blog but one titled, Love God with all Your Mind. I am finding so much new information out in my search to become closer to Jesus. How as a Christian today do we learn the truth about the history of the Christain Church. So far I have gotten a different perspective on “fundamentalism” and these other movements in early American Christianity and how they have led to the weakening of the church. How do you see the fundamentalist movement? My questions may sound goofy but I am just beginning my quest for knowledge so bear with me!
July 28th, 2007 at 9:54 am
Hi MAA - I have Moreland’s book - it’s a good one. Moreland is an excellent philosopher and a follower of Jesus.
For the history of the Christian church the best one-volume history is Adrian Hastings, A World History of Christianity. Warning - it’s pretty heavy, tightly-packed reading. But it’s good and accurate. http://www.amazon.com/World-History-Christianity-Adrian-Hastings/dp/0802848753/ref=sr_1_7/103-3979454-0361444?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185630479&sr=8-7
A more accessible book, with a lot of good photographs/charts/maps/etc., is Eerdmans Handbook to the History of Christianity. http://www.amazon.com/Eerdmans-Handbook-History-Christianity-Dowley/dp/0802834507/ref=sr_1_1/103-3979454-0361444?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185630569&sr=8-1
The word “fundamentalism” sometimes gets associated with “legalism” - Christianity as a religion with a long list of do’s and don’t’s. I am not in agreement with that, esp. since Jesus speaks against that (some kinds of Christian fundamentalism look like Pharasaism, which is always to be avoided).
“Fundamentalism” is also a late-19th-century early 20th-century development. It’s too indebted to a certain “modern” worldview which is not the worldview of biblical times. Therefore its interpretation of the Bible is flawed in a lot of ways.
I hope this makes some sense. Blessings!
JP