Sign in

W. David O. Taylor

@wdavidotaylor.bsky.social
991 followers 12 following 1.2K posts

Associate Professor of Theology & Culture @fullerseminary. Author: "Prayers for the Pilgrimage" + "A Body of Praise" + "Open & Unafraid." IG: @davidtaylor_theologian. W: www.wdavidotaylor.com.

PostsRepliesMedia
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 3h
If you don’t like a work of art, or think it’s not actually a work of art, or think it’s a bad work of art, you need to ask yourself first all the questions about the context for the work, in order to understand the work before you judge the work. wdavidotaylor.substack.com/p/from-holma...
wdavidotaylor.substack.com
From Holman Hunt’s Jesus to Duchamp’s Toilet
Context is everything.
000
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Any time that AI vitiates or replaces the creative work that remains central to our human vocation, or any time that it undermines the hard work of human relationship, it must be rejected: “I fear that A.I. is undermining what makes us most human." www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
nytimes.com
Opinion | A.I. Shortcuts Are Ruining How We Think
Anything worth remembering came from a person who did not know where she or he was going until arriving.
024
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
A friend asked if I had a prayer for the anxious of heart. This is that prayer...the prayer of every honest soul at some point along the way.
000
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Two novels I've enjoyed reading: "Theo of Golden" and "Laurus." The first involves a theological exploration of the human face, while the second is a fantastical sacramental theology crossed with the weirdly wonderful world of Medieval Christianity. wdavidotaylor.substack.com/p/two-novels...
wdavidotaylor.substack.com
Two Novels: The Strange & the Sentimental
From Medieval Russia to a small town in Georgia.
010
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
A Morning Prayer (with sunrise in my backyard): I rise from my bed this day by your grace; I face the tasks of this day by your grace; I embrace the turns of this day by your grace; I receive the gifts of this day by your grace; I hold lightly the end of this day by your grace. Amen.
091
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
I’ve been sitting on the idea for a new course @fullerseminary.bsky.social on Science Fiction & Theology for five years. In light of the new developments in A.I., I’ve decided to fast-track this syllabus. Its bones are solid and the themes are fixed, but much more will be added.
220
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
One of my favorite Annie Dillard quotes, from a marvelous bit of advice she gave the creative writing students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, titled “Notes for Young Writers.” Thanks to Image Journal, we have a written record of it. imagejournal.org/article/note...
030
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
This is what AI-generated art cannot do: It cannot make art like a human makes art and thus speak to the human condition in the way that only a human artist can do. Not ever. Not in any alternate universe. substack.com/home/post/p-...
010
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I remember exactly where I was standing when my friend said: "A plane has just crashed into one of the Twin Towers." What a nightmarish day for so many twenty-five years ago, and for some the scars and fissures remain still today. Lord have mercy on us all. (via "Prayers for the Pilgrimage")
001
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
It’s amazing the places where your book with @brazospress.bsky.social, "To Set the World Aflame," will show up (especially when your friend is the dean of the Templeton Honors College): amidst a sea of artists and saints in the field, including Bruce Herman, Ed Knippers, Sadao Watanabe, et al! 😆👀
010
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
This is something that I would tell the artists under my care repeatedly. If ever they felt stuck creatively, the goal was to do something, even if that something was piddling, dodgy, or utterly disposable, because that something always had a chance to lead to something better. #ToSetTheWorldAflame
000
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
No AI was used in the making of this video. It was 100% analog, and I have my wife Phaedra to thank for being willing to indulge our silly side. My book with Brazos Press, “To Set the World Aflame,” officially released today and we are thrilled. Woot! wdavidotaylor.substack.com/p/my-book-re...
061
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
A Morning Prayer: O Lord, you who promise daily bread, may I be faithful to all you have entrusted to me this day, no more and no less, I pray, and let me not become anxious over things that I cannot control, so that I may experience the peace of Christ which guards my heart and mind. Amen.
010
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
It’s T-Minus One for my book with @brazos.bsky.social, “To Set the World Aflame,” and I am deeply grateful to Elissa Yukiko Weichbrodt for her endorsement of my book. It’s such an encouraging word to receive.
040
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
I’ve written my book, "To Set the World Aflame," for artists of all sorts. But I’ve also written it for all who play a role in the flourishing of artists. And I’m so grateful to hear this good word from Karen Fletcher Smith via Scot McKnight's Substack. substack.com/home/post/p-...
011
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
A Happy Labor Day, friends. Don't forget to stay human in the Age of A.I., when the robots might tempt you to believe that small, tedious, modest, and hidden labors aren't worth doing. They are, very much so. And God blesses them. ("Prayers for the Pilgrimage" via @ivpress.bsky.social)
010
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
In the summer of 1989, I played the role of “preacher’s kid” in the traveling evangelistic drama, “Heaven’s Gates, Hell’s Flames.” This is the story of my involvement in that play at First Assembly of God in Russellville, Arkansas. And, yes, it's what launched my career as an artist.
010
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Really grateful to Mako Fujimura for his generous endorsement of my book with @brazospress.bsky.social. Even more grateful for his faithful labors and his friendship over the years.
010
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
I love the casting of the kid actors, and it’ll be fun to see what they do with all of their new CGI powers in this television series…25 years later. www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJVm...
youtube.com
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone | Official Teaser Trailer | HBO Max
YouTube video by Harry Potter
000
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
There seems to be something rather fitting that the day after Wendell Berry dies is "The Feast of Creation in Christ" on the church calendar. It’s almost as if Providence had arranged things just so. Here is Berry’s “Sabbath Poem X” from his 2005 collection, "Given: Poems":
151
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
In preparing for a forthcoming “Art and A.I.” project, I decided to watch this music video of Tilly Norwood. I’ve had to stop it every thirty seconds, though, because it’s so cringey and lyrically slippery and philosophically bonkers. www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7V2...
youtube.com
Tilly Norwood | Take The Lead (Official Music Video)
YouTube video by Tilly Norwood
010
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Really grateful for this (part 1) review of my book, "To Set the World Aflame" (via @brazospress.bsky.social), by Karen Fletcher Smith on @scotmcknight.bsky.social's substack. scotmcknight.substack.com/p/to-set-the...
scotmcknight.substack.com
To Set the World Aflame
By Karen Fletcher Smith
020
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
A Prayer for all Teachers today: O Lord, bless all teachers this day: guide, sustain, and watch over them, and instill in them a sincere love for their students, so that they together may be astonished by the wonder of this world and be stirred afresh to live wisely in it. In Jesus' name. Amen.
040
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
A Sunday Prayer: O Lord, you who are the sovereign of heaven and on earth, may we dwell this day under the shelter of the Most High, so that we may be wholly at rest in all things, secure in your providential care over all the details of our lives. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
010
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Yes: “Teenagers will be limited to just two hours a day on Instagram & Facebook, unless a parent goes into their settings to give permission for more time. Young users will also be automatically restricted from using the apps overnight, between midnight and 6am.” www.nytimes.com/2026/08/26/t...
nytimes.com
What’s Changing for Teens on Instagram and Facebook
Meta agreed to set more time limits and enhance protections in its platforms for young users, but was short on some specifics.
030
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Having worked with artists over the past thirty years, this continues to be the one constant. ("To Set the World Aflame" via @brazospress.bsky.social) wdavidotaylor.substack.com/p/the-book-h...
020
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
This just in: The algorithm is Mephistopheles, after all, and he’s so very clever at making us feel so very beguiled, so very crazy, so very insecure.
000
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
The truly poor aren't poor of money. They're the ones who suffer from a poverty of heart. "But they didn't understand it And I tried to make them see That one is only poor Only if they choose to be Now I know we had no money But I was rich as I could be" www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_-Y...
youtube.com
Dolly Parton - Coat Of Many Colors
YouTube video by gussie5555
010
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
A Morning Prayer (BCP): “Heavenly Father: We humbly pray you so to guide and govern us by your Holy Spirit, that in all the cares and occupations of our life we may not forget you, but may remember that we are ever walking in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”
020
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
This Harvard Business Review podcast was recorded in 2023 and thus in the prehistoric age of AI, but it’s got some good insights into the ways that Generative AI is changing the nature of creativity in general. open.spotify.com/episode/4BeD...
open.spotify.com
How Generative AI Changes Creativity
HBR IdeaCast · Episode
011
Reposted by W. David O. Taylor
Zach Wriston @zwriston.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Can't wait!
011
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Wizards wave wands. Artists work hard. "To Set the World Aflame" via @brazospress.bsky.social releasing in three weeks.
021
Reposted by W. David O. Taylor
Brazos Press @brazospress.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Books! Books! Books!
021
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Some prayers are occasional. Other prayers are perennials. This is a perennial. Lord in your mercy….
020
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Look what the UPS driver just dropped off at my house: It’s my artist book with @brazospress.bsky.social ! (It’s the most complimentary books I’ve ever received. 👀)
3100
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Dear single parent friends: We see you, and we are with and for you. ❤️
010
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Contra the politics of moral certitude and promiscuous demonization: "If liberals want to be serious about standing up for liberty, they have a particular obligation to acknowledge and reject the illiberalism that swept so much of the left in recent years." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/18/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Yes, Woke 1.0 Was Crazy. Now Where’s the Accountability?
The damage was real and long-lasting.
000
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
The good people @brazospress.bsky.social enlisted the help of an artist to animate the cover art for my book, “To Set the World Aflame,” and the result is utterly delightful. The animation wonderfully captures the whimsical nature of Shin Maeng’s artwork. I love it!
152
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Here's a batch of "Prayers for the Stressed, the Single Parents, the Stuck in Traffic and other School-Related Matters," drawn from my book with @ivpress.bsky.social, "Prayers for the Pilgrimage." The start of school is coming for many and we all need a little help. substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com
Prayers for the Stressed, the Single Parents, the Stuck in Traffic and other School-Related Things
It's the start of the school year and we need a little help.
121
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
A Prayer for the Stressed-Out, in case you need a little prayer here at the end of the day.
010
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
A Morning Prayer via my favorite devotional, "The Rhythm of Life": “Lord, be with us to guide us within us to strengthen us without us to protect us above us to raise us beneath us to uphold us before us to lead us behind us to guard us ever about us this day and evermore this day and evermore."
041
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
In 2022, only 48.5% of all U.S. adults read a book of any type. This stands in contrast to gambling, where in the past year 57% of Americans placed a bet. Is it the end of reading as we knew it? Or is it more complicated than that? www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
theatlantic.com
The End of Reading Is Here
Optimists once believed that universal literacy was inevitable. Now it seems that the age of reading might be a short anomaly in human history.
010
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
We’re less than a month away from the release of our book with @brazospress.bsky.social, "To Set the World Aflame," and we’re deeply grateful to @karenswallowprior.bsky.social for her generous endorsement of the book. 🙏❤️
063
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
My book with @brazospress.bsky.social, "To Set the World Aflame," releases a month from today, and this is my friendly reminder that modern categories of art are foreign to the cultural worlds of the Bible. It's not the only thing. But it's a thing. wdavidotaylor.substack.com/p/is-the-bib...
wdavidotaylor.substack.com
Is the Bible Pro-Art? Maybe.
It depends on what we mean by art and how we read the Bible.
030
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Refreshing my memory on all things mythological in advance of watching Nolan’s "The Odyssey." From Virgil’s Aeneid (in Robert Fagles’ translation): "The world is a world of tears, and the burdens of mortality touch the heart. [Sunt lacrimae rerum et mentem mortalia tangunt].”
010
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
I'm preaching today at Christ Church Anglican (in Austin) on the ways in which the psalms enable us to become, our visceral fears notwithstanding, honest to God in all that we say and do. Here's a prayer that I've included in my book, "Prayers for the Pilgrimage," on the same topic.
020
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
I’ve had to do this twice over the past couple of days, so I figured I’d share it here, in case anybody might have need of such a prayer: "A Prayer to Own Up to Your Mistakes," via @ivpress.bsky.social.
020
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Why doesn’t Christopher Nolan own a smart phone? He fears becoming addicted to it and he fears the loss of daydreaming. "I would lose those pockets of time that I really value where you're just thinking...looking out the window and thinking about...daydreaming.” www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WmN...
youtube.com
Christopher Nolan Addresses Internet Rumors That He Doesn’t Have a Phone and Saw Star Wars 12 Times
YouTube video by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
030
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
I don't know why magazines publish this stuff except that they're lazy or desperate for high-brow click-bait. "Christianity as we know it...owes more to Paul than to anyone else, perhaps even more than to the narrowly parochial and Jerusalem-centered Jesus." www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
newyorker.com
St. Paul Remade Human History. How Did He Do It?
New scholarship reconsiders the apostle who turned a Jewish sect into a world religion—and whose legacy remains contested two millennia later.
010
W. David O. Taylor @wdavidotaylor.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
I've got a book coming out in less than two months and I'm super excited. I’m also excited about this pre-order deal from @brazospress.bsky.social. If you pre-order the book through them (link below), you'll get an art print of Shin Maeng's cover work.🔥🔥🔥 bakerpublishinggroup.com/products/978...
031