Quote from Tozer (Raquel)
“It is my own belief…that every good and beautiful thing which man has produced in the world has been the result of his faulty and sin-blocked response to the creative Voice [of God] sounding over the earth. The moral philosophers who dreamed their high dreams of virtue, the religious thinkers who speculated about God and immortality, the poets and artists who created out of common stuff pure and lasting beauty: how can we explain them?… Could it be that a genius is a man haunted by the speaking Voice, laboring and striving like one possessed to achieve ends which he only vaguely understands? That the great man may have missed God in his labors, that he may even have spoken or written against God does not destroy the idea I am advancing.” A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God
I’ve never read “The Pursuit of God.” Additionally, I’m not sure if you’re studying a particular topic. However, the quote you posted brought to mind a book by Michael Card “Scribbling in the Sand: Christ and Creativity.” If you’re doing a study on art and creative thought, you should consider reading this book if you haven’t already. I borrowed it from Gabrielle many years ago, so she might be able to lend it to you. (Oh, and if she can’t find it, please note that I did return it to her…ha, ha, ha.)
“Scribbling in the Sand” was more life changing for me than it likely will be for you, but it’s a fine book on the subject of creativity. At the time that I was reading it, I was a Christian but I had never really thought outside the box of post-modern, secularism that I had been immersed in by the heathen professors whom I foolishly believed knew everything there is to know about art. “Scribbling in the Sand” is not intended to be a heavy-hitting theology work, but yet it stomped on my worldview and pointed me to God as originator of and authority over all wisdom, creativity, and beauty.
“Scribbling in the Sand” is a beautifully written text in that it simply reveals God in all art no matter how much the artist denies Him or is blind to the reality that human creativity is a response to and impersonation of the master Creator. It does this without confining art to the limits of a human definition. It’s pretty much as though Michael Card dips his hands into the stream of Living Water and lets you see something of art before it runs from his fingers and back into the stream.
At any rate, maybe this book wouldn’t be as helpful to you, but it’s a worthwhile read if you have the time.
I wasn’t specifically studying up on art–this was really just an aside in the book I was reading, but it stuck out because I’m always interested in Christian philosophy of art. Gabrielle’s mentioned “Scribbling in the Sand” before, but thanks for bringing it to my attention again. I’ll have to put it on my reading list.