My wife gave me an early Christmas present, since she thought it would approprite for some of the conversations I’ve been recently been participating online. I’ve been wanted Doug Wilson’s “A Serrated Edge” since Canon Press published it, partly because I’m interested in seeing a defense of humor, and especially irony, but more because my sense of humor has been questioned (even called “sinful”), and I’ve honestly been wondering what guidelines the Bible has for comedy.

I truly believe that there is no such thing as moral neutrality. Murder is sinful, no mattter who you are. However, in a situation where morality does not come into play, then subjectivity is allowed. I don’t like chocolate, even though my wife loves it… neither of us is more moral because of our preference.

So, the question I’ve been mulling over is this… is humor subjective or objective? What parts are objectively moral, and therefore subject to Biblical exhortation, and which are simply subjective preferences?

The first question is whether we can classify humor as an art form The first benefit to me for doing this is now I can take a mundane subject, and expand it into a much more intellectual area. After all, arguing whether there is an objective standard in humor is a waste of time, but arguing that Johann Sebastian Bach was a great composer, objectively speaking is a much more sanctified undertaking. It seems to be a universal truth that Bach was a great composer. But, when we say this, we’re making an absolute statement. Does this mean that we can make absolute statements about art and music?

More later, but do you have any thoughts?