Mimesis and Anti-mimesis Its application in modern-day living with Scriptural references

Just as art imitates life, life likewise imitates art; both are a coin but with opposite image. Life is a characteristic state or mode of living, while art is the product of human creativity that re-presents the natural existence, actions and events of human beings. Art is a very wide concept; hence it reflects in virtually every aspect of human life. Art duplicates the natural physical world, the emotional, intellectual, foolish or ignorant attributes of human characters, a notion which Aristotle described as mimesis. While mimesis is an imitation of nature and human behaviour in art and literature, anti-mimesis, according to Oscar Wilde is life’s imitation of art.

Both mimesis and anti-mimesis are philosophical states that are represented not only in human existence and actions but also in God’s. Both are reflected in:

• Creation: Creation exemplifies mimesis: art imitating life. In the book of Genesis, chapter 1 vs 26-27, God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness… So God created mankind in his own image.’ God is the artist, while man is the work of art created by God. This is a typical illustration of art imitating life. Man is art that imitates God who is the life. This is confirmed in the books of Genesis and John. Genesis 2 vs 7: ‘Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.’ John 1 vs 1-3 also affirms that God is life, for ‘In the beginning (of creation) was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He (Jesus who is also God) was with God in the beginning (of creation, hence God said: ‘Let us make…). Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.’ In the book of Isaiah, 45 vs 9, God himself categorically refer to himself as an artist: ‘Does the clay say to the potter, What are you making? Does your work say, The potter has no hands? So we can say that man is an imitation of God, a representative image of God.
• The Birth of the Messiah: The birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, captures anti-mimesis: Life imitating art. Life imitates art through the birth of the Messiah which was predicted in Isaiah 9 vs 6a: ‘For to us a child is born…, and fulfilled in the Gospel of Luke 2:1-21. Verse 11 of the chapter tells us that: ‘Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.’ Life (Jesus) represents or imitates art (man) through his birth.
• Salvation: Relatedly Salvation necessarily illustrates anti-mimesis because it is a direct consequence of The Birth of the Messiah; to us a son is given… (Isaiah 9 vs 6b) and this philosophy is further reaffirmed in the book of John 3 vs 16 that states that ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.’ The salvation of man from sin and the devil, cum hell would not have been possible if Jesus, who is Life had not imitated man, who is the art. This is particularly established in Hebrews 2 vs 14-17, ‘Since the children (art) have flesh and blood, he (life) too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death-that is, the devil- and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death… For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and make atonement for the sins of the people.
• Our Daily Living: Our daily living is a depiction of mimesis; art (man) imitates life (God). God has already imitated man as shown in Salvation, and in turn expects us, the work of art, to imitate life, our God. Thus, since we are indeed created in the image of God, we are obligated to be a true imitation of God in every way, and that is why Jesus tells us in Matthew 5 vs. 48: ‘Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect‘, and for us to attain this perfection in our everyday life, we must necessarily duplicate the life of Jesus for he is ‘…the way and the truth and the life’ (Jn 14 vs 6). Jesus has shown us the way to attaining, the true imitation of his life in his sermons on the mount, in Chapters 5, 6 and 7; the summary of these sermons is captured in this golden rules: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’ (Luke 10 vs 27), for ‘There is no commandment greater than these’ (Mark 12 vs 31b). ‘In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome’ (1 John 5 vs 3).  As a work of art fashioned by God, we are also obligated to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit, which ‘…is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law’ (Galatians 2 vs 22-23). In contrast, the law of love stipulated by God is against ‘…sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 2 vs 19-21), because they are not imitating the artist (life) who created them (art) in his own likeness. So, for art (man) to be a true representation of the life (God) that created him, our daily living must adhere to the principles of God.
• Religion: Religion is a system of worshiping God and it pictures mimesis and anti-mimesis, that is, art imitating life on the one hand; and life imitating art on the other hand. Regarding the mimetic philosophy, some people create gods (art), an imitation of the true God. One notable instance in the Bible is found in Exodus 32; Aaron asked the people of Israel to ‘Take off’ their ‘gold earrings’, ‘So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron…and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf… Then they said, ‘These are your gods… We can see that gods are artistic creation by man that imitate Life (God). They are even more than twice removed from truth for they are idols, and God has said that ‘All who make idols are nothing… Those who would speak for them are blind; they are ignorant, to their own shame. Who shapes a god and cast an idol, which can profit nothing? People who do that will be put to shame; such craftsmen are only human beings. Let them all come together and take their stand; they will be brought down to terror and shame’ (Isaiah 44 vs 9-11). And of course, these craftsmen came together during the ministry of Elijah – the prophets of Baal. It was recorded in 1 Kings 18, that Elijah asked them to call on the name of their god (art) without lighting the fire. So ‘…they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. ‘Baal answer us!’ they shouted but there was no response.’ But when Elijah called on the true God (Life) who is being imitated, who is the constant and eternal truth. ‘Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice…’ This experience between Elijah, the prophet of God (Life) and the prophets of Baal (art) aptly authenticate the words of Plato, ‘all artistic creation is a form of imitation; that which really exists (in the ‘world of ideas’) is a type created by God; the concrete things man perceives in existence are shadowy representations of this ideal type.’ Thus, those who serve other gods are just imitators of the truth and as Plato rightly said imitation is twice removed from the truth. Furthermore, the veneration or worship of saints, angels (which is strictly forbidden: see Revelations 22:8-9; Revelations 19:10 and Colossians 2:18) and spiritual guides (referred to as “father in the Lord” by some religious denominations, also forbidden, see Matthew 23:9), all fall into this category. Other instances are the traditional gods worshipped by Africans: the god of Iron, the god of thunder, the goddess of the sea, amongst many others. These are just imitation of the real truth: art imitating art that is trying to imitate life; art imitating life (mimesis).
• Media: Media expresses both mimesis and anti-mimesis. Just as there are godly nature and human behaviour captured in art and literature, there are also corruptible traits that the audiences of the media necessarily imitate in order to have a sense of belonging, even those who profess to be believers. 1 Cor 15:33 makes us to understand that evil communication corrupt good manners, so it is highly important that we take cognisance of the significance of the words and images we digest via the media in our daily living. A glance at some Nigerian films, that depict shows of prostitution, excessive show of wealth and diabolical means of acquiring it, oppressive words and acts amongst couples, to mention just a few, are being imitated in real life, an accurate representation of anti-mimesis. Rather than art echoing human behaviour, it is the other way round considering the fact that those who engage in these ills are attracted to them via the media, and consequently engage in such acts. We should bear in mind that seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness is a must for everyone. To seek the kingdom of God is to allow God to take absolute control of our lives in every facet; while to seek his righteousness is to live to do only those things that please him so that we can establish, and continually maintain a good and personal relationship with him. God, speaking through Prophet Isaiah informs us that he created us for the purpose of knowing that he alone is God, second, we should believe in him. Again, he adds that he created us for his glory so that our lives can show forth his praise. So when we live and speak corruptibly by imitating the bad acts and words then we are not showcasing his glory, neither are we fulfilling the purpose for which he created us. That is the reason 1 John 2:15 particularly instructs us that we should not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the father is not in them, for those who do this cannot please God because they are living according to the dictates of the flesh. Love of the world is evident in the way people, including believers imitate the actions and words expressed in the media; these are reflected in the way people talk, dress and all manner of ungodly behaviours. Even the way churches are misrepresented in these films is now duplicated in current day churches. If you are wealthy, you are recognised and honoured, whereas if you are not you are neither recognised nor honoured, which is in contrast to the word of God that tells us that favouritism is forbidden. My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favouritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. if you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, here’s a good seat for you, but you say to the poor man, You stand there or Sit on the floor by my feet, have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? (James 2:1-4).
• Customs and traditions: Customs and tradition depicts anti-mimesis. Art can also be described as a system of rules or principles that facilitate the performance of certain actions. For instance, customs and traditions are stipulated artistic creation by human beings. Nevertheless, we should not imitate the ones that are contrary to God’s word While addressing the Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law, Jesus said in Mark 7:9-13: ‘You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions. You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your traditions! For Moses said, ‘Honour your father and mother’ and Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death. But you say if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is devoted to God) – then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. Thus, you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.’  Likewise, in the modern-day churches, the issue of women covering their heads has become a matter of great concern. The churches who rigidly believe that women are expected to cover their heads fail to recognise that they have brought in customs and tradition into the church: Life is now imitating art, for custom is a practice that is common to a particular place or a group of people, while tradition is the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation. Apostle Paul was specifically addressing the people of Corinth based on the challenge the church was experiencing at that particular time, in 1 Corinthian chapters 11 to 14.

The relevance of this piece is to draw our attention to what matters to God, and these is stated in Matthew 6:33. Jesus instructs us to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and every other thing will be given to us as well.

Art is a very wide concept, hence it is an intricate issue that covers customs and traditions, artistic creation expressed through media, a system of rules serving to facilitate the performance of certain actions, like the art of worshipping God; method of doing well some special work; the systematic application of knowledge or skill in effecting a desired result; J. F. Genung states that Art is knowledge made efficient by skill. Eg. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life /the bread of life influences the art of worshipping God.

Rounding up this piece, the emphasis is on mimesis; art should imitate life, such as espoused by our Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 5:48; Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Author: TM Odion