The Canonmills Conversation: Religion and the Arts – Allies or Rivals?

For a long time, and especially since the days of Darwin, science has been regarded as religion’s chief competitor. A great deal of effort has gone into trying to reconcile the two, and in the context of this science/religion debate, it has often been assumed that art is religion’s great ally. Yet much modern art has had the aim of displacing religion, and providing an alternative spiritual of meaning and value in a secular world. Which is it then – ally or rival?

Revd Prof Gordon Graham Phd FRSE is Director of the Edinburgh Festival of the Sacred Arts and Emeritus Professor of Philosophy and the Arts at Princeton Theological Seminary. His many publications include The Re-enchantment of the World: Art versus Religion (Oxford University Press, 2007) and Philosophy, Art and Religion: Understanding Faith and Creativity (Cambridge University Press, 2017). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

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