Christian content doesn't redeem mediocrity

Stylistic excellence should be a goal of every Christian artist for at least two reasons. As I have said many times in this book, a Christian world view values artistic beauty or form in itself. 'What is good in itself,' writes Flannery O'Connor, 'glorifies God because it reflects God.' Secondly, as Francis Schaeffer correctly notes, 'Art forms add strength to the world view which shows through, no matter what the world view is. Good prose as an art form has something bad prose does not.' Christian content does not redeem a work that is technically mediocre; in fact, the lack of artistic excellence detracts from the impact of the Christian content."

-Leland Ryken in Culture in Christian Perspective (1986), p. 209