He did not allow them to meddle with the design, only to work according to His description. At the foot of Mt. Sinai, the Israelites tried a self-expressive form of art and brought upon themselves the wrath of God. The art of the temple was a pictoral forerunner of Christ, a depiction of the majesty of God. Communication vs. Expression Christian artistic philosophy sees art as a communication of the message of God rather than an expression of the artist. Expressional art turns away from communication because it rejects God and thus rejects absolutes and order.
Expression is the art of confusion.
Rejecting order, it testifies of nothing but chaos. Communication, the transfer of ideas, implies absolutes, order, and truth. It implies God. Expression has intruded not only upon the fine arts, but on the performing arts as well. Once they abandon an artistic law outside themselves, their expression becomes law.