Religious Art, Secular Art, and Ugly Art in the Bible
Last time in our Biblical Anthropology series we started talking more about art in the Bible – and the descriptions of the Tabernacle and Temple are a treasure trove.
Moreover, you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns; you shall make them with cherubim skillfully worked into them.
Exodus 26:1
Here is just a part of the instructions for the robe of the High Priest:
On its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, around its hem, with bells of gold between them, a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, around the hem of the robe.
Exodus 28:33-34
The High Priest literally made music while he walked! And here we see physical images – a pomegranate, in 3D. Blue, purple and scarlet. Have you ever seen a purple pomegranate? Not me. Of course, maybe the threads are supposed to be combined together. But either way, these are not identical to real pomegranates – they’re artistic representations.
And this art continues in the construction of the Temple. David said that the pattern for the temple had been given to him from God Himself (1 Chronicles 28:19).
There were precious stones in the Temple. Why? They’re beautiful! Here, listen to this description of the huge receptacle called the “sea”:
Then he made the sea of cast metal. It was round, ten cubits from brim to brim, and five cubits high, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference. Under it were figures of gourds, for ten cubits, compassing the sea all around. The gourds were in two rows, cast with it when it was cast. It stood on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The sea was set on them, and all their rear parts were inward. Its thickness was a handbreadth. And its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily. It held 3,000 baths.
2 Chronicles 4:2-5
And so here we have this huge “sea” – decorated with oxen. And overall it looked like an open lily.
There should be no doubt left in our minds that there is nothing wrong with artistic images in general. And that includes images used for religious purposes. But you don’t bow before them!
In fact, there are many different types of art in the Temple and Tabernacle. The Sea would be applied art, art used for a practical purpose. It’s also “plastic art”. That’s not necessarily art made from plastic, but art moulded from a certain material, such as gold.
Not only were there bells on the high priest’s robe, there was also a chorus of priests who led worship. There was wonderful-smelling incense. There was food to enjoy. You could use all your senses in the Temple.
And at the entrance – two magnificent columns. And we don’t know for sure, but it doesn’t seem like there were there to hold anything up. That is – they seem to have no practical “use” at all. They just looked beautiful! (Of course, beauty is practical, but you know what I mean.)
And so, in the Temple alone, we see all kinds of art, art that communicates, sometimes only communicating beauty. We see representations of spiritual things, representations of physical things. And not exact representations, artistic interpretations. Art that required artistic ability and technique.
And God Himself gave men and women artistic skill. An example:
“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.
Exodus 31:2-5
Plastic art (gold, silver and bronze), architecture (cutting stones for setting). God is the head craftsman. He loves art!
And although some art in the Bible is what we might call “religious”, some art is not directly related to worship. Of course, for believers, all of life is worship. But there is what we might call “secular art” in the Bible as well.
For example, have you read about Solomon’s throne? Incredible!
We have an entire book that talks about romantic love, and doesn’t even mention God (or only mentions Him once, but that’s another story).
And not all art in the Bible is happy and uplifting. For example, we have a secular poem from David, a lament for the death of Saul and Jonathan:
Your glory, O Israel, is slain on your high places!
2 Samuel 1:19,23
How the mighty have fallen!
…
Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely!
In life and in death they were not divided;
they were swifter than eagles;
they were stronger than lions.
And so the Bible seems to celebrate both religious and non-religious art.
God even commanded the creation of art which was probably – well – ugly art. Or perhaps we could say, disturbing. Numbers 21 – a little context:
And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.”
Numbers 21:5-6
Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.
When the people repented, what did God tell Moses to do?
And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.”
Numbers 21:8
And so Moses creates an image of an unclean animal and puts it on a pole. A serpent on a stick. A symbol of sin, suffering, and death.
And everyone who looked at it was saved. Certainly not because it was a beautiful piece of art. But because of faith in the way of salvation that God had provided.
And according to Jesus, this was a symbol of Himself on the cross. Not something beautiful, but something that saves.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
John 3:14-15
Now, maybe you know what happened to Moses’ snake on a stick later on. It was saved. Hmmm… maybe it could save someone again. No – it’s not the art that saved you…
But they hung on to it for 6 centuries. And they gave it a name! “Nehushtan” – which sounds like “bronze serpent” in Hebrew. And they worshipped it. The patron saint of snake bites.
Archeologists have found an altar in Israel with a carved serpent on one of the rocks – maybe this was an altar to Nehushtan.
This is an important story. Because, from one perspective, this is what happened. Ugly art of a snake on a stick, art commanded by God, became separated from God’s Word.
Christianity is based on words – the Written Word. Christians have promoted literacy, translations of Scripture. We put Bible passages on the walls of our homes. We memorize. We study. Words.
The world, on the other hand, seems to be more and more focused on images. Television, YouTube. Instagram. TickTock. We want shows, spectacles. Coloured lights. Magazine covers.
And often, those images are separated from words. After all, it’s better to skip the book and wait for the movie version to come out! And as the world prioritizes images, it leads us to venerate those images. We start to lose our capacity to think and our ability to know what God has revealed in His Word. The revelation of the Scriptures.
A (not so new) strategy of the world is to de-emphasize the word (and the Word) and venerate the image. And I’m not just talking about “veneration” in religion, but simply placing an image above God and His Word in any way.
(I’m indebted to Arthur Hunt, retired Professor of Mass Media and Strategic Communication at the University of Tennessee at Martin (UTM), for his research on the drift of the world from words to images. His book, The Vanishing Word: The Veneration of Visual Imagery in the Postmodern World, is fascinating.)
All of this brings us to a sticky topic. What about “judging” art? Is art something that can be – should be – evaluated? If so, how? We’ll get into that next time.