Peculiar Art

A piece of art, that's a given, but what kind of art exactly? I'm asking you. I took this picture a little over a year ago. It was breathtaking - for me at least.

Dennill Family Reunion 2004

In the summer of 2004 we have a family reunion in British Columbia, Canada. Almost everyone from my mother's side was there. This photo was taken there - one of the best of my parents together. It was really wonderful. I saw a lot of relatives I hadn't seen for years - and some whom had been born or married into the family.* I was also able to introduce my (ex)wife to that side of my family.

In fact, after the reunion was over she and I took a two-week trip on Canada 1, the legendary trans-continental train, across the whole of Canada from Vancouver to Quebec (we were not able to visit Newfoundland etc. unfortunately). If I could re-do any one trip ever, that would be it. Such a beautiful country (although I slept through Saskatchewan, but don't tell the Saskatchewanians). And it was lovely to finally visit the French speaking areas. Quebec City was wonderful and unique, but from a European viewpoint less exotic than from a North American viewpoint). Ottawa was one of my favourites: so alike Helsinki.

*May God bless David and his mourning family.

Theology of Art, Part III (continued)

Theology of Art, Part I
Hands and Brains (or Lack of)
Hands and Brains (or Lack of) (continued)

Theology of Art, Part II
The Body - Neither Puritanism nor Pornography
The Body - Neither Puritanism nor Pornography (continued)

Theology of Art, Part III
Nakedness and imago Dei
Nakedness and imago Dei (continued)

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Nakedness and Imago Dei
(continued)

"God is love," wrote John (1 Jn. 4:8). The doctrine of the Trinity sheds light on this mystery of love: love requires a lover (the Father), a beloved (the Son, who responds to the Father's love), and the bond of love itself (the Holy Spirit). Christ too further illuminates the mystery of love: he loved freely (Jn. 10:18), perfectly and totally (Jn. 13:1b), faithfully "to the end" (Mt. 28:20b), and fruitfully (Jn. 10:10b).

According to John Paul II, we are called to love according to this example, which God himself has set for us in Christ, the Archetype of the image of God in us. And this "call to love" - here comes the point - is stamped in our bodies as well.

Adam and Eve certainly knew this. They looked at each other with "all the peace of the interior gaze," as the pope semi-poetically expresses it. After the fall, God's image, our call to love, was stained. Our forefathers "were ashamed" and covered themselves with "fig leaves" (Gen. 3:1-11). Why?

We could likewise ask: Why does a woman instinctively cover her naked body in the presence of a man (sometimes even her own husband)?

What is shame? John Paull II says it is fear. Shame is a defense mechanism against the "lustful look". After the fall, the distortion of sexual desire - lust - objectifies the body. Lust treats the body as an "instrument" and neither sees nor respects its image of God. The other is not respected as a person.

"But from the beginning it was not so," Christ used to say (Mt. 19:3-9). With these words, he confirmed having reopened the path to God's original plan for human sexuality. Christ restores us to original purity. Our innermost life, our heart, can be renewed through grace working in us and with us.

Christ allowed (without experiencing lust) an attractive woman to wash his feet with her tears and dry them with her hair. He saw a wounded woman who longed for her True Love (which was Christ himself, whether she knew it or not).

Christian purity allows the admiration of the naked body in art (and in general) - it sees in the body the call for self-giving love (agape). Christian purity can call a chapel saturated with naked frescoes the "sanctuary of the theology of the body" - it sees in the chapel a symphony of praise to God's original plan for human sexuality.

One last note. I said "Christian purity can", not "Christians can". The latter depends on how far a person has progress in the renewal of his heart. If you recoiled at what has been said here, ask yourself why.

(end of part III)

Theology of Art, Part III

Theology of Art, Part I
Hands and Brains (or Lack of)
Hands and Brains (or Lack of) (continued)

Theology of Art, Part II
The Body - Neither Puritanism nor Pornography
The Body - Neither Puritanism nor Pornography (continued)

Theology of Art, Part III
Nakedness and imago Dei
Nakedness and imago Dei (continued)

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Nakedness and Imago Dei

John Paul II (1920-2005), the first non-Italian pope for some 450 years, began the Sistine Chapel's renovations and ordered the removal of all loincloths that his predecessor popes had commissioned to cover Michelangelo's nudes, supposedly, in the name of Christian purity. John Paul II had the removed on the same grounds: Christian purity. Why?

In the opening speech of the completed work, John Paul II described the chapel as the "sanctuary of the theology of the body". What did he mean by that?

Earlier (Part I), we contemplated the role of both intelligence (head) and action (hands) in authentic human life. Later (Part II), we considered two other inseparable sides of the same coin which is Man: the intimate connection between body and soul in Christian anthropology. In this third and final part, Christian anthropology will remain the theme, but we will focus on theological anthropology.

"Theology of the body" - what is it?

Theology means the study of God and our relationship with him. Theology of the body, consequently, means the study of God and our relationship with him from the body's - our body's - perspective. What does the body say about God? Or inversely: how does the imago Dei ("image of God", see Gen. 1:27) reflect in our bodies?

There must be reflections in the body too because, as noted earlier, we are made in the image of God in unity of body and soul.

Let's return to John Paul II. During 1979-1984, except for the weeks following his assassination attempt, he held weekly Bible studies on love and sexuality. These talk were later published as the Theology of the Body (TOB). His biographer, George Weigel, calls TOB a "theological time bomb, set to go off with dramatic consequences sometime in the third millenium." For those who find TOB too difficult, see Christopher West's TOB Explained (2003) or TOB for Beginners (2004).

In the years to come, it will be instrumental in saving marriages, severing addictions (especially of the sexual kind), and saving souls - which is, of course, the ultimate point of all faithful theology. Its biblical and theological fine points cannot be discussed here. But what does the theology of the body have to do with art?

(continued...)

Theology of Art, Part II (continued)

Theology of Art, Part I
Hands and Brains (or Lack of)
Hands and Brains (or Lack of) (continued)

Theology of Art, Part II
The Body - Neither Puritanism nor Pornography
The Body - Neither Puritanism nor Pornography (continued)

Theology of Art, Part III
Nakedness and imago Dei
Nakedness and imago Dei (continued)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The Body - Neither Puritanism nor Pornography
(continued)

According to a trendy anti-Christian myth, the Original Sin had something to do with sexuality. The Church Fathers, on the contrary, taught that if it were not for man's fallenness, sexual pleasure would be more intense, enjoyable, and beautiful than it is today.

However, we do find the odd Church Father here and there whose writings include anti-sexual footnotes. The fresco example above also shows that not all Christian leaders have shared John Paul II's "positive" theology of the body. Within the pro-body Christian tradition, both on the level of doctrine and practice, quite a few suspicious eyes have judged the body. The suspicion is grounded in a partial truth that has been exaggerated at the expense of the whole truth. Man is fallen: the consequences of the fall echo in the human body - as well.

In the beginning, we noted that when one teaches the middle way - or truth - it is probable that distortions of both defect and excess will occur. The negative (defective or "suspicious") distortion was mentioned above, and can be called Manichaeism as regards the body in general and Puritanism as regards sexuality in particular.

An important question arises: How about the opposite extreme, the "worship" of the body and of sexuality?

It would have to be some kind of ideological materialism as regards the body in general and pornography as regards sexuality in particular. But do these - materialism and pornography - appear in Christianity at all?

Materialism and pornography are surely secularism's cousins, and pornographic currents can be detected especially in Eastern art and religion. But it is strange if - and seemingly that - these distortions seem to be lacking from the history of Christianity. At least they're hard to locate.

If, as noted, teaching the truth will (necessarily) invite distortions of both extremes, and Christianity claims to be the truth - yet lacks one of these extremes as regards the body and sexuality - how do we explain it? The question is perhaps ill-formed, certainly paradoxical, but nonetheless seems to be justified: "Where's the problem?"

(end of part II)

Theology of Art, Part II

Theology of Art, Part I
Hands and Brains (or Lack of)
Hands and Brains (or Lack of) (continued)

Theology of Art, Part II
The Body - Neither Puritanism nor Pornography
The Body - Neither Puritanism nor Pornography (continued)

Theology of Art, Part III
Nakedness and imago Dei
Nakedness and imago Dei (continued)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The Body - Neither Puritanism nor Pornography

When one teaches the middle way, it is likely that distortions of both extremes will occur.

Earlier in Theology of Art part I, we considered the relationship between "hands" and "head" (or pragmatism and rationality) in human life. According to Christian holistic anthropology, they are inseparable.

The body and the soul are also two - inseparable - sides of the same coin.

As a body, man belongs to the visible world; as a soul, to the invisible. He is not only part of the organic world (as animals) nor is he pure spirit (as angels). He is both, simultaneously and inseparably. One could call a human person an "embodied soul" or a "soulful body". Perhaps these descriptions, too, smell of dualism. It is, indeed, difficult to avoid dualistic nuances. Human language is in itself always metaphorical and, furthermore, the ultimate reality of human nature is something not fully revealed.

Christian tradition has always profoundly valued the body and sexuality (which go together). Christianity seems to be nearly the only great religion that thoroughly accepts - nay, embraces - the body. It believes that material is good - that God himself became a body. It praises marriage. It is the chief editor of all love poetry of mentionable content.

When John Paul II launched the renovation of the Sistine chapel, he ordered the removal of loincloths that his predecessor popes had commissioned to cover Michelangelo's nudes. John Paul II did this in the name of Christian purity. Does this seem odd?

(continued...)

Theology of Art, Part I (continued)

Theology of Art, Part I
Hands and Brains (or Lack of)
Hands and Brains (or Lack of) (continued)

Theology of Art, Part II
The Body - Neither Puritanism nor Pornography
The Body - Neither Puritanism nor Pornography (continued)

Theology of Art, Part III
Nakedness and imago Dei
Nakedness and imago Dei (continued)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Hands and Brains (or lack of)
(continued)

Do Christians, with their head and hands in balance, even exist? Yes, many.

On the Evangelical, or rather the ecumenical side, one thinks of C. S. Lewis (1898-1963). No one, not even his debunkers, debunks his intelligence. But his writings challenge one to radical action. He even warns his readers that "theology is very practical." Despite his busy academic schedule, things were in balance in his personal life. This is exemplified by his correspondence. Lewis received tens of thousands of letters from people, and replied to each one - by hand.

Karol Wojtyla (1920-2005), or John Paul II as he is better known, is another prime example. He too was exceptionally brilliant. Peter Kreeft, the popular Christian apologist, calls him the "Philosopher King of the 20th century."

However, at the very heart of his Christ-centred philosophy was the theory of the "acting person." Without action, for instance, works of charity ("busybodiness" has nothing to do with it), our human nature amounts to nothing. When not writing, Wojtyla travelled a million kilometers talking to Christians and non-Christians, and helped bring down Communism.

(Inhumane ideologies, like Marxist theses, can be brought down by humane theories, like Christian humanism.)

Let us not feed the juxtaposition of head and hands. The next time we feel tempted to despise the stereotype of our own making, we ought to ask ourselves why. Is it because of an inferiority or a superiority complex? If my hands are stronger than my head, I should train my head; or if my head is usually put to use, I should practice using my hands as well.

The most attractive combination is an intelligent person of action. Like Lewis, Wojtyla, or Michelangelo's David.

(end of part I)

Theology of Art, Part I

Theology of Art, Part I
Hands and Brains (or Lack of)
Hands and Brains (or Lack of) (continued)

Theology of Art, Part II
The Body - Neither Puritanism nor Pornography
The Body - Neither Puritanism nor Pornography (continued)

Theology of Art, Part III
Nakedness and imago Dei
Nakedness and imago Dei (continued)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Hands and Brains (or lack of)

Michelangelo's David has a large head and large hands. How come?

Modern humanism may have cut itself off from God, but the Renaissance man, the true Christian forefather of humanism, considered his imago Dei roots highly inspiring. Through the "image of God" in us, we are blessed both intellectually (symbolized by the head) and pragmatically (demonstrated by the hands).

It is not easy to make judgments about the history of theology in general, but it seems that in today's religious thought the head and hands are often placed in mutual opposition. A self-proclaimed intellectual may look down upon the the "busybody." In turn, the busybody - or self-appointed "man of common sense" as he would rather be addressed (pride is not only the sin of the intelligent) - knows that dissertations tend to become "arguments and pretensions" (1 Cor. 10:5).

Is this hostile juxtaposition justified? Well, yes and no.

The Christian intellectual is perfectly right in stating that practice without theory - works without doctrine - may be blind. However, the intellectual may find it difficult not to long for admiration of his intelligence (a sin of pride, confessed also by Augustine in his famous Confessions). The pragmatic Christian, on the other hand, has got it right when he says, "faith without works is dead." However, he might not understand that theories tend to materialize.

(It is hard to believe that Marx, whose own children died of hunger, could have really foreseen - as he contemplated the exploitation of the working class - that his theses would eventually lead to the death of so many other children.)

(continued...)

Theology of Art (to come)

I intend to reproduce the Theology of Art articles in my blog over the next few weeks. Those of you who subscribe to Dynamite and Etsijä ("Seeker") magazines, I'm afraid you're going to have to read them again. As for you normal people, perhaps you'll find some insights from these articles. (They received some flak too, so don't be afraid to offer constructive criticism.)

Theology of Art was originally published in three parts, but because they are quite long, I will divide each into another two parts, making it six posts altogether.

Theology of Art, Part I
Hands and Brains (or Lack of)
Hands and Brains (or Lack of) (continued)

Theology of Art, Part II
The Body - Neither Puritanism nor Pornography
The Body - Neither Puritanism nor Pornography (continued)

Theology of Art, Part III
Nakedness and imago Dei
Nakedness and imago Dei (continued)

Many thanks to Jussi for helping me with the artwork (which I cannot reproduce here), and to Saila for helping me translate them from Finnish.

Pretty Groom

I mentioned looks and wits in my last post. I don't know about the wits, but Danny's looks are here easily recognizable. My apologies, Danny, I couldn't resist it! Danny is, of course, getting ready for his dance lesson. Or more precisely, his hardcore aerobics lesson lead by Europe's bronze medalist in aerobics. It truly was a sight: 30 conditioned women trainers and - Danny. The bachelor party was a great success. Danny threw up after the lesson though, it was that tough, but was excellent sport about it and soon on his feet again. We also threw him out of an airplane, but I'll post about that story some other time.

Father and Son

I'm in love. Joshua is the cutest thing that walked the earth - or Sello shopping center's marble floors. He has, or had, the cutest little squirrel teeth too (not visible in this photo though) and hence I used to call him "Kurre". Can you imagine that in 18 years this little fella will grow into, well, that other thing on the right? If little Joshua inherited his parents' genes (I'm not biology savvy but my intuition says he did), he'll have both the looks and the wits. Just like his uncle.*

*Danny, of course.

The Sutton Family

The Suttons lived in Finland for two years. Prior to moving to Helsinki, they had studied Finnish in the States for 9 months, 4 hours a day. Their Finnish was impeccable from start. Usually Ango-American pronunciation of any foreign language is horrible, not to mention Finnish which is definitely not the easiest language there is. But David and Shannon excelled.

Their first born, Donovan, was born in Helsinki. After returning to the States, David, an A-10 pilot, served in Afghanistan for some months. Now the family has grown: little Lydia has spent most of her life in New Delhi, India, where the Suttons live today. However, David will start working at the Pentagon soon, so a return to the US is imminent.

Good people, good friends.

Flaunting Neighbors

Sini and Saila Savolainen are sisters. They have other things in common too: they're both beautiful (as you can see) and - no complaints from here - both neighbors of mine. Saila is a founding member of TACT, but unfortunately has put these C. S. Lewis breakfasts on hold for the moment. Sini works at Sports Academy, the next-door sports bar where I work at too on-and-off as a doorman. Sini, I meant to call you, but in case you're reading this, Café Merenneito here at the beach is hiring staff for the summer season - I think you'd enjoy it.