In the wake of Thomas Kinkade's tragic death a few weeks ago, Gregory Wolfe of The Wall Street Journal has offered a thoughtful critique of Kinkade's work and art in general. Through Kinkade and Wolfe, we see two competing Christian visions of art: Kinkade offers that art should lift our spirits to reflect on the ideal - a world as it once was and again will be - while Wolfe suggests that art should reflect the ideal only after coming to grips with the brokenness of the human condition.

First, it's worth noting that either vision of art is a breath of fresh air in a world where aesthetics have often lost their moorings altogether in a postmodern haze. But the deeper question is, which of them is right? Should we dwell on the ideal, or reflect the world as it is - albeit with glimmers of hope?