--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Art is so often better at theology than…" description: "\"Art is so often better at theology than theology is.\" — Christian Wiman" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/957/christian-wiman-10211_art_art-is-so-often-better-at-theology-than_648080.png" --- # Art is so often better at theology than theology is. ![“Art is so often better at theology than theology is.” quote by Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/957/christian-wiman-10211_art_art-is-so-often-better-at-theology-than_648080.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/957/christian-wiman-10211_art_art-is-so-often-better-at-theology-than_648080.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/957/christian-wiman-10211_art_art-is-so-often-better-at-theology-than_648080.png) > “Art is so often better at theology than theology is.” [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art often expresses theological ideas more effectively than formal theology itself. **In simple terms:** Art can explain faith better than scholars. Key Takeaway Value artistic expression in spirituality. Themes faith art communication Mood contemplative inspired Type philosophical poetic When to use this quote - church services - religious education - personal meditation Key Concepts theology aesthetics Questions to Reflect On - How does music influence your spiritual understanding? - Can art replace doctrinal teaching? A Different Perspective May undervalue rigorous theological study. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Theology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theology/) ## Related quotes > [The sooner the doctrine of original sin disappears, the better it is for theology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-harkness/the-sooner-the-doctrine-of-original-sin-disappears-the-better-it-is/) [Georgia Harkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-harkness/) > [Men are better than this theology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/men-are-better-than-this-theology/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“When you find that a theology has nothing more to offer than what the world already offers, then that theology as a theology is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/when-you-find-that-a-theology-has-nothing-more-to-offer-than-what-the/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [“Beginning with the Psalms and continuing with Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews, Luther dug into Scripture, and it was these years of study, exegesis, writing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-derusha/beginning-with-the-psalms-and-continuing-with-romans-galatians-and/) Michelle DeRusha > [We’re seeking — imperfectly at every turn, no doubt — an incarnational theology, a theology that brings radical good news of great joy for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-d-mclaren/we-re-seeking-imperfectly-at-every-turn-no-doubt-an-incarnational/) [Brian D. McLaren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-d-mclaren/) > [“So I offer my definition of theology: theology is the application of Scripture, by persons, to every area of life.11”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-m-frame/so-i-offer-my-definition-of-theology-theology-is-the-application-of/) [John M. Frame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-m-frame/) > [“Philosophy, as I shall understand the word, is something intermediate between theology and science. Like theology, it consists of speculations on matters as to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/philosophy-as-i-shall-understand-the-word-is-something-intermediate/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [“If you are a Christian, you are a theologian. You have no choice. Theology is simply knowing about God. In fact, since Christians are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-robert-white/if-you-are-a-christian-you-are-a-theologian-you-have-no-choice/) [James Robert White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-robert-white/) > [“Cosmopolitan theology is a theology for \_the impossible\_.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/namsoon-kang/cosmopolitan-theology-is-a-theology-for-the-impossible/) [Namsoon Kang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/namsoon-kang/) > [I think I still like science and art better, but geometry is a big improvement over algebra.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-hernandez/i-think-i-still-like-science-and-art-better-but-geometry-is-a-big/) [Laurie Hernandez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-hernandez/) > [In visual art it's better once to see, than one hundred times to hear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/igor-babailov/in-visual-art-it-s-better-once-to-see-than-one-hundred-times-to-hear/) [Igor Babailov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/igor-babailov/) > [I want to get out as much art as I can while I'm here, and I seem to get better the more that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joey-jordison/i-want-to-get-out-as-much-art-as-i-can-while-i-m-here-and-i-seem-to/) [Joey Jordison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joey-jordison/) > [An artist of understanding and experience can show more of his great power and art in small things roughly and rudely done, than many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albrecht-durer/an-artist-of-understanding-and-experience-can-show-more-of-his-great/) [Albrecht Durer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albrecht-durer/) > [Well, I feel that we should always put a little art into what we do. It's better that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-verne/well-i-feel-that-we-should-always-put-a-little-art-into-what-we-do-it/) [Jules Verne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-verne/) > [In life and art it's better to be an enthusiastic amateur than a jaded professional.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/in-life-and-art-it-s-better-to-be-an-enthusiastic-amateur-than-a/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) ## More by Christian Wiman > [I find myself continually falling back into wounds, wishes, terrors I thought I had risen beyond.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/i-find-myself-continually-falling-back-into-wounds-wishes-terrors-i/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [“Intellectuals and artists concerned with faith tend to underestimate the radical, inviolable innocence it requires. We read and read, write long, elaborate essays and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/intellectuals-and-artists-concerned-with-faith-tend-to-underestimate/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [Wonder is the precondition for all wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/wonder-is-the-precondition-for-all-wisdom/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [We should be suspicious when God's call conforms so neatly to our own inclinations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/we-should-be-suspicious-when-god-s-call-conforms-so-neatly-to-our-own/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [God is with us, not beyond us, in suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/god-is-with-us-not-beyond-us-in-suffering/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [“Let us remember...that in the end we go to poetry for one reason, so that we might more fully inhabit our lives and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/let-us-remember-that-in-the-end-we-go-to-poetry-for-one-reason-so/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [To be truly alive is to feel one's ultimate existence within one's daily existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/to-be-truly-alive-is-to-feel-one-s-ultimate-existence-within-one-s/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [I am a Christian because of that moment on the cross when Jesus, drinking the very dregs of human bitterness, cries out, My God,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/i-am-a-christian-because-of-that-moment-on-the-cross-when-jesus/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [Mandelstam is the sort of poet who comes along very, very rarely. Even the two Russian poets whose work is often linked with his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/mandelstam-is-the-sort-of-poet-who-comes-along-very-very-rarely-even/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [“How many loves fail because, in an unconscious effort to make our weaknesses more strong, we link with others precisely at those points? How…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/how-many-loves-fail-because-in-an-unconscious-effort-to-make-our/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [“It is a strange thing how sometimes merely to talk honestly of God, even if it is only to articulate our feelings of separation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/it-is-a-strange-thing-how-sometimes-merely-to-talk-honestly-of-god/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [“Faith cannot save you from the claims of reason, except insofar as it preserves and protects that wonderful, terrible time when reason, if only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/faith-cannot-save-you-from-the-claims-of-reason-except-insofar-as-it/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [“part of my enjoyment of life had always been an unconscious assumption of its continuity. Not necessarily a continuity of reality itself—the moment does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/part-of-my-enjoyment-of-life-had-always-been-an-unconscious/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [I suppose I do believe that the greatest art consoles a wound that it creates, that art can give you the capacity to endure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/i-suppose-i-do-believe-that-the-greatest-art-consoles-a-wound-that-it/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) > [There is nothing more difficult to outgrow than anxieties that have become useful to us, whether as explanations for a life that never quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/there-is-nothing-more-difficult-to-outgrow-than-anxieties-that-have/) [Christian Wiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) [Explore all 67 Christian Wiman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Art is so often better at theology than theology is.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Christian Wiman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/art-is-so-often-better-at-theology-than-theology-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/art-is-so-often-better-at-theology-than-theology-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/957/christian-wiman-10211_art_art-is-so-often-better-at-theology-than_648080.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/957/christian-wiman-10211_art_art-is-so-often-better-at-theology-than_648080.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/957/christian-wiman-10211_art_art-is-so-often-better-at-theology-than_648080.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Art is so often better at theology than theology is.” — Christian Wiman", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Christian Wiman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-wiman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Art is so often better at...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/art-is-so-often-better-at-theology-than-theology-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-wiman/art-is-so-often-better-at-theology-than-theology-is/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```