When Christianity Was Still Friendly With Science and Art
Religion & Liberty Online

When Christianity Was Still Friendly With Science and Art

Phillip Long is a professor of Bible and Biblical Languages at Grace Bible College in Grand Rapids, Michigan and blogs over at Reading Acts. Phil does not normally review this kind of book, but was drawn to it due to Abraham Kuyper’s popularity and his contribution to worldview issues today.

Long shares some good observations and this book and its relevance for Christianity today, particularly those with an aversion to the study of science and the pursuit of a career in art.

This book is a historical artifact, written at a time when Christianity was still friendly with science and art. In conservative Christianity today, there is a strong aversion to the study of science or the pursuit of a career in art.

Yet this distrust of science and fear of artists is not the historic Christian view. Not all that many years ago, Science was the study of God’s creation and the church sponsored most of the art created in the western world for a thousand years.

For Kuyper, art is a reflection of the beauty and truth of God. After the Reformation, art began to be a reflection of God’s grace to the world (p. 120). Where there is beauty, there is God.

Check out Phil’s review of Wisdom & Wonder here and my thanks to Phil for reviewing this important work.

Chris Robertson

Originally from the suburbs of Cleveland Ohio, Chris Robertson graduated from Cornerstone University with a Bachelor of Science in Bible with minors in Greek and Spanish. Chris is the Program Outreach Coordinator for the Acton Institute. He comes to the Acton Institute from The Salvation Army where his work focused on Social Media, eCommunications, Project Management, and Administration. Chris’ interests include spending time with his wife Rebecca and son Levi, international news, travel, social media, the web and technology. Chris and his family are members of City Hope Ministries in Grand Rapids.