Putting this here...

...since we'll be talking about imaging Christ later in the semester.

Our, us, and we

Hi all.  One thing I've noticed is a lot of "our, us, we" language when describing Christian belief. This type of language assumes that we all share the same perspective. However, one of the great things about being a university student is that you get to explore these topics with a diverse group of people and  not everyone in this class comes from the same religious background!  So, I would encourage when posting to remember that "we," as a class, don't necessarily believe something.

I will say that in class I sometimes say "us" when talking about early Christianity, using "us" to identify as an early Christian.  However, I'm going to try and be more conscientious about not using the first person plural in an attempt to remember that we're not the same as those ancients!  #evenprofessorsarestudents

In the meantime, enjoy this picture of a baby goat in jammies...

Religion and Evolution

This evening I went to the panel on religion and evolution. The question was phrased "How does evolution represent a threat to your faith?" Despite the diverse views of science and faith (though not race or gender) four out of five panelists had the same answer: it doesn't. This observation was one of the most fascinating things that I realized. The first panelist was an atheist scientist who responded that it confirms his faith in the scientific method. Also, there was a Mormon who believed in the coherence of evolution and God. Next, was a scientist who said that he doesn't believe in Darwinian evolution, but he doesn't have enough faith to be either believe in a God or be an atheist, so there is no faith for something he thinks is false to threaten. The last panelist said that his faith in God does not depend on the current theories of science. All of these men had different points of view, but held that there were no contradictions. The only one who held that there was a contradiction, the only one who dared to admit that he was not completely certain was the Religious Studies professor. I really respected the courage and confidence that it must have taken to admit in a room full of people that you believe things that may be wrong. I think this confidence does come from studying religions. As a Religious Studies major, I have studied many religions and know that they aren't all harmonious with each other. Not everyone in the world can have the "correct" belief, if there even is one. But by knowing and respecting that, we know that our own beliefs might also be wrong. The other poignant part of this panel, for me, was an assumption brought up at the very end of the discussion. The same professor brought up the fact that we had all been referring to the Creator or God with the pronoun "He". But that assumes an Abrahamic faith, specifically, in this context, Christianity. The panel had been set up to talk about religion in general, but it kept referring only towards Christianity. My friend remarked that, of course that is what it turned in to, given our location. It is, in my opinion, okay that this is where the conversation drifted, but I do think that it is essential to recognize the assumption being made. It is one step towards recognizing and understanding Christian privilege.

Notes from 2/11

Housekeeping things

*remember that the blog can be used for personal belief, if you mention that this is YOUR perspective

*Church Sites Visit assignment is a space for us to put on our STUDIER/SCHOLARLY hat, as opposed to looking at this site as a WORSHIPPER

See Christian Traditions: Christian Church Site Visit & Visiting Christian Christian sites documents for more info

Last Class take-aways 2/9

• Trinity= 1 substance, 3 emanation/hypostases
• Begotten not made
• Diversity of ideas concerning what is tradition
• Evolution of tradition (ex Nicene Creed 2010)
• Tradition is a LIVE DISCUSSION
• Councils
• What is orthodox?
• Complexity of faith
• Acts v. Galatians
• Jesus is Christ, Christ >Jesus

*Overall idea of constant Reformation of ideas

Monasticism, Mendicants, St. Francis readings discussion

St. Francis was a medieval monastic, but Monasticism began as early as the 200s

Monasticism concerns:

Imitating Christ's sacrifice in the desert

Marked by simplicity

Lent embodies this same ideal of sacrifice in the desert

Monastics take it on as a LIFESTYLE

4th century we really begin to see this embodiment

Monasticism---pedagogy

• "Do as teacher does, that’s how learning happens"- imitation of Jesus' sacrifice

Originally Monastics were hermits and lived the hermetic lifestyle

But..

They began to dwell in communities and become communal monastic orders

Guidelines to help this (imitatio Christi) were written by:

• Augustine
• Benedict of Nursia (5-6th centuries)

Benedictine Rule --> widely adopted as "WORK AND PRAYER"- not entirely separate

OVERALL

Monastics- discipline, creation, prayer

Guest Speaker- Caroline Bruzelius "Art History and Digital Visualization" specifically "The Impact of Mendicant Orders: Friars (Franciscans & Dominicans) in the City"

Architectural spaces in Europe were shaped by religious orders in the medieval times

Franciscans, as well as Dominicans--> poverty

St. Francis was a radical with ideas still evident (i.e. our own Pope Francis)

How did his way of life change of ideals of "religious life?"

Speaker used medium of images to illustrate topics

1st image- shows characteristic difference between Benedictine, Franciscan, Dominican

• Benedictine- inside
• Dominican- clothing is black and white
• Franciscans- cloak and cord

Benedictine- self-sufficiency and isolation

BUT WE WILL FOCUS ON MENDICANT ORDERS

Mendicants go out in public

Friars live in the cities--> preach, poverty, "public outreach"

REFORM our ideas

In the Early Christian church, it was inside and private

Mendicants did outdoor preaching CHARACTERIZED THEM

Image #3- shows difference between parochial and monastic life

MENDICANTS however disrupt the system and drive a wedge in life

They reach out to the people and gain following and money

This wedge

Sacraments including funeral and Last Rights made a lot of $

Traditionally, relationships between secular clergy in parochial and the lay people was through sacraments and death, but Mendicants changed this by going into public

This made the Church wealthy--> lay people were attracted to the mendicants

In 1284 someone actually wrote to Bishop of Salerno saying that parochial(s) were violent toward mendicants because they overthrew their authority

In another image, we see St. Domenic and St. Francis, the leaders of mendicants

They were similar is ideology but also very different

Domenic 1170-1221

-priest

-anti architectural movement

-be poor yourself

Specialized in teaching and scholarship

Francis 1181-1226

-stigmata--> new Christ

-expression of "live suffering of Christ"

Friars Importance?

• New model of religious life
• Concordance (indexes), sermon collections, penitentiaries, Golden Legend
• Connection to lay
• New academic system

Many images were shown that characterized outdoor preaching especially in piazzas

• Pistoia, San Francesco
• Peter Martyr in Florence

Piazzas actually carved out the landscape because of the desire to worship

Commune destroyed environments because of the importance of preaching

Artists sometimes used comedy (animals) to speak to the relevance of outdoor preaching by mendicants

A Christian Tradition centered around mortality?

As we discussed briefly in class on Tuesday, original sin is the attributed Augustinian belief that all of humanity, in part, take on the sin of Adam in the Garden of Eden and consequently inherited the stain of sin against God and further, death.  As Paul wrote, "sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned" (Romans 5:12).  Nystrom informs us however that although it was actually Tertuilian who suggested this concept, Augustine gave original sin it's doctrinal form and therefore is attributed.
Ash Wednesday is not only a day of fasting, sacrifice and almsgiving for those who observe it, it is also a day to recognize our humanity and consequently our subjection to death. As I attended the Ash Wednesday mass at Elon Community Church last night, the priest, Fr. Gerry, highlighted this concept.  He said that when marked with the stain of ashes, we, as the congregation who observe, are reminded of our initial staining through original sin, and therefore also our mortality as a human race.  We arose from the ashes and to ashes we shall return.  Put simply, we came from the earth and we will return to the earth through death, according to this belief set.  Ash Wednesday, the important Christian tradition draws from this concept of original sin that we discussed in class.  Without this sin in the Garden, believers may be living eternally on earth without stain, without conflict, without death.
Death came through sin, as St. Augustine recognized.  Our Christian traditions and belief set concerning both the temporal world on earth and the afterlife are centered around this concept that is highlighted every Ash Wednesday.

Interesting Piece on Christianity in Nepal

One of the things Robby Jones talked about is how Christian affiliation is declining in the U.S. However, that's not the case everywhere. HERE is a piece about the growth of Christianity in Nepal.

How I Give Up Indifference Towards Others

This post is in response to the article entitled Pope Francis’ Guide to Lent: What You Should Give Up This Year that Dr. Huber has provided us a link to. The article first discusses the traditional approach to Lent most Christians take today, which is to give something up, such as sweets or games. However for this Lenten season, Pope Francis encourages all Christians to not only give something up, but to do something extra for others, and to not remain indifferent to those around us. The Pope also reminds us that fasting and abstaining ourselves from things we enjoy must not be something done superficially nor as a trend, rather giving up something should be done as something that others will benefit from. This is where he derived his idea of giving up indifference towards others.

 

This article struck me as something that I have personal experience with. I attended Catholic school for all of my life until now, and so from a young age I was always encouraged and expected to give something up for Lent. Like the typical young girl I was, I would give up things such as ice cream or chocolates – one year I even gave up pancakes. However, while I attended high school, my junior year religion teacher encouraged my class to do more than give something up, she suggested we do something for others during Lent. She had the same idea as the Pope! That year, my friends and I raised money for battered women who were victims of domestic violence throughout the Lenten season. We did this among a group of five by simply sharing a jar in which we all donated a few cents a day, almost every day, for each day of Lent. Those coins quickly added up, and by Easter we had a decent amount of money to donate. The following year we did the same thing, this time inviting our friends and family to donate with us, and so we were able to raise even more! This year I hope to do something similar; if not, perhaps I will use Elon’s Get on the Bus Program to my advantage in order to partake in the service opportunities.

I hope this posts serves as an example of how to put Pope Francis’ suggestion into action for anyone who is interested.