Dear Friends,

Earlier this year a Christian filmmaker, who aspired to create a documentary on sex trafficking, said to me… “Christian’s have never led in the arts.” I responded, “Have you heard of the Renaissance?” If my friend thinks Botticelli, Donatello, Giotto, Michelangelo and Titian are brands of Italian pasta or the Ninja Turtles he’s not alone. The Christian creative community is seriously under-educated on art history, especially Christian art history. This ignorance has led to a lack of confident inventiveness and innovation on the part of Christian artists resulting in art that is an unsatisfactory copy of mainstream entertainment.

Here are some recent examples of copied mainstream work with the original in parenthesis: The Evangelism Linebacker (Terry Tate Office Linebacker), Jesus vs. Santa (Mac vs. PC) and Curb Your Evangelism (Curb Your Enthusiasm). While I was Director of Photography on Evangelism and while some of these videos are admittedly funny, sadly they remain poor copies of someone else’s work. Frankly, this copycat approach lacks creativity, appears farcical and borders on plagiarism.

The building of the Temple is a detailed account of artistic creation in the Bible, a totally new expression of God’s interaction with mankind. In the same way, Jesus Christ’s stories were a new creative expression of God’s Truth and His Kingdom. We too have the ability to create new expressions if we would but focus on the Truth rather than mainstream society.

Please take some time to study the great Christian art of the Renaissance, the achievements of the Catholic Church and artists like Francis Shaeffer. Then go experience the agony and the ecstasy of creating something new to the Glory of God and the common good of mankind, whom He loves!

Remember, 36 Parables Blue and Yellow DVDs are now available through YouthSpecialties!

Illuminating Understanding,

The Cinematographer
Stewart H. Redwine
C: 310-770-0448
E: sredwine@36parables.com