The Sons of Issachar: Knowing What Israel Should Do, Part 24

We have seen in past posts that God has created Reality in such a way that symbols (verbal, visual, tactile, etc.) must be used for communication.  We also saw that God causes everything that exists to be a symbol of Himself (Gen 1; Ps 19; Rom 1; etc.), communicating knowledge to both the intuitive and logical aspects of mankind.  We’ve further seen that symbols communicate multiple levels of meaning simultaneously, and that the artist shows his subordinate, derivative creatorship before God by deliberately interlocking and shaping symbols to create a nexus of meanings intended to share the artists’ vision of the world as revealed to the artist by God, thus performing a redemptive task by restoring God’s true vision intended for Creation.

Since these things are true, a question arises: is it legitimate for a Christian to use an art-form that did not develop or arise from use among Christians?  Does Scripture address this issue?  This is not a new question, for the Church has been dealing with it in one form or another from very close to its New Covenant inception. The early Christians, as they increasingly were converted from gentile, pagan backgrounds, found themselves faced repeatedly with this issue, as pagan poetic and music modes and forms, with which the converts were frequently very familiar, began to be used by some of them for worship and apologetical (meaning “defense of the Faith”) uses, which practice was hotly debated by Christians of Jewish descent (who were used to time-honored forms which had arisen, seemingly, within the context of Covenantal usage and worship).  The propriety of the theater and drama, with its overtones, at the time, of pagan cathartic worship rites, was also roundly condemned as unfit for view or adaptability to holy uses by some Christians.

The debate continues to this day, as the suitability of the use of rock and pop styles of music, or of dance-forms, by Christians for worship or evangelistic purposes is viewed with great suspicion and reluctance and even outright condemned as sinful by many believers today.

Thankfully, the Bible does address this issue, both in terms of its outright teaching (as, for example, in Paul’s comments on eating meat sacrificed to idols in Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8), and in terms of Scripture’s form or structure, which we will examine at this time.

At the time that Moses wrote the Pentateuch (Genesis through Deuteronomy), common practice throughout the ancient world was the use of what has been called “the suzerainty treaty,” a legal and religious document which spelled out in a preset form the obligations of a conquered people or of vassals to their ruler, and vice versa.  These documents, in explicitly pagan religious terms, attempted to ground the authority of the ruler in the power and will of the ruler’s false god or gods.  Amazingly, the Holy Spirit moved Moses to adapt the form of the suzerainty treaty to the Scripture he was inspired to write.  The Books of the Law are filled with the replication of this treaty form, especially Deuteronomy and Leviticus, to the extent that this form, adapted for use by God Himself, has become the form of the Covenant itself.  (Some would argue that the suzerainty treaty form was originally stolen by the pagans from usage by early followers of God, which is most likely true, but at the time Moses penned the Law, it was recognized as a pagan governmental form).

This form became so associated with God’s Covenant that you see it applied by both Old Testament prophets (such as Hosea in his book) and New Testament apostles (in the Gospels and Revelation, especially).  Those interested in this can read Ray Sutton’s That You May Prosper, Meredith Kline’s By Oath Consigned, and Klaus Baltzer’s The Covenant Formulary for greater detail.

The Book of Genesis also contains, especially in its opening chapter, an adaptation of pagan creation myths for the purpose of refuting the claims of the pagans that their false gods created the universe by showing the Truth and superiority of the One True Creator God (for this see Allen P. Ross’ Creation and Blessing).

So in the Old Testament and New, we see the adaptation and reorientation of pagan forms of worship for the purposes of evangelism, apologetics, and basic godly worship.  In a past post, we saw that Paul, when he spoke to the Greeks on Mars Hill at the Areopagus (Acts 17), used both pagan classical rhetorical structures and quotations from pagan poets such as Epimenedes (on this see F.F. Bruce’s Acts).  Both of the artistic forms Paul employed were drawn from the pagan classical culture of his day.

The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, throughout his letter, incorporated exquisitely correct pagan rhetorical linguistic forms, mixing them with Jewish midrashic practices to form a new synthesis that became the model for early Christian sermons and writings (on this see William Lane’s Hebrews).

Notice that both Paul and the author to the Hebrews (as well as Moses and the prophets) adapted these forms for use of the promotion of God’s Glory and Kingdom, forming new artistic developments along the way.  Can we adapt pagan forms to Christian use?  According to the very form of Scripture, it is absolutely legitimate to do so.

Reason itself recommends this practice in light of two things: (1) We are not born into a cultural vacuum, but are embedded in an already extant culture.  We can’t start from nowhere.  We must start from where we are.  (2) In order to effectively communicate with the culture around us, we must employ forms that culture can understand and relate to.

We must also bear in mind, however, that the godly men of old bent these art-forms to holy purposes; they did what they did for God’s Glory, not their own.  This was part and parcel with the redemptive nature of Christ’s work.  We are to see culture and art redemptively reshaped and reclaimed in light of God’s revelation.  We must reclaim what is His by right of both Creation and Redemption.

For more on Biblical perspectives concerning the Arts, www.Patreon.com/kempercrabb