Biblical Anthropology: Creativity & Communication

After a pause, it’s time to continue our Biblical Anthropology series, with Creativity & Communication! If you’re new to the series, it would be helpful to click the link and start at the beginning.

Sometimes in math class, a student will ask – why do we need math? Well, math is in almost everything! And the same could be said about art, or at least creativity in general.

Look around you. What examples of art can you see?

When you decide what clothes to put on in the morning, assuming it’s not some kind of uniform or work clothes – that’s art. Making breakfast is art. Taking a photo with your phone. Music that you listen to. Reading Scripture – and the writing of it in the first place – also art. Memes and gifs – same thing.

Graffiti. Comic books. Movies. Ceramics, theatre, dance. How they design buses. Your microwave. Drama, poetry, prose – the list is endless!

We use art to define ourselves and our culture. “Our home looks like this.” “I dress like this.” “My favourite colour is…” “My favourite band is…” The great Mexican artists. Statues and monuments in my city. How people talk around here, compared to a different province or state. Our order of service Sunday mornings. What our music is like.

Art and communication – creativity in general – is hugely important. And as we’ll see, it’s a major battleground in today’s world.

The world may want to tell us that art is simply – whatever, whenever, however. But as Christians, we actually do have a foundation to start from. And if you’ve been reading through this series, you might guess where we’ll start – Genesis 1:1.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1

Just from where you’re sitting right now, you can see God’s creation, because it’s everything. Just look at your own hand! Amazing!

… [God] gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

Romans 4:17

God is the Creator, the Maker. “God created” – everything that exists was made ex nihilo, from nothing. And God didn’t just make a big grey mass of something. He started life! He created colours! He divided things into different categories and groups. He ordained relationships. He created time! He made things happen.

Variety in unity. It all comes from God’s nature. Isn’t it interesting that God is revealed to us as Trinity? One God, one Being. Perfect unity. And yet, in the unity of that Being, three Persons.

We are creatures. We’re not in the same category as God. He is the only one who created everything from nothing. But what was it that God said right at the beginning?

Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.

Genesis 1:28

We’re supposed to take what He created and use it. Using God’s creation to – create!

And so, although we are creative as creatures and not as God, we still imitate God in His creativity. We divide, we organize. Variety in unity. When we sing a song, we choose some notes and not others. We choose certain words and not others. But it all has (or should have!) a unity.

In this way, we create something that never existed before; even though, of course, we’re always using what God already created originally.

So here’s what we’ll be studying in this part of the series. Creativity in art and communication: Variety in unity. To divide and organize in a new way, in order to speak (communicate) with yourself and/or others.

It’s a broad topic indeed! And the Bible has a lot to say about it. We’ll start a journey through the Bible next time to see what we can learn.