that is the same t-shirt that i was referencing as well. the 3 cross logo on the front is from the album, “smasgf” as are the words on the back.

my response wasn’t meant to be snippy (though there is no way to discern “tone”, i know), i was just pointing out to the one who found “irony” on derek’s website that the t-shirt available isnt a “christian” t-shirt, it simply has the name and design of an album, like my old nirvana concert t-shirts do.

-stephen

I have thought a lot about the images we are sending in our hyper-visual culture. I plan to write a series on this in a couple of weeks.

There are several dangers to this, not the least of which is that God looks on the heart, not upon the outer appearance of man. We can have the best messages on our t-shirts but the worst messages in our lives, the way we treat people, what we say, how we live, etc. Sometimes I think t-shirts are used to appease the consciences of Christians who know they should be doing more but don’t know how.

Biblical illiteracy and unfulfilled commitments to discipleship are on display in more ways that we realize. I suppose there might be a place for sound-byte theology, but the message and moreover the medium here are quite bad. Sooner or later we will learn that copying the culture does not equal engaging the culture.

Here’s the t-shirt I was referring to:

http://derekwebb.musiccitynetworks.com/index.htm?inc=80&prod_id=1184&sid=7015

There have been some attention given to the arts of late. There is also a prof here at SBTS writing a book on Christian aesthetics. Here are some that are out there that come to my mind:

Daniel Treier, ed.The Beauty of God: Theology and the Arts

Francis Schaeffer – Art and the Bible

Phil Ryken – Art for God’s Sake

Franky Schaeffer – Addicted to Mediocrity: Contemporary Christians and the Arts

Gene Edward Veith – State of the Arts

Steve Turner – Imagine: A Vision for Christians in the Arts

Nicholas Wolterstorff – Art in Action: Toward a Christian Aesthetic

William Dyrness – Visual Faith: Art, Theology, and Worship in Dialogue

Gesa Elsbeth Thiessen – Theological Aesthetics: A Reader

Frank Burch Brown – Good Taste, Bad Taste, and Christian Taste: Aesthetics in Religious Life

H. R. Rookmaaker – Modern Art and the Death of a Culture

There are some others out there, but if you are wanting to read up on theological aesthetics and relationship of theology and the arts, here’s a good launching point.