Faith in the Arts

In this episode, Marlita presents the 2013 album, Songversation by India Arie and it inspires a conversation about artistic success, how we relate to our audiences and what it means to be a good guest. Before listening why not check out the album?

If you’d like to join the conversation, please email us at [email protected]. If you’d like to help us continue to make more episodes like this, you can donate to us directly through our website www.faithinthearts.show 

Recommended Resources and Artists:

Songversation by India Arie

1 Corinthians 9:22- ‘I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.’

Today, Ally introduces us to Vincent Van Gogh and Jonny and Marlita struggle with the Dutch language! Art isn’t just worth talking about, it’s worth feasting upon, so to get the most out of this episode, you should check out the two paintings ‘The Sower’ by Van Gogh and ‘The Vision’ by Paul Gauguin. (Links below)

If you’d like to join the conversation, please email us at [email protected]. If you’d like to help us continue to make more episodes like this, you can donate to us directly through our website www.faithinthearts.show

Recommended resources and artists:

The Sower by Van Gogh https://tinyurl.com/ywejewra

The Vision by Paul Gauguin https://tinyurl.com/yc49894r

Still Life by Van Gogh

Colossians 3:2- ‘Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things’

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus (original hymn by Helen Lemmel)

Paul Cezanne

This season, we’re going to be basing our episodes around pieces of art and the artists that create them. Today Jonny introduces the album, The Big Day by Chance the Rapper and sparks a conversation about authenticity, expectations and language. To get the most out of this conversation, it would be good to give the album a listen or two if you haven’t already.

If you’d like to join the conversation, please email us at [email protected]. If you’d like to help us continue to make more episodes like this, you can donate to us directly through our website www.faithinthearts.show

Resources, references and artists:

Coloring Book by Chance the Rapper

Romans 7:14-25

Philippians 3:8- I consider them rubbish (NIV)/ worthless (NLT)/ loss (ESV)/ dog dung (The Message). This word is skubala in Greek. Most scholars agree that this was an impolite word that meant excrement.

Ally, Jonny and Marlita are back! To kick the second season off, they catch up on how the faith and the arts conversation has moved forward in the last year, navigating AI, the London urban music scene and artistic isolationism. And there are puns. Lots of puns.

If you’d like to join the conversation, please email us at [email protected]. If you’d like to help us continue to make more episodes like this, you can donate to us directly through our website www.faithinthearts.show

Recommended resources and artists from this episode:

We asked for your questions and you sent in some crackers. Today Marlita, Ally and Jonny round off our first season by dealing with questions ranging from creativity, to art and culture, to personal humility.

Although Season 1 is now finished, we are planning a podcast party soon, so follow us on Twitter or Instagram to hear more details.

Resources and references:

Morphe Arts (Ally)

Faith and Work Mentorship for Artists (Marlita)

Sputnik: Faith & Arts (Jonny)

Renew the Arts podcast

Peter and unclean food - Acts 10:9-23

Deconstructing faith is a contentious topic. Some see it as highly destructive, others deeply enlightening and, for others, it is an inevitability that every person of faith will have to face at one time or another. As we continue our episodes asking 'why we’re still Christians?' Jonny opens on why he is still the type of Christian that he is and how his faith has changed in the last few years.

If you’d like to join the conversation, please email us at [email protected]. If you’d like to help us continue to make more episodes like this, you can donate to us directly through our website www.faithinthearts.show

There can be a real tension between being an artist and being a Christian. An easy way to relieve this tension might be to stop being a Christian! So, today we ask Marlita why she is still a Christian. Prepare to have your heart warmed as she talks us through her faith journey, how she hears from God and why she wouldn’t be able to know art without God.

If you’d like to join the conversation, please email us at [email protected]. If you’d like to help us continue to make more episodes like this, you can donate to us directly through our website, www.faithinthearts.show.

There can be a real tension between being an artist and being a Christian. An easy way to relieve this tension would be to stop being a Christian! However, none of our hosts have taken that option. In the next few episodes, we ask them why, starting today with Ally.

If you’d like to join the conversation, please email us at [email protected]. If you’d like to help us continue to make more episodes like this, you can donate to us directly through our website www.faithinthearts.show.

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References in this episode:

Hans Rookmaker, 'Modern Art and the Death of a Culture'

Could it be that imagination is not only something that is important to artists, but is actually something that we all need: to be human, to live out our Christian faith and even to have any sort of understanding about God at all?

In today’s episode, Marlita, Jonny and Ally continue their exploration of the imagination, asking the questions: what is a Christian imagination and why is the imagination important?

If you’d like to join the conversation, please email us at [email protected]. If you like what you’re hearing, please consider enabling us to make more episodes by donating to us directly through our website ’d like to help us continue to make more episodes like this, you can donate to us directly through our website, www.faithinthearts.show

Artworks mentioned:

Thomas Aquinas (on religious language as analogy)

The imagination is a vitally important human faculty, but it is little understood, and often greatly marginalised in society and in churches. Ally, Jonny and Marlita start exploring this topic by asking: what is the imagination, and how can you develop it?

If you’d like to join the conversation, please email us at [email protected]. If you like what you’re hearing, please consider enabling us to make more episodes by donating to us directly through our website, www.faithinthearts.show.

Resources/artists mentioned:

Twyla Tharp, The Creative Habit