Christian Subculture, Art, and Our Place in All of That

For years, I had always taken the creation story very literally, and not even with regards to the classic young earth vs. old earth creationism argument. I would read the story with no emotion. I would place the characters in the story with no motivations, just blindly reading at surface level. They simply ate the fruit and then said "Darn it".

Years later, I would discover an EP that would change my entire perception of the creation story. The EP was titled "Apples & Eve" by a relatively unknown folk called Neulore. The entire EP is sung from the perspective of Adam as he experiences the fall of man firsthand. The EP is moving, emotional, and incredibly deep. The most moving track, in my humble opinion, is titled "Eve", and the band brings life to verses many of us find no deep meaning in, although we should. Lyrics such as "Tempt me, tempt me, falling bride, take the apple from my eye; slippery, prickly, scales we hide, oh how they lie, when lust returns in bites" paint a magnificent picture of the experience Adam and Eve may have felt as they tragically lost the paradise they had once known.

I tell about this experience because it perfectly illustrates the significance of artistic interpretation and illustration. And I am talking about illustration beyond that of a Sunday morning sermon. I firmly believe there is a place for art which deals with the things of God. How can we reach outside of our own understanding unless we have experiences outside of ourselves? We long for something higher, always. Whether we turn to adrenaline rushes or drugs or sex or coffee, we cannot deny the thirst for a higher power of some kind.

That being said, we are creatures that need art to function properly. We are broken beings, and art is a gift God has given us to allow us to reach upward toward the skies and beyond. It is our ability to open our minds to the alternative perspective, in order that we might more properly understand the truth. When I experience beautiful art, I arrive closer to God than I was before.

In summary, we need art so much as humans in a created world that to ignore it not only does us a disservice, but causes all of society to degenerate rapidly. Among those I have known that have rejected art, I have seen a tragic loss of understanding. As Christians especially, we must practice the discipline (if I must use that word) of reaching outward and upward through artistic expression and experiencing other art as well.