Peterson on the Arts
2008 August 31
“The importance of poetry and novels is that the Christian life involves the use of the imagination, after all, we are dealing with the invisible. And, imagination is our training in dealing with the invisible, making connections, looking for plot and character. I don’t want to do away with or denigrate theology or exegesis, but our primary allies in this business are the artists. I want literature to be on par with those other things. They need to be brought in as full partners in this whole business. The arts reflect where we live, we live in narrative, we live in story. We don’t live as exegetes.”
–Eugene Peterson, interview here
amen. thanks, eugene.
Sorry, this is delayed… I loved this quote when your first added it, but now I’m not sure if I entirely agree. I have both an Older Testament course and a Theological Interpretation of the Arts class… Both in which, I do a fairly similar exegesis.
I’m not sure what definition Peterson is using regarding exegesis, but here it means to engage in conversation and ask questions. Rather than approaching a piece of art, and saying, “I like you.” Now, I look for form, line, design, content, colour, etc. Now, I ask “How were you created?” Now I ask, how do you make me feel?”
The same task is asked of scripture, in literary form… What style are you? Who wrote you? And… Those are just the beginning raindrops of the shower of questions that come from looking at scripture.
We have assumed that the business of exegesis is too hard for our minds and that we must need a paraphrase – like anything, it’s more about mastering a technique. The simple questions it takes to ask the artwork are ones that I wish I knew a long time ago, and I do believe it is exegesis, and I do believe it enriches the experience. It just takes looking and engaging the source.