Exploration of the Christian Faiths
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rel-150_pp9.pptxThe Life of the Church
Christianity: An Introduction
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Day to day life of the Church is very vast; it varies from group to group, sometimes within each group
Roman Catholicism, for example, is so big some practices are used by some, not by others
Others allow individuals to decide
The Life of the Church
Customs included:
Rings
Voluntary commitment
Vows
Cultural factors
Christian Weddings
Union of man and woman: symbolizes marriage of Christ and the Church
Two become one flesh
Wedding at Cana
Christian Weddings
Celebrate funeral rites for worship, praise, thanksgiving to God for the gift of life, and hope for the just
“I am the resurrection and the life; if you believe in me even though you die, you shall live forever” ~John 15:25-26
Christian Funerals
Pall – white cloth
Incense
Formerly black worn; now white for new life
Christian Funerals
Victorian period – Christmas became national festival in England; explosion of Christmas carols written
Eric Milner-White – chaplain King’s College, Cambridge – developed Service of Nine Lessons and Carols
9 carols, sung by congregation, nine biblical readings
Service of the Nine Lessons and Carols
Readings tell the Christmas story, from Genesis through the Gospels
Theme: Christ is the long-promised savior of the world, God incarnate, who has entered into our world as one of us in order to redeem it
Service of the Nine Lessons and Carols
“Breaking of the bread”
Baptism – sign of commitment
Singing: “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs” ~Ephesians 5:19-20
Ekklesia
Agape
Sabbath
Christian Worship
Our Father/Lord’s Prayer
Prayer – “a covenant relationship between God and humanity in Christ”
Private and public
Adoration
Contrition
Thanksgiving
Supplication
Prayer
Earliest forms of worship – songs
Hymns – 8th century
Amazing Grace
Praise
Many churches: structured form of Bible readings (“Lectionary”)
Often proclaimed by Lay ministers
Earlier priority of the Gospels – now Old and New Testament
Reading Scripture
Sermo – “a word”
Sermon, homily
“The drawing out of” a Biblical passage
Homilarium – books of sermons
Apostles Creed, Nicene Creed – often recited at weekly masses/services
Preaching, Creeds
Sacrament – “An external physical sign of an interior spiritual grace”
Baptism
Reconciliation
Eucharist
Confirmation
Marriage
Holy Orders
Anointing of the Sick
The sacraments
Baptizein - “to wash”
Infant baptism
Adult baptism
Confirmation
Baptism
Breaking of the bread – “Last supper”
Jewish Passover Meal
Unleavened bread
Eucharist – “Thanksgiving”
Mass – missa – “A service of some sort
Holy Communion – fellowship, sharing
Lord’s Supper – breaking of the bread as memorial of last supper
Eucharist
Bread and wine – both forms offered
Some groups do it monthly
Others weekly
Spoon or no spoon?
Eucharist
All revolve around Easter:
Ash Wednesday
Holy/Maundy Thursday
Good Friday
Ascension
Pentecost
Trinity Sunday
Fixed feast:
Christmas, select Holy Days
Rhythms and Seasons: Christian Year
Adventus - “coming”
Wreath
Four Sundays
Two advents
Advent
Fixed – December 25
Birth of Jesus
Santa Claus – St. Nicholas, patron saint of children
Epiphany – “manifestation” or “making known” – January 6th
Magi
Christmas
Ash Wednesday – seventh week before Easter
Imposition of Ashes
Preparation for Easter
Lent
Fasting
Almsgiving
Holy Week –
Palm Sunday
Holy Thursday
Good Friday
Stations of the Cross 14/15
Lent
Marks Christ rising from the dead
Easter
40 Days after Easter
Jesus’ time on earth after the Resurrection ends; he ascends into heaven
Ascension
50 days after Easter
Marks the beginning of the institutional church
Holy Spirit came to the Apostles and they were able to “speak in tongues”; they were empowered to go speak to all nations.
Pentecost
Monasticism (mono – one): a life for constant prayer; prayer life seemed ideal
Structure – seven times of prayer for the day – “offices”
Systematically structured into segments, including prayer and the reading of Scripture, especially Psalms
Dietrich Bonhoeffer – value of setting aside time for daily prayer.
The monastic day
Some Christian groups have deliberately defined themselves as counter-cultural
Mennonite, Amish communities: faith separates from daily culture
Most Christians do not feel a need to distinguish between the two
Early Church: Christianity was illegal
Augustine of Hippo: Exodus example – what is good, true, or valuable can be used for the Gospel
Christianity quickly became the official religion of the Roman Empire
Bishops began to imitate dress and customs of secular rules
Monasticism was counter-cultural
Christian Attitudes to Culture: Some Considerations
Christianity – unlike Islam and Judaism – no religious requirements concerning food or clothing
Jesus: religious purity lies within the heart, need for kosher and halal is negated.
Some Cultural customs that became part of Christianity:
Traditional Bishop garment color purple
Wedding ring on fourth finger, left hand
Some Christian contributions:
Supply of wine – Monk Dom Perignon – discovered how wine could be preserved with the use of the bark of the Portuguese cork oak
The Impact of Christianity on Culture
Three broad positions on nature:
The natural world is divine
The natural world is created, and bears some resemblance to its creator
The natural world has no relation to God
If the natural world has no relation to God, Christians often say, there is no motivation to study it; if it does, there is a good reason.
God’s imprint in creation
God imposes order, rationality, and beauty upon nature; some of which is capable of being uncovered by humanity
Christianity and Sciences
Some issues: Freeman Dyson “The Scientist as Rebel” – science is “rebellion against the restrictions imposed by the local prevailing culture” and therefore a subversive activity.
Rise of science challenged some religious worldviews
Copernican solar system
Darwin
Christianity and Sciences
Cross – instrument of execution, a symbol of Christian hope
Sign of the Cross
Cross is a symbol of Christianity from the earliest times
Used in art as a devotional piece
Icthus – teaching aid - Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior
Christian Symbolism: The Cross
Visualization – development of ways the divine can be represented
Second Commandment – No false idols /Iconoclast controversy
Heidelberg Catechism – “God cannot and should not be depicted in any way”; Biblical preaching should take the place of religious art as means of instruction and devotion
Most Christians find art helpful for devotion
Jesus – “image of the invisible God”
Christian Art
Christian Art
First, Christians met in private
Once legal, they wanted to make distinct points of worship
Cyprian: “Outside the Church there is no salvation”
Old Testament Temple
Church Architecture
Early Christian buildings did not use stained glass
Gothic architectural design led to stained glass (Why have windows shed light onto wall paintings when they themselves could contain messages?)
1100 – technology was well established
1550-1850 – painted glass
Stained Glass
Church Layouts
Iconoclast Controversy – many destroyed
Greek eikon “image” – a portable sacred image
Iconoclasts – “uninstructed and ignorant” could misconstrue the image from the divine reality it represents
Icons
Early music – Old Testament
Thomas Aquinas
Luther – traditional hymns – “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”
Mozart, Bach, Handel, etc.
Moved with the times
Christian Music
Dorothy Sayers – “The church, as a body, never made its mind up on the arts”
Greek writers and Paul
Italian Renaissance
Means of sharing the Gospel
Dante – The Divine Comedy
Virgil – The Aeneid
Christianity and Literature
Pilgrimage – Commitment, hardship, Christian unity
Common places:
Jerusalem
Rome
Canterbury
Santiago de Compostela – “The Way of St. James”
Lourdes - France
Pilgrimage and Christian Life
