Breakpoint – “Anglican Graffiti and the Power of Beauty”

Host: John Stonestreet (Colson Center)
Date: October 28, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode of Breakpoint explores the collision between acts of graffiti at sacred sites—both criminal and officially sanctioned—and what they reveal about contemporary culture’s relationship to the sacred, beauty, and desecration. Host John Stonestreet critically examines a recent “graffiti installation” inside Canterbury Cathedral and, using historical, philosophical, and theological lenses, considers what these acts signal about the broader Western rejection of transcendence and beauty.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Contrasting Graffiti: Crime vs. Official “Art”

• Incident in Australia:

  • Earlier in the year, police arrested two men for vandalizing a sacred indigenous site with graffiti (00:09).
  • Public reaction stressed spiritual consequences: “They've got some nasty, nasty juju coming their way for this disrespectful vandalism. Ancestors know who they are.” (00:14)

• Canterbury Cathedral Graffiti:

  • In contrast, similar graffiti appeared inside Canterbury Cathedral—with permission from church officials (00:26).
  • Visual Arts Advisor Jacqueline Cresswell defended it: “[This graffiti] is giving the marginalized community of Canterbury a voice within the cathedral, putting profound questions to God.” (00:38)
  • Stonestreet’s response: “And here I thought that's what the Psalms were all about.” (00:44)

2. The Sacredness and History of Canterbury Cathedral

• Canterbury isn’t just another church; it’s the birthplace of English Christianity (00:47).
• Stonestreet recounts the mission of Augustine of Canterbury and the subsequent spread of Christianity throughout England (00:56).
• The cathedral contains medieval graffiti that points to Christ and martyrdom—contrasted with the contemporary spray paint which, according to a visitor, “makes the beautiful cathedral resemble an underground car park.” (01:25)

3. Cultural Theories: Disenchantment vs. Desecration

• Carl Trueman’s Insight:

  • Trueman distinguishes between “disenchantment” (a passive loss of the sacred) and “desecration” (an active destruction of the holy) (01:31).
  • Quote:
    “Our age is not marked so much by disenchantment as it is by desecration. The culture's officer class is committed not merely to marginalizing that which previous generations considered sacred. It is committed to its destruction.” (01:38)

• C.S. Lewis Allusion:

  • Stonestreet connects this to a scene in Lewis’ That Hideous Strength: desecration is required to join an evil conspiracy, even for non-believers (01:54).

• Charles Taylor’s Modernism & Disenchantment:

  • Taylor saw disenchantment as the Western world’s loss of faith in both God and transcendence (02:03).
  • Stonestreet argues that modern actions go beyond mere disenchantment: they involve intentional violation of beauty and transgression (02:14).

4. The Loss of Beauty as a Loss of the Sacred

• Francis Schaeffer’s Predictions:

  • Schaeffer anticipated that losing Christian consensus would render both lives and the world “uglier” (02:20).
  • Anecdote: Filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, while depicting meaninglessness, was unsettled by Bach’s music—its beauty undermined his message of chaos (02:26).

• Modern Manifestations:

  • Desecration of beauty is not limited to art or buildings; it’s seen when people harm or alter their own bodies.
    “When young people harm or subvert or even mutilate their own bodies, they're not merely adopting a new style, they're desecrating what's sacred.” (02:47)
  • Ironically, such acts acknowledge there’s something sacred to profane:
    “To desecrate beauty is to presume that there's beauty to be desecrated.” (03:01)

• The shock of the graffiti at Canterbury comes precisely because that building is so beautiful—an implicit affirmation of its sanctity (03:06).

5. The Role of Beauty in Pointing to the Sacred

• Goethe’s Standard for Art (1798):

  • “The highest demand made on an artist is this, that he may be true to nature, study her, imitate her, and produce something that resembles her phenomena well.” (03:20)

• Christian Understanding:

  • Beauty transcends even nature; it points to the Creator (03:32).
  • “Beauty is a way to acknowledge and protect and celebrate what is in fact, sacred. It's a way to point the world to the one who spoke all of nature into existence.” (03:38)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On sanctioned cathedral graffiti vs. Psalms' role:
  “And here I thought that's what the Psalms were all about.”
  (John Stonestreet, 00:44)

• Carl Trueman’s distinction:
  “Our age is not marked so much by disenchantment as it is by desecration. The culture's officer class is committed not merely to marginalizing that which previous generations considered sacred. It is committed to its destruction.”
  (John Stonestreet quoting Carl Trueman, 01:38)

• On bodily autonomy and desecration:
  “When young people harm or subvert or even mutilate their own bodies, they're not merely adopting a new style, they're desecrating what's sacred.”
  (John Stonestreet, 02:47)

• On the shock value of desecration within beauty:
  “To desecrate beauty is to presume that there's beauty to be desecrated.”
  (John Stonestreet, 03:01)

• On the ultimate purpose of beauty:
  “Beauty is a way to acknowledge and protect and celebrate what is in fact, sacred. It's a way to point the world to the one who spoke all of nature into existence.”
  (John Stonestreet, 03:38)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:09: Australian sacred site graffiti — public and spiritual reactions
• 00:26: Graffiti at Canterbury Cathedral officially permitted
• 01:25: Visitor critique: cathedral now “resembles an underground car park”
• 01:31: Introduction of Carl Trueman’s concepts of desecration
• 01:54: Lewis’ “That Hideous Strength” and acts of desecration
• 02:03: Charles Taylor and disenchantment
• 02:14: Distinction between disenchantment and deliberate desecration
• 02:20: Francis Schaeffer on ugliness following loss of Christian consensus
• 02:26: Ingmar Bergman’s film, Bach’s music, and the power of beauty
• 02:47: Modern examples of bodily desecration
• 03:01: The paradox of desecrating what one implicitly values
• 03:20: Goethe’s principle for artists
• 03:32: The transcendent aim of beauty in Christian thought

Overall Tone and Language

Stonestreet’s language is incisive, critical, and urgent, weaving historical anecdotes, philosophical analysis, and doctrinal reflections together in a thoughtful but assertive style. He urges Christian listeners to recognize and defend the sacred nature of beauty, especially in a culture increasingly committed to its destruction.

Co-Author: Dr. Timothy Padgett
Host: John Stonestreet
For more resources, visit breakpoint.org