Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:4-6)
Prior notice to debate - I'd rather not see this spiral into a discussion relates to the often clearly misinterpreted jealous part or this commandment or regarding sins passing from the father to the son for four generations.
Now, recently, I've been having a bit of an artistic boom. And, seeing how I am improving in nearly all forms, shapes and ways I've long wanted to create in CG the concepts for a massive church. Including stained glass, statues, all the bells and whistles one would expect. Perhaps even a statue of the big man himself, although I have no idea of how he would look like. 'I suspect Jesus would look middle-eastern, but would probably go with the more traditional depiction.'
Now, there used to be a grand conflict between the Orthodox and Catholic regarding the use of images in churches and so fourth. The east criticized the west for using statues and the west criticized the east for using icons. By modern interpretation, I would suspect the most common reflection upon the commandment means not to bow down to the images themselves, but to see them as a imperfect glorification. Muslims did not exactly disprove of aesthetics either in their role of worship, although symbols and patterns are quite liberally used.
So, going through various factions and establishing an own point of view regarding this matter I suppose I reach an unsatisfying conclusion. On one side, it would be great to finally be able to glorify God with my art, however imperfect it may be. And rest assured all used in order to create this would be in aim to glorify and not to put people astray. Yet, on the other hand, I cannot rightly say how theologically accurate my interpretation is. I'd also rather not offend God on that same note. Knowing full well that my imperfect art could never Glorify him enough just like my imperfect breath would never be able to glorify him properly. However imperfect both might be, my core goal is to stay secured from committing blasphemy.
In the end, should I consider the elements of the second commandment to be universal in every sense, meaning that it's not just about man's interpretation, but the attempt regardless of intentions to depict anything of the faith or even beyond. Or, should it be considered as more of a man to symbol relation, which would make the creation of it ok as long as the correct intent is there. I believe that aesthetics in many ways works the same way as marketing, and that glorification attracts attention that can often lead to good or bad depending on the intentions behind it.
So, what's your take on the topic of art for God?
