Cobb ch 3
Having spent a day in the Van Gogh museum staring in aw at individual painting for hours, I connect easily with Tillich’s earlier position that there are/were “secular” artists that communicated aspects of the divine better than those commissioned by the church. It is unfortunate that he was let down by them as he recognized a “sense of separation from the ultimate source of meaning.” I wonder if this was a transition that took place in the world around him or if he simply began to see the world around him differently? If he had placed a hope in the secular art community that they would continue to reveal the divine and build towards a revival that took place outside the walls of the church, then it is no surprise to me that he was let down. At the same time, the presence of the divine in secular art can still be found and it can be used as a tool and a stimulus in the interaction between the secular and the spiritual communities. The revelation of beauty and the art of creation are two aspects of secular culture that, I believe, are revelations of God’s nature and have the ability to connect with people on an emotional/spiritual level which is less well defended against a dialog with the divine than is their intellect. I believe that how we react to art and entertainment in the secular world depends more on our expectations of it than on its actual quality.
