A Christian philosophy of music and the arts: The contributions of the Schaeffer family and the L'Abri community (Francis Schaeffer, Edith Schaeffer).

摘要

This work demonstrates how since its establishment in 1955, L'Abri Fellowship has developed a philosophy of art that brought Christians to the arts and brought the arts to the Church. Francis and Edith Schaeffer helped their son Franky, Jane Stuart Smith, and H. R. Rookmaaker find a better way to understand creativity while avoiding the rigidity of legalism and the lure of aestheticism.; As L'Abri grew they did not regard their interest in the arts as peripheral, instead they doubled their efforts to learn more about the creative arts, participate in culture, and encourage professional and amateurs to use their talent. L'Abri participated in the world of art because creativity was the character of their God. L'Abri taught people aesthetic notions like judgment, context, and inspiration, and expected them to be curious about the details of art. This artistic knowledge could help them understand the nature of man and what they perceived as the dangers of our present cultural decay. Because of this, they realized that Christians must use their creative gifts in a more responsible way. Through their books, lectures and personal interactions, L'Abri inspired a rich aesthetic harvest, believing that people understood that God not only wanted their obedience but needed their creativity to begin the magnificent work of redeeming man and his culture. They were interested in creativity because they argued it revealed so much about God's character and original intentions for the world. L'Abri thought the fall of man was also a falling away from the ideals that give aesthetics significance. This thesis shows that L'Abri's theories on art were not rigidly academic or even fashionable, but that they were effective in expanding the artistic horizons for evangelical Christians they could influence.