Presbyterian Artists

[sastark]

Not sure where to post this, so sticking it in General. Moderators, please move if you feel the need.

Last night at Bible Study, the man leading the Bible Study (who is a Reformed man) made the claim that Presbyterianism, because of the WSC's definition of God (Question 4), has not produced any artists, but has produced plenty of politicians, lawyers, doctors, statesmen, etc. He said this was providential because politicians were needed during the time of the American Revolution.

What I was wondering is if anyone on the board (this means you, Andrew!) could give me a list of Presbyterian artists, musicians, poets, etc. They need to be Presbyterian and not continental Reformed. Can any one help me out here?

 

[VirginiaHuguenot]

Hmmm, that seems like rather an odd claim.

You may or may not wish to include John Calvin in the list, but his secular and theological writings, as well as his role in preparing the French metrical psalter, all demonstrate that Presbyterian theology and the arts are more than compatible, they are inseparable.

See this thread.

Also, see Abraham Kuyper's Lectures on Calvinism regarding the arts.

Also, I would reference the following:

George Buchanan
Daniel Defoe
David Dickson
Ralph Erskine
James Hogg
James Hyslop
Elizabeth Melville
Francis Rous
Robert Louis Stevenson

Also, honorable mention to the following who had Presbyterian or Puritan affiliations: Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott, John Milton, John Bunyan, Mark Twain, actor Jimmy Stewart, Fred (Mister) Rogers, film director Brian De Palma, Frederick Buechner, Michael Wigglesworth, Edward Taylor and others.

Robert Burns:

THE SOLEMN League and Covenant
Now brings a smile, now brings a tear;
But sacred Freedom, too, was theirs:
If thou´rt a slave, indulge thy sneer.

See also his The Cotter's Saturday Night.

See also Poems of Fighting Faith compiled by James Dickson.

See also Treasury of the Scottish Covenant by John C. Johnston for more Covenanter-inspired art.

Also, check out the National Galleries of Scotland.

There are many portraits of Presbyterians and Covenanters, and battle scenes, etc. to be found, such as David Octavius Hill's The Covenanter's Tomb, for example, or William Hole's The Signing of the Scottish National Covenant.


[Edited on 8-11-2005 by VirginiaHuguenot]

 

[Puritanhead]

I thought this thread said Presbyterian Arrests

 

[VirginiaHuguenot]

For those who may be interested in reading James Hyslop's The Cameronian's Dream, here is the text:

THE CAMERONIAN´S DREAM.

In a dream of the night I was wafted away
To the muirland of mist, where the martyrs lay;
Where Cameron´s sword and his Bible are seen
Engraved on the stone where the heather grows green.

"˜Twas a dream of those ages of darkness and blood,
When the minister´s home was the mountain and wood;
When in Wellwood´s dark valley the standard of Zion,
All bloody and torn "˜mong the heather was lying.

"˜Twas morning; and summer´s young sun from the east
Lay in loving repose on the green mountain´s breast;
On Wardlaw and Cairtable the clear shining dew
Glistened there "˜mong the heath-bells and mountain flowers blue.

And far up in heaven, near the white sunny cloud,
The song of the lark was melodious and loud;
And in Glenmuir´s wild solitude, lengthened and deep,
Were the whistling of plovers and bleating of sheep.

And Wellwood´s sweet valleys breathed music and gladness,
The fresh meadow blooms hung in beauty and redness;
Its daughters were happy to hail the returning,
And drink the delights of July´s sweet morning.

But, oh! there were hearts cherished far other feelings,
Illumed by the light of prophetic revealings,
Who drank from the scenery of beauty but sorrow,
For they knew that their blood would bedew it to-morrow.

"˜Twas the few faithful ones who with Cameron were lying
Concealed "˜mong the mist where the heath-fowl was crying;
For the horsemen of Earlshall around them were hovering,
And their bridle-reins rang through the thin misty covering.

Their faces grew pale, and their swords were unsheathed,
But the vengeance that darkened their brow was unbreathed;
With eyes turned to heaven, in calm resignation,
They sang their last song to the God of Salvation.

Though in mist and in darkness and fire they were shrouded,
Yet the souls of the righteous were calm and unclouded.
Their dark eyes flashed lightning, as, firm and unbending,
They stood like the rook which the thunder is rending.

The muskets were flashing, the blue swords were gleaming,
The helmets were cleft, and the red blood was streaming,
The heavens grew dark, and the thunder was rolling,
When in Wellwood´s dark muirlands the mighty were falling.

When the righteous had fallen, and the combat was ended,
A chariot of fire through the dark clouds descended;
Its drivers were angels on horses of whiteness,
And its burning wheels turned on axles of brightness;

A seraph unfolded its doors bright and shining,
All dazzling like gold of the seventh refining:
And the souls that came forth out of great tribulation,
Have mounted the chariots and steeds of salvation.

On the arch of the rainbow the chariot is gliding,
Through the path of the thunder the horsemen are riding.
Glide swiftly, bright spirits! the prize is before ye,
A crown never fading! a kingdom of glory!

- James Hyslop

 

[turmeric]

Samuel Clemens had a nodding acquaintance with Presbyterianism, (Tom Sawyer attended a Presbyterian church, Huck Finn seems to have run into some duelling Covenanters), I'm reading An American Childhood by Annie Dillard. Guess what denomination she belonged to?

 

[VirginiaHuguenot]

Originally posted by turmeric
Samuel Clemens had a nodding acquaintance with Presbyterianism, (Tom Sawyer attended a Presbyterian church, Huck Finn seems to have run into some duelling Covenanters), I'm reading An American Childhood by Annie Dillard. Guess what denomination she belonged to?

I'm not acquainted with Annie Dillard. As for Mark Twain, I love reading his works. He is very entertaining. But like others who were raised or influenced early by Reformed or Presbyterian parents or churches, such as Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Robert Burns, Walter Scott, etc., Twain represented Reformed religion not always in the best light. Some of his writings on the subject are found here. Also see this quote:

Originally posted by VirginiaHuguenot
...if you summarize a visit to a Presbyterian church like Huck Finn...

Next Sunday we all went to church, about three mile, everybody a-horseback. The men took their guns along, so did Buck, and kept them between their knees or stood them handy against the wall. The Shepherdsons done the same. It was pretty ornery preaching -- all about brotherly love, and such-like tiresomeness; but everybody said it was a good ser- mon, and they all talked it over going home, and had such a powerful lot to say about faith and good works and free grace and preforeordestination [sic], and I don't know what all, that it did seem to me to be one of the roughest Sundays I had run across yet.

Huck Finn in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Chap. XVIII, cited in the Dictionary of the Presbyterian & Reformed Tradition in America ed. by D.G. Hart and Mark A. Noll, p. xv

Interesting quote from Moby Dick, Chap. 10:

I [Ishmael] was a good Christian; born and bred in the bosom of the infallible Presbyterian Church. How then could I unite with this wild idolator in worshipping his piece of wood? But what is worship? thought I. Do you suppose now, Ishmael, that the magnanimous God of heaven and earth --pagans and all included --can possibly be jealous of an insignificant bit of black wood? Impossible! But what is worship? --to do the will of God -- that is worship. And what is the will of God? --to do to my fellow man what I would have my fellow man to do to me -- that is the will of God. Now, Queequeg is my fellow man. And what do I wish that this Queequeg would do to me? Why, unite with me in my particular Presbyterian form of worship. consequently, i must then unite with him in his; ergo, I must turn idolator. So I kindled the shavings; helped prop up the innocent little idol; offered him burnt biscuit with Queequeg; salamed before him twice or thrice; kissed his nose; and that done, we undressed and went to bed, at peace with our own consciences and all the world. But we did not go to sleep without some little chat. How it is I know not; but there is no place like a bed for confidential disclosures between friends. Man and wife, they say, there open the very bottom of their souls to each other; and some old couples often lie and chat over old times till nearly morning. Thus, then, in our hearts' honeymoon, lay I and Queequeg --a cosy, loving pair.