Dallas Willard on Art...

“I believe that art is a process of making a vision of goodness present to the viewer as well as the creator. Of course, not everyone shares that view but I believe that is what you are doing. Now if that were right, then what you would be doing as a creative artist, would be doing your work in dependence on the movement of God to show you things that you never dreamed of in your creative process. So as you bring the material of your particular art together with the vision you are going to make available to people without them having to be told what it is, which is to me a standard for excellence in art – is you don’t have to tell people what it is, the vision. One of the great things about art, is that God is in this work for good. And one of the things that makes people, including the church, very uneasy about art is, when it is living, you cannot nail it down, you cannot specify what will happen. And that is why all dictatorships come down on art, because they know this is something you cannot control. And it isn’t just because of obstreperous artists, but because there is something in the nature of art that is living and moving. [And especially] if you are interested in suppressing the truth or goodness you can’t do it in the face of art.”  From Dallas Willard Conference, Bible Society, Stonehill Green, Westlea, Swindon

Dallas Willard is a Professor in the School of Philosophy at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.