The Life of the Church

1. The Life of the Church Christianity: An Introduction

2. 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

3. Customs included: • Rings • Voluntary commitment • Vows • Cultural factors Christian Weddings

4. Union of man and woman: symbolizes marriage of Christ and the Church • Two become one flesh • Wedding at Cana Christian Weddings

5. 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

6. Pall – white cloth • Incense • Formerly black worn; now white for new life Christian Funerals

7. 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

8. 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

9. “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

10. Our Father/Lord’s Prayer • Prayer – “a covenant relationship between God and humanity in Christ” • Private and public • Adoration • Contrition • Thanksgiving • Supplication Prayer

11. Earliest forms of worship – songs • Hymns – 8th century • Amazing Grace Praise

12. 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

13. 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

14. Sacrament – “An external physical sign of an interior spiritual grace” • Baptism • Reconciliation • Eucharist • Confirmation • Marriage • Holy Orders • Anointing of the Sick The sacraments

15. Baptizein - “to wash” • Infant baptism • Adult baptism • Confirmation Baptism

16. 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

17. Bread and wine – both forms offered • Some groups do it monthly • Others weekly • Spoon or no spoon? Eucharist

18. 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

19. Adventus - “coming” • Wreath • Four Sundays • Two advents Advent

20. Fixed – December 25 • Birth of Jesus • Santa Claus – St. Nicholas, patron saint of children • Epiphany – “manifestation” or “making known” – January 6th • Magi Christmas

21. Ash Wednesday – seventh week before Easter • Imposition of Ashes • Preparation for Easter Lent

22. Fasting • Almsgiving • Holy Week – • Palm Sunday • Holy Thursday • Good Friday • Stations of the Cross 14/15 Lent

23. Marks Christ rising from the dead Easter

24. 40 Days after Easter • Jesus’ time on earth after the Resurrection ends; he ascends into heaven Ascension

25. 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

26. 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

27. 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

28. 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

29. 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

30. 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

31. 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

32. 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

33. Christian Art

34. 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

35. 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

36. Church Layouts

37. 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

38. 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

39. 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

40. Pilgrimage – Commitment, hardship, Christian unity • Common places: • Jerusalem • Rome • Canterbury • Santiago de Compostela – “The Way of St. James” • Lourdes - France Pilgrimage and Christian Life