Christian Spiritual Experience

In William James’s The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature and Émile Durkheim’s Elementary Forms of Religious life, the societal implications of religion are examined and analyzed. James and Durkheim possess fairly similar methodologies in their approaches to religion. Both scholars examine religious phenomena based on the experience on the participants. For both of them the “religious experience is the point of departure for formulating a theory of religion” (Joas). James refutes “medical materialism” (James, 19) and argues that it is the extreme cases of religious fervor where true religious experiences will be found and Durkheim introduces his theory on “collective effervescence” (Durkheim, 226) and the experiences

Artwork is for its creativity and has values it all comes down to that God is the creator of everything we see and feel. We, as humans are the best artwork God could imagine because we are created in the image of God artwork can be a form of number of things like the form of fantasy. Three things that I found interesting, and the first one is how that Christian art should be in the twentieth-century art. Language changes and so does art. The second thing is that Christian art really should be different from country to country if Christianity art is in Africa then it should stay in Africa same goes for Japan and Indian these are just a few of examples. The third thing is that the body of the Christian’s artist work should reflects on His or Her Christian worldview. Showing marks of the culture of which the person has become should reflect on you own country and how you embody the nature of the world that is viewed from a Christian standpoint. (Schaeffer, Francis A. Art and the Bible. N.p.: n.p., 2006. 75-76.

The ancient Christians have always thought art to be representative. The church's attitude towards art was that the goodness was always linked to light and the bad is always dark. There were hardly any independent speculative or analytical inquiries about art as artists then were doing artworks that were based on verses from the bible because the people could not read. Art was never discussed as art. Artworks then were always made based on religion and theology. It was the Christians' main concern with converting the public by using images to tell the stories about the life and accomplishment of Jesus

Just as it’s human nature to believe in something larger or more powerful than oneself, it is also human nature to express that divinity through art, this is proven time and time again in human history. Picturing the divine is a type of testimony to show a cultures greatness. The painting Arhats Giving Alms to Beggars comes from the Chinese culture of the Southern Song period. Whereas, the mosaic Christ as Pantocrator comes from the Byzantine culture of the Greek Orthodox tradition. Although these paintings come from very different backgrounds both cultures show the divine and their pressure on mankind to follow the rules, such as giving away worldly desires. By doing so and letting go of material possessions, mankind can be hopeful of

Looking back on the past, art, music, and literature played an important role in society. Compared to today, it still has that same effect. It’s inspiring and changing society in many different ways. Art has a power of expressing what we humans can’t explain. It brings out a feeling in all of us that’s unimaginable and unexplainable. Religion has served as a primary subject matter of art. However, there are many views when it comes to the relationship between humans and God. Three artists from three different time periods explore the comparisons between art and religion. Lorenzo Ghiberti, Hieronymus Bosch, and Christopher Wren have explored the idea that art has influenced religion and that it’s meaning is one we cannot fully explain. All three

In contemplation of the special dignity of being created in the image of God and despite the challenges presented by mankind’s fallen nature, it is still necessary to adhere to the basic principles that apply to visual representations like paintings and sculpture, which as stated in the Sporre text are repetition, balance, unity and focal areas. (Sporre, Dennis J. Reality through the Arts. pgs. 57-58.). As stated in the Barry Wilson video, we have five reasons why we as believers should engage in art that should always be represented especially in light of the challenges of the fallen nature of mankind. In the Greek and Hellenistic periods the sculptures represented all of their gods in human form. While today these sculpture could be viewed today

Christian art is respected by anyone who appreciates good art. The aim of Christian art is ultimately to raise the viewer’s mind and heart to that of the eternal, leading a spectator to wonder, reverence and prayer. Christian art achieves this effect through its striving of the good, the true and the beautiful, all qualities found in God. This particular kind of art reached its pinnacle during the Renaissance, the time that Michelangelo painted and sculpted. Michelangelo, one of the great masters, incorporated the Christian element in his works that they perfectly fulfilled the purpose of Christian art.

The article Art and Religion by Daniel Grant is an interesting piece. Grant looks at how religious paintings and sculptures have changed significantly over time. Back in the Western world painting and sculpting religious subjects was a job, but in today's world fewer artist focus on biblical narratives. In today’s world it seems as through painters have to censor their work because it may “offend” someone or it might be “too religious”. Therefore because less people required or wanted religious paintings and sculptures, multiply “art ministries” have been opened. Art ministries are exhibition venues that display religious and spiritual dimensions.

In order to fully comprehend the meaning of works of art, it is important to understand the artist behind them. Obtaining knowledge on an artist’s life can help the viewer comprehend possible messages that a work of art is trying to present. Jean Auguste

“A great religious thinker said, ‘Life is simple but difficult,’ whereas we prefer to think of it as complex but easy. The same holds true for all art.”

It is a great feeling going to a place where it’s a huge matter in one’s life. “Revisiting Sacred Ground” N. Scott Momaday had made a pilgrimage which his Kiowa ancestors. Momaday has said,” There are certain villages, and towns mountains and plains that, having seen them, walked in them, lived in them, even for a day, we keep forever in the mind’s eye.” Just like how Momaday relived his ancestor’s trails, I had a chance as well. I was lucky enough to be able to go on such a sacred journey that people would pay in thousands of dollars. The pilgrimage I would like to talk about is the one I took to a sacred city in India called Badrinath. I

While some are called specifically to be artists and are given more talent and/or desire in that area than others, being creative is central to who we all are as humans. The arts play a fundamental role in this, giving us both means parallel with God’s own beauty with which to worship him, and derivative beauty to expand our enjoyment of God’s creation. Francis Schaeffer asserts: “The arts . . . have a place in the Christian life—they are not peripheral. For a Christian . . . the Lordship of Christ should

That are two kinds of people that exist when perceiving art; ones that view art and wonder what it is that the piece is trying to say and are then moved by the piece once they see what idea the piece is portraying, and the other kinds of people are ones that see art as asinine and simply walk past it without taking a second glance at it. After viewing a painting of Jesus, Dorothy Allison wrote that she,”took the notion that art should surprise and astonish, and hopefully make you think something you had not thought until you saw it.” Dorothy Allison is a person that views art and wonders what it is that the piece is trying to say and is then moved by the piece because of the message it is portraying. This is exactly what art should do and should be perceived with great attention. The reason for art is to tell a story. In cavemen days, it began as a method for storytelling, using visuals that cavemen would draw such as pictures of them hunting, fishing, and etc. Art is something that should be astonishing and surprising, and bring forth enlightenment about a certain subject or influence the way you view that subject matter after viewing a piece of art. Art without meaning is like a beautiful woman with no brains or heart, she could look as gorgeous as humanly possible, but without her having a purpose to her life or morals in that woman’s heart, she will

Have you ever been confused about the purpose or meaning behind a certain piece of art? In my opinion, art is viewed many different ways. The artist will create a piece of art with a certain intended meaning, but it will most likely not be viewed in that way. When a spectator views a piece of art, they take into account their past experiences, and since everyone has gone through different things, their interpretations are different, as you can imagine. The nature of art is created when the artist intends one thing, but the spectator sees the art differently; and therefore changes the meaning when they spread their personal opinions.

The Greek dichotomy of the artist is best summarized as either the artist is considered a god or a thief. The video describes this dichotomy well: “Any main claiming to be gifted in the arts is either a superior kind of human being or is a usurper of a godlike quality that ordinary man should not be touching. This creates a dichotomy in the pagan view of the artist – either he is special, able to interpret higher truth for the rest of us and therefore is above our criticism; or he is only pretending and anything he says should be treated with suspicion.” (Module 1 Content, ”What is Art?”) The Greek view of the artist differs greatly from the Biblical view of the artist, which will be discussed later in the paper.