Creativity Will Save the World: Toward a Spiritual Humanism

Nicholas Alexandrovich Berdyaev (1874-1948) was a Russian philosopher and activist who changed the philosophical, aesthetic and religious landscape of the 20th century. The author of more than 15 books and nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature seven times, he spoke in a new way about the centrality of creativity to what it means to be human.In 1922, along with other elite representatives of Russian culture, science and theology, Berdyaev was exiled from Russia by the Soviet authorities on the renown “Philosophers’ Ship.” For the rest of his life he lived as an expatriate who dreamed of returning to his homeland.In his seminal work, The Meaning of the Creative Act, which contains in raw form all of his dominant and formative ideas, he noted that “the importance and the interesting aspect in humans is connected with the opening up in them of the path towards the Infinite and the Eternal, with the possibility of breaking through. Creativeness is a transition beyond the limits of this world.” Creativity Will Save the World presents the most evocative sections of The Meaning… along with excerpts from other Berdyaev books and articles in which he further elucidates his main theme that “God calls us to creative activity and to a creative answer to God’s love.”To those who aspire to the privileged and terrifying role of “artist,” and to the rest of us who simply desire to practice a more humane spirituality and a more spiritual humanism, this book is dedicated.Tom Willett (1950- ) is an American musician, entertainment industry executive, educator and author who has been involved in the creation and marketing of more than 300 award-winning record albums. His work has been cited in “Billboard,” “Rolling Stone,” the “L.A. Times,” “Entertainment Weekly” and Image Journal. He is the creator of Van Gogh to Go, a 3-volume series presenting van Gogh’s most evocative quotes and paintings about art, work and spirituality, plus the online project, Into The Mystic.From the Editor“Throughout my career as a musician, booking agent, artist manager, Artist & Repertoire executive, marketing VP, educator, and author I have felt compelled to attempt to fashion, for lack of a better term, a ‘Rock and Roll Theological Aesthetic.’ By that I do not mean a philosophy of religious art per se, but an exploration into how great art, even popular music, by its sheer originality and excellence, can transport the listener from the here-and-now to what seems another realm, another place, another way of being. To quote The Door’s Jim Morrison, I marvel at how compelling expressions of creativity can help us ‘break on through to the other side.’ To that I would add the wisdom of Mssrs. Jagger and Richards, ‘I know it’s only Rock and Roll, but I like it.’“While prowling through a used bookstore in Charlottesville, Virginia, I came across the intriguingly-titled book, The Meaning of the Creative Act, by the Russian philosopher, Nicholas Berdyaev. Lots of big words—and even bigger ideas—but no book has more powerfully affected my understanding of the centrality of creativity to our personal and professional lives. It brought into critical and imminent focus the perennial questions of ‘what does it mean to be human,’ ‘what does it mean to be an artist,’ and ‘what does it mean to be a believer in the God enfleshed in the human person of Jesus.’ And besides, what self-respecting Rock and Roller would not be attracted to a goateed, beret-wearing, cigar-chomping autodidact with a history of not only being kicked out of school, but twice being banished from his home country for his radical ideas about freedom, creativity and what it means to be human. “For your consideration as ‘Patron Saint of the New Spiritual Humanism,’ may I suggest Nicholas Berdyaev.”

Nicholas Alexandrovich Berdyaev (1874-1948) was a Russian philosopher and activist who changed the philosophical, aesthetic and religious landscape of the 20th century. The author of more than 15 books and nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature seven times, he spoke in a new way about the centrality of creativity to what it means to be human.

Tom Willett (1950- ) is an American musician, entertainment industry executive, educator and author who has been involved in the creation and marketing of more than 300 award-winning record albums. His work has been cited in "Billboard," "Rolling Stone," the "L.A. Times," "Entertainment Weekly" and Image Journal. He is the creator of Van Gogh to Go, a 3-volume series presenting van Gogh's most evocative quotes and paintings about art, work and spirituality, plus the online project, Into The Mystic.

Fr. Stephen Janos is the preeminent translator of Berdyaev's works from Russian to English.