Lumen Fidei #21: God of Creativity

Wikipedia cites it as "God creating the cosmos (Bible Moralisee, French, 13th century)"

From #55: If it possesses a creative light for each new moment of history, it is because it sets every event in relationship to the origin and destiny of all things in the Father.

All things originate in God and all things are destined in God. Out of this fertile ground, creativity grows. God is not stagnate, He is active. You may have heard the quote, "God, to me, it seems, is a verb not a noun." (R. Buckminster Fuller) Like many popular quotes, there is some truth in it and some absurdity. That's beyond the point of this post however.

Creativity and the arts can be holy. Creating and viewing it can lead one to the Divine. As JPII said in his letter to artists:

None can sense more deeply than you artists, ingenious creators of beauty that you are, something of the pathos with which God at the dawn of creation looked upon the work of his hands. A glimmer of that feeling has shone so often in your eyes when—like the artists of every age—captivated by the hidden power of sounds and words, colours and shapes, you have admired the work of your inspiration, sensing in it some echo of the mystery of creation with which God, the sole creator of all things, has wished in some way to associate you.

And for the consumer, a quote from Francis Schaffer as quoted by Joe Carter at First Things:

The arts and the sciences do have a place in the Christian life—they are not peripheral. For a Christian, redeemed by the work of Christ and living within the norms of Scripture and under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, the Lordship of Christ should include an interest in the arts. A Christian should use these arts to the glory of God—not just as tracts, but as things of beauty to the praise of God. An art work can be a doxology in itself.

The creation of art brings the artist closer to God and the consuming of art should bring the consumer closer to God's truth. This is all because all things come from God and all things will ultimately end in God. Art is an important part of this cycle.

This is part of a series of articles reflecting on quotes from Pope Francis' first encyclical. To read more, visit here.