Brian Brown, founder of The Anselm Society, discusses creation, order, and subcreating with Jonathan Rogers. They explore the Christian imagination, cultivating creativity, and the impact of influential writers on creativity. The podcast delves into the role of humans in bringing order and goodness to the world.
Balancing theological understanding to bridge indifference and idolatry in art.
Emphasizing cultivating, naming, and subcreating as integral to the creative process.
Deep dives
The Importance of Equipping Artistic Disciples
The podcast episode delves into the significance of equipping artistic individuals with a theological understanding between indifference and idolatry. By observing a gap in artists' theological formation, the episode emphasizes the need for a balance in perceiving the material world. It highlights the book 'Why We Create' as an attempt to reshape attitudes toward the material world and the importance of discerning the value of creativity in the Kingdom of God.
Cultivating, Naming, and Sub-Creating
The discussion explores the concepts of cultivating, naming, and sub-creating as essential aspects of the creative process. Cultivating involves stewarding and bringing order out of chaos, while naming signifies participating in God's creative act by assigning significance. Sub-creating entails expressing originality in creativity as a response to God's invitation to participate in his work of restoration and consummation.
Gratitude, Memory, and Creativity in Community Building
Community-building efforts are highlighted through events like pub nights to foster enjoyment, understanding, and embodiment of the Christian imagination among local congregations. The episode encourages gratitude and memory as foundations for creativity and stresses the importance of realizing the symbolic nature of the material world in expressing and experiencing truths about God.
Spreading the Renaissance of the Christian Imagination
The Anselm Society's mission of reviving the Christian imagination emphasizes local community engagement and the tangible impact on congregations. The episode discusses how the society aims to inspire others to initiate similar imaginative community-building endeavors by providing guidance and support to help them realize their mission and vision in practical, effective ways.
Brian Brown is the founder and executive director of The Anselm Society, an organization dedicated to a renaissance of the Christian imagination. Along with Jane Scharl, Brian edited a collection of essays called Why We Create: Reflections on The Creator, The Creation, and Creating. In this episode, Brian and Jonathan Rogers talk about the Creation, bringing order out of disorder, and the distinctions between cultivating, naming, and subcreating.
This episode is sponsored by Writing with Puddleglum, a six-week creative writing course by Jonathan Rogers. Find out more and register at TheHabit.co/Puddleglum. Class starts Tuesday, January 30.