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Christian Audio offers a free audiobook each month. This month’s featured book Pilgrim’s Progress (10.5 hrs). The checkout code is JUN2008.

HT: Justin Taylor

War creates no absolutely new situation: it simply aggravates the permanent human situation so that we can no longer ignore it. Human life has always been lived on the edge of a precipice. Human culture has always had to exist under the shadow of something infinitely more important than itself. If men had postponed the search for knowledge and beauty until they were secure, the search would never have begun. We are mistaken when we compare war with “normal life.” Life has never been normal…

What does war do to death? It certainly does not make it more frequent: 100 percent of us die, and the percentage cannot be increased… Does it increase our chances of painful death? I doubt it… Does it decrease our chances of dying at peace with God? I cannot believe it. If active service does not persuade a man to prepare for death, what conceivable concatenation of circumstances would?

- C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, “Learning in War Time” (1939) pp. 21-22, 31

R. R. Reno reviews the Whitney Museum’s Biennial Exhibition of contemporary American art here at First Things. I must admit that I would be among Reno’s friends who would make “faces when I told them that I wanted to take a look.” I agree with Reno’s characterization of much of “contemporary art” as…

… a synonym for the radical chic that has become a cliché: chocolate-smeared performance artists, piles of trash in the corners of rooms, ideological pronouncements spray-painted onto police barriers, and so forth.

Most of Reno’s critique is not exactly glowing, yet he is fair and open-minded. His overall assessment of the exhibtion reminds me of Francis Schaeffer’s perceptive evaluation of art through the ages. There seems to be no overarching guiding philosophy behind contemporary American art. He states:

All the same, the message this year was clear: There is no settled orthodoxy in contemporary American art. There’s no there there.

Artists, as canaries in culture, provide insight into the moral and philosophical status of our modern culture. Forsaking the firm foundation of Christian Theism and realizing the inability of reason alone to provide meaning, humanity is left without meaning, direction, coherence, or cause. Reno concludes:

At this moment, the canaries at the Whitney testify to an emerging situation: creativity without a cause…Yet, as I walked on, my hope was mixed with anxiety. Culture cannot exist without orthodoxies, because freedom cannot give itself the obligations necessary for its own perfection: the ordered liberty of assent to that which is greater. Creative freedom we seem to have, but for what and toward what? The same question holds for intellectual, moral, and political freedom. It is one thing to be free from the false dogmas of the modern avant-garde; it is another to find the true dogmas that humanize. For the sake of our creative culture now freeing itself from the long reigning pieties of the modern avant-garde—and for our culture more broadly—I hope God sees fit to open some new eyes to see old truths.

John Mark Reynolds has recently attempted to answer the question, “Should I play Grand Theft Auto?” As a lover of gaming, this is a question he must face. As one who enjoys playing some games, but rarely doing so, this question was not even on my radar screen.

The reason I link to Reynolds’ reflection on the subject is because he is an excellent thinker who provides a template useful for reflection on any such question. A person is often faced with decisions which are not inherently immoral, yet should not flippantly be approved or disapproved. Reading through his thoughts might be helpful and instructive to others as they face similar choices.

The Nazbo Rap is the youtube Christian video of the year thus far for Ben Witherington:

Props to all those rappin’ Nazarenes out there in the heartland. Get on up with your Good Self, Kanye and Eminem ain’t got nothin’ on you.

Having attended a Nazarene church for the past few years, it is pretty funny.

If you ever visit the Los Angeles area, I recommend a visit to the Getty Museum. A work of art in itself, the museum sits on a hillside providing wonderful views of the city and surrounding areas. The collection rivals or exceeds that of other major museums I’ve visited. I’ve been blessed to visit the Getty twice and would readily make a third visit.

Art aficionado, Fred Sanders, provides an overview (here at Scriptorium) of some of the religious art at the Getty depicting the life of Christ. Sanders points out that although the Getty is not recognized for its volume of Christian art, due to its nice collection of Western art, inevitably there are a number of images of Jesus. Sanders is informative in his assessment of several works of art. I have heard his lecture on how to look at art and found it very helpful, as well.

Here’s a little 4-5 minute youtube video production that makes one pause and think (and hopefully do a little more than think).

Here’s one of the cutest performances of “The Lord’s Prayer” you’ll ever see. It is perfromed by 2-year old Zoie Toh.

Last evening, I had the privilege of attending my first live performance of George Frideric Handel’s Messiah. It was unforgettable. The oratorio, composed in 1741 and premiered on April 13, 1742 in Dublin, was performed by the Florida Orchestra and a number of choral groups. The only disappointment was that the first portion of the oratorio, that regarding the birth of Jesus was not performed. Parts II and III, covering the death and resurrection, were beautifully performed and moving. The text for the entire work is drawn directly from scripture. The libretto can be found here.

Handel completed Messiah in just 24 days. The story is told that he shut himself up in his room, eating and sleeping little, while he completed this work. On September 14, 1741, he emerged with the words:

I did think I did see Heaven before me and the great God Himself!

It is also told that Handel’s assistant walked in to Handel’s room after shouting to him for several minutes with no response. Handel, in tears, held up the score to the movement known as the Hallelujah Chorus, and said:

I have seen the face of God.

We stood, last evening, for the Hallelujah Chorus, as has been done almost universally at the performance of this piece. Tradition states that when the first few notes were played, King George II rose from his chair and stood. Protocol demands that when the King stands, all stand. Men have suggested that King George stood in accordance with the custom that one stands in the presence of royalty as a sign of respect. The Hallelujah Chorus clearly places Christ as the King of Kings. In standing, King George II accepted that he too is subject to the Lord of Lords.

On this day, when we recall the awesome and awful death of Jesus of Nazareth on a Roman cross, I point you to perhaps the definitive article detailing his physical sufferings. The abstract of the article from the Journal of the American Medical Association states:

Jesus of Nazareth underwent Jewish and Roman trials, was flogged, and was sentenced to death by crucifixion. The scourging produced deep stripelike lacerations and appreciable blood loss, and it probably set the stage for hypovolemic shock as evidenced by the fact that Jesus was too weakened to carry the crossbar (patibulum) to Golgotha. At the site of crucifixion his wrists were nailed to the patibulum, and after the patibulum was lifted onto the upright post, (stipes) his feet were nailed to the stipes. The major pathophysiologic effect of crucifixion was an interference with normal respirations. Accordingly, death resulted primarily from hypovolemic shock and exhaustion asphyxia. Jesus’ death was ensured by the thrust of a soldier’s spear into his side. Modern medical interpretation of the historical evidence indicates that Jesus was dead when taken down from the cross.

HT: Justin Taylor