Encounters at the 2011 Kuyper Conference on Calvinism and Culture

The 2011 Kuyper Conference on Calvinism and Culture at Princeton Seminary is not over yet, but I wanted to make note of a couple of interesting sessions and resources that I had the chance to be part of today.

First off, I have to say I've been quite impressed especially with the work of my Fuller colleagues so far.  There are eight of us students from Fuller here together at the conference, and five are presenting papers!  It's great to be further building friendships and connections with people that are not directly in my narrow Bonhoeffer field of study.  The Neo-Calvinist crowd is gracious and welcoming, and we have a good time drawing connections between Bonhoeffer, Neo-Calvinism, and the rest of life.  Look for some of their work in "The Kuyper Center Review," volume 2, and, in the forthcoming volume 3.

Several of the papers I heard today had to do with the arts and the biblical text.  David Koyzis from Redeemer University College is working on re-setting all of the psalms to traditional Genevan melodies.  His project aims to make the psalms singable again, and he creatively works to match the words with the appropriate musical patterns.  His website currently provides music and downloadable .pdf files for almost half of the psalms, and he's adding more all of the time.

The other artist I wanted to bring to your attention was a plenary speaker, John Harvey, the Director of the Centre for Studies in the Visual Culture of Religion in Aberystwyth University, Wales.  He's doing fascinating work providing visual and aural approaches to imaging the Bible.  As an artist, he's concerned with providing a stark image of the biblical text itself.  As such, he takes an austere, abstract approach, and the outcomes are striking.  I wish his website provided more of the background and explanation to his art -  it was incredibly interesting to hear about his method and approach to crafting a piece of art work or music.  Basically, he works from a grid system, where each letter of a verse is assigned a specific number and then color value.  It's much more complicated and thoughtful than that, but at least you can begin to get some perspective to what he is doing when you look through the gallery.  Meditating on the scripture in this way visually - as opposed to a traditional pictorial representation of a biblical event - really does draw you into each letter of the text.  He also does similarly fascinating work imaging scripture aurally.

I also wanted to make note of a comment that Prof Harvey made during the question and answer time.  A gentleman identified himself as a pastor, and asked how he thought that the art work could be used in a congregational setting.  I myself thought this was an interesting question, and was already forming ideas of how special services of mediation could be set up.  But then Harvey answered in a way I wasn't expecting - he said that as an artist, he has a knee jerk reaction to that kind of comment.  He explained that he doesn't create the art to be utilitarian - that is, he doesn't make it to be in the service of the church.  The art stands on its own, and can't rely on the church to bring it meaning and value.  I soon realized that this was a perfect Neo-Calvinist response, because it affirms the inherent truth, meaning, and value of the distinct sphere of art.  Now, certainly, his art work has Christian foundations which inform the creation of the work, but he explained that his work is for the gallery, not for the church.  It is in the gallery, in the realm that is separate and unique from the church, that the art is allowed to be true.  What is exciting, is that the art, hanging on a gallery wall, witnesses to the truth and sovereignty of Jesus Christ as much if not more so than it would in a church.

These are just two of the many interesting projects that I am encountering here.  I share these with you in part because of the ability to link to their work on the web.  I'd also encourage you to look at the program for this year's conference, if even just to see the kind of work that is currently being done, thanks to the Neo-Calvinist perspective of engagement with the world.