We all interact with art every day. For most of us, our day-to-day engagement with art is the common habit of listening to the radio as we drive to work or turning on the television after supper. Whether we are aware of it or not, those songs and shows communicate something to us. Art has subject matter, and that subject matter fills our imaginations. Therefore, we ought to concern ourselves with what kinds of subject matter we take in. Thankfully, the Word of God gives us instruction for engaging art’s content. We are commanded to walk in the light and turn from darkness.
In the realm of the arts, the line between the themes of light and darkness has become blurry. Modern art promotes a worldview that confuses good and evil. When that line is blurred, light appears dimmer than it is; likewise, darkness appears brighter. In some cases, light and darkness hardly exist in themselves. The two themes become blended together into a moral gray. This grayness is the current state of the arts. The imitative arts, in particular, tend to embrace what is morally gray and revel in its ambiguity. Blurring the line between the themes of light and darkness in the art world confuses our understanding of good and evil in the actual world. Therefore, when darkness is depicted, light should shine out by contrast.
The Light
What is the theme of light in the arts? The word light is troublesome because it calls to mind several different word pictures. Light can mean insignificant, unserious, or frivolous. These images of light are very dominant in the arts since the advent of the Rococo period in the eighteenth century. Light, in this sense, is weightless. There is a temptation to think that truly light art is whatever makes us laugh or makes us happy. Lighthearted art has its place to be sure! But this lightness is not the kind of light that opposes darkness, and we are commanded to seek out the light. The light is an image for goodness, truth, and beauty.
The primary example of light is, of course, daylight. Daylight shines out against darkness. To understand this theme of light in art, we must understand the source of all light. We pursue the light, because God is the Father of Light. The Word tells us, “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5b, NASB). God is not insignificant; He is not unserious; He is not blithe: He is not frivolous or fickle. He is the Daylight. When John described God as Light, he depicted God as being radiant like the Dawn.
The Gospel of John repeatedly refers to the Lord God as “Light” (1:4–9; 3:19–21; 8:12). In his gospel, John uses “light” as an analogy for goodness. God is the source of Light. He is the source of all Goodness, Truth, and Beauty. His radiance shines out into the heavens and the earth. From this foundation, we will work out how we ought to engage with the theme of light in art.
We are the sons and daughters of Light (John 12:36). And we are commanded to live in the Light of Christ. God, by His mercy, has called man out of darkness into the glorious light of truth. To be sons of light, we must follow the Light. In short, we cultivate within ourselves a desire for whatever radiates God’s light.
Philippians 4 commends “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think on these things” (v. 8). The immediate context is to “rejoice in the Lord always” and for man to guard his heart and mind carefully “in Christ Jesus” (4:4, 7). The principles outlined here model appropriate and Biblical engagement with the art world. The true, the honorable, the good, the pure, the lovely, and the commendable—these qualities are not one and the same, but they comprehensively describe ideal subject matter. These qualities shine out the Light.
The Darkness
What is the theme of darkness in the arts? Darkness is the total absence or privation of light. Darkness is the light’s antithesis. If light is true, honorable, good, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and praiseworthy; then darkness is false, shameful, evil, corrupt, ugly, contemptible, poor, and unworthy. Darkness can also suggest gloom or dreariness. The dark is an image for evil that obscures sight and shades light.
One of the biggest problems the imitative arts (art forms that represent nature and life) face is how they depict sin. The prophet Isaiah warns, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (5:20) Depicting darkness is not an immoral action, but darkness must be in its proper place.
Making evil more palatable does not encourage virtue; it confuses good and evil. Reducing the sting of darkness entices us to sympathize with darkness and to call evil good. Blurring the lines between good and evil or light and darkness is a lie. Darkness is dark; light is light. What we cannot do is lighten what is essentially dark or darken what is essentially light. Whatever we depict, we must depict truthfully. This point is of great importance. The themes we depict in the imitative arts are analogous to the real world. The theme of darkness is analogous to wickedness in the actual world.
First John 1:5 tells us that “God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.” John not only declares that darkness is incompatible with the Light of God but also goes on to give explicit instruction for believers: “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1:6–7). To walk with God is to flee from darkness. To practice truth is to not walk in darkness. After all, “What does light have in common with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14)
Walk in the Light
C. S. Lewis, defending The Lord of the Rings, wrote that “the value of the myth is that it takes all the things we know and restores to them the rich significance which has been hidden by ‘the veil of familiarity.’”[1] Through myth reality becomes clearer. The imitative arts depict something. Stories, for instance, bear different values and themes. Within a story, a novel can have several themes. The author and the characters speak, presenting the reader with living characters and the world in which they live. As the characters live and breathe, aesthetic themes like light and darkness unveil the story’s worldview. Through stories, we can see the real world in clearer terms. In other words, the imitative arts imitate the actual world, and in so doing, both good and bad art can shape our imaginations.
What we allow into our lives plays a significant role in the person we are and the person we will become. Ephesians 5:8–14 commends believers:
Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), as you try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the useless deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says, “Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you.”
We must think on the truth, speak the truth, and walk in the truth. This admonition follows the Biblical command of the passage above. The Scriptures encourage us to fill our minds and hearts with what is admirable and honest. The application is to create art and meditate on art that tells true things. When we depict darkness, we must call it by its name. Let us put good and evil in their proper place.
Thinking critically about the art we already consume is a great step toward taking our lives seriously. What is great and noble shines out in the true work of art. Art helps us see the divide between good and evil, beauty and ugliness, and light and darkness. Through art, we draw analogies between depictions and real life. Those depictions help us see the real world with greater clarity. Understanding the analogies in the art world can also help us understand the real world around us and help us understand the Archetype, God. Walking in the Light helps us see the cosmic story in the everyday rhythms of life.
Conclusion
The line between good and evil is shaded; at times, we mistake darkness for light and light for darkness. We have a responsibility to differentiate between what is praiseworthy and what is unworthy of praise. The Word of God commands us to walk in the marvelous light of Christ. Light in art points man toward the Light of Christ. Darkness and light are significant themes in the realm of art. Truly great works of art call darkness by its true name and shine out with radiant light.
[1] C. S. Lewis, “Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings,” in On Stories: And Other Essays on Literature (New York: HarperOne, 1982), 140.
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