This piece calls out and addresses our alienation from the created order; why so many people  instinctively assume Christianity is about escaping or transcending their bodies (their material state);  and how and why that’s wrong. Could use seeds/plants as an easy analogy. Consider harkening back to  the incarnation and a person of the Trinity taking on a material body forever, and/or hinting at a richer  picture of Christian thought pre-Reformation regarding the body (e.g. hylomorphism in the Western  Church). 

This piece calls out and addresses our alienation from place, beauty in worship, and the institutional Church. Suggested title might be too clickbaity, but this piece would address that common critique and  explain (a) the central role of corporate worship and identity in the life of the Church (e.g. Calvin,  Schmemann), and (b) therefore why the “shape” of our worship, including its space, matters very  much.

This piece calls out and addresses the historical alienation of the arts from Protestant Christianity.  Specifically, explain how some of subsequent Protestantism went beyond their early Reformation roots  in ways the Reformers would not have approved, and how many of us attend churches that are heirs to  those assumptions about the nature of Christianity (and teach those assumptions). Consider pulling  from Dyrness’s “Poetic Theology” to make this easier to write. The objective here isn’t to rag on churches; it’s to explain the historical origins of a dynamic you’ve probably experienced and how their  continuation is NOT an inevitability. Lead with delight.

This piece calls out and addresses the idea that we don’t need all the arts/imagination stuff any more  (and maybe don’t even need the Church) because now we can read the Bible for ourselves. Points out  that (a) your typical American Christian is, if anything, even more theologically illiterate than that  proverbial medieval peasant, and why (b) what the Church used to do for those peasants (architecture, images, stories, rituals, etc.) is still important for us today because of how our brains work and also because of the current non-Christian world we live in.

This piece calls out and addresses our alienation from this life. Christianity isn’t about “the next life,”  it’s about being ushered into the fullness of life–starting here and now. The “already and the not yet”  means living on earth like we’re people of heaven. This piece shouldn't be too abstract; it's explaining a  key concept that a lot of evangelicals feel as an implicit problem—namely, that when faith is just about  getting you into the elevator going up, there's no explanation for why all “the other stuff” matters (beauty, vocation, etc.). So the piece should feel equally practical and close to home—"your instinct  was right, Christianity IS bigger on the inside!" Bonus points if the piece quotes at least one trusted evangelical writer and has some further recommended readings at the end.

This piece calls out and addresses the alienation from church/faith of our “non-spiritual” vocations–and explains why what you do actually (a) is part of living out the being fully human that Christianity equips us for, and (b) matters for eternity.

You don’t understand creativity if you think you’re not creative!

This piece calls out and addresses our alienation from the built environment, and the sense of beauty,  truth, and home it could be providing. This piece is important because it’s the stuff most people don’t notice – how most of life is built around cars/utility instead of being built for people: the asphalt and concrete, strip malls, cities...even church buildings. Specifically address that banality, rather than egregious examples of ugliness, and explain why you think we don’t notice and why it matters (because we're actually being formed to be spiritually stunted and not look for God).

Drawing from Joy Clarkson’s work on “You Are a Tree,” and her dissertation, write a short piece  explaining how since humans are not a machine, our spiritual formation requires more than  “Downloading the Facts” (i.e., it needs imaginative elements, repetitive/liturgical elements, bodily  elements, etc.). The point of this piece isn’t to criticize any particular kind of spiritual formation, but to  get people to realize they may personally need a more three-dimensional approach in their own learning.

Articulate the difference between sacred vs common art. Leading with delight, the point is to briefly  highlight a problem our readers are already aware of, explain briefly where it came from, and provide an insight into how this distinction can help us in a better direction.

Articulate the false dichotomy “between idolatry and indifference.” Whether implicitly or explicitly,  many American Christians live as if either a thing must be worshiped (by which they mean total  worship), OR it is not important (distraction, worthless, etc.). Ultimately, this perpetuates (and even  applauds) an indifference towards almost all things in the created order (!). Leading with delight, begin  revealing the majestic third (and truer) option: to see all things as good, made and loved by our Creator,  which have a proper place in our lives. We only have an idolatrous problem when we place the created  order above the Creator. So, explain how we can love God by loving what He loves. And, perhaps we  do not have to be so afraid of idolatry and instead we can focus on loving well. (Note, take a look at  Brian Brown’s recent conference talk https://www.anselmsociety.org/blog/2024/3/12/narnian to read  that for context, but make sure your tone differs from Brian, Including a little bit more vision of hope  for Protestant readers.)

Write (1) a quick recap of the popular assumption that “the material world does not matter,” (2) the  C.S. Lewis quote to this end: “There is no good trying to be more spiritual than God. God never meant  man to be a purely spiritual creature. That is why He uses material things like bread and wine to put the  new life into us. We may think this rather crude and unspiritual. God does not: He invented eating. He likes matter. He invented it.” (Mere Christianity), and (3) a bit of material (as needed)  from the early part of Brian’s Square Halo talk to round it out.

Focus on (a) four chapters of Christianity: Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration/Consummation (or  put another way, Creation to New Creation), and (b) God with us. How does our view of “the next life”  shift when we start to understand it as God with us? This piece is similar to a related piece we want to do about Christianity "not existing to get you into heaven," but this one focuses on the nature of the next life rather than the nature of Christianity. (A good children's story that turns this argument into a memorable fable is the recent “The Forgotten King."

Let’s say you’re in a church that you feel is “imagination-unfriendly.” Do you have to leave in order to  fill that void? Maybe not! This piece would debunk a lot of myths about not only Protestant  Christianity but even some of the more stereotypically fundamentalist streams within it, showing that  chances are, your theological ancestors had a much more robust and sacramental view of the world than your church leaders today–and maybe in the long run, the way forward is ressourcement (“return to the sources”), not abandonment. Example: early Baptist views on real presence in the Eucharist. *Note: at some point, we’d love to do a series and/or podcast series going tradition by tradition, mining the riches each has drawn from!

This is a really important idea for the Anselm Society that’s been central to our identity–not just that beauty and truth  (and goodness) go together, but that right theology is crucial to both the art (and its impact) and the  artist.

This piece would cast a vision for the corporate nature of our human identity, most likely by following a narrative; from the “we” of the imago Dei in the garden, to the “we” of Abraham/Israel in the Old Testament, to the “we” of the Church in the New Testament, and beyond. For more info, email Sarah Howell at sarah@anselmsociety.org.

This piece requires a highly sensitive approach to the question, “Why haven’t I heard this stuff before?”  Coming from a “take it easy on your pastors and parents” angle, the claim is that catechesis has been  theologically proasic and/or missing for generations in most churches, and your elders couldn’t give you  what they themselves were never given. They did their best with what they had–but Christianity really is  deeper and richer, just like you suspected, and we can build on the good things that have been given us.  

Leading with delight, this piece might look like taking the good (albeit prosaic) things around in all well meaning churches and showing how there is more depth to that goodness than usually discussed/told/taught.  Consider finding prosaic understandings of the three tenets of Anselm, such as (1) God created the world  and said it was good. (2) God’s world holds truth. (3) Our ultimate desire is to be with God. All churches  believe these three (good) things. Then, expound on the way these good things have implications and a depth that may have laid dormant in these churches: (1) God’s world is good and  He is King over it, so we respond to even the most ordinary glories with thanksgiving and delight. (2) He has filled it with the echoes of heaven, so we want to delve fearlessly into the truths and wonders of His creativity. (3) He will come to live with us, so what we join with Him to build matters for eternity.” 

Call out the difference between an “artist Cristian” and the heroic artist type (see "heroic"  description in this piece for writers, “You're Not a Writer”). Explain that accepting the primary of your  identity in Christ – even if it appears to mean sacrificing your identity as an artist – is what unleashes  your true artistic potential. (Note, “You're Not a Writer” is a summary of Brian Brown’s CSL conference talk.) Basically this a rebuttal of this idea from John Steinbeck: “The writer must believe  that what he is doing is the most important thing in the world. And he must hold to this illusion even  when he knows it is not true.” Remember to lead with delight and interact charitably with dear John.  What are the goods that John is holding onto and how does the artist Christian answer it better?

Brian Brown's recent piece, “You're Not a Writer” articulates Pieper’s “total work” idea – the dynamic  between busyness and idleness – and how it kills how we’re actually supposed to live: in a balance  between zeal and Sabbath rest. Part of what the Anselm Society wants to offer, especially in its  community life and events, is a doorway into this lifestyle. We'd like a follow up piece that gives a  tangible example of the balance between zeal and sabbath rest. (Note: These ideas are articulated in  Brian Brown's C.S. Lewis Foundation conference talk; if you want more fodder to help you think about  this topic, here is the transcript and slide deck.)

On Facebook, a satirical “inspirational quote” reads, “Stop Looking for answers outside yourself. Look inward and discover your authentic story, which you compiled from various ads, tv shows, and  YouTube channels. Be you.”

(1) Address the problem the joke is alluding to: the world says you’re beautiful the way you are, look  inside for meaning, you are enough. (And in our honest moments, we know that’s not true—and it’s  why some of us are depressed and anxious and filled with self-loathing, while others trumpet the “you  are enough” lines as loud as we can in the hopes that if we share them on Instagram enough, they’ll  become true.) This piece will need to do justice to the real problem this “you are enough” thing is trying  to address, i.e., the anxiety that comes from our limitations and our own self-loathing.  

(2) Explain the solution: Christianity says there is a version of you that you haven’t met yet, a fully  realized You that you wouldn’t have the audacity to aspire to in your wildest dreams. THAT you,  however, comes from being united to Christ, and transformed from the outside in. Anne Lamott: “The  secret is that God loves us exactly the way we are, and that he loves us too much to let us stay like  this.” (quoted at the beginning of Glittering Vices). There’s also a corporate component to this, which Peter Leithart addresses in “Traces of Heaven” and cognitive scientists regularly bring up: that there is  no isolated “me,” who I am is shaped by interactions with others. So really, the answer to realizing my potential is to some extent found in “love God and love my neighbor.” (Be sure to engage (1) the real  problem of self loathing — and (2) how that is transformed through our “outside-in” transformation  from God and others. )

Christianity has propositions and truths, but the faith is not systematic theology; fundamentally it’s a  gateway into the mystery of God, and the terrifying adventure of being transformed to be one with  Him–so it should be characterized by curiosity and wonder; every hard question is a chance to grow and learn, and Christianity does have answers to those hard questions. (This will be a series with a bunch of voices, so keep your aim small and focus on something specific.)

So many people come to Anselm with backgrounds where a church was afraid of their hard questions.  We need to reintroduce Christianity, as a religion that’s not only not afraid of hard questions, but in  fact has the best answers to those questions. And for Anselm specifically, the reason-imagination link is  important to establish.

People have an instinct to reject paradox and pick one thing over the other, vs Christianity’s love for  paradoxes (in this case, material AND spiritual matter). There’s a lot about Christianity that makes  Christians uncomfortable. In the past, that’s led to the evolution of heresies, as people try to resolve  paradoxes. In the present, the temptation on a personal level is the same — “this or that aspect of  Christianity doesn’t make sense to me, therefore my ancestors must’ve been primitive/bigoted/blind. I  love Jesus but I'm not so silly as to believe that.” But in fact, paradox is at the heart of Christianity  because Christianity is the meeting point of heaven and earth. Seemingly weird ideas come from somewhere, and are part of a complex and complete picture of reality that’s fuller than explanations  offered by modernity—and, in fact, the paradox thing makes Christianity uniquely friendly to art and  apparent ambiguity! So before you try to tear down the proverbial fence, earnestly seek why it might be there. The answer might change your life.

A follow up to Topic #23 focusing on how Christianity is distinctively friendly to art because art depends so heavily on paradoxes.

Explain why goodness-truth-beauty live together or die apart. (that idea is a lightly adapted quote from von Balthasar, worth drawing from him if the writer is up from it: “We no longer dare to believe in  beauty and we make of it a mere appearance in order the more easily to dispose of it. Our situation  today shows that beauty demands for itself at least as much courage and decision as do truth and  goodness, and she will not allow herself to be separated and banned from her two sisters without taking  them along with herself in an act of mysterious vengeance. We can be sure that whoever sneers at her  name as if she were the ornament of a bourgeois past – whether he admits it or not – can no longer  pray and soon will no longer be able to love.” Hans Urs von Balthasar, Seeing the Form (The Glory of  the Lord: A Theological Aesthetics, Vol. 1)

This piece highlights the distinction between paying attention and distraction (perhaps with gratitude  sub-focus). Email Sarah Howell for more info (sarah@anselmsociety.org).

This piece is meant to exist as an explanation for “why Anselm prioritizes stories and storytelling,” by  answering the question “Why do we think great stories are so important?” We think these three reasons  are important to emphasize: (1) Because a life lived among the best stories passes on a coherent  identity. (2) It shapes our loves; stories teach us, in a way nothing else can, about who we are–and  about nobility, mercy, honor, compassion, etc. AND, (3) learning to tell stories is important; learning to  participate in a storytelling culture (rather than just passively receiving stories the way we “veg out” in  front of a movie). Open to author input on other reasons or ways of framing, and open to approaching  this as a series of shorter pieces where each reason is its own piece.

We often say, “Plant a flag” as the best place to start when people ask “How can I get an Anselm-ish  thing where I live?” Adapt parts of the second half of this piece: When Christmas Feels Empty when  writing out an explanation of what it means to “plant a flag.”

Articulate Pieper’s distinction between a “break” and a “feast”– feasting puts God at the center of our  enjoyments, and forms us for Sabbath rest. Piece needs to be theologically rich but also practical—for  someone who hasn't hung around with the Anselm Society, what does feasting look like and how can I do it?

Enumerate the intrinsic physical and spiritual benefits of fasting, but also, drive home the point that the purpose of fasting is so that we feast better. (May be worth distinguishing proper fasting from the  unhealthy ways we tend to self-flagellate out of our own insecurities.)

This piece is highlighting wonder as a crucial and critical to the Christian life by explaining why (a)  Christians should be the last people running around telling kids that Santa isn’t real (so to speak);  because (b) they should be seeking the “magic” in everything; the larger spiritual realities behind the  good here-and-now things. This one’s really important to nail, because we need a good piece  explaining to normies why wonder is important, and also why a posture not characterized by wonder is not Christian (whether it’s because they’re incurious, closed off to the spiritual, or just too focused on accumulating correct answers). 

Articulate an explanation of the Benedict Option or something akin to it; (a) hospitality requires a well developed and intentional community life, so that we can (b) invite people into it (as opposed to short termist forms of evangelism that are about achieving conversion prayers but don’t have a concrete thing  into which to invite people). Also address the idea of hospitality as a virtue, i.e., as a habit that trains us  to an openness to God’s transformation. Note, here are some notes from Brian Brown’s half-finished class on hospitality, in case any of the quotes/resources/ideas are useful.

Articulate why humans (and Christians specifically) sing. More specifically, focus on why we sing  together. This piece will have a link to Terri Moon’s singing class.

Articulate how and why “Christians ought to be an outpost of heaven, something visibly different, not just slightly better behaved.” Expound on the idea that Christians in community ought to live categorically differently than their neighbors, and we should be able to see that in their joys (stories, singing, feasting, etc.), in how they mark time and decorate space, in their hospitality, etc. When  evangelism is about “making a conversion,” there’s a legitimate question as to what precisely you’re inviting that person into. But when there’s a real life that feels more like heaven than like earth (and yet is deeply rooted!), evangelism becomes less of a specialized task and more inviting someone into a visible shared life. The crucial thing to accomplish in this post will be offering a clear picture of what  this looks like, not just arguing for its value.

Write a piece that meets the people in our audience who may see further in the arts/imagination realm  than their friends/family; the people who are wondering, “what do I do with the pain and frustration  when I'm the only one in my family/church/friend group who sees the value in all this?” A large  component (or, really, the driving point) of the piece is unpacking how to process the grief that comes  from such a position. 

Create our own articulation of Skillen’s concept, but focusing on the groups we’ve seen and how it’s  played out. Give people a picture, in terms of relationships and process, of what it can look like to have  a healthy arts scene in the Church (though also acknowledging the places where we still see a need for  improvement).

Explain Ken Myers’ framework from chapter 8 of All God's Children and Blue Suede Shoes, (also  summarized, actually somewhat better, in chapter 8 of Christians in Culture, eds., Bracey/Talbot), why we’re so interested in revivals of the latter two (traditional/folk art and high art), and what it looks like for us. Please highlight these key components: High art and folk art are part of a multigenerational,  transcendent-oriented, generative life. This is important because as Christians, we believe we must  encounter time as people of eternity (so a multigenerational approach is important), earth as people of heaven (hence transcendence), and life as stewards and creators (hence generative). 

The point isn't to bash pop culture, and a side note will be important to clarify we’re certainly not  saying “don't create in any art form currently considered pop culture, or enjoy movies/pop  music/novels/etc.” This kind of piece is incredibly each to botch, making yourself just sound crotchety.  But if it’s a hopeful piece, not bashing pop art but saying we’ve been missing something wonderful, it can do its job. 

What we ARE trying to do is show that “snooty art” (e.g. classical music or Renaissance paintings) and  “normal art” (e.g. pop art) are not the correct categories; in fact, more traditional art categories actually put “normie” art AND “fancy” art on the same side of the fence, as both encourage the three things  above. They turn us outward towards each other, while pop art (especially the way we encounter it now, technologically) turns us inward away from each other. 

More concretely: it’s special, and important, to have stories, songs, etc. that belong to us as  communities, and to tell and sing them together. That whole life is a completely different life than  rocking out to the latest hits by yourself on your earbuds.