This issue is based almost entirely on essays from the Western Conference on the Media and Arts. The Conference itself marks the first time Chalcedon has sponsored such an event, and it may be the first conference of its type in the American Christian community.
The essays from the Conference span almost the entire range of endeavor in the Media and the Arts, the tone of which is well established by R. J. Rushdoony in, “The Meaning and Greatness of Christian Art.” This finely cut gem matches well a second essay, “Humanistic Art as the Opium of the Masses.” These essays could form the nucleus of a major work on art criticism.
“The Myth of Neutrality,” by Franky Schaeffer V, “The Artist as Propagandist,” by Otto J. Scott, “Christian-Based Communications,” by John (Quade) Saunders, and “The Theory of Christian Music,” by Martin G. Selbrede, are essays in criticism and theory. Those which come later are concerned with the consequences of ideas, the practical, as it were.
“Film: Lost and Found,” by Roy H. Wagner III, “Biblical Law and the Artisan,” by James H. Griffith, “Making the Sale to Television,” by Richard E. Germaine, “Ox for Hire,” by Joe David Taylor, and “Art and Capitalism: A Peace Treaty,” by Paul Lyons, are examples of essays by writers who are appearing for the first time in the Journal. All these men actively work in the fields on which they speak.
Fourth, is an important sermon, “On the Covenant of God with the Israelites,” by Jacques (James) Saurin. It speaks against and predicts the sad outcome of the pietism which dominates so much of Christendom today, and it was preached more than 200 years ago when the seeds of pietism first took root in Europe and America. Indeed, if we had listened then, there would be no need for a Conference on the Media and Arts which calls us back to the faith once given unto the Fathers. Fifth, from Lausanne, Switzerland, an article from Jean-Marc Berthoud, a Chalcedon representative, on the shift which has been taking place in the thinking of Roman Catholic scholars in the realm of science.
The Journal, therefore, not only focuses on the media and arts, but also looks ahead to issues on business and the theoretical sciences.
