[jahsonic.com] - [Next >>]

Christianity

Related: Adam - clergy - bible - Catholicism - Eve - heaven - hell - Jesus - Index Librorum Prohibitorum (list of forbidden books by Catholics) - mortification of the flesh - passion - religion - Mary - transubstantiation

Theologians: Søren Kierkegaard - Ludwig Feuerbach

Films and novels dealing with Christianity: Life of Brian (1979) - The Devils (1971) - The Da Vinci Code (2003)

Depiction of Mary

Description

Christianity is a group of religious traditions, originating with Jesus Christ, that assert that Jesus is Lord, Saviour, God, the son of God and messiah -- the sole saviour of all humanity. --http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity

Christian views on fiction

One of the aspects of Christianity which have interested me the most has been its attitude towards fiction, which is largely negative, except for mystery plays.

In the era of Voltaire, actors were perceived as sinners in France and were barred from a burial in hallowed grounds. This tells us a lot about the relationship man has towards fiction (if we concede that the history of man equals the history of Christian man since the 4th century AD). Even today, some Christians hold that fiction is untruth and untruth is a lie and lies are sins.

Since I cannot find a good history of the evolution of christian attitudes towards fiction I tried Googling for "actors are sinners" and came up with this:

Christians shouldn't go to movies anyway. All actors are sinners. To portray sin on the screen is also sin. What do you expect from Hollywood but sin? You cannot pretend to be something you are not. Just because the film doesn't contain sex and murder, doesn't make it good. Actors regularly portray selfishness, envy, greed, covetousness, idolatry, and many many other sins. Best avoid all films and all drama (both on TV and at the cinema) --source

The author of this comment then points to: http://www.prca.org/pamphlets/pamphlet_92.htm

With the Christian distrust of fiction, it is only appropriate that the Vatican urges to read the The Da Vinci Code (a work which blurs the lines between fact and fiction) as a piece of fiction. [May 2006]

See also: actor - fiction - drama - Christianity - sin - theatre

Mention of Christianity in the preamble of the European Constitution

Several countries urged for the preamble of the Constitution to include a reference to Christianity. Among these were Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, who in May 2004 sent a letter to the Irish Presidency, saying "the governments of those countries consider as a priority the recognition of the Christian tradition in the Preamble" and noting that the list of signatories was not exhaustive as they hoped other countries would join their initiative. The Greek government likewise supported a reference to Christianity.

The strongest opponents to any reference to Christianity were France and Belgium. Other countries opposing such a reference were Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Slovenia, and Cyprus. Among other nations, Spain originally supported the inclusion of a reference to Christianity, but the incoming Zapatero government reversed the stance of its predecessor.

Eventually the agreed upon Constitution made no explicit references to Christianity, only mentioning the "cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe". This decision caused disappointment in the Vatican, but satisfaction from candidate state Turkey. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_European_Constitution#Mention_of_Christianity_in_the_preamble [Aug 2005]

see also: Christianity - European

Christian views on dancing

The devil seems to be continually busy, inventing new ways to entice young people and adults into all forms of immorality and sin. He has used various forms of dancing very successfully, during the 20th Century. Each decade sees a change in this fad, but it seems that the change never gets better, but invariably gets worse. Various names have been given to the different forms of dancing in this century. We have all heard of the square dance, the round dance, the rock dance and now we hear much about the disco dance. None of these can be recommended for Christians to participate in. --E. L. Bynum

Books

  • Only Begotten Daughter (1990) - James Morrow [Amazon.com]
    Only Begotten Daughter (1990)- in which Jesus' half sister, the daughter of God, is born into contemporary society.

    Movies

    1. Good Taste, Bad Taste, and Christian Taste: Aesthetics in Religious Life - Frank Burch Brown [Amazon.com]
      Many Christians regard artistic taste as a matter of religious indifference, irrelevant to theological conviction. Brown insists otherwise, arguing that in responding to art, we may draw nearer to or pull away from God and other believers. But developing a well-grounded aesthetics requires serious reflection on conflicting traditions within Christendom: Brown does so by contrasting the views of Kierkegaard (who viewed art as a sensual distraction from the stern demands of discipleship) with those of Blake (who reveled in the artistic imagination as a conduit to heaven). As a composer and church musician, Brown naturally resists Kierkegaard's strictures, yet he concedes the risks of letting the artist into the sanctuary, especially at a time when a lax cultural relativism often paralyzes the critical faculties. Without dictating any narrow orthodoxy, Brown challenges Christian readers to cultivate an aesthetic discipline flexible enough to forge fresh ecumenical artistic styles but rigorous enough to ward off the cliches of kitsch, old and new. A provocative analysis, sure to open new lines of dialogue between artists and believers. Bryce Christensen

      your Amazon recommendations - Jahsonic - early adopter products