Life on Mars: An Art Exhibit at CMOA

I went to my first art museum today.  Art is something I enjoy.  I envy friends who seem to have that eye for photography.  (My younger sister has it.)  My mother and grandmother both painted.  They gave me their steady hand, so I sketch fairly often in my moleskine as I take notes.  

The museum I went to was the Carnegie Museum of Art.  Across the street is the massive cathedral of learning- the heart of the University of Pittsburgh.  There was a broad collection of all the major European and American eras within the past 200 years.  Beyond that it was quite limited. 

Life on Mars was their special exhibit.  I first heard of this exhibit through the Gospel and Culture Project.  (Funny how someone in Philadelphia enlightened a Pittsburgher to his own back yard).  

Of the 30+ pieces in this exhibition, only one really caught my eye and left a deep impression. Thomas Hirschhorn’s Cavemanman.  It was not a painting or a photograph, not even a sketch, instead this piece was a cave.  Made of packaging tape (brown) the viewer was encapsulated by the entire piece and became one with it.  As you walked through the cave their were dummies (obviously representing people).  From these “people” there was foiled pipe arising from their minds duct taped to the wall.  At the end of these pipes was more foil, but this time in the form of dynamite.  Attached to this explosive device was a major philosophical book.  Thomas Paine, Nietzche, the postmodern philosopher Michael Foucoult, and others were all represented throughout.  Certainly a graphic image that ideas have consequences.  

But that is not all.  What are the consequences?  There was one room in this cave where the ceiling was plastered by magazine photos of almost nude women, lesbianism, and video game shooters.  Next to these pictures was a bookcase.  In the “hallways” were photocopied pages from books.  You are given the notion that these ideas led to this reality.  Furthermore on the floor throughout the entire piece were empty pop cans.  In the gallery guide that I picked up, it is said of this piece that the artists “examines the brutality and consumerism of our time.”  

What I appreciated most about this piece is the reality that I became one with the story. All of my senses Hirschhorn employed to teach me his lesson.  I did not just see art, I experienced it with my entire being.  You had to watch your step the entire way through, as tripping was highly probable due to pop cans and taped rocks.

Church History Syllabus

Here is my syllabus for my church history class I teach at Trinity.  The new semester begins on January 21st.  I would love your thoughts and comments on it.

1/2/2009 – final draft – Church History Syllabus

Last February I went to visit Westminster Theological Seminary.  One of the classes I sat in on was Carl Trueman’s Medieval Christianity.  Much of what he said still reverberates within me today.  Another visitor was there that day.  A man who sought to be a teacher and he was Roman Catholic.  A few things disgruntled him that left Trueman’s lips.  However, Dr. Trueman gave one of the best answers; it was marked with humility.  ”I have much in common with the Catholic tradition, more in common than I do with many Evangelicals.”  He said that Reformed Christians should and must appreciate the church through all her centuries and in all countries.  In this aspect he spoke specifically of Eastern Orthodoxy and commended Dr. Robert Letham’s book.  

One thing that bugs me is the desire for conformity and not unity.  In my decision to leave the RPCNA for the PCA many people said that I was abandoning my heritage.  (The same was said to my wife when her OPC congregation decided to merge with a PCA congregation into the PCA).  To this I have a simple reply.  Machen certainly was a theological predecessor that I have much in common with.  The same with BB Warfield.  What of the 12 apostles and many others?  Our heritage transcends our denominational boundaries as we are all united in Christ.  This is the reason why I am not spending 4 weeks on the reformation.

Modern Parables

There is a Christmas gift from World Magazine over at Modern Parables.  Because of World’s sponsorship one has the opportunity to watch all 6 of the Modern Parables’ films.  Thus far I watched three: the Samaritan, the Hidden Treasure, and the Prodigal Son.  (The impetus for watching these was Keller’s The Prodigal God - a present from my new Grandparent-in-laws.  Looking at it reminded me of this offer.)  

From my experience with these three films, the series has great promise.  Set in a modern way for all to understand the meaning of the parables, not just the surface reading at that!   folks over at Modern Parables captured the relevance of these parables for a post modern generation.  The Prodigal Son illustrates two brothers in a health care business.  In each film the audience becomes a part of the story.  Something I am sure Jesus intended with the initial story given, and one God intends for the reader of Luke 15.

Twitter and Networking

A few days ago, now a couple weeks ago, I joined Twitter.  (Hence the twitter icon and link to the right.)  Since that fateful day hits to this blog jumped a couple dozen.   So it was a good publicity move; but that is not why I joined.  I joined only to see what the craze was.  Thus far I like it.  A few reasons why.  

(1) Short, simple, and to the point “tweets” where people inform you what is going on in their minds or what they are doing.  

(2) “follow” friends (Steve Steele, Ryan Cerbus, Sam Desocio to name a few) 

(3) Meet new people.  People I never met or talked to I can now do so, like Mark Driscoll- if I were to ever message him.  Though his secretary probably does all that.  

(4) Networking – simply to meet new people and develop acquaintances 

In my last semester of college I read Ideas have Consequences.  The author raised the idea of networking, and my professor asked us to critique it in a Christian worldview.  I have no problem with networking, but at that moment I had a very broad definition.  My mind has not changed, however I think networking does not go far enough.  Christians are to be “instruments in redeemers hands.”  We are to help people in need of change, while recognizing that we are in need of change.  (You might hear Paul David Tripp’s influence in those words).  Is it OK for Christians to have acquaintances?  Yes, but only if your purpose is to get to know them more.  

In this vein Twitter became an access point, where I can easily keep an eye on the news, organizations I appreciate, causes, and friends all in one platform.  In a sense this could make one lazy.  

If you have twitter, don’t be ashamed to look me up.

If you are interested – here is a good article on how to use facebook and understand it in our lives. 

Religion + Ridiculous = Religulous

Here is Maher’s own words in an interview about this documentary.

For years men like Richard Dawkins, Richard Muse, and Daniel Dennett have attacked religion in general and Christianity in particular. Albert Mohler, Ravi Zacharias, and Douglas Wilson each took this movement, the New Atheism, on by publishing critiques of their thought. (Earlier I referred to the debate between Wilson and Christopher Hitchens that took place at the Kings College and Westminster Seminary). This does not worry me; it is another illustration of how something that people teach at the academic level disseminate down to the popular level. Something we saw before in Carl Sagan, and something we will continue to see before Christ comes. I am thankful for the doors that this will open.

Maher made a great point. Christians should be more Christ-like. It was for this reason, the reality that Christians do not follow Christ’s teachings as they should, that Francis Schaeffer struggled with his faith. A memoir of that entire struggle is True Spirituality.