I have to write a paper on Christianity and the Arts...?

Question

In my paper I need to
1. Define "art" and "the arts"
2. Give a history of Christianity and its relation to the ars. Including the relationship of Christianity and contemprorary pop culture.
3.Defend the notiont of Christians being engaged or not being engaged in the arts
4. Give a Biblical and theological analysis of the issue

If you have any ideas, no matter who you are or what religion or anything, I would love to hear them. Thank you

Answer 1

Maybe you could approach the topic from a music standpoint...there is whole Christian rock scene that's exploding...some artists are even hitting the mainstream...remember jars of clay a few years ago...

Answer 2

The arts includes more than paintings and statues. Literature is also a part of "the arts". Christianity in Literature is such an expansive subject that you can find a LOT of works out there that either have a christian theme, or can be viewed through a christian filter. Dante's Inferno is where the modern man gets his view of hell, as is Paradise lost by Milton. You may also want to read "Silence" by Shasaku Endo. This is a book written about a Portuguese priest in Japan during the time when Catholicism was illegal in Japan with a sentence of death. It was written by a Catholic Japanese man.

Other works of Literature we looked at during our class "Christianity in Literature" were Shakespeare's Lear and Hamlet, several short stories and even some pre-christian works such as the Gilgamesh legend.

On an art scale, you can look at most anything from the renaissance period. The Agony and the Ecstasy is a bibliography (although fictional, the basic facts are accurate) of Michelangelo Buonorotti. Some of the concepts discussed there may give you a great view of the limited source of themes available to Dark ages and Renaissance age artists.

Answer 3

Well, I think Illuminated Manuscripts are pretty cool. The were the bibles copied by the monks and would gold leaf and design those big first letters.

The book My Name is Asher Lev by Chiam Potok is about a young Jewish boy growing up as an artist and dealing with Crucifixion issues.

Current Christians and art? I think your only case might be in pop/gospel music.

Have fun!

Answer 4

1. Find yourself a dictionary, thesaurus and other semilar books
2. Go to a Christian library then to a arts library or a national library.
3. Same as ans # 2
4. Read at least three kinds of bible, the Catholic Bible compare it with a protestant bible and other versions of bibles.

Go to the internet,, type every word in your research in yahoo search and other search engines, and you will have an endless pool of resources.

Answer 5

consider monasteries after collapse of the roman empire, and western civ.