tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/jesus-13035/articles
Jesus – The Conversation
2024-03-28T05:49:47Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/226745
2024-03-28T05:49:47Z
2024-03-28T05:49:47Z
The rocking story of how religion crept into popular music – where it remains even today
<p>It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or '90s kid, you might be surprised to find many of your favourite tunes are more concerned about Jesus and God than you’d realised. </p>
<p>Many chart-topping songs in Western music delve into themes of faith (especially Christianity), spirituality and divinity. But unlike Christmas music, most of these come from a rock tradition.</p>
<h2>Early gospel makes the charts</h2>
<p>Hits by some of rock’s greatest guitarists, such as George Harrison, Lenny Kravitz and Prince, feature strong guitar riffs that create a sense of aural transcendence. These riffs, which involve a repeated note sequence or chord progression, help to define their songs.</p>
<p>This intertwining of guitar and Christian spirituality dates back to the emergence of rock music in the 1940s. American rock pioneer <a href="https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/sister-rosetta-tharpe-rocknroll-pioneer/">Sister Rosetta Tharpe</a> (1915–73), from the Pentecostal church, used powerful guitar riffs that surged with soulfulness. </p>
<p>Tharpe’s 1944 gospel song <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4-22b72muY&ab_channel=HistoryofRockMusic-Mostpowerfulrocksongs">Strange Things Happening Every Day</a> – <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IfYroJOiMg&ab_channel=RCARecords">covered by Yola</a> for the 2022 film <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_(2022_film)">Elvis</a> – is a great example.</p>
<p>Using electric guitar, and the theological message “Jesus is the holy light”, Tharpe’s was the first song to cross over from gospel into a mainstream “race” chart in the US. “<a href="https://www.loc.gov/collections/songs-of-america/articles-and-essays/musical-styles/popular-songs-of-the-day/rhythm-and-blues/">Race music</a>”, which eventually became R&B, was the term used to describe African American music (but generally just referred to secular music).</p>
<h2>The rise of spirituality and counterculture</h2>
<p>Christian rock also has roots in the 1960s US <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/1960s-counterculture">counterculture</a> “hippie” movement. The Jesus People brought a Christian vibe to this movement, leading to works such as Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1971 rock opera <a href="https://playbill.com/article/look-back-at-the-original-broadway-production-of-jesus-christ-superstar#">Jesus Christ Superstar</a>, which is still being performed more than 50 years later.</p>
<p>Throughout the 1960s and '70s, plenty of songs exploring themes of God, faith and spirituality climbed their way into the Top 20. For example, Norman Greenbaum’s 1970 track <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2msh0jut2Y&ab_channel=CraftRecordings">Spirit in the Sky</a> became popular during the <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/09/24/the-unlikely-endurance-of-christian-rock">Christian rock movement</a>. </p>
<p>It was joined in the same year by Harrison’s hit <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04v-SdKeEpE&ab_channel=GeorgeHarrisonVEVO">My Sweet Lord</a>, which is particularly interesting because of its mix of spiritual undertones, which reflect the West’s growing interest in Eastern spirituality at the time. </p>
<p>Along with the repetition of “lord” (which is said around 40 times) and the use of the Christian/Hebrew word “Hallelujah”, the song also includes chants of “Hare Krishna” and “Hare Rama”, praising the Hindu gods.</p>
<p>My Sweet Lord became the <a href="https://www.denofgeek.com/culture/george-harrison-my-sweet-lord-music-video/">highest-selling single</a> in the United Kingdom in 1971, as well as the first solo number-one hit by a member of the Beatles. It wasn’t all smooth sailing, though. The song sparked controversy, and a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1976/09/08/archives/george-harrison-guilty-of-plagiarizing-subconsciously-a-62-tune-for.html">lawsuit that claimed</a> it was too similar to The Chiffons’s 1963 hit He’s So Fine.</p>
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<p>For some, My Sweet Lord is considered a Christian song – at least the until the Hindu chants begin. But the mixing of religious elements was seen by some conservative Christians as satanic, or pagan (even though Hinduism <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/is-hinduism-a-pagan-relig_b_1245373">isn’t a pagan</a> religion). </p>
<p>Music throughout the 1960s and '70s, while it still touched on religious themes, grew much more rebellious and edgy with bands like <a href="https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20151027-the-satanists-who-changed-music">The Rolling Stones and Black Sabbath</a>. </p>
<p>Topics such as sex, drugs and hedonism became common – as did protesting against traditional values. From this cocktail emerged the view that rock was the <a href="https://www.udiscovermusic.com/in-depth-features/the-devil-has-all-the-best-tunes/">devil’s music</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/jesus-people-a-movement-born-from-the-summer-of-love-82421">'Jesus People' – a movement born from the 'Summer of Love'</a>
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<h2>The 80s: when religion met raunchy</h2>
<p>The 1980s and '90s continued the trend of intertwining spirituality and popular music. Many of these tracks stirred deep discussions on faith, cementing music’s power as a medium for expressing complex themes.</p>
<p>Lenny Kravitz’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnqUK7XF54k">Are You Gonna Go My Way</a> (1993) was written to sound like the lyrics came from Jesus himself:</p>
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<p>I was born long ago, I am the chosen. I’m the one. I have come to save the day, and I won’t leave until I’m done […] But what I really want to know is, are you gonna go my way? </p>
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<p>Prince’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXJhDltzYVQ&ab_channel=Prince">Lets Go Crazy</a> (1984) was a metaphor for God and Satan, hinted at in the line “are we gonna let the elevator bring us down? Oh no let’s go!” </p>
<p>Meanwhile, Madonna’s 1989 smash Like a Prayer made more than one wave when it topped the charts 35 years ago. The music video stirred up <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/from-the-archives-outrage-over-madonna-video-20190402-p51a0s.html">quite a controversy</a> by mixing the sacred with the profane. Among other things, Madonna is shown dancing among burning crosses, and kissing a black Christ who comes to life from being a statue.</p>
<p>The video conveys messages about prejudice, racism, violence and sexuality. Some networks refused to show it, deeming it inappropriate for children. Others aired it with a warning it might offend viewers. The Catholic Church was outraged and the Vatican condemned it. </p>
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<p>Nonetheless, the video achieved huge commercial success, winning MTV’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0003172/1989/1/">1989 Video Music Award</a> for Viewer’s Choice. Even now, it remains a pinnacle of music video art.</p>
<h2>Religion is still everywhere in music</h2>
<p>Today, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2023/02/10/sam-smiths-grammys-performance-criticized-by-conservatives-and-satanists/?sh=3339c55f30b1">most of us</a> won’t bat an eyelid when we see Lil Nas X <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/lil-nas-x-montero-call-me-by-your-name-video-church-of-satan-1147634/">giving Satan a lapdance</a>, and that’s probably because of the work of artists like Madonna. </p>
<p>It’s interesting that, despite a <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/religious-affiliation-australia">rise in secularism</a>, the intersection of the sacred and secular in music has persisted. Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, with its intermingling spiritual and sexual themes, is still one of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/sep/17/hallelujah-leonard-cohen-film-rejected-song-became-classic">most popular songs</a> of all time.</p>
<p>Today, many of the world’s most famous contemporary artists continue the tradition of engaging with spiritual and religious themes. Take Drake’s 2018 hit <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpVfcZ0ZcFM&ab_channel=DrakeVEVO">God’s Plan</a>, or The Weeknd’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/jan/07/the-weeknd-dawn-fm-review">highly acclaimed</a> 2022 album Dawn FM, replete with spiritual undertones and religious symbolism. </p>
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<p>Perhaps it’s just in the nature of religion to evoke feeling and inspire, even for those who aren’t “religious” themselves. Or perhaps we’ve collectively realised musicians can experiment with themes and take risks, and it won’t bring about the end of the world. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lil-nas-xs-dance-with-the-devil-evokes-tradition-of-resisting-mocking-religious-demonization-158586">Lil Nas X's dance with the devil evokes tradition of resisting, mocking religious demonization</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226745/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Panizza Allmark does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
You’d be surprised by how many of your favourite hits are about God or Jesus in one way or another.
Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/226229
2024-03-27T19:07:26Z
2024-03-27T19:07:26Z
Art depicts Jesus in a loincloth on the cross – the brutal truth is he would have been naked
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583785/original/file-20240323-20-9hf3zw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=269%2C202%2C1964%2C1470&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">British Museum</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around his waist. We now know, however, this has more to do with artistic convention than historical accuracy.</p>
<p>Featuring a loincloth goes back to the first Christian images of the crucifixion. Early examples include the <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_1856-0623-5">Maskell ivory panel</a> from early 5th-century Rome, and the depiction carved into the doors of the Santa Sabina basilica in Rome, built between 422 and 432 CE. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584335/original/file-20240326-28-t89j1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Panel from church door showing Jesus crucified" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584335/original/file-20240326-28-t89j1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584335/original/file-20240326-28-t89j1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584335/original/file-20240326-28-t89j1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584335/original/file-20240326-28-t89j1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584335/original/file-20240326-28-t89j1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584335/original/file-20240326-28-t89j1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584335/original/file-20240326-28-t89j1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Door panel from the Santa Sabina basilica in Rome.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
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<p>The Santa Sabina depiction shows Jesus crucified alongside the two thieves. But even though their wooden crosses are not shown, the artists have taken care to give each figure a loincloth.</p>
<p>The loincloth adornment has become so firmly fixed since the 5th century that most people take it for granted. However, the historical evidence shows it is not something victims of crucifixion <a href="https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429289750">would have been permitted</a>. </p>
<h2>The naked truth</h2>
<p>There are five sources of evidence indicating Jesus was crucified naked. </p>
<p>First, all four New Testament gospels record he was stripped of his clothing at the cross. John <a href="https://biblehub.com/john/19-23.htm">includes the detail</a> that Jesus was stripped not only of his outer garment but also his undergarment – his <em>chiton</em>, or tunic. </p>
<p>There is no mention of a loincloth in any of these accounts. Early readers would not have needed to be told Jesus was fully naked. They would have understood what crucifixion involved. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/himtoo-why-jesus-should-be-recognised-as-a-victim-of-sexual-violence-93677">#HimToo – why Jesus should be recognised as a victim of sexual violence</a>
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<p>In support of this, early Christian writers make reference to Jesus’ nakedness. For example, Melito of Sardis, a 2nd-century bishop in what is now Turkey, <a href="https://sachurch.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/On-Pascha-Melito-of-Sardis.pdf">writes</a>: </p>
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<p>The Sovereign has been made unrecognisable by his naked body, and is not even allowed a garment to keep him from view. That is why the luminaries turned away, and the day was darkened, so that he might hide the one stripped bare upon the tree.</p>
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<p>In the 4th century, the theologian and philosopher Augustine <a href="https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/120116.htm">compared Jesus</a> with Noah, after Noah became drunk and fell asleep naked.</p>
<h2>Non-Christian depictions of the cross</h2>
<p>The second piece of evidence is a bloodstone amulet from the late 2nd or early 3rd century, often referred to as the Pereire gem (named after a former owner). It <a href="https://grbs.library.duke.edu/index.php/grbs/article/view/15935">shows</a> a bearded and fully naked male figure on the cross, surrounded by inscriptions that include “Son, Father, Jesus Christ”.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584336/original/file-20240326-24-tgwp5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="ancient gemstone depicting Jesus crucified" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584336/original/file-20240326-24-tgwp5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584336/original/file-20240326-24-tgwp5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=704&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584336/original/file-20240326-24-tgwp5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=704&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584336/original/file-20240326-24-tgwp5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=704&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584336/original/file-20240326-24-tgwp5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584336/original/file-20240326-24-tgwp5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584336/original/file-20240326-24-tgwp5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The Pereire gem depicts a naked Jesus on the cross.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">British Museum</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
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<p>It is believed this gemstone was a magical amulet from the Eastern Mediterranean (Syria or Turkey). Its origins are likely non-Christian, since Christians were warned against magical images.</p>
<p>The image is probably the earliest representation of Jesus on the cross, and predates by about 200 years the Christian 5th-century depictions of the crucifixion featuring a loincloth.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sexualised-jesus-causes-outrage-in-spain-but-christians-have-long-been-fascinated-by-christs-body-222343">'Sexualised' Jesus causes outrage in Spain – but Christians have long been fascinated by Christ's body</a>
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<p>Third, the <a href="https://www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/2017/01/13/the-crucifixion-graffito-of-alkimilla-from-puteoli/">Puteoli graffito</a>, dated to the Trajan-Hadrian period of the Roman Empire (98–138 CE), is the earliest image so far discovered for any Roman crucifixion. It was unearthed in 1959 on the wall of an inn in Puteoli near Naples. </p>
<p>It shows a crucified figure pictured from behind. The horizontal stripes across the body suggest the figure has been whipped while naked, and then crucified fully naked.</p>
<p>Fourth, Dionysius of Halicarnassus (writing in the 1st century BCE) <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Dionysius_of_Halicarnassus/7C*.html">records the execution of a slave</a> who was marched to the place of execution naked. Dionysius does not specify that the execution was a crucifixion, but “slaves’ punishment” was a common euphemism for crucifixion. The passage is often cited as historical evidence for the Roman practice of naked crucifixions.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The Puteoli graffito is visible on the wall 15 seconds into the video.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Shame and humiliation</h2>
<p>Finally, both Christian and Roman writings describe crucifixion in terms of supreme shame, not just extreme pain. The forced naked exposure of the victim would have been a powerful way to promote such <a href="https://doi.org/10.1163/15697320-12341588">shame and humiliation</a>. Permitting a loincloth would undermine this. </p>
<p>The intense shame associated with crucifixion is also a likely reason why Christian artists did not show Jesus on the cross until the 5th century. </p>
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<p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/was-jesus-really-nailed-to-the-cross-56321">Was Jesus really nailed to the cross?</a>
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<p>When they finally began to show the scene, about a century after the emperor Constantine abolished crucifixions, they always gave Jesus a loincloth to reduce the shame and violence of the act. </p>
<p>So, there is no clear historical evidence in favour of loincloths at crucifixions. But there is firm evidence from Christian and non-Christian sources indicating victims were naked. </p>
<p>The practice of including a loincloth was an understandable response to a form of execution intended to deny the victim any dignity. For those interested in the history of crucifixion and how it was seen at the time, the loincloth needs to be seen as an artistic convention to soften the public shame of the cross.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226229/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Tombs does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Each Easter we see many images of Jesus on the cross – inevitably wearing a loincloth. But the historical evidence shows victims of crucifixion were fully naked to maximise shame as well as pain.
David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/224909
2024-03-27T17:05:53Z
2024-03-27T17:05:53Z
Why is Jesus often depicted with a six-pack? The muscular messiah reflects Christian values of masculinity
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581073/original/file-20240311-24-gmrsj8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=35%2C0%2C2360%2C1350&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">(L-R) The Rockox Triptych by Rubens (1613–1615), Christ as the Man of Sorrows by Maerten Jacobsz van Heemskerck and The Last Judgement by Michelangelo (1541).</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp/Sistine Chapel</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Have you ever wondered why so many images depicting the crucifixion show Jesus with a very defined, slender and toned body? Either slim, but with a six-pack, or displaying muscles and brawn. While these images are hardly a reflection of what little can be surmised about <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35120965">the historical Jesus</a>, they certainly reflect social and cultural ideas about masculinity and <a href="https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/96438/1/Edwards%2C%20Sporting-BR1%20copy.pdf">idealised notions of manhood</a>. </p>
<p>In many images of the crucifixion, Jesus is depicted as both strong and vulnerable. Crucifixion paintings showing a muscular messiah suggest that Jesus could perhaps physically have overcome his fate, had he wanted to. This interpretation of the crucifixion story amplifies the emotional and spiritual strength of his sacrifice.</p>
<p>The Bible is full of strong men and pumped prophets. Working the land is <a href="https://www.biblestudytools.com/genesis/3-17.html#:%7E:text=Genesis%203%3A17%20In%2DContext&text=rule%20over%20you.%22-,17%20To%20Adam%20he%20said%2C%20%22Because%20you%20listened%20to%20your,the%20days%20of%20your%20life.">Adam’s punishment</a> for eating from the Tree of Knowledge. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%206%3A14-16&version=NIV">Noah builds a massive ark</a>, filling it with every bird, animal and food. Samson has <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges+14%3A6&version=NIV">superhuman</a> <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges+14%3A19&version=NIV">strength</a> in the book of <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges+15%3A14&version=NIV">Judges</a> – his only weakness is women.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%201&version=NIV">opening of Matthew’s Gospel</a> details Jesus’ genealogy in detail, and it is clear that he has other hardmen in his DNA. It speaks of Abraham and David, particularly. In <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2014&version=NKJV">Genesis 14</a>, we learn how Abraham gathered an army of over 300 men and launched an attack to save his family. In <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+21%3A+1-5&version=ESV">Genesis 21</a>, he also fathers a child at the age of 100 – his son, Isaac. </p>
<p>David is also mentioned as an ancestor of Jesus. He was famous for <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel%2017&version=NKJV">killing Goliath</a>, whose immense stature <a href="http://www.davidacook.com/uploads/1/0/8/8/10887248/reconsidering_the_height_of_goliath.pdf">has been estimated as 9ft 9in</a>. In <a href="https://biblehub.com/1_samuel/18-27.htm">the Book of Samuel</a>, David kills 200 Philistine men and <a href="https://biblehub.com/1_samuel/18-27.htm">brings their foreskins</a> to King Saul, so that he will allow him to marry his daughter, Michal.</p>
<p>While some portrayals of Jesus have caused outrage, like those, for example, that represent him as <a href="https://theconversation.com/sexualised-jesus-causes-outrage-in-spain-but-christians-have-long-been-fascinated-by-christs-body-222343">feminine or sexualised</a>, a similar outcry does not seem to follow the muscular Jesus. </p>
<p>There is a story in the gospels of Jesus’s physical strength, when he <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2021%3A12-16%2CLuke%2019%3A45-47%2CJohn%202%3A13-16&version=NASB#:%7E:text=13%20The%20Passover%20of%20the%20Jews%20was%20near%2C,My%20Father%E2%80%99s%20house%20a%20%5B%20b%5Dplace%20of%20business%21%E2%80%9D">drives out</a> those who were buying and selling in the temple, overturning tables in his anger. In the New Testament, the gospels even narrate a <a href="https://www.bible.com/bible/406/LUK.11.21-28.ERV#:%7E:text=21%2D28%20ERV-,%22When%20a%20strong%20man%20with%20many%20weapons%20guards%20his%20own,with%20the%20other%20man%27s%20things.">Parable of the Strong Man</a>. </p>
<p>The endurance of physical torture before the crucifixion has been well documented in religious iconography, such as the <a href="https://www.catholic.org/prayers/station.php">Stations of the Cross</a>, as well as in films such as Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ (2004). Jesus also has to be mentally strong to overcome Satan, so depictions of his physical strength are perhaps supposed to echo his superhuman, spiritual strength.</p>
<h2>‘Behold the man!’</h2>
<p>Paintings that depict Jesus with a six-pack have influenced factions of Christianity. In the 19th century, the idea of <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/6637/chapter-abstract/150662543?redirectedFrom=fulltext#:%7E:text=%27Muscular%20Christianity%27%20was%20a%20term,could%20and%20should%20promote%20this.">“muscular Christianity”</a> took hold. The term, invented in 1857, describes those Christians who see moral and religious value in sports. </p>
<p>In his book <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Gods-Gym-Divine-Male-Bodies-of-the-Bible/Moore/p/book/9780415917575">God’s Gym</a> (1997), professor of religion Stephen Moore explores the quest for Jesus in a perfect human masculine form, and how this is connected to physical culture and male narcissism. Masculine Christian spirituality is often aligned with the values of <a href="https://cmn.men/collections/workbooks">courage, strength and power</a>.</p>
<p>While his ministry isn’t known for its exercise focus, Jesus’s fitness can be seen in some interpretations of the gospels. He <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%204-6">walked for 40 days in the vast wilderness</a> and <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2019:17-42&version=NIV">carried a heavy cross</a> on his back. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Jesus feeding his disciples" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581658/original/file-20240313-24-a6n6ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581658/original/file-20240313-24-a6n6ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581658/original/file-20240313-24-a6n6ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581658/original/file-20240313-24-a6n6ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581658/original/file-20240313-24-a6n6ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581658/original/file-20240313-24-a6n6ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581658/original/file-20240313-24-a6n6ws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An illustration from the Armenian Daniel of Uranc gospel (1433) showing the feeding of the 5,000.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Feeding_the_multitude,_Daniel_of_Uranc,_1433.jpg">Matenadaran</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Through the Eucharist (“take and eat, this is my body”), Jesus’s body became sacrament. This has palpable implications for many modern Christians. If Jesus’s physical fitness is a sign of his holiness, then it is something to aspire to.</p>
<p>Theologian Lisa Isherwood’s book <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Fat_Jesus/a7K1Bil8HcAC?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover">The Fat Jesus</a> (2008) explores Christian women’s weight-loss cultures through programmes such as “Slim for Him”. Feminist theologian Hannah Bacon’s book <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/feminist-theology-and-contemporary-dieting-culture-9780567659958/">Feminist Theology and Contemporary Dieting Culture</a> (2019), meanwhile, analyses the problematic use of “sin/syn” to refer to “bad” foods in weight-loss programmes.</p>
<p>For some Christians, depictions of Jesus as strong and muscular represent the ideal of a man’s body. They interpret Biblical stories in ways that mirror these paintings. Many of these groups believe that Biblical ideas of <a href="https://www.mensalliancetribe.com/about/what-we-believe">masculinity are under attack</a>. In response, they put on events designed to attract men to church and promote the ideals of biblical manhood. Praising a muscular body ideal for men – and for Jesus – is part of that.</p>
<p>So next time you’re looking at a painting of Jesus in a church or gallery, do remember that such images reflect contemporary social and cultural attitudes to men’s bodies, rather than authenticity, in their artistry. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Greenough does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The Bible is full of strong men and pumped prophets.
Chris Greenough, Reader in Social Sciences, Edge Hill University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/221071
2024-03-27T12:38:11Z
2024-03-27T12:38:11Z
The roots of the Easter story: Where did Christian beliefs about Jesus’ resurrection come from?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583768/original/file-20240322-29-86j1i0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2013%2C923&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A mosaic of the Resurrection in the Basilica of St. Paul in Harissa, Lebanon.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mosa%C3%AFques_de_la_basilique_Saint_Paul_(Harissa)09.jpg">FredSeiller/Wikimedia Commons</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As Easter approaches, Christians around the world begin to focus on two of the central tenets of their faith: the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. </p>
<p>Other charismatic Jewish teachers or <a href="https://www.sefaria.org/The_Jewish_Spiritual_Heroes%2C_Volume_I%3B_The_Creators_of_the_Mishna%2C_Rabbi_Chanina_ben_Dosa?lang=bi">miracle workers</a> were active in Judea around the same time, approximately 2,000 years ago. What set Jesus apart was his <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+15.12-19&version=NRSVUE">followers’ belief in his resurrection</a>. For believers, this was not only a miracle, but a sign that Jesus was the long-awaited Jewish messiah, sent to save the people of Israel from their oppressors.</p>
<p>But was the idea of a resurrection itself a unique belief in first-century Israel? </p>
<p>I am <a href="https://religiousstudies.wvu.edu/faculty-and-staff/faculty/aaron-gale">a scholar of ancient Judaism</a> and <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/redefining-ancient-borders-9780567025210/">its connection to the early Christian movement</a>. The Christian concept of Jesus rising from the dead helped shape many of the faith’s key teachings and, ultimately, the new religion’s split from Judaism. Yet religious teachings about resurrection go back many centuries before Jesus walked the earth.</p>
<p>There are stories that likely predate early Jewish beliefs by many centuries, such as the Egyptian story of the god <a href="https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100255831">Osiris being resurrected by his wife, Isis</a>. Most relevant for Christianity, though, are Judaism’s own ideas about resurrection.</p>
<h2>‘Your dead shall live’</h2>
<p>One of the earliest written Jewish references to resurrection in the Bible is found in the <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+26&version=NRSVUE">Book of Isaiah</a>, which discusses a future era, perhaps a time of final judgment, in which the dead would rise and be subject to God’s ultimate justice. “Your dead shall live; their corpses shall rise,” Isaiah prophesies. “Those who dwell in the dust will awake and shout for joy.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583783/original/file-20240323-28-o988y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Three rows of yellowed manuscript on a scroll, with jagged edges." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583783/original/file-20240323-28-o988y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583783/original/file-20240323-28-o988y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=190&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583783/original/file-20240323-28-o988y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=190&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583783/original/file-20240323-28-o988y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=190&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583783/original/file-20240323-28-o988y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=238&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583783/original/file-20240323-28-o988y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=238&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583783/original/file-20240323-28-o988y.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=238&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Great Isaiah Scroll: the best preserved of the biblical scrolls found at Qumran, by the Dead Sea, which was probably written around the second century B.C.E.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Great_Isaiah_Scroll.jpg">Ardon Bar Hama/The Israel Museum, Jerusalem/Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Later Jewish biblical texts such as the <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel+12.2&version=NRSVUE">Book of Daniel</a> also referenced resurrection.</p>
<p>There were several competing Jewish sects at the time of Jesus’ life. The most prominent and influential, the Pharisees, further integrated <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2023%3A8&version=NRSVUE">the concept of resurrection</a> into Jewish thought. According to <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/war-2.html">the first-century historian Josephus</a>, the Pharisees believed that the soul was immortal and could be reunited with a resurrected body – ideas that would likely have made the idea of Jesus rising from the dead more acceptable to the Jews of his time.</p>
<p>Within a few centuries, the rabbis began to fuse together the <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel+37.1-12&version=NRSVUE">earlier biblical references to bodily resurrection</a> with the later ideas of the Pharisees. In particular, the rabbis began to discuss the concept of <a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Ketubot.111a?lang=bi">bodily resurrection</a> and its connection to the messianic era.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584246/original/file-20240325-28-1nyx4d.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Beige stone boxes sit on the ground in rows, with a building with a golden roof in the distance." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584246/original/file-20240325-28-1nyx4d.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584246/original/file-20240325-28-1nyx4d.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584246/original/file-20240325-28-1nyx4d.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584246/original/file-20240325-28-1nyx4d.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584246/original/file-20240325-28-1nyx4d.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584246/original/file-20240325-28-1nyx4d.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584246/original/file-20240325-28-1nyx4d.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Jewish Cemetery on Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. Graves face the Temple Mount, where some believe that the resurrection of the dead will culminate.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:121224-Jerusalem-Mount-of-Olives_(27497923512).jpg">xiquinhosilva/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Jews believed that the legitimate Messiah would be <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2011&version=NRSVUE">a descendant of the biblical King David</a> who would vanquish their enemies and <a href="https://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/31-pssal-nets.pdf">restore Israel to its previous glory</a>. In the centuries following Jesus’ death, the rabbis taught that the souls of the dead <a href="https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1127503/jewish/The-Resurrection-Process.htm">would be resurrected</a> after the Messiah appeared on earth.</p>
<p>By the 500s C.E. or so, the rabbis further elaborated upon the concept. The Talmud, the most important collection of authoritative writings on Jewish law apart from the Bible itself, notes that <a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Mishnah_Sanhedrin.10.1?lang=bi">one who does not believe in resurrection has no share in the “Olam Haba</a>,” the “World to Come.” The Olam Haba is the realm where these sages believed <a href="https://ohr.edu/ask_db/ask_main.php/25/Q2/">one’s soul eventually dwells</a> after death. Interestingly, the concept of hell itself never became ingrained within mainstream Jewish thought.</p>
<p>Even now, the concept of God giving life to the dead is affirmed every day <a href="https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/146958?lang=bi">in the Amidah</a>, <a href="https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/mechayeh-hameitim-rethinking-the-resurrection-blessing/">a Jewish prayer recited</a> as part of the daily morning, afternoon and evening services.</p>
<h2>Old ideas, new beliefs</h2>
<p>The fact that the first followers of Jesus were Jews likely contributed to the concept of resurrection becoming ingrained into Christian thought. Yet the Christian understanding of resurrection was taken to an unprecedented degree in the decades following Jesus’ death.</p>
<p>According to Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus, a Jew from Galilee, entered Jerusalem in the days before Passover. He was accused of sedition against the Roman authorities – and likely other charges, such as blasphemy – largely because he was <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+21%3A12-13&version=NRSVUE">causing a disturbance</a> among the Jews getting ready to celebrate the holiday. At the time, <a href="https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/passover-pesach-history/">Passover was a pilgrimage festival</a> in which tens of thousands of Jews would travel to Jerusalem.</p>
<p>After being betrayed by one of his followers, Judas, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+26.47-68&version=NRSVUE">Jesus was arrested, hastily put on trial</a> and sentenced to be crucified. The Roman authorities wished to uphold the pax Romana, or Roman peace. They feared that unrest amid a major festival could lead to a rebellion, especially given the accusation that at least some of Jesus’ followers believed him to be the “<a href="https://ehrmanblog.org/why-was-jesus-crucified/">King of the Jews</a>, as was recorded later in <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+2%3A2&version=NRSVUE">Matthew’s</a> and <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+15.2&version=NRSVUE">Mark’s Gospels</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583782/original/file-20240323-24-cymdt5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A close-up photo of a pale sculpture of a bearded man's face, looking in pain or tired, with gold letters above." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583782/original/file-20240323-24-cymdt5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583782/original/file-20240323-24-cymdt5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583782/original/file-20240323-24-cymdt5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583782/original/file-20240323-24-cymdt5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583782/original/file-20240323-24-cymdt5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583782/original/file-20240323-24-cymdt5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/583782/original/file-20240323-24-cymdt5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Crucifixes often display the Latin abbreviation ‘INRI,’ short for ‘Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.’ This statue in Germany’s Ellwangen Abbey shows the abbreviation in three languages.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ellwangen_St_Vitus_Vorhalle_Kreuzaltar_detail2.jpg">Andreas Praefcke/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>According to the Gospels, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+27.32-28.10&version=NRSVUE">Jesus was put to death</a> on what is now Good Friday, and rose again on the third day – which today is celebrated as Easter Sunday.</p>
<p>Jesus’ early followers believed not only that he had been resurrected, but that he was <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/first/themovement.html">the long-awaited Jewish messiah</a>, who had fulfilled earlier <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hosea+6.1-2&version=NRSVUE">Jewish prophecies</a>. Eventually, they also embraced the idea that he was <a href="https://www.npr.org/transcripts/300246095">the divine Son of God</a>, although scholars still debate exactly how and when this occurred.</p>
<p>In addition, the nature of Jesus’ resurrection remains <a href="https://marcusjborg.org/posts-by-marcus/the-resurrection-of-jesus/">a source of debate</a> among theologians and scholars – such as whether followers believed his <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+24.36-43&version=NRSVUE">resurrected body was made of flesh and blood</a>, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Cor+3.17-18&version=NRSVUE">or pure spirit</a>. </p>
<p>Yet the grander meaning of the resurrection, which is recorded in all <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+28%3A1-10%2CMark+16%3A1-11%2CLuke+24%3A1-12%2CJohn+20&version=NRSVUE">four canonical Gospels</a>, remains clear for many of the approximately 2 billion Christians around the world: They believe that Jesus <a href="https://www.religion-online.org/article/resurrection-faith-n-t-wright-talks-about-history-and-belief/">triumphed over death</a>, which serves as a cornerstone foundation of the Christian faith.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221071/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aaron Gale does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Ideas about resurrection had been developing for centuries before Jesus’ life, but his followers took them in new directions.
Aaron Gale, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, West Virginia University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/223699
2024-03-06T13:34:26Z
2024-03-06T13:34:26Z
Tattooing has held a long tradition in Christianity − dating back to Jesus’ crucifixion
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579668/original/file-20240304-24-ukodpk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=40%2C32%2C5316%2C3579&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Christian Palestinian tattoo artist Walid Ayash draws a tattoo on the arm of a Coptic Egyptian pilgrim on April 28, 2016, at his studio in Bethlehem.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/christian-palestinian-tattoo-artist-walid-ayash-draws-a-news-photo/525904928?adppopup=true">Thomas Coex /AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Holy Week and Easter are perhaps the most important days in the Christian calendar. Many associate those celebrations with church services, processions, candles, incense, fasting and penances. </p>
<p>However, there is another tradition that many Christians follow – that of tattooing. Historically, Easter was an <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1wmz40c.5">important time for tattoos</a> among some Christian groups. Today, Christian tattooing happens in many parts of the world and all year around. Some Christians visiting Jerusalem around Easter will get a tattoo of a cross, or a lamb, usually on their forearms.</p>
<p>As a sociologist of religion and a Jesuit Catholic priest, I have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0037768620962367">long studied tattoos</a> as <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12070517">religious practices</a>. I have interviewed tattoo artists in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Loreto in Italy who have been continuing and recreating the tradition of Christian tattooing. Evidence is clear the practice started shortly after Jesus’ crucifixion and spread across Europe in later centuries. </p>
<h2>The first Christian tattoos</h2>
<p>The Romans, like the Greeks, <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/25011055">tattooed slaves</a> and prisoners, usually with letters or words on their foreheads that indicated their crime. Soon after Jesus’ death, around the year 30 C.E., they started enslaving and tattooing Christians with the marks “AM” – meaning “ad metalla,” or condemned to work in the mines, a punishment that often resulted in death. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/25011055">Almost at the same time, Christians</a> who were not enslaved <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1wmz40c.5">got tattoos</a> of the early Christian signs such as fish or lambs in solidarity and to show that they identified with Jesus.</p>
<p>There were <a href="https://bc.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1410461075">no specific words in Latin or Greek for tattooing</a>, so the words “stizo,” “signum” and “stigma” were used. The word <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1wmz40c.5">stigma</a> also referred to the marks of nails on Jesus’ hands and foot, as a result of his crucifixion. Christians often got their own “stigmas”: a sign – usually a cross – in Jerusalem to honor Christ’s martyrdom. </p>
<h2>The beginning of a tradition</h2>
<p>There are several documented accounts of the tradition.</p>
<p>One from the third century mentions <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/25011055">Christians in present-day Egypt and Syria</a> getting tattoos of fish and crosses.</p>
<p>Another tells about the commentary that Procopius of Gaza, a theologian who lived between 475 and 538 C.E., wrote on the <a href="https://catenabible.com/com/5e88f313b1c7280cb341d0d2">Book of Isaiah</a> after he found that many Christians living in the Holy Land had a cross tattooed on their wrists. “Still others will write on their hand, ‘The Lord’s,’ and will take the name Israel,” he noted. </p>
<p>When a plague hit the Scythians, nomadic people living around the Black Sea, in 600 C.E., tattoos were believed to provide protection from the deadly disease. <a href="https://archive.org/details/theophylact-simocatta-whitby-1986/Theophylact_Simocatta_Whitby_1986/page/n9/mode/2up">Theophylact Simocatta</a>, one of the last historians of late antiquity, mentioned that missionaries among them recommended that “the foreheads of the young be tattooed with this very sign” – meaning that of a cross.</p>
<p>Many testimonies mentioned <a href="https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo2/A64495.0001.001/1:11.1.48?rgn=div3;view=fulltext">Crusaders and pilgrims</a> returning from the Holy Land with a tattoo during the Middle Ages – a tradition that continued <a href="https://archive.org/details/fynesmorysons04moryuoft">in early modern times</a>, between the 16th and 18th centuries.</p>
<h2>Christian tattoos in Great Britain</h2>
<p>Other cultures used tattoos in different ways. When Romans came in contact with the Celts tribes that inhabited the British Isles in 400 C.E., they <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.5973126.8">called them Picts</a> because they were covered in <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1wmz40c.7">body art</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579672/original/file-20240304-30-netvij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white illustration showing a man and woman covered in body art, holding spears in their hands." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579672/original/file-20240304-30-netvij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579672/original/file-20240304-30-netvij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579672/original/file-20240304-30-netvij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579672/original/file-20240304-30-netvij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579672/original/file-20240304-30-netvij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579672/original/file-20240304-30-netvij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579672/original/file-20240304-30-netvij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The word Picts is derived from the name given to them by the Romans because of their painted bodies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/circa-300-bc-male-and-female-picts-covered-in-body-paint-news-photo/51240502?adppopup=true">Hulton Archive/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Pope Gregory the Great sent envoys to convert the Celts to Christianity, followed by a visit from another Vatican delegation. While missionaries were against “pagan tattooing,” both delegations agreed that tattoos done for the Christian god were fine. The members of the second delegation in the late 700s even said, “If anyone were to undergo this injury of staining for the sake of God, he would receive a <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1wmz40c.7">great reward for it</a>.”</p>
<p>Similar was the conclusion of the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1wmz40c.5">Northumbria Council</a>, a church gathering in Northern England in 787: Tattoos done for the right god were acceptable. At that time, the Anglo-Saxon elite also had tattoos; the bishop of York, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1wmz40c.7">Saint Wilfrid</a>, for example, got a tattoo of a cross. </p>
<h2>Tattoos in Italy</h2>
<p>Around the 1300s, as the Christian kingdoms in the Holy Land were losing control with the coming of the Ottomans, there appeared in Italy shrines called “Sacri Monti.” These shrines were placed on “holy mountains” where devotees could pilgrimage safely, instead of risking their lives going to Jerusalem, which by then was under the control of the Ottomans.</p>
<p>These shrines were established in cities such as Naples, Varallo and Loreto. <a href="https://doi.org/10.5944/etfvii.6.2018.22922">Pilgrims could get tattoos</a> in some of these shrines. One place was Loreto’s sanctuary, established in the early 1300s. A relic from the “Holy House,” which, according to the Christian tradition, is the house where the Virgin Mary is believed to have received the news that she will bear God’s son, was brought to Loreto’s sanctuary. </p>
<p>Tattooing in Loreto’s sanctuary was a communal activity, done by carpenters, shoemakers and artisans, who <a href="https://archive.org/details/ilbelpaeseconver00stopuoft/page/486/mode/2up">brought their stalls and tools to the main square</a>
during the days of celebrations and tattooed whoever wanted to get a mark of their devotion. These tattoos typically used wood planks for transferring the design on the body, like a stamp. However, the city of Loreto banned tattooing for hygienic reasons in 1871, according to <a href="https://archive.org/details/costumiesupersti00pigo">Caterina Pigorini Beri</a>, an anthropologist, who was one of the first to document the practice. </p>
<p>But people kept getting them. A shoemaker, <a href="https://youtu.be/P_fNN880GGw?feature=shared">Leonardo Conditti</a>, was among those who kept doing tattoos in hiding during the 1940s. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/P_fNN880GGw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The history of tattooing.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Present but unseen</h2>
<p>From the 1200s to the 1700s, the custom of <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1wmz40c.4">Christian tattooing</a> was prevalent in Europe among peasants, seafarers, soldiers and artisans as much as among nuns and monks. They were getting crosses, images of the Virgin Mary, the name of Jesus, and some sentences from the Bible.</p>
<p>Following the Renaissance, however, European culture came to associate tattoos <a href="https://theconversation.com/tattoos-have-a-long-history-going-back-to-the-ancient-world-and-also-to-colonialism-165584">with those considered “uncivilized</a>,” such as peoples in the colonies, criminals and poorer Catholics. Many European intellectuals <a href="https://archive.org/details/historyoftattooi0000hamb">viewed Catholicism as a superstition</a> more than a real religion.</p>
<p>The word “tattoo” came to the Western languages after the French admiral and explorer Louis de Bougainville and British explorer James Cook returned from their trips to the South Pacific at the end of the 1700s. There, they saw local people getting marks on their bodies and using the word “tatau” to name those drawings. However, it does not mean that tattoos came back at that time. They had never left.</p>
<h2>The practice today</h2>
<p>These days, some churches in the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1wmz40c.11">Middle East</a>, such as some <a href="https://archive.org/details/twothousandyears0000mein/page/n5/mode/2up">Coptic Christian</a> churches in Egypt, incorporate the practice of getting a tattoo into the baptismal rituals. </p>
<p>Indeed, Holy Land tattooing has never stopped. <a href="https://razzouktattoo.com">Wassim Razzouk</a>, whom I interviewed in 2022, is a 27th-generation tattooist – his family has been <a href="https://archive.org/details/coptictattoodesi0000cars/page/n7/mode/2up">marking pilgrims in Jerusalem since 1300</a>. Razzouk claims to have some of the 500-year-old wood planks his family used for tattooing. </p>
<p>Another tattoo artist whom I interviewed, Walid Ayash, does pilgrimage tattoos for those who visit the Nativity church in Bethlehem – a beloved custom among Arab Christians. He said that tattooing happens all year around, as long as there are pilgrims visiting the Nativity church. Although this year, as a result of the war in Gaza, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/3/27/easter-in-jerusalem-no-access-for-gazas-christians">Israeli authorities have restricted access</a> to Jerusalem and Bethlehem.</p>
<p>In Italy, <a href="https://youtu.be/mtkc-TJSBdA?feature=shared">artist Jonatal Carducci</a> is working on recovering the tradition of religious tattooing in Loreto. In a 2023 interview with me, he explained how he has painstakingly replicated the designs of the wood planks, which are both in the Museum of the Holy House and the Folkloric Museum of Rome. In 2019, he opened a parlor where Leonardo Conditti used to work. Visitors to the parlor can choose among more than 60 designs for their tattoos, including the Virgin Mary of Loreto, crosses and representations of Jesus’ heart.</p>
<p>This Easter, as some Christians get tattoos, this history might serve as a reminder of tattooing as a legitimate Christian practice, one that has been in use since the beginnings of the Common Era.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223699/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gustavo Morello does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Historically, many Christians got tattoos around Holy Week − usually a cross − to honor Christ’s martyrdom.
Gustavo Morello, Professor of Sociology, Boston College
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/222343
2024-02-01T11:17:41Z
2024-02-01T11:17:41Z
‘Sexualised’ Jesus causes outrage in Spain – but Christians have long been fascinated by Christ’s body
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572452/original/file-20240131-21-g605ou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C8%2C5551%2C3692&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Holy Week in Seville has attracted some controversy.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/seville-spain-september-28-2022-view-2321982699">Kirk Fisher/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There has been backlash from some conservative Catholics in Spain this week, who object to an image of Jesus on a poster used to promote Holy Week in Seville. The image has been described as <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/homoerotic-christ-posters-holy-week-divides-spain-seville-667rcrrm0">homoerotic</a>, <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/01/29/spanish-catholics-denounce-offensive-jesus-poster/">effeminate, camp</a> and <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/01/29/spanish-catholics-denounce-offensive-jesus-poster/">sexualised</a>. </p>
<p>Religious imagery is widespread in western popular culture, from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79fzeNUqQbQ">music videos</a> to <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-pope-wears-prada-how-religion-and-fashion-connected-at-met-gala-2018-96290">fashion</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=2NW_G20ioJ4">TV shows</a> to advertising. In her book <a href="https://sheffieldphoenix.com/product/admen-and-eve-the-bible-in-contemporary-advertising/">Admen and Eve</a>, writer Katie Edwards explains that “Eve is quite the money maker” and signposts the prolific use of Eve in marketing campaigns for products including <a href="https://www.origsin.com/original-sin-hard-cider-genesis">cider</a>, <a href="https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/snow-white-eve-apples">cereal</a>, <a href="https://tobacco.stanford.edu/cigarettes/womens-cigarettes/eve/">cigarettes</a> and <a href="https://www.fashiongonerogue.com/dkny-be-desired-perfume/">perfumes</a>. </p>
<p>In my own research, I have explored representations of <a href="https://www.bibleandcriticaltheory.com/vol-16-no-1-2020-profit-over-prophet-a-critical-analysis-of-moses-in-advertising-christopher-greenough/">Moses in advertising</a>. The figure of Moses, an elderly, male, disabled prophet from the book of Exodus, is usually replaced by young, nude women shown parting the red sea, in various advertisements including <a href="https://www.adsoftheworld.com/campaigns/pool-ea7d93d0-b491-4333-99e8-299bc10fbb21">one for suncream</a>. </p>
<p>While the use of religious characters such as Eve and Moses often goes unnoticed, adverts that use the image of Jesus frequently cause an outcry. There’s been a backlash against using his image in advertising, including for <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-41997936">Greggs’ vegan rolls</a>, <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/phones4u-jesus-ad-samsung_n_952666">Samsung mobile phones</a> and even <a href="https://www.adsoftheworld.com/campaigns/jesus-mary-what-a-style">jeans</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1752323109737124026"}"></div></p>
<h2>The history of icons and the church</h2>
<p>The current outrage in Spain has precedents. There has been anger about explicit images of Jesus used in films about his life such as Monty Python’s <a href="https://www.montypython.com/film_Monty%20Python's%20Life%20of%20Brian%20(1979)/14">“blasphemous”</a> film Life of Brian (1979) and Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ (2004), which depicts the <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/passion-of-the-christ-15-years-mel-gibson-jim-cavieziel-movie-reaction-christianity-a8788381.html">crucifixion as a bloody sacrifice</a>. Some portrayals of the crucifixion have been implicit, such as Cersei’s walk of shame in <a href="https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4z7zlm">Game of Thrones</a>, which echoes the <em><a href="https://www.holylandsite.com/via-dolorosa">Via Dolorosa</a></em> — the path Jesus walked to the crucifixion.</p>
<p>Certain denominations of Christianity, such as Pentecostalism and Methodism, do not engage with icons or images of God, following their prohibition in the <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2020%3A4&version=NIV">book of Exodus</a>. Yet, icons have a long and significant history in the Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions, as objects worthy of veneration. </p>
<p>Representations of Jesus are prolific in this sense. The depiction of the crucifixion – his semi-nude, broken body on a cross – adorns churches and jewellery worldwide. So much so that we have become almost desensitised to the violence depicted in this type of image. These images are often in children’s classrooms if they attend faith schools. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A crucifix necklace" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572496/original/file-20240131-15-40nwq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572496/original/file-20240131-15-40nwq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572496/original/file-20240131-15-40nwq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572496/original/file-20240131-15-40nwq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572496/original/file-20240131-15-40nwq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572496/original/file-20240131-15-40nwq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572496/original/file-20240131-15-40nwq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The depiction of the crucifixion adorns jewellery worldwide.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/crucifix-necklace-on-marble-background-2184162495">Jack Hamilton Photography/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Christianity and the body</h2>
<p>Art critic Leo Steinberg’s book, <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo4092467.html">The Sexuality of Christ in Renaissance Art and Modern Oblivion</a> (1983), showcases how crucifixion imagery was once quite explicit, as historically many images did not afford Jesus the modesty of a loincloth. Jesus’ body has always been a <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Indecent-Theology/Althaus-Reid/p/book/9780415236041">site of controversy</a>, despite Christianity being a religion that is quite concerned with bodies. </p>
<p>Christianity is an embodied religion, where beliefs are not simply spiritual, but are enacted through, by and on the body. Think <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%201%3A18-25&version=NRSVACE">immaculate conceptions and virgin births</a>. Sacraments such as baptism (immersion in water), anointing and the Eucharist involve physical movements (praying, bowing) and the senses (tasting, smelling) alongside visual, sacred symbols.</p>
<p>God becoming flesh – the incarnation – is the basis of Christian understandings of Jesus. In Roman Catholicism, there is a belief in <a href="https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/transubstantiation-for-beginners">transubstantiation</a>, that Christ is present in the consumption of the bread and wine (representing body and blood) during holy communion. The bread, or wafer, literally becomes Christ’s body for human consumption, following Jesus’ instruction <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/Matthew%2026%3A26">“take this and eat it, this is my body”</a>. In her book <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Indecent-Theology/Althaus-Reid/p/book/9780415236041">Indecent Theology</a> (2000), the late queer theologian, Marcella Althaus-Reid describes such an activity as “cannibalistic”. </p>
<p>In my own book <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Bible-and-Sexual-Violence-Against-Men/Greenough/p/book/9780367562878#:%7E:text=The%20Bible%20and%20Sexual%20Violence%20Against%20Men%20argues%20that%20the,world%20and%20biblical%20texts%20themselves.">The Bible and Sexual Violence Against Men</a> (2021), I explore how Jesus is presented as asexual, both in the Bible and in Christian theology. The Bible tells very little of Jesus’ sexuality, and for a Jewish man in his thirties, the absence of wife and family would have been noticeable.</p>
<p>Asexuality seems to be a family affair. It’s suggested that his earthly parents, the virgin Mary and Joseph were both abstinent or celibate. Such celibacy is prescribed for priests in Roman Catholicism, and marriage is tackled in Paul’s <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%207-9&version=NIV">letter to the Corinthians</a>, where he says “it is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do”.</p>
<h2>Representation and reception</h2>
<p>Those in Spain who have objected to Jesus being portrayed as “effeminate”, “camp” or “sexualised” seem to imply that there is something wrong or deviant about such portrayals. More globally, this speaks back to the legacy of homophobia in certain conservative Christian settings and the use of <a href="https://theconversation.com/using-the-bible-against-lgbtq-people-is-an-abuse-of-scripture-110128">the Bible in this</a>. The debate continues, even with inclusive advancements from Pope Francis in relation to the <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/pope-francis-eases-barriers-blessing-same-sex-marriage-1864328">blessing of same-sex unions.</a></p>
<p>While controversies reign around the image of a “sexualised” Jesus in Spain, this portrayal has a more obvious controversy that has not received attention. Jesus, a Middle Eastern, <a href="https://theconversation.com/jesus-wasnt-white-he-was-a-brown-skinned-middle-eastern-jew-heres-why-that-matters-91230">brown-skinned man</a>, has been white-washed. The depiction of Jesus as a white European is <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-long-history-of-how-jesus-came-to-resemble-a-white-european-142130">problematic</a>.</p>
<p>In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus is reported to ask: <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2016%3A15-16&version=NIV" title=""">“Who do you say that I am?</a>. Representations and images of Jesus are often context specific and context based – and therefore the reception of such images are, too.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
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<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222343/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Greenough does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Those in Spain who have objected to Jesus being portrayed as ‘effeminate’, ‘camp’ or ‘sexualised’ seem to imply that there is something wrong or deviant about such portrayals.
Chris Greenough, Reader in Social Sciences, Edge Hill University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/218928
2023-12-12T09:50:26Z
2023-12-12T09:50:26Z
Celebrating Christmas on December 25 began as early as 2 century CE, history shows
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562632/original/file-20231128-29-8pdnly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C11%2C7500%2C4989&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There are several views about the origin of Christmas celebrations and when they actually began.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kipgodi/shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Most people, including Christians, believe the origin of Christmas is the pagan feasts to worship the solar god <a href="https://study.com/academy/lesson/sol-invictus-history-mythology-facts-roman-sun-god.html">Sol Invictus</a>, Saturn’s god <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Saturnalia-Roman-festival">Saturnalia</a>, or the Persian solar god adopted by the Romans, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mithraism">Mithras</a>.</p>
<p>Academically, this view is also known as <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23358685">historical religions theory</a>. The theory suggests the Catholic Church in Rome, Italy, began celebrating Christmas on December 25 in 336 <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-common-is-the-common-era-how-a-d-and-c-e-took-over-counting-years-168719">CE</a> to replace the pagan celebrations.</p>
<p>However, several ancient manuscripts and theories reveal that the original celebrations of Christmas began even earlier than 336 CE.</p>
<h2>Determining Jesus’ birth date</h2>
<p>Some sources from 200 CE implicitly and explicitly show how December 25 was determined as the date of Jesus’s birth. </p>
<p>Hyppolitus (170-235 CE), a prominent theologian of the Catholic Church in Rome, mentioned the date of Jesus birth in his 204 CE work, “Commentary on Daniel”. </p>
<p>He <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24607042?seq=1">stated</a> Jesus was born “in Bethlehem, eight days before the calendar of January [December 25], the 4th day of the week [Wednesday]”. </p>
<p>In this context, Hyppolitus used <a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/julian-calendar.html">the Julian calendar</a>, a solar calendar introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BCE.</p>
<p>But in Jewish tradition, the date of conception of holy person coincides with the date of death. Early Christians believed that March 25 was when Jesus was crucified.</p>
<p>Based on this theological assumption, the calculation shows that Jesus’ conception also happened on March 25. This means, Jesus was born exactly nine months later, or on December 25. This theological-based calculation is known as <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23358685">Calculation Theory</a>.</p>
<p>The theory suggests Jesus’s birth date has not linked to the pagan rituals to worship Sol Invictus, Saturnalia and Mithras, since the pagan feasts were not celebrated on December 25.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.academia.edu/5499535/Steven_Hijmans_Sol_Invictus_the_Winter_Solstice_and_the_Origins_of_Christmas_">Sol Invictus</a> was likely celebrated on August 8, 9, or 28, October 19 or 22, or December 11. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/58/58-2/JETS_58-2_299-324_Simmons.pdf">Saturnalia</a> was celebrated between December 17-23. </p>
<p>As for <a href="https://www.historyhit.com/facts-about-the-cult-of-mithras/">Mithras</a>, there is no compelling evidence that it was celebrated on December 25. </p>
<h2>The origins of Christmas celebrations</h2>
<p>Three different manuscripts further prove Christmas was celebrated before 336 CE. <a href="https://archive.org/details/didascaliaaposto00gibsuoft/didascaliaaposto00gibsuoft/page/18/mode/2up?q=epiphany"><em>Didascalia Apostolorum</em></a>, <a href="https://archive.org/details/bookofpontiffsli0000unse"><em>Liber Pontificalis</em></a>, and <a href="https://www.academia.edu/105846268/December_25th_and_the_Epistle_of_Theophilus">Epistle of Theophilus</a> The texts provide information on the pastoral life of early Christians, their religious ceremonies (liturgies) and the names of popes.</p>
<p><em>Didascalia</em> is an ancient text from 250 CE. The text mentions the celebration of the Epiphany, the manifestation of Christ to the ordinary people. The Catholic Church celebrates Epiphany to commemorate the visit of three wise men in Bethlehem. </p>
<p>The Eastern Orthodox and Orthodox churches celebrate the Epiphany to commemorate the baptism of Jesus. Epiphany is part of of Christmas feast in the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Orthodox Churches.</p>
<p><a href="https://archive.org/details/didascaliaaposto00gibsuoft/didascaliaaposto00gibsuoft/page/18/mode/2up?q=epiphany">The <em>Didascalia</em> text states that</a> Epiphany is celebrated every January 6 in the Julian calendar. When we convert this date to the Gregorian calendar, a solar calendar that has been widely used since <a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/julian-gregorian-switch.html">1582 CE</a> until now, the Epiphany falls on December 25.</p>
<p><em>Liber Pontificalis</em>, which contains a short biography of the popes, suggests the celebration of Christmas in 2 century CE. <a href="https://archive.org/details/bookofpontiffsli0000unse">The text reveals</a> that Pope Telesphorus (125-136 CE) instructed the celebration of Jesus’s birth. The text does not mention the date of the festival. However, <em>Liber Pontificalis</em> proves that the Christmas celebration’s history is older than we used to know. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.academia.edu/105846268/December_25th_and_the_Epistle_of_Theophilus">Epistle of Theopilus</a> mentions December 25 as the date of the celebration of Jesus birth. The text suggests that the celebration was prior to 196 CE, thus, it is likely the Christmas has been celebrated before that.</p>
<p>The three texts above prove that the origin of Christmas is not Sol Invictus, Saturnalia, or Mithras celebrations, and that Christians have been celebrating Christmas since 2 century CE.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218928/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martinus Ariya Seta tidak bekerja, menjadi konsultan, memiliki saham, atau menerima dana dari perusahaan atau organisasi mana pun yang akan mengambil untung dari artikel ini, dan telah mengungkapkan bahwa ia tidak memiliki afiliasi selain yang telah disebut di atas.</span></em></p>
Some historians say Christmas has been celebrated since 336 AD. But some evidence shows it actually started even earlier.
Martinus Ariya Seta, Dosen, Universitas Sanata Dharma
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/215211
2023-12-11T18:56:21Z
2023-12-11T18:56:21Z
Was King Herod the Great really so ‘great’? What history says about the bad guy of the Christmas story
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564389/original/file-20231207-21-moqskm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C7%2C1022%2C927&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Herod the Great − though in the Gospel of Matthew, he wasn't so great.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/circa-4-ad-bust-of-emperor-herod-the-great-news-photo/51243879?adppopup=true">Hulton Archive via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>King Herod will sound familiar to anyone who’s heard the Christmas story. King of Judea when Jesus of Nazareth was born, the ruler attempts to find and kill the baby after hearing that the “King of the Jews” has just been born.</p>
<p>Tricked by the Magi, the wise men whom Herod had sent to determine where the infant was, a raging Herod decreed that all children 2 and under who live near Bethlehem are to be killed. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%202&version=NRSVUE">The Gospel of Matthew</a> contains the famous account of this “slaughter of the innocents,” and of Mary, Joseph and Jesus’ flight to Egypt.</p>
<p>Interestingly, King Herod’s storyline is not found in any other biblical texts nor in Roman records. Yet it is pivotal in Matthew’s Gospel, which contrasts Herod’s mission, death, to that of the baby Jesus, life.</p>
<p>So who was the real King Herod – and why would Matthew’s Gospel include him?</p>
<p>I am a scholar who studies <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/redefining-ancient-borders-9780567025210/">the interpretation of Matthew’s Gospel</a>, as well as <a href="https://religiousstudies.wvu.edu/faculty-and-staff/faculty/aaron-gale">the Jewish roots of Christianity</a>. Historians in the field know a fair amount about Herod’s life, and the actual facts are somewhat surprising.</p>
<h2>‘King of the Jews’</h2>
<p>Writers such as <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/">the Jewish historian Josephus</a>, who fought against Roman rule in the first century C.E. before eventually allying himself with Rome, have provided detailed accounts regarding Herod’s deeds. In addition, modern archaeologists have excavated many sites associated with him, including <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCEaIiWHe8k">the possible location of Herod’s tomb</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564391/original/file-20231207-15-6d1oqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A richly illustrated medieval manuscript shows a scene of a family superimposed over other illustrations." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564391/original/file-20231207-15-6d1oqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564391/original/file-20231207-15-6d1oqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=821&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564391/original/file-20231207-15-6d1oqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=821&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564391/original/file-20231207-15-6d1oqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=821&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564391/original/file-20231207-15-6d1oqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1032&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564391/original/file-20231207-15-6d1oqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1032&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564391/original/file-20231207-15-6d1oqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1032&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A manuscript illumination of the Magi visiting Jesus, made in the Netherlands in the 16th century, shows the Magi before Herod at the bottom of the image.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/manuscript-illumination-with-adoration-of-the-magi-ca-news-photo/1288526680?adppopup=true">Sepia Times/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>According to historical accounts, Herod the Great was the regional <a href="https://www.loc.gov/resource/g7501s.ct002407/?r=-0.407,0.293,1.722,1.087,0">king of Judea</a>, which contained the cities of Bethlehem and Jerusalem. He ruled from about 37 B.C.E. until his death in 4 B.C.E., at a time when Judea was still under Roman influence. Most scholars estimate that Jesus was born <a href="https://www.patheos.com/answers/when-was-jesus-born">between 6 and 4 B.C.E.</a> – during Herod’s reign, as Matthew’s Gospel indicates.</p>
<p>Since Herod was <a href="https://lexundria.com/j_bj/1.284/wst">appointed by Rome</a> to rule over Judea, a mostly Jewish region, he was literally “king of the Jews.” However, Herod may not have actually been Jewish at all, at least by birth. </p>
<p>He was likely from the region known as Idumea, to the south. Herod’s father had likely been forced to <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/antipater-ii-or-antipas">convert to Judaism</a>, as scholars believe many Idumeans were, while his mother was <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/ant-14.html">an Arabian princess</a>. However, as Josephus points out, the two groups intermingled quite extensively, with some Idumeans, perhaps including his father, willingly adopting Jewish customs.</p>
<p>Josephus even declares that Herod was basically a Judean, though it is likely that many of the native Jews in Judea would have been skeptical of their king’s claims to be truly Jewish and <a href="https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/king-herod/#footnote-905">viewed him as an outsider</a>, especially if he did come from Idumea. However, Josephus does indicate that Herod would <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/ant-15.html">ally himself with Roman leadership</a> whenever he deemed it prudent.</p>
<h2>‘Great’ but severe</h2>
<p>Herod the Great proved himself a skillful builder, responsible for the planning and construction of projects such as the city of Herodium; the extravagant harbor <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1480/">at Caesarea Maritima</a>, on the Mediterranean Coast; and <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1040/">the mountain fortress of Masada</a>, which was located in the middle of the unforgiving desert near the Dead Sea.</p>
<p>Most famously, perhaps, was Herod’s rebuilding and expansion of the Jewish <a href="https://rsc.byu.edu/new-testament-history-culture-society/temple-herod">temple complex in Jerusalem</a>. This project alone took decades to complete. Herod’s remodeled temple was a much more grandiose structure than Solomon’s original temple, built about a thousand years earlier. Josephus noted how <a href="https://www.ccel.org/ccel/josephus/complete.iii.vi.v.html">it resembled a white, snow-covered mountain</a> – that is, the parts of it that were not covered in gold.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564395/original/file-20231207-21-mufqrx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A large group of men in black and white clothing, seen from the back, face a tall tan-colored stone wall." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564395/original/file-20231207-21-mufqrx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564395/original/file-20231207-21-mufqrx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564395/original/file-20231207-21-mufqrx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564395/original/file-20231207-21-mufqrx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564395/original/file-20231207-21-mufqrx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564395/original/file-20231207-21-mufqrx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564395/original/file-20231207-21-mufqrx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jewish men pray at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, part of Herod’s expansion of the temple complex.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/members-of-the-jewish-community-gather-to-pray-at-the-news-photo/1779946594?adppopup=true">Israel Fuguemann/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Regardless of whether Herod was actually Jewish, he contributed to the preservation of Judaism. He succeeded in exempting Jews from serving in the Roman military and having to engage in emperor worship, preserving their ability <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/ant-16.html">to practice Judaism in relative peace</a>. </p>
<p>Herod also proved himself a brilliant <a href="https://www.uwyo.edu/news/2018/08/uw-religion-today-king-herod-the-economic-power-of-government-spending.html">economic strategist</a> who greatly increased the wealth of Judea by engaging in ventures such as international trade, which included the sale of balsam wood and copper. He contributed funds to national and international endeavors, including <a href="https://www.uwyo.edu/news/2016/08/uw-religion-today-king-herod-president-of-the-olympic-games.html">the Olympic Games</a>, and it is said that he even <a href="https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/herods-wealth/">averted a regional famine</a>.</p>
<p>Yet Herod’s sinister reputation as a tyrant was probably well deserved. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564383/original/file-20231207-19-ig0a8a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An ornate painting depicts a woman in white with long dark hair walking down steps and looking back toward a downcast king on a throne." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564383/original/file-20231207-19-ig0a8a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564383/original/file-20231207-19-ig0a8a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=886&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564383/original/file-20231207-19-ig0a8a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=886&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564383/original/file-20231207-19-ig0a8a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=886&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564383/original/file-20231207-19-ig0a8a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1113&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564383/original/file-20231207-19-ig0a8a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1113&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564383/original/file-20231207-19-ig0a8a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1113&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Herod sentenced his own wife to death, suspecting her of plotting to kill him: ‘Mariamne Leaving the Judgement Seat of Herod,’ by painter John William Waterhouse.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_William_Waterhouse-Mariamne_Leaving_the_Judgement_Seat_of_Herod-1887.jpg">Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Because he constantly feared a rebellion, he would execute anyone he deemed a threat to his reign, including his own first wife and three of his sons. In addition, he was reported to have <a href="https://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/ant-15.html">excessively taxed his constituents</a> to help support his economic programs.</p>
<h2>Similar stories?</h2>
<p>There is no historical record of any “massacre of the innocents” – even the tyrannical Herod most likely never condoned such an action. </p>
<p>If that was the case, why does Matthew’s Gospel mention King Herod so prominently in Jesus’ birth narrative?</p>
<p>Matthew’s version is considered <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/2019/09/16/the-gospel-of-matthew-within-and-without-judaism/">the most Jewish of the Gospels</a>, the four biblical accounts of Jesus’ life in the New Testament – for example, it advocates for <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+5%3A17-19&version=NRSVUE">upholding Jewish laws</a>. In other words, Matthew’s Gospel was likely written by Jews for a mostly Jewish audience late in the first century C.E., when the Christian movement was still in its infancy.</p>
<p>Matthew’s audience would have been familiar with the existing Hebrew scriptures, including the famous story of Moses’ childhood, when he escapes the pharaoh’s edict <a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Exodus.1.16?lang=bi&aliyot=0">to kill all the newborn sons</a> of his Hebrew slaves. Biblical scholars have made the case that Matthew’s Gospel intentionally compared Jesus with Moses, who saved the Hebrews from Egyptian bondage, to convince the intended audience that Jesus, too, was a long-awaited savior.</p>
<p>To strengthen the similarities between Jesus and Moses, this argument goes, the authors of Matthew had Herod threaten Jesus in the same manner that the pharaoh threatened the Hebrew children. The Jewish audience of Matthew would have connected the two narratives, in which good ultimately triumphs over evil. The Gospel story further villainizes Herod, whose son, <a href="https://www.catholicweekly.com.au/which-herod-was-which-sorting-out-the-five-herods/">also called King Herod, or Herod Antipas</a>, was ruling at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion around 30 C.E.</p>
<p>Herod may have been a splendid builder and a savvy economist – and technically the “King of the Jews.” But in the eyes of the Gospel authors, it was Jesus who truly <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%202&version=NRSVUE%20%22%22">deserved that title</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215211/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aaron Gale does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Historians know a fair bit about Herod the Great, the king of Judea at the time of Jesus’ birth.
Aaron Gale, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, West Virginia University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/211587
2023-08-23T12:26:21Z
2023-08-23T12:26:21Z
Navigating the intersection between AI, automation and religion – 3 essential reads
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542839/original/file-20230815-23-3fs34t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">AI is slowly becoming part of the religious sphere. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/rosary-prayer-online-holy-mass-conducted-online-royalty-free-image/1221601837?phrase=religion+and+technology&adppopup=true">robertprzybysz/iStock via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In a era marked by rapid technological advancement, we are seeing everything from artificial intelligence to robots slowly seep into our everyday lives. But now, this technology is increasingly making inroads into a realm that has long been uniquely human: religion. </p>
<p>From the creation of <a href="https://apnews.com/article/germany-church-protestants-chatgpt-ai-sermon-651f21c24cfb47e3122e987a7263d348">ChatGPT sermons</a> to <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/robots-are-performing-hindu-rituals-some-worshippers-fear-theyll-be-replaced">robots performing sacred Hindu rituals</a>, the once-clearer boundaries between faith and technology are blurring. </p>
<p>Over the last few months, The Conversation U.S. has published a number of stories exploring how AI and automation are weaving themselves into religious contexts. These three articles from our archives shed light on the impacts of such technology on human spirituality, faith and worship across cultures. </p>
<h2>1. Prophets come to life</h2>
<p>As one of the most prominent religious figures in the world, Jesus has been continually reinterpreted to fit the norms and needs of each new historical context, from <a href="https://theconversation.com/panama-celebrates-its-black-christ-part-of-protest-against-colonialism-and-slavery-122171">Cristo Negro</a> or “Black Christ” to being depicted as a Hindu mystic. </p>
<p>But now the prophet is on Twitch, a video live-streaming platform. And it’s all thanks to an AI chatbot. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A bearded white man wearing a brown hooded jacket has a halo around him." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543072/original/file-20230816-17-mzi6vx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543072/original/file-20230816-17-mzi6vx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543072/original/file-20230816-17-mzi6vx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543072/original/file-20230816-17-mzi6vx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543072/original/file-20230816-17-mzi6vx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543072/original/file-20230816-17-mzi6vx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543072/original/file-20230816-17-mzi6vx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">AI Jesus provides insight on both spiritual and personal questions users ask on his channel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.twitch.tv/ask_jesus">Twitch user ask_jesus</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Presented as a bearded white man wearing a brown hood, “AI Jesus” is available 24/7 on his Twitch channel “<a href="https://www.twitch.tv/ask_jesus">ask_Jesus</a>” and is able to interact with users who can ask him anything from deep religious-in-nature questions to lighthearted inquiries. </p>
<p>AI Jesus represents one of the newest examples in the growing field of AI spirituality, noted Boston College theology faculty member <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/joseph-l-kimmel-1441171">Joseph L. Kimmel</a>, and may help scholars better understand how human spirituality is being actively shaped by the influence of AI.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-chatbot-willing-to-take-on-questions-of-all-kinds-from-the-serious-to-the-comical-is-the-latest-representation-of-jesus-for-the-ai-age-208644">A chatbot willing to take on questions of all kinds – from the serious to the comical – is the latest representation of Jesus for the AI age</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>2. Robotic rituals</h2>
<p>A unique intersection of religion and robotic technology has emerged with the introduction of robots performing Hindu rituals in South Asia. While some have welcomed the technological inclusion, others express worries about the future that ritual automation could lead to. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LH5yqpCWKqs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A robotic arm performs “aarti” — a Hindu practice in which light is ritually waved for the veneration of deities.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many believe that the growth of robots within Hindu practices could lead to an increase in people leaving the religion, and question the use of robots to embody religious and divine figures.</p>
<p>But there is another concern: whether robots could eventually replace Hindu worshippers. Automated robots would be able to perform rituals without a single error. This is significant because religions like Hinduism and Buddhism emphasize the correct execution of rituals and ceremonies as a means to connect with the divine rather than emphasizing correct belief. </p>
<p>It’s a concept referred to as orthopraxy, according to Wellesley College anthropology lecturer <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/holly-walters-1406163">Holly Walters</a>. “In short, the robot can do your religion better than you can because robots, unlike people, are spiritually incorruptible,” she explained. “Modern robotics might then feel like a particular kind of cultural paradox, where the best kind of religion is the one that eventually involves no humans at all.”</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/robots-are-performing-hindu-rituals-some-devotees-fear-theyll-replace-worshippers-197504">Robots are performing Hindu rituals -- some devotees fear they'll replace worshippers</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>3. AI preachers</h2>
<p>According to College of the Holy Cross religious studies scholar <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/joanne-m-pierce-156953">Joanne M. Pierce</a>, preaching has always been considered a human activity grounded in faith. But what happens when that practice is taken over by an AI chatbot? </p>
<p>In June 2023, hundreds of Lutherans gathered in Bavaria, Germany, for a service designed and delivered by ChatGPT. But many are cautious about using AI to conduct these religious practices. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xmXghWi2lf8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">St. Paul’s Church in Fürth, Bavaria was packed with over 300 Lutherans who attended a church service generated almost entirely by artificial intelligence.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In their sermons, preachers not only offer advice, but “speak out of personal reflection in a way that will inspire the members of the congregation, not just please them,” Pierce said. “It must also be shaped by an awareness of the needs and lived experience of the worshiping community in the pews.”</p>
<p>For the time being, it seems as though the inability to understand the human experience is AI’s biggest flaw within the preaching sphere. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/can-chatbots-write-inspirational-and-wise-sermons-208825">Can chatbots write inspirational and wise sermons?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Editor’s note: This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation’s archives.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211587/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
The merging of technology and faith is sparking a transformative shift in redefining spirituality and religious practices.
Meher Bhatia, Editorial Intern, The Conversation
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/210509
2023-08-17T12:35:28Z
2023-08-17T12:35:28Z
Images of Jesus have always been complex and contradictory − this class looks at how pop culture imagines him, from cartoons to musicals
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542837/original/file-20230815-31-gr7hrd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C7%2C1005%2C659&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Actor Dave Willetts as Jesus in a production of "Jesus Christ Superstar" in Zurich in 1992.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/jesus-christ-superstar-im-z%C3%BCrcher-corso-1992-news-photo/1174258162?adppopup=true">Philippe Rossier/RDB/ullstein bild via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Text saying: Uncommon Courses, from The Conversation" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499014/original/file-20221205-17-kcwec8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption"></span>
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</figure>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/uncommon-courses-130908">Uncommon Courses</a> is an occasional series from The Conversation U.S. highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching.</em> </p>
<h2>Title of course:</h2>
<p>“Jesus in the Modern Imagination”</p>
<h2>What prompted the idea for the course?</h2>
<p>My only real exposure to religion while growing up was “Jesus Christ Superstar” – the 1973 film version of <a href="https://theconversation.com/best-easter-pageant-ever-half-a-century-of-jesus-christ-superstar-180628">the much-debated Broadway musical</a>. Every Easter, my parents would throw it on, and I listened to the soundtrack on repeat until I knew every word. </p>
<p>My journey to studying religion was really a happy accident. I had always been enamored by ancient history and planned to research gender and sexuality in the ancient Mediterranean. An adviser suggested I look to early Christianity – and from the moment I first read about <a href="https://faith.nd.edu/s/1210/faith/interior.aspx?sid=1210&gid=609&pgid=45213&cid=87041&ecid=87041&crid=0&calpgid=61&calcid=53508">Mary of Egypt</a>, a prostitute who became a saint in the desert, I was hooked. </p>
<p>When I finally started <a href="https://www.bowdoin.edu/profiles/faculty/j.sellick/index.html">graduate work in religious studies</a>, I knew next to nothing about the Bible. “Superstar” and other biblically inspired musicals like “<a href="http://www.guidetomusicaltheatre.com/shows_j/joseph.htm">Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat</a>” were my primary reference points. Drawing comparisons in class, I realized how much of my understanding of religious narratives had been shaped by pop culture.</p>
<p>I knew I probably wasn’t alone in this, so I designed a course that explores the relationship between religion and media.</p>
<h2>What does the course explore?</h2>
<p>Although the course has “modern” in the title, a lot of what students and I do is to look at ancient depictions of Jesus and compare it to more modern films, comics and music.</p>
<p>For example, I teach a unit on the “lost years” of Jesus’ life. The four canonical gospels in the Bible either completely ignore Jesus’ youth or basically jump from his birth to his adult life. This gap naturally leads to questions: What was Jesus like as a kid? Was he very pious? A troublemaker?</p>
<p>This is where apocryphal sources – early Christian literature that wasn’t included in official versions of the Bible – can start to fill in the gaps. Students discuss the <a href="http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/infancythomas-hock.html">Infancy Gospel of Thomas</a>, a <a href="https://bibleodyssey.org/people/main-articles/infancy-gospel-of-thomas/">second-century narrative about Jesus’ childhood</a>. This text depicts Jesus disobeying his parents, talking back and even killing people with his divine powers, though he resurrects them all in the end. We read this alongside portions of novelist Christopher Moore’s book “<a href="https://www.chrismoore.com/books/lamb/">Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal</a>.” Moore’s 2002 comedy depicts a teenage Jesus traveling around the world in order to learn how to become the messiah. </p>
<p>But every time you try to fill one gap, even more questions pop up. For example, it may sound silly, but did Jesus, whom the canonical gospels portray as a bachelor, ever have a crush? If he did, would that change conversations about celibacy and sexuality? Once we start peeling back these layers of what we can and cannot know, and how different depictions of Jesus have imagined him, it always leads to really fascinating classroom conversations.</p>
<h2>Why is this course relevant now?</h2>
<p>Jesus is a perpetually contested figure. Is Jesus a teacher of peace or a warrior? A socialist or a capitalist sympathizer? Is he the manliest man to ever exist or a transgressively feminine figure? Depending who you ask, American Christians see Christ as all these things and more.</p>
<p>These are hot-button questions, ones that influence individuals and whole societies. But they cannot be easily answered – or sometimes answered at all – by the Bible. Understandings of Jesus are also deeply shaped by people’s cultures, norms and desires, which we see reflected in everything from <a href="https://wipfandstock.com/9781532656170/the-protevangelium-of-james/">second-century texts</a> to <a href="https://www.mrmarkmillar.com/comics/american-jesus">modern comics</a> and Monty Python’s “Life of Brian.”</p>
<p>This course does not attempt to answer the question, “Who was Jesus?” However, it examines how humanity has grappled with it, both historically and today.</p>
<h2>What will the course prepare students to do?</h2>
<p>Above all, this course gives students the tools to better analyze how interpretations of religious and historical figures are shaped by the communities that imagine and re-imagine them. It allows the class to see just how complicated religious figures like Jesus are and to analyze the motivations behind specific interpretations.</p>
<p>Oh, and students also get to make their own Jesus movies at the end of the semester – which is pretty awesome.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210509/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeannie Sellick receives funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. </span></em></p>
Is Jesus a peacemaker or a warrior? A socialist or a capitalist? Depending on whom you ask, American Christians see Christ as all these things and more.
Jeannie Sellick, Postdoctoral Fellow in Religion, Bowdoin College
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/208644
2023-08-01T12:39:03Z
2023-08-01T12:39:03Z
A chatbot willing to take on questions of all kinds – from the serious to the comical – is the latest representation of Jesus for the AI age
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540006/original/file-20230728-17212-cby2s4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C2%2C1511%2C782&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">On AI Jesus’ Twitch channel, chatbot Jesus answers questions on personal and spiritual matters.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.twitch.tv/ask_jesus">Twitch user ask_jesus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Jesus has been portrayed in many different ways: <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/jesus-9780195124743?cc=us&lang=en&">from a prophet</a> who alerts his audience to the world’s imminent end to a <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/jesus-john-dominic-crossan?variant=32130275213346">philosopher who reflects</a> on the nature of life.</p>
<p>But no one has called Jesus an internet guru – that is, until now.</p>
<p>In his latest role as an “AI Jesus,” Jesus stands, rather awkwardly, as a white man, dressed in a hooded brown-and-white robe, available 24/7 to answer any and all questions on his Twitch channel, “<a href="https://www.twitch.tv/ask_jesus">ask_jesus</a>.”</p>
<iframe src="https://player.twitch.tv/?channel=ask_jesus&parent=theconversation.com&muted=true" width="100%" height="350px"></iframe>
<p>Questions posed to this chatbot Jesus can range from the serious – such as asking him about life’s meaning – to requesting a good joke. </p>
<p>While many of these individual questions may be interesting in their own right, as <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=NgRTC7MAAAAJ&hl=en">a scholar of early Christianity and comparative religion</a>, I argue that the very presentation of Jesus as “AI Jesus” reveals a fascinating refashioning of this spiritual figure for our AI era. </p>
<h2>Reinterpreting Jesus</h2>
<p>Numerous scholars have described how Jesus has been reinterpreted over the centuries. </p>
<p>For example, religion scholar <a href="https://www.stephenprothero.com/">Stephen Prothero</a> has shown how, in 19th-century America, <a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781466806054/americanjesus">Jesus was depicted as brave and tough</a>, reflecting white masculine expectations of the period. Prothero argues that a primarily peaceful Jesus was perceived to conflict with these gender norms, and so Jesus’ physical prowess was emphasized. </p>
<p>By contrast, according to scholar <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/tr/sugirtharajah-rs.aspx">R.S. Sugirtharajah</a>, around the same time in India, <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674051133">Jesus was represented as a Hindu mystic or guru</a> by Indian theologians like Ponnambalam Ramanathan in order to make Jesus more relatable for Indian Christians and to show how his spiritual teachings could be usefully adopted by faithful Hindus. </p>
<p>A third presentation of Jesus is reflected in <a href="https://utsnyc.edu/james-cone/">theologian James Cone</a>’s work. Cone depicts Jesus as Black <a href="https://orbisbooks.com/products/a-black-theology-of-liberation-50th-anniversary-edition">to highlight the oppression he endured as a victim of political violence</a>. He also shows how the “Black Christ” offers hope for liberation, equality and justice to oppressed people today.</p>
<p>The point is not that one of these representations is necessarily more accurate than the others, but instead that Jesus has been consistently reinterpreted to fit the norms and needs of each new context.</p>
<p>The AI Jesus who engages individuals online in the form of a chatbot is the latest in this ongoing pattern of reinterpretation, geared to making Jesus suited to the current times. On AI Jesus’ Twitch channel, users consistently treat this chatbot Jesus as an authority in both personal and spiritual matters. For example, one recent user asked AI Jesus for advice about how best to stay motivated while exercising, while another person wanted to know why God allows war. </p>
<h2>AI Jesus at work</h2>
<p>AI Jesus represents one of the newest examples in the growing field of AI spirituality. Researchers in AI spirituality study how human spirituality is being shaped by the rising influence of artificial intelligence, as well as how AI can help people understand how humans form beliefs in the first place. </p>
<p>For example, in a <a href="https://doi.org/10.9781/ijimai.2021.08.003">2021 article on AI and religious belief</a>, scholars <a href="https://www.uni-bamberg.de/en/aise/team/vestrucci/">Andrea Vestrucci</a>, <a href="https://www.iit.comillas.edu/personas/slumbreras">Sara Lumbreras</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=KJj_I3EAAAAJ&hl=en">Lluis Oviedo</a> explain how AI systems can be designed to generate statements of religious belief, such as – hypothetically – “it is highly likely that the Catholic God does not support the death penalty.”</p>
<p>Over time, such systems can revise and recalibrate these statements based on new information. For example, if the AI system is exposed to new data challenging its beliefs, it will automatically nuance future statements in light of that fresh information.</p>
<p>AI Jesus functions very similarly to this kind of artificial intelligence system and answers religious questions, among others.</p>
<p>For example, in addition to fielding questions referring to war and suffering, AI Jesus has responded to questions about why sensing God’s presence can be difficult, whether an action that causes harm yet was done with good intentions is considered a sin, and how to interpret difficult verses from the Bible.</p>
<p>This AI Jesus also adjusts his responses as the chatbot learns from user input over time. For instance, as part of the running stream of questions from some weeks ago, AI Jesus referenced past interactions with users and nuanced his responses accordingly, saying: “I have received this question about the Bible’s meaning before. … But in light of the question you have just posed, I want to add that … .” </p>
<h2>AI spirituality beyond AI Jesus</h2>
<p>This chatbot guru is facing increasing competition from other sources of AI spirituality. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540011/original/file-20230728-23-x19buz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People sitting on either side of the pews while an avatar on a screen in front delivers a sermon." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540011/original/file-20230728-23-x19buz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540011/original/file-20230728-23-x19buz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540011/original/file-20230728-23-x19buz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540011/original/file-20230728-23-x19buz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540011/original/file-20230728-23-x19buz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540011/original/file-20230728-23-x19buz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540011/original/file-20230728-23-x19buz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Visitors and attendees during the AI-created worship service in St. Paul Church, Bavaria, Germany.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/june-2023-bavaria-f%C3%BCrth-visitors-and-attendees-during-the-news-photo/1258555344?adppopup=true">Daniel Vogl/picture alliance via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For example, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/germany-church-protestants-chatgpt-ai-sermon-651f21c24cfb47e3122e987a7263d348">a recent ChatGPT church service in Germany</a> included a sermon preached by a chatbot represented as a bearded Black man, while other avatars led prayers and worship songs. </p>
<p>Other faith traditions are also providing spiritual lessons through AI. For example, in <a href="https://voicebot.ai/2022/01/21/meet-the-ai-monk-virtual-human-sharing-buddhist-teachings-in-thailand/">Thailand</a> a Buddhist chatbot named Phra Maha AI has <a href="https://www.facebook.com/people/%E0%B8%9E%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B0%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%AB%E0%B8%B2%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%AD%E0%B9%84%E0%B8%AD-AI-MONK/100076595477143/">his own Facebook page</a> on which he shares spiritual lessons, such as about the impermanence of life. Like AI Jesus, he is represented as a human being who freely shares his spiritual wisdom and can be messaged on Facebook anytime, anywhere – provided one has an internet connection. </p>
<p>In Japan, another Buddhist chatbot, <a href="https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14314273">known as “Buddhabot</a>,” is in the end stages of development. Created by researchers at Kyoto University, Buddhabot has learned Buddhist sutras from which it will be able to quote when asked religious questions, once it is made publicly available.</p>
<p>In this increasing array of easily accessible online options for seeking spiritual guidance or general advice, it is hard to tell which religious chatbot will prove to be most spiritually satisfying. </p>
<p>In any case, the millennia-old trend of refashioning spiritual leaders to meet contemporary needs is likely to continue well after AI Jesus has become a religious presence of the distant past.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208644/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joseph L. Kimmel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
As a chatbot, dressed in a hooded brown-and-white robe, Jesus is available 24/7 to answer any and all questions on his Twitch channel, ‘ask_jesus.’
Joseph L. Kimmel, Part-Time Faculty Member (Theology Department), Boston College
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/202348
2023-04-06T06:10:59Z
2023-04-06T06:10:59Z
The crucifixion gap: why it took hundreds of years for art to depict Jesus dying on the cross
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518695/original/file-20230331-28-lfvc1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=3%2C0%2C758%2C1099&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pavias Andreas, The Crucifixion, second half of the 15th century</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">National Gallery - Alexandros Soutsos Museum</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The cross, or crucifix, is arguably the central image of Christianity. </p>
<p>What’s the difference between the two? A cross is just that - an empty cross. It stands as a statement that Jesus is no longer on the cross and thus symbolises his resurrection. </p>
<p>A crucifix, on the other hand, includes the body of Jesus, to more vividly remind viewers of his death. </p>
<p>Many contemporary Christians, from bishops to ordinary folk, wear some kind of cross or crucifix around their neck and it would be rare to find a church that did not have at least one prominently displayed in the building.</p>
<p>While a symbol of faith, it is not just the pious who wear crosses. Madonna famously wore crucifix earrings and necklaces constantly throughout the 1980s and ‘90s. She is quoted as doing so because she provocatively “<a href="https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/why-does-madonna-wear-a-cross-necklace.html/">thought Jesus was sexy</a>”. </p>
<p>The recent ubiquity of the cross as a fashion item means it is sold at everything from cheap tween fashion stores to that jeweller renowned for its little turquoise boxes, where a diamond cross necklace can run <a href="https://www.tiffany.com.au/jewelry/necklaces-pendants/tiffany-co-schlumberger-ten-stone-cross-pendant-23926261/">in excess</a> of $10,000. </p>
<p>The 2018 Met Gala’s theme, Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and Catholic Imagination, further bestowed religious imagery with fashion icon status by making it central to one of the fashion industry’s key events. </p>
<p>Yet the cross was not always the dominant symbol of Christianity that it is now, and would certainly not have been worn as a fashion accessory by early Christians. </p>
<p>In fact, it took centuries for Christians to begin to depict the cross in their art.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/jesus-wasnt-white-he-was-a-brown-skinned-middle-eastern-jew-heres-why-that-matters-91230">Jesus wasn't white: he was a brown-skinned, Middle Eastern Jew. Here's why that matters</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>An undignified death</h2>
<p>While some want to credit <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/constantine">Emperor Constantine</a> for the use of the cross as becoming more widespread after the 4th century, it is not that simple. Part of the answer lies in the nature of crucifixion itself. </p>
<p>While crucifixion included some variety in antiquity, it was typically a form of execution reserved for non-elite, non-citizens in the 1st-century Roman Empire. </p>
<p>Slaves, the poor, criminals and political protesters were crucified in their thousands for “crimes” we might today consider minor offences. The types of cross structures might differ, but as a form of execution, crucifixion was brutal and violent, designed to publicly shame the victim by displaying him or her naked on a scaffold, thereby asserting Rome’s power over the bodies of the masses. </p>
<p>That Jesus suffered such an undignified death was an embarrassment to some early Christians. The apostle Paul describes Jesus’ crucifixion as a “stumbling block” or “scandal” to other Jews. Others would imbue it with sacrificial meaning to make sense of how the one claimed as God’s Son would suffer in this way. But the shame associated with this kind of death remained. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518657/original/file-20230331-24-3s01tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Crude scratchings: a young man worshipping a crucified, donkey-headed figure." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518657/original/file-20230331-24-3s01tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518657/original/file-20230331-24-3s01tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=685&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518657/original/file-20230331-24-3s01tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=685&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518657/original/file-20230331-24-3s01tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=685&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518657/original/file-20230331-24-3s01tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=861&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518657/original/file-20230331-24-3s01tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=861&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518657/original/file-20230331-24-3s01tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=861&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Alexamenos graffito in Rome.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A now infamous piece of graffito, dating to the early 3rd century in Rome, arguably mocks Jesus’ manner of death. Sketched on a wall in Rome, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexamenos_graffito">Alexamenos graffito</a> portrays a donkey-headed male figure on a cross under which is written “Alexamenos, worship god”. The suggestion is that the parody was directed at Christians precisely because they worshipped a man who had died by crucifixion. </p>
<h2>Christian images</h2>
<p>Felicity Harley-McGowan, an expert on crucifixion and early Christian art, <a href="https://www.academia.edu/990202/Death_is_Swallowed_Up_in_Victory_Scenes_of_Death_in_Early_Christian_Art_and_the_Emergence_of_Crucifixion_Iconography%20https://www.academia.edu/1787622/The_Crucifixion">argues</a> Christians began to experiment with making their own specifically Christian images around 200 CE, roughly 100-150 years after they began writing about Jesus. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518694/original/file-20230331-26-res9jw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Carved wooden panel: Jesus appears to be nailed in a door frame." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518694/original/file-20230331-26-res9jw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518694/original/file-20230331-26-res9jw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518694/original/file-20230331-26-res9jw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518694/original/file-20230331-26-res9jw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518694/original/file-20230331-26-res9jw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518694/original/file-20230331-26-res9jw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518694/original/file-20230331-26-res9jw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Early works depicting Jesus’ death didn’t always show an overt cross, as in this 440 AD image from the Church of Santa Sabina.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The slowness to depict Jesus on a cross was not about a general sensibility to the visual arts, although they do seem to have been very selective in what they did portray. Artwork typically depicted biblical stories and used bucolic imagery to show others being rescued from death or to tell the stories of biblical heroes like Daniel or Abraham. </p>
<p>In the 4th century, Christians began to depict other death scenes from the Bible, such as <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+8%3A52-58&version=NRSVACE">the raising of Jairus’ daughter</a>, but still not Jesus’ death. Harley-McGowan writes: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>it is clear that the earliest representations of deaths in early Christian art were pointed in their focus on actions after the event. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Such depictions emphasised healing, new life and resurrection from death. This emphasis is one explanation for why Christians were slow to depict Jesus’ actual death. </p>
<p>One of the earliest extant depictions of Jesus can be found in the <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_1856-0623-5">Maskell Passion Ivories</a> dating to the early 5th century CE, more than 400 years after his death. These ivories formed a casket panel that includes one death scene amid a range of scenes telling the Jesus story. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518658/original/file-20230331-28-vk7dlf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Judas hangs from tree; below him the purse from which fall pieces of silver; to the right Christ is nailed by the hands only to the cross" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518658/original/file-20230331-28-vk7dlf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518658/original/file-20230331-28-vk7dlf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518658/original/file-20230331-28-vk7dlf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518658/original/file-20230331-28-vk7dlf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=460&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518658/original/file-20230331-28-vk7dlf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518658/original/file-20230331-28-vk7dlf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518658/original/file-20230331-28-vk7dlf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=578&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Maskell Passion Ivories, one of the earliest extant depictions of Jesus.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© The Trustees of the British Museum</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Like much previous Christian art, the emphasis remained on Jesus’ victory over death rather than any desire to depict the reality or violence of his crucifixion. One way to show this was to portray Jesus on a cross but with his eyes open, alive and undefeated by the cross; in the Maskell Ivory, Jesus’ alertness is contrasted with the clearly dead Judas.</p>
<p>While there is a <a href="https://www.academia.edu/1787622/The_Crucifixion">3rd-century magical amulet</a> that includes crucifixion imagery (and there may have been other gems and amulets lost to history that associated his resurrection from death in magical terms), depictions of the cross only began to emerge in the 5th century and would remain rare until the 6th. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518690/original/file-20230331-24-vvzykw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Green-brown jasper; oval with a crucified figure on a tall cross with a short base." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518690/original/file-20230331-24-vvzykw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518690/original/file-20230331-24-vvzykw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=695&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518690/original/file-20230331-24-vvzykw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=695&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518690/original/file-20230331-24-vvzykw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=695&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518690/original/file-20230331-24-vvzykw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=874&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518690/original/file-20230331-24-vvzykw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=874&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518690/original/file-20230331-24-vvzykw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=874&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This magical amulet, carved on jasper, dates to the 3rd century.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© The Trustees of the British Museum</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As churches began to be built, crucifixes appeared on engraved church doors and would remain the more standard image until the Reformation emphasis on the empty cross.</p>
<p>The cross continues to have a complex history, being used as both a symbol of Christian ecclesial power and of white supremacy by groups like the Ku Klux Klan. </p>
<p>There can be beauty, intrigue, magic and terror in these cross traditions. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518696/original/file-20230331-20-ai013v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="gold with loop and expanding arms which terminate in oval medallions; in the centre Christ crucified" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518696/original/file-20230331-20-ai013v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518696/original/file-20230331-20-ai013v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=847&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518696/original/file-20230331-20-ai013v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=847&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518696/original/file-20230331-20-ai013v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=847&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518696/original/file-20230331-20-ai013v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1064&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518696/original/file-20230331-20-ai013v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1064&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518696/original/file-20230331-20-ai013v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1064&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This Early Byzantine pendant dates to the 6th or 7th century.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© The Trustees of the British Museum</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On one hand, it stands as a symbol of Christian belief in Jesus’ death and resurrection. On the other, it is a reminder of the violence of the state and capital punishment. </p>
<p>Perhaps, 2,000 years later, it is always both – even when diamond-encrusted. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/baby-jesus-in-art-and-the-long-tradition-of-depicting-christ-as-a-man-child-127812">Baby Jesus in art and the long tradition of depicting Christ as a man-child</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202348/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robyn J. Whitaker does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The cross was not always the dominant symbol of Christianity, and would certainly not have been worn as a fashion accessory by early Christians.
Robyn J. Whitaker, Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/202885
2023-04-05T13:50:59Z
2023-04-05T13:50:59Z
From goddesses and rabbits to theology and ‘Superstar’: 4 essential reads on Easter’s surprisingly complicated history
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518873/original/file-20230401-28-6yu9j7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C1%2C1020%2C806&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How did commemorating the Resurrection get tangled up with rabbits and eggs?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/1960s-1970s-two-ceramic-easter-rabbit-figurines-and-news-photo/1062095384?adppopup=true">H. Armstrong Roberts/ClassicStock/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>What’s Easter about? In some ways, the answer is pretty simple: Jesus Christ, and Christians’ belief that he rose from the dead.</p>
<p>In other ways, though, the springtime holiday is far from straightforward. How did rabbits get involved? Where did the name “Easter” come from – and why is the English word different from the way many other cultures refer to the holy day? Even theologically, exactly what the Resurrection means is not universally agreed upon.</p>
<p>Here are four articles that delve into Easter’s history, its significance – and what a rock ‘n’ roll Broadway show has to do with it.</p>
<h2>1. Picking the date</h2>
<p>First things first: Easter is what’s called a “movable feast,” a holiday whose exact date changes year to year. In the Northern Hemisphere it falls soon after the spring equinox, as the world comes back into bloom – a fitting time to celebrate rebirth.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-easter-is-called-easter-and-other-little-known-facts-about-the-holiday-75025">Easter’s dating</a> “goes back to the complicated origins of this holiday and how it has evolved over the centuries,” wrote <a href="https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/rs/faculty/bl23254">Brent Landau</a>, a religious studies scholar at the University of Texas at Austin. Similar to Christmas and Halloween celebrations today, Easter blends together elements from Christian and non-Christian traditions.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518876/original/file-20230401-2142-d46dfl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An older photo of a church full of worshippers, most of the women in fancy hats." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518876/original/file-20230401-2142-d46dfl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518876/original/file-20230401-2142-d46dfl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518876/original/file-20230401-2142-d46dfl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518876/original/file-20230401-2142-d46dfl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518876/original/file-20230401-2142-d46dfl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518876/original/file-20230401-2142-d46dfl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518876/original/file-20230401-2142-d46dfl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fantastic hats: One more Easter tradition.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/worshipers-look-on-during-easter-services-at-saint-louis-news-photo/80351247?adppopup=true">Mario Tama/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The name “Easter” itself seems linked to a pre-Christian goddess named Eostre in what is now England; she was celebrated in springtime. And in fact, in most languages, the word for the holiday is related to Passover, since the Gospels say Jesus traveled to Jerusalem <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%2014&version=NIV">to celebrate the Jewish festival</a> in the days leading up to his crucifixion.</p>
<p>But “celebrating” Easter, per se, wasn’t always in fashion with Christians. For the Puritans, Landau explained, these holidays were regarded as too tainted by merrymaking and un-Christian influences. As 19th-century American culture embraced the idea of childhood as a special time in life, though – not just preparation for adulthood – both Christmas and Easter became popular occasions to spend time with family.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-easter-is-called-easter-and-other-little-known-facts-about-the-holiday-75025">Why Easter is called Easter, and other little-known facts about the holiday</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>2. Holy hares</h2>
<p>The Easter bunny’s bio starts long before the 1800s, though. Rabbits’ and hares’ famous fertility has made them symbols of rebirth <a href="https://theconversation.com/sacred-hares-banished-winter-witches-and-pagan-worship-the-roots-of-easter-bunny-traditions-are-ancient-180484">for thousands of years</a>. Some were ritually buried alongside people during the Neolithic age, for example.</p>
<p>Of course, that fecundity also makes them symbols of sex, as anyone who’s seen the Playboy logo is aware. “In the Classical Greek tradition, hares were sacred to Aphrodite, the goddess of love,” explained folklorist <a href="https://dornsife.usc.edu/cf/faculty-and-staff/faculty.cfm?pid=1012737">Tok Thompson</a>, a professor at USC Dornsife. The goddess’s son Eros was also depicted carrying a hare “as a symbol of unquenchable desire,” and even the Virgin Mary is often painted with a rabbit, to symbolize how she overcame desire.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458014/original/file-20220413-26-khhsks.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A painting depicting a young woman handing baby Jesus to Virgin Mary, who puts one hand around him, while holding a hare with the other." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458014/original/file-20220413-26-khhsks.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458014/original/file-20220413-26-khhsks.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458014/original/file-20220413-26-khhsks.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458014/original/file-20220413-26-khhsks.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458014/original/file-20220413-26-khhsks.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=596&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458014/original/file-20220413-26-khhsks.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=596&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458014/original/file-20220413-26-khhsks.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=596&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘The Madonna of the Rabbit,’ a painting from 1530, depicting the Virgin Mary with a rabbit.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Tizian_018.jpg">A painting by artist Titian (1490-1576), Louvre Museum, Paris.</a></span>
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<p>Modern-day Easter bunny traditions stem from folk traditions in Germany and England, and there is evidence that the goddess Eostre’s symbol was the hare as well.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sacred-hares-banished-winter-witches-and-pagan-worship-the-roots-of-easter-bunny-traditions-are-ancient-180484">Sacred hares, banished winter witches and pagan worship – the roots of Easter Bunny traditions are ancient</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>3. Victory over death</h2>
<p>Holy Week, the series of events in Christian churches that lead up to Easter, traces Jesus’ final days before death and resurrection, <a href="https://theconversation.com/holy-week-starts-off-with-lots-of-palms-but-palm-sundays-donkey-is-just-as-important-to-the-story-202692">including Palm Sunday</a> and the Last Supper. Easter Sunday itself is the climax of the story: his triumph over death.</p>
<p>“As a Baptist minister and theologian myself, I believe it is important to understand how Christians more generally, and Baptists in particular, <a href="https://theconversation.com/christians-hold-many-views-on-jesus-resurrection-a-theologian-explains-the-differing-views-among-baptists-181386">hold differing views</a> on the meaning of the resurrection,” wrote <a href="https://religionlab.virginia.edu/people/jason-oliver-evans/">Jason Oliver Evans</a>, a doctoral candidate at the University of Virginia.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518874/original/file-20230401-18-etlsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A blue and gold painting showing Jesus with a large halo around his head and one woman on each side." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518874/original/file-20230401-18-etlsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518874/original/file-20230401-18-etlsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518874/original/file-20230401-18-etlsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518874/original/file-20230401-18-etlsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518874/original/file-20230401-18-etlsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518874/original/file-20230401-18-etlsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518874/original/file-20230401-18-etlsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘The Resurrection’ by Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel, 1887.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-resurrection-1887-found-in-the-collection-of-museum-of-news-photo/600028067?adppopup=true">Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Hulton Fine Art Collection via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Over the centuries, Evans wrote, Christians have had “passionate debates over this central doctrine of Christian faith” and what it means for Jesus’ followers – such as whether his body was literally raised from the dead.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/christians-hold-many-views-on-jesus-resurrection-a-theologian-explains-the-differing-views-among-baptists-181386">Christians hold many views on Jesus' resurrection – a theologian explains the differing views among Baptists</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>4. Superstar</h2>
<p>There are many ways to share the story of Holy Week – and one of the most controversial ones debuted on Broadway in 1971.</p>
<p>“<a href="https://theconversation.com/best-easter-pageant-ever-half-a-century-of-jesus-christ-superstar-180628">Jesus Christ Superstar</a>,” the rock musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, struck some Christians as blasphemous with its modern-day telling of the Passion and “Jesus is cool” ethos. Then there’s the show’s ending, which cuts off after the crucifixion – cutting out the Resurrection, and its theological message, entirely.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518867/original/file-20230401-28-se4i4t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man playing Jesus in a play in front of a cross." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518867/original/file-20230401-28-se4i4t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518867/original/file-20230401-28-se4i4t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518867/original/file-20230401-28-se4i4t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518867/original/file-20230401-28-se4i4t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518867/original/file-20230401-28-se4i4t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518867/original/file-20230401-28-se4i4t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518867/original/file-20230401-28-se4i4t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The musical ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ has always had ardent fans and fierce critics.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/jesus-christ-superstar-in-z%C3%BCrich-1992-news-photo/1173983488?adppopup=true">Blick/RDB/ullstein bild via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Half a century later, though, “Superstar” raises fewer eyebrows – a reflection of changes in U.S. culture and Christianity, wrote <a href="https://theatredance.ku.edu/people/henry-bial">Henry Bial</a>, a theater professor at the University of Kansas. Maybe that shouldn’t be such a shock: As he pointed out, theater and drama have always been entwined with Bible stories.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/best-easter-pageant-ever-half-a-century-of-jesus-christ-superstar-180628">Best Easter pageant ever? Half a century of 'Jesus Christ Superstar'</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p><em>Editor’s note: This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation’s archives.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202885/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Like Halloween and Christmas, today’s Easter traditions are a blend of Christian and non-Christian influences.
Molly Jackson, Religion and Ethics Editor
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/202692
2023-03-31T12:22:48Z
2023-03-31T12:22:48Z
Holy Week starts off with lots of palms – but Palm Sunday’s donkey is just as important to the story
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518538/original/file-20230330-24-xdhqmu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=3%2C4%2C1014%2C677&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A man chooses a palm cross to buy on Palm Sunday near a church in Caracas, Venezuela, in 2022.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/man-chooses-a-palm-cross-to-buy-during-palm-sunday-near-a-news-photo/1239899434?adppopup=true">Javier Campos/NurPhoto via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For the Catholic Church and many other Christian denominations, the Sunday before Easter marks the beginning of the most important week of the year – “Holy Week,” when Christians reflect on central mysteries of their faith: Christ’s Last Supper, crucifixion and resurrection from the dead.</p>
<p>Palm Sunday commemorates the story of Jesus’ <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+12&version=NRSVCE">triumphal entry into Jerusalem</a> shortly before the Jewish holiday of Passover. According to the Christian Gospels, people lined the streets to greet him, waving palm branches and shouting words of praise.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.holycross.edu/academics/programs/religious-studies/faculty/joanne-pierce">a specialist in Catholic liturgy and ritual</a>, I think it’s clear that the deeper meaning of this Sunday is rooted in humility, rather than worldly veneration.</p>
<p>Humble service to others is a theme that runs through the New Testament. As the apostle Paul stressed, Christians believe that Jesus, the son of a carpenter, was also the son of God, who “<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians%202&version=NRSVCE">emptied himself</a>” of his divinity to become fully human. Jesus’ teachings in the Gospels praise “the meek, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+5%3A5&version=NRSVCE">for they will inherit the earth</a>,” and he proclaims that “<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2020&version=NRSVCE">whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant</a>.”</p>
<p>Modern Catholic teachings describe humility as grounded in an understanding of <a href="https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/dictionary/index.cfm?id=34023">one’s true relationship with God</a>, one’s own gifts, and an openness to appreciating the talents of others.</p>
<h2>Double symbols</h2>
<p>Each of the four Gospels, the biblical books about Jesus’ life, describe him entering Jerusalem to prepare to celebrate Passover days before being betrayed, arrested, tried and sentenced to a criminal’s death by crucifixion. Each one explicitly says that <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2012&version=NRSVCE">he rode into the city</a> <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2021&version=NRSVCE">on a donkey</a> or <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%2011&version=NRSVCE">a colt</a>. Throughout the Bible, however, <a href="https://bibleapps.com/c/colt.htm">the word meaning “colt”</a> is used almost exclusively for young donkeys, not horses.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518539/original/file-20230330-1159-hbo8ye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A crowd of people, some of them holding tall palm branches, walk through a narrow street in an ancient city." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518539/original/file-20230330-1159-hbo8ye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518539/original/file-20230330-1159-hbo8ye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518539/original/file-20230330-1159-hbo8ye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518539/original/file-20230330-1159-hbo8ye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518539/original/file-20230330-1159-hbo8ye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518539/original/file-20230330-1159-hbo8ye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518539/original/file-20230330-1159-hbo8ye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People take part in the Palm Sunday procession in Jerusalem on April 10, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-take-part-in-the-palm-sunday-procession-in-jerusalem-news-photo/1239896869?adppopup=true">Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This image brings to mind a line from the Book of Zechariah in the Jewish scriptures: The prophet describes a victorious king who enters Jerusalem “<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Zechariah+9%3A9&version=NIV">lowly and riding on a donkey</a>, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”</p>
<p>In Judaism, this passage from Zechariah is taken to <a href="https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/messiahs-donkey-of-a-thousand-colors/">refer to the Messiah</a>, a spiritual king who would peacefully redeem Israel. <a href="https://blog.israelbiblicalstudies.com/holy-land-studies/1450-2/">The donkey itself</a> is also interpreted as <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ani1010056">a sign of humility</a>. </p>
<p>In Christianity, <a href="https://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/193175.pdf">this animal</a> becomes almost a symbol of Christ himself, given how it patiently suffers and bears others’ burdens. Horses, on the other hand, tend to be associated with royalty, power and war.</p>
<p>On the other hand, the palm branch had been <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/261788?seq=2%5D">associated with triumph and victory</a> for hundreds of years before Christ. Winners of athletic contests, victorious generals and triumphant kings would be awarded or welcomed with <a href="https://www.miamiarch.org/CatholicDiocese.php?op=Article_16786764332354">waving palm branches</a>, a sign of jubilation.</p>
<p>These Gospel narratives left Christians throughout the centuries with two important images for Palm Sunday, the procession with palm branches and the donkey: one associated with triumphant victory, and the other with quiet humility. </p>
<h2>Historical development</h2>
<p>The earliest evidence for a Palm Sunday procession comes from a late fourth-century religious woman named Egeria, who recorded <a href="https://litpress.org/Products/E8445/The-Pilgrimage-of-Egeria">her experiences on a pilgrimage</a> to the Holy Land for her community in Spain. </p>
<p>While in Jerusalem, she describes assembly for prayer on the Mount of Olives in the early afternoon of Palm Sunday. This is a significant location just outside the city, where Christians believe that Jesus <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+24%3A3-5&version=NRSVCE">taught disciples</a>, prayed in <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2026%3A36-46&version=NRSVCE">the garden of Gethsemane</a> at its base, and <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%201&version=NRSVCE">ascended into heaven</a>.</p>
<p>Afterward, the group processed down to <a href="https://faith.nd.edu/s/1210/faith/interior.aspx?sid=1210&gid=609&pgid=32745#:%7E:text=The%20Church%20of%20the%20Holy,on%20which%20Jesus%20was%20crucified">the Anastasis</a>, the church in Jerusalem marking the place <a href="https://www.doaks.org/resources/online-exhibits/holy-apostles/iconography/eastern-dome-with-depiction-of-the-anastasis">believed to be Jesus’ tomb</a>, for evening prayer. Among the crowd were children <a href="https://users.ox.ac.uk/%7Emikef/durham/egetra.html">waving palms</a> and olive branches.</p>
<p>Medieval Christian worship books from the 10th and 11th centuries show that a ritual procession outside churches became a standard feature of <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=vRLJKonMfwQC&pg=PA237&lpg=PA237&dq=holy+week+joanne+pierce&source=bl&ots=UUvVjvd6Ab&sig=ACfU3U02BjuDgEVqV1QhS51pr5TFpZfWig&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjOs5qK_f39AhXZKFkFHbr6Bak4ChDoAXoECAMQAw#v=snippet&q=palm%20sunday%20&f=false">Palm Sunday celebrations</a> in Western Christianity. In many parts of Europe, <a href="https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11432b.htm">other spring flowers or budding branches</a> might be used alongside palm or olive branches, and the Sunday could also be referred to as Flower or Willow Sunday.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518542/original/file-20230330-16-bwdl3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Men in hats stand around a saddled donkey outside a small building" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518542/original/file-20230330-16-bwdl3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518542/original/file-20230330-16-bwdl3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518542/original/file-20230330-16-bwdl3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518542/original/file-20230330-16-bwdl3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518542/original/file-20230330-16-bwdl3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518542/original/file-20230330-16-bwdl3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518542/original/file-20230330-16-bwdl3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A member of a Christian brotherhood pets the donkey Rito, who will carry an image of Jesus during a Palm Sunday procession in Guatemala City.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/member-of-the-sagrado-corazon-de-jesus-brotherhood-pets-the-news-photo/98100628?adppopup=true">Johan Ordonez/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Christ could be represented in the procession in numerous ways, such as the presence of the bishop or saints’ relics. In some areas, a carved figure of Christ seated on a donkey, <a href="https://www.medieval.eu/the-hope-was-to-achieve-absolution-for-ones-sins-by-pulling-the-wooden-animal-along-palmesels-were-life-size-wooden-statues-showing-the-donkey-which-jesus-rode-in-his-triumphant-entry-into-j/">called a Palmesel</a> or “palm donkey,” could be pulled in front of the crowd.</p>
<p>During the mass after the procession, clergy would read a Gospel account of Christ’s crucifixion and death, traditionally from <a href="https://lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/HolyWk/APalmSun_RCL.html">the Book of Matthew</a>; today, Catholics use versions from other gospels as well. The reading would usually be chanted, with different voices taking the parts of the narrator, Christ, and other speakers, especially the crowd of people described as witnessing his trial, with the congregation still holding their palm branches.</p>
<p>Even today, in the contemporary Catholic calendar, the full title of this first Sunday of Holy Week is <a href="https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040223.cfm">Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion</a>.</p>
<h2>Lasting symbols</h2>
<p>Centuries of theological and artistic reflection have shaped today’s Catholic approach to Holy Week specifically, and to the concept of holiness in general. </p>
<p>The image of the quiet, patient, and unassuming donkey has communicated humility in art and in practice. <a href="https://theconversation.com/an-ox-an-ass-a-dragon-sorry-there-were-no-animals-in-the-bibles-nativity-scene-89202">No animals are mentioned</a> in the descriptions of the birth of Jesus in the canonical gospels officially included in the Bible. However, other early Christian texts refer to a donkey at the manger or Mary seated on a donkey as she travels with Joseph. Medieval artists also depicted <a href="https://www.christianiconography.info/nativity.html">the nativity scene</a> with both an ox and an ass in attendance, and <a href="https://www.christianiconography.info/flightIntoEgypt.html">Mary riding on a donkey</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518543/original/file-20230330-26-eaheme.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A painting shows a male saint with a halo holding a cup with a small dragon in it and a palm leaf." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518543/original/file-20230330-26-eaheme.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518543/original/file-20230330-26-eaheme.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=767&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518543/original/file-20230330-26-eaheme.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=767&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518543/original/file-20230330-26-eaheme.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=767&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518543/original/file-20230330-26-eaheme.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=964&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518543/original/file-20230330-26-eaheme.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=964&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518543/original/file-20230330-26-eaheme.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=964&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A painting of Saint John the Evangelist holding a palm.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cristobal Llorens/Museu de Belles Arts de Valencia via Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The palm also came to be a wider symbol. Early saints <a href="https://aleteia.org/2020/10/16/how-to-recognize-the-symbols-of-martyrdom-in-art/">who had died as martyrs</a> – that is, who died rather than renounce their Christian faith – came to be pictured standing by a palm tree. More commonly, they were shown <a href="https://www.christianiconography.info/palmCrown.html">holding a palm branch</a>, signifying their victory over death: Having given up their earthly lives to follow Christ, they were now united with him in Paradise. Martyrs are also frequently depicted with the instruments of their torture, helping worshippers to identify and venerate them.</p>
<p>All of these images are rooted in the narrative of Palm Sunday, with its image of Jesus, the carpenter’s son, riding on an ordinary donkey, yet acclaimed for a moment as though he were a worldly king. A similar paradox is at the heart of Christian teachings: that although Jesus Christ willingly died on a criminal’s cross, doing so was a victory over sin and death.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202692/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanne M. Pierce does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Donkeys and palm leaves are both associated with Christianity’s Palm Sunday – but their symbolism couldn’t be more different.
Joanne M. Pierce, Professor Emerita of Religious Studies, College of the Holy Cross
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/200141
2023-02-28T13:25:44Z
2023-02-28T13:25:44Z
A feminist theologian says, ‘Our Father’ is not the only way of referring to God
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511779/original/file-20230222-27-qqs83c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=25%2C8%2C5552%2C3855&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A service in the village church of St. Paul de Leon in Devon, England. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/members-of-the-congregation-stand-before-taking-holy-news-photo/1452321203?phrase=church%20of%20england&adppopup=true">Hugh R Hastings/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many Christian communities refer to God as “Father.” This takes root in the Gospels, where Jesus teaches his followers to pray “<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%206%3A9-13&version=ESV">Our Father</a>,” which Christians continue to say today. It is certainly appropriate to refer to God as Father, yet it is not the only way to depict God.</p>
<p>As a Catholic <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Z64meKEAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">feminist theologian</a> who runs a women’s center at a Catholic university, I understand the impact of the pronouns Christians use for God. Historically, Christian tradition has recognized many depictions for God, including father and mother. This is partly because God does not have a gender.</p>
<p>Despite the diverse images used for God in Scripture and Christian tradition, male language and images predominate in contemporary Christian worship. </p>
<h2>Many images for God</h2>
<p>When we speak about God, we do so knowing that what we say is incomplete. All images for God reveal something about God. No image of God is literal or reveals everything about God. </p>
<p>For example, while Christians can refer to God as a king, they must also remember that God is not literally a king. Calling God a king expresses that God is powerful. However, it is not expressing factual accuracy about God’s gender or implying that God is human.</p>
<p>Referring to God with many titles, descriptions and images invites many of us to recognize the mystery of God. God is like all of these things but also more than all of these things. </p>
<p><a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aquinas/">Thomas Aquinas</a>, an influential 13th-century Catholic theologian, asserted that individuals can talk about God in ways that are true <a href="https://www.newadvent.org/summa/1013.htm#:%7E:text=We%20cannot%20know%20the%20essence,Him%20in%20that%20manner%20only">but always inadequate</a>. Aquinas explained that our language about God affirms something about God, yet God is always beyond that which we can express. We express truths about God in human terms and constructs, but since God is mystery, God is always beyond these categories. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511781/original/file-20230222-695-t0pmon.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A colored engraving showing a man dressed in robes with a halo around his head, reading a book." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511781/original/file-20230222-695-t0pmon.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511781/original/file-20230222-695-t0pmon.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511781/original/file-20230222-695-t0pmon.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511781/original/file-20230222-695-t0pmon.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511781/original/file-20230222-695-t0pmon.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511781/original/file-20230222-695-t0pmon.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511781/original/file-20230222-695-t0pmon.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Painting of the 13th-century theologian Thomas Aquinas.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/saint-thomas-aquinas-dominican-friar-theologian-and-italian-news-photo/700192393?phrase=thomas%20aquinas&adppopup=true">Fototeca Gilardi/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Scripture is filled with multiple images of God. In some of these images, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+6%3A9-13&version=NABRE">God is depicted as a father or male</a>. In other parts of Scripture, God is female. The prophet Isaiah compares God to a nursing mother in the <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+49%3A15&version=NABRE">Book of Isaiah</a>. A mother hen gathering her chicks is an <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mt+23%3A37&version=NABRE">analogy for God in the Gospel of Matthew</a>. The Book of Wisdom, a book in the Catholic Bible, depicts wisdom personified as a woman. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Wisdom+10%3A18&version=NABRE">Wisdom 10:18-19</a> states: “She took them across the Red Sea and brought them through deep waters. Their enemies she overwhelmed.” This account presents God as female, leading Moses and the Israelites out of Egypt and into the Promised Land.</p>
<p>Depicting God as female in Scripture speaks to God’s tenderness as well as strength and power. For example, the prophet <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hosea+13%3A8&version=NABRE">Hosea</a> compares God to a bear robbed of her cubs, promising to “attack and rip open” those who break the covenant.</p>
<p>Elsewhere in Scripture, God has no gender. God appears to Moses in the burning bush in <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+3&version=NABRE">Exodus 3</a>, defying all gender categories. The <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Kings+19%3A9-12&version=NABRE">Book of 1 Kings</a> presents a gentle image of a gender-neutral God. God asked the prophet Elijah to go to a mountain. While there, Elijah experienced a strong wind, an earthquake and fire, but God was not present in those. Instead, God was present in a gentle whisper. The creation stories of Genesis <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Gen+1%3A26&version=NABRE">refer to God</a> <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Gen+3%3A22&version=NABRE">in the plural</a>. These examples emphasize that God has no gender and is beyond any human categories. </p>
<h2>The social impact of male pronouns</h2>
<p>Pronouns, like “He/Him” in the Christian tradition, can limit one’s understanding of God. It can also make many individuals think that God is male. </p>
<p>It is not wrong to refer to God with male pronouns, but it can have negative social and theological consequences to refer to God with only male pronouns.</p>
<p>Feminist theologian <a href="https://liberationtheology.org/people-organizations/mary-daly/">Mary Daly</a> <a href="http://www.beacon.org/Beyond-God-The-Father-P211.aspx">famously stated</a>, “If God is male, then the male is God.” In other words, referring to God only as the male gender has a significant social impact that can exalt one gender at the expense of others. </p>
<p>Referring to God only as male can also limit one’s theological imagination: Using many pronouns for God emphasizes that God is mystery, beyond all human categories.</p>
<p>On Father’s Day, people can remember God not only as a father, but as a mother and mystery.</p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of a piece originally published on Feb. 28, 2023.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200141/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Annie Selak does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Despite the diverse images used for God in Scripture and Christian tradition, male language and images predominate in contemporary Christian worship.
Annie Selak, Associate Director, Women's Center, Georgetown University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/200269
2023-02-22T12:53:32Z
2023-02-22T12:53:32Z
Lent is here – remind me what it’s all about? 5 essential reads
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511050/original/file-20230220-27-p8vr96.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C4%2C1017%2C674&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Catholic Ash Wednesday service at St. Thomas Cathedral Basilica in Chennai, India, in 2022. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/catholic-christian-devotees-attend-a-holy-mass-during-an-news-photo/1238867563?phrase=ash%20wednesday&adppopup=true">Arun Sankar/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Foreheads smudged with the sign of the cross are the most visible sign of Ash Wednesday, which begins the season of Lent in many Christian denominations. The 40-day period leads up to Holy Week, some of the most sacred days in the church calendar – including Easter, which commemorates Christians’ central belief that Jesus was crucified and buried before rising from the dead.</p>
<p>But if Easter is associated with celebration and triumphal joy, Lent is more a season of soul-searching and spiritual discipline. Here are some of The Conversation’s many articles exploring the history and significance of Ash Wednesday and Lent. </p>
<h2>1. Ash Wednesday</h2>
<p>Let’s start with the basics: What is Ash Wednesday? Why do worshippers spend the day wearing ashes?</p>
<p>Christians who participate in Ash Wednesday services, where clergy often daub their foreheads with the sign of the cross, are participating in a thousand-year-old tradition, explained <a href="https://udayton.edu/directory/artssciences/religiousstudies/johnston_william.php">William Johnston</a>, a professor of religious studies at the University of Dayton. In part, the practice exists to call churchgoers to repentance as they begin the spiritual journey of Lent.</p>
<p>Two phrases used in services over the centuries underscore that call to penance: “Remember, man, that you are dust and to dust you shall return,” taken from the biblical Book of Genesis; and “Repent, and believe in the Gospel,” words of Jesus’ in the Gospel of Mark.</p>
<p>“Each phrase in its own way serves the purpose of calling the faithful to live their Christian lives more deeply,” <a href="https://theconversation.com/4-things-to-know-about-ash-wednesday-112120">Johnston wrote</a>. The first urges believers to “focus on what is essential,” while the second is “a direct call to follow” Jesus’ teachings.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/4-things-to-know-about-ash-wednesday-112120">4 things to know about Ash Wednesday</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>2. Why ashes, though?</h2>
<p>For a deeper dive on the practice, <a href="https://www.rit.edu/directory/mslgsh-michael-laver">Michael Laver</a> of Rochester Institute of Technology looked back at ashes’ spiritual symbolism throughout history. They figure in many biblical stories, where they represent penitence and remorse.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two hands hold a seashell filled with ashes." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206065/original/file-20180212-58348-1s8sz4i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206065/original/file-20180212-58348-1s8sz4i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206065/original/file-20180212-58348-1s8sz4i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206065/original/file-20180212-58348-1s8sz4i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206065/original/file-20180212-58348-1s8sz4i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206065/original/file-20180212-58348-1s8sz4i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206065/original/file-20180212-58348-1s8sz4i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pastors at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Sacramento provide ‘Ashes to Go’ for those who want to participate in Ash Wednesday worship but cannot attend a church service.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Christian churches have used ashes to demonstrate repentance for centuries, but that isn’t to say the practice is unchanging. Laver, an Episcopal priest and historian of Christianity, traced how the Protestant Reformation initially put ashes out of favor in non-Catholic churches. They reembraced the practice in the 1800s, at a time “when many Protestant churches entered into intentional dialogue with each other and with the Catholic Church, a phenomenon that is called the ‘ecumenical movement,’” <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-christians-wear-ashes-on-ash-wednesday-91556">he wrote</a>.</p>
<p>In recent years, many churches have been innovating yet again, offering “ashes to go” to passersby in public. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-christians-wear-ashes-on-ash-wednesday-91556">Why do Christians wear ashes on Ash Wednesday?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>3. The long journey of Lent</h2>
<p>After Ash Wednesday begins the 40-day period of Lent, a word whose roots refer to the “lengthening” of days in springtime. Spiritually, however, its purpose is preparation: a time of fasting and prayer before the joy of Easter.</p>
<p>Fasting was common by the fourth century as a way to avoid self-indulgence during a time of repentance – even marriage was prohibited during Lent, as College of the Holy Cross <a href="https://www.holycross.edu/academics/programs/religious-studies/faculty/joanne-pierce">professor Joanne Pierce</a> explained.</p>
<p>Some Christians follow traditional fasts today, but others give up something pleasurable for the entire 40 days, from chocolate to TV. But Lent is not just about giving up, <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-the-origins-of-lent-155622">according to Pierce</a>. Its spiritual renewal is about giving, too, such as “making amends with estranged family and friends,” or doing community service.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-the-origins-of-lent-155622">What are the origins of Lent?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>4. Your body sans sugar</h2>
<p>Giving up chocolate must be one of the most common Lenten vows – but what happens if you take it a step further and nix sweets entirely?</p>
<p>Penn State neuroscientist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=V-PvnBIAAAAJ&hl=en">Jordan Gaines Lewis</a> walked us through <a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-what-happens-to-your-brain-when-you-give-up-sugar-for-lent-37745">the science of your brain on sugar</a>. The delight it brings most people is a “natural reward,” an incentive to keep eating carbohydrates. But “modern diets have taken on a life of their own,” she wrote: even a decade ago, the average American was estimated to consume 22 teaspoons of added sugar per day. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Small brightly colored mice made out of sugar." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/72376/original/image-20150218-20810-qzhm2b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/72376/original/image-20150218-20810-qzhm2b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/72376/original/image-20150218-20810-qzhm2b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/72376/original/image-20150218-20810-qzhm2b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/72376/original/image-20150218-20810-qzhm2b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/72376/original/image-20150218-20810-qzhm2b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/72376/original/image-20150218-20810-qzhm2b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sugar rodents.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sugar by Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>“The notion of sugar addiction is still a rather taboo topic,” Lewis noted. Yet experiments with animals suggest that sugar may hook us in a similar way that drugs do.</p>
<p>“Repeated access to sugar over time leads to prolonged dopamine signaling, greater excitation of the brain’s reward pathways and a need for even more sugar to activate all of the midbrain dopamine receptors like before,” she wrote. “The brain becomes tolerant to sugar – and more is needed to attain the same ‘sugar high.’”</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-what-happens-to-your-brain-when-you-give-up-sugar-for-lent-37745">Here's what happens to your brain when you give up sugar for Lent</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>5. Looking for God online</h2>
<p>Another increasingly popular “fast” is especially 21st century: going offline.</p>
<p>Taking a pause from the internet, especially social media, is sometimes promoted as a way to help focus on faith and “real world” connections. That can work, but some of these theories’ assumptions about technology are misguided, argued <a href="https://liberalarts.tamu.edu/communication/profile/heidi-a-campbell/">Heidi Campbell</a>, a Texas A&M communications expert who studies religion. </p>
<p>Digital fasting often buys into the idea of “technological determinism,” which often portrays technology as something dehumanizing and all-powerful. But this overlooks users’ ability to make choices about which goals of theirs technology can and can’t fulfill – including spiritual goals. Today, apps even offer to help people study religious texts, find faith-based products, or connect with others who share their beliefs.</p>
<p>“Technology can, in fact, be good for religion,” <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-use-digital-devices-this-lent-for-holy-reflection-74024">Campbell wrote</a>. “The question is, how do we engage with technology thoughtfully and actively?”</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-use-digital-devices-this-lent-for-holy-reflection-74024">How to use digital devices this Lent for holy reflection</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Christians live out Lent in many different ways. Yet “Lent in the 21st century remains essentially the same as in centuries past,” <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-the-origins-of-lent-155622">as Pierce wrote</a>: “a time of quiet reflection and spiritual discipline.”</p>
<p><em>Editor’s note: This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation’s archives.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200269/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
A roundup of The Conversation’s articles about this holy Christian season and its history.
Molly Jackson, Religion and Ethics Editor
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/199424
2023-02-09T09:05:11Z
2023-02-09T09:05:11Z
What does the Bible say about homosexuality? For starters, Jesus wasn’t a homophobe
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508641/original/file-20230207-21-ed2xy3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Pope Francis was recently asked about his views on homosexuality. He <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/pope-francis-says-laws-criminalising-lgbt-people-are-sin-an-injustice-2023-02-05/">reportedly replied</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>This (laws around the world criminalising LGBTI people) is not right. Persons with homosexual tendencies are children of God. God loves them. God accompanies them … condemning a person like this is a sin. Criminalising people with homosexual tendencies is an injustice.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This isn’t the first time Pope Francis has shown himself to be a <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium.html">progressive leader</a> when it comes to, among other things, gay Catholics. </p>
<p>It’s a stance that has <a href="https://theconversation.com/pope-francis-visit-to-africa-comes-at-a-defining-moment-for-the-catholic-church-197633">drawn the ire</a> of some high-ranking bishops and ordinary Catholics, both on the African continent and elsewhere in the world.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pope-francis-visit-to-africa-comes-at-a-defining-moment-for-the-catholic-church-197633">Pope Francis' visit to Africa comes at a defining moment for the Catholic church</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Some of these Catholics may argue that Pope Francis’s approach to LGBTI matters is a misinterpretation of Scripture (or the Bible). But is it? </p>
<p>Scripture is particularly important for Christians. When church leaders refer to “the Bible” or “the Scriptures”, they usually mean “the Bible as we understand it through our theological doctrines”. The Bible is always interpreted by our churches through their particular theological lenses. </p>
<p>As a biblical scholar, I would suggest that church leaders who use their cultures and theology to exclude homosexuals don’t read Scripture carefully. Instead, they allow their patriarchal fears to distort it, seeking to find in the Bible proof-texts that will support attitudes of exclusion. </p>
<p>There are several instances in the Bible that underscore my point.</p>
<h2>Love of God and neighbour</h2>
<p>Mark’s Gospel, found in the New Testament, records that Jesus entered the Jerusalem temple on three occasions. First, he visited briefly, and “looked around at everything” (<a href="https://www.bible.com/en-GB/bible/111/mrk.11.11">11:11</a>). </p>
<p>On the second visit he acted, driving “out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves” (<a href="https://www.bible.com/en-GB/bible/111/mrk.11.15">11:15</a>). Jesus specifically targeted those who exploited the poorest of the people coming to the temple. </p>
<p>On his third visit, Jesus spent considerable time in the temple itself (<a href="https://www.bible.com/en-GB/bible/111/MRK.11.NIV">11:27-13:2</a>). He met the full array of temple leadership, including chief priests, teachers of the law and elders. Each of these leadership sectors used their interpretation of Scripture to exclude rather than to include. </p>
<p>The “ordinary people” (<a href="https://www.bible.com/en-GB/bible/111/mrk.11.32">11:32</a> and <a href="https://www.bible.com/en-GB/bible/111/mrk.12.12">12:12</a>) recognised that Jesus proclaimed a gospel of inclusion. They eagerly embraced him as he walked through the temple. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.bible.com/bible/100/MRK.12.24.NASB1995">Mark 12:24</a>, Jesus addresses the Sadducees, who were the traditional high priests of ancient Israel and played an important role in the temple. Among those who confronted Jesus, they represented the group that held to a conservative theological position and used their interpretation of the Scripture to exclude. Jesus said to them:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Jesus recognised that they chose to interpret Scripture in a way that prevented it from being understood in non-traditional ways. Thus they limited God’s power to be different from traditional understandings of him. Jesus was saying God refused to be the exclusive property of the Sadducees. The ordinary people who followed Jesus understood that he represented a different understanding of God.</p>
<p>This message of inclusion becomes even clearer when Jesus is later confronted by a single scribe (<a href="https://www.bible.com/en-GB/bible/100/mrk.12.28">12:28</a>). In answer to the scribe’s question on the most important laws, Jesus summarised the theological ethic of his gospel: love of God and love of neighbour (<a href="https://www.bible.com/en-GB/bible/111/MRK.12.NIV">12:29-31</a>).</p>
<h2>Inclusion, not exclusion</h2>
<p>Those who would exclude homosexuals from God’s kingdom choose to ignore Jesus, turning instead to the Old Testament – most particularly to <a href="https://www.bible.com/en-GB/bible/111/GEN.19.NIV">Genesis 19</a>, the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Their interpretation of the story is that it is about homosexuality. It isn’t. It relates to hospitality.</p>
<p>The story begins in <a href="https://www.bible.com/en-GB/bible/111/GEN.18.NIV">Genesis 18</a> when three visitors (God and two angels, appearing as “men”) came before <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Abraham">Abraham</a>, a Hebrew patriarch. What did Abraham and his wife Sarah do? They offered hospitality. </p>
<p>The two angels then left Abraham and the Lord and travelled into <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2019%3A1-29&version=NIV">Sodom (19:1)</a> where they met Lot, Abraham’s nephew. What did Lot do? He offered hospitality. The two incidents of hospitality are explained in exactly the same language. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2019%3A1-29&version=NIV">“men of Sodom” (19:4)</a>, as the Bible describes them, didn’t offer the same hospitality to these angels in disguise. Instead they sought to humiliate them (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2019%3A1-29&version=NIV">and Lot (19:9)</a>) by threatening to rape them. We know they were heterosexual because Lot, in attempting to protect himself and his guests, offered his virgin daughters to them <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2019%3A1-29&version=NIV">(19:8)</a>. </p>
<p>Heterosexual rape of men by men is a common act of humiliation. This is an extreme form of inhospitality. The story contrasts extreme hospitality (Abraham and Lot) with the extreme inhospitality of the men of Sodom. It is a story of inclusion, not exclusion. Abraham and Lot included the strangers; the men of Sodom excluded them.</p>
<h2>Clothed in Christ</h2>
<p>When confronted by the inclusive gospel of Jesus and a careful reading of the story of Sodom as one about hospitality, those who disavow Pope Francis’s approach will likely jump to other Scriptures. Why? Because they have a patriarchal agenda and are looking for any Scripture that might support their position.</p>
<p>But the other Scriptures they use also require careful reading. <a href="https://www.bible.com/en-GB/bible/111/lev.18.22">Leviticus 18:22</a> and <a href="https://www.bible.com/en-GB/bible/111/lev.20.13">20:13</a>, for example, are not about “homosexuality” as we now understand it – as the caring, loving and sexual relationship between people of the same sex. These texts are about relationships that cross boundaries of purity (between clean and unclean) and ethnicity (Israelite and Canaanite). </p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians%203%3A28&version=NRSVUE">Galatians 3:28</a> in the New Testament, Paul the apostle yearns for a Christian community where:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Paul built his theological argument on the Jew-Greek distinction, but then extended it to the slave-free distinction and the male-female distinction. Christians – no matter which church they belong to – should follow Paul and extend it to the heterosexual-homosexual distinction. </p>
<p>We are all “clothed in Christ” (<a href="https://www.bible.com/en-GB/bible/111/gal.3.27">3:27</a>): God only sees Christ, not our different sexualities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199424/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gerald West does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Those who exclude any groups of people from God’s kingdom choose to ignore the teaching of Jesus.
Gerald West, Senior Professor of Biblical Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/195536
2022-12-20T20:09:40Z
2022-12-20T20:09:40Z
Who is at the manger? Nativity sets around the world show each culture’s take on the Christmas story
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501977/original/file-20221219-13540-k2osuc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=52%2C17%2C3824%2C1806&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A handmade Nativity from Kyrgyzstan by an unknown artisan. Instead of a stable, it features a yurt, the traditional home of nomadic Kyrgyz people.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Marian Library, University of Dayton</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For many Christians around the world, celebrating the Nativity, or the birth of Jesus Christ, is the most important part of the Christmas season. </p>
<p>Among the most common Christmas traditions are <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-st-francis-created-the-nativity-scene-with-a-miraculous-event-in-1223-124742">small sets of figures</a> depicting Joseph, Mary and Jesus that are displayed in individual homes, and live reenactments of the manger scene in communities and churches. While Nativity sets focus on the holy family, they can also include an angel, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-were-the-3-wise-men-who-visited-jesus-195159">three wise men</a> bringing gifts, shepherds or some barnyard animals. </p>
<p>Around the world, it is common to see particular cultural and religious traditions incorporated through the materials used, the types of gifts presented to Jesus, or the people and animals present at the manger.</p>
<p>The Marian Library at the University of Dayton has over <a href="https://udayton.edu/imri/mary/c/creche-collection-of-the-marian-library/index.php">3,600 Nativity sets</a>, also known as “crèches,” the French word for cribs. These Nativities are used to promote the study of culture and religion. Since one of us is a <a href="https://udayton.edu/directory/libraries/harriskayla.php">curator</a> for this collection and the other is a <a href="https://udayton.edu/directory/artssciences/religiousstudies/deanda_neomi.php">religious studies scholar</a>, we often notice how Nativities can be used to both depict the birth of Jesus and convey unique cultural beliefs. </p>
<h2>Troublemakers in Scandinavia</h2>
<p>In Nordic folklore, “<a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/matauryn/2018/12/07/the-mischievous-tomte-spirits-of-yule/">the tomte</a>,” or “nisse,” is a small creature that looks rather like a garden gnome figurine. These long-bearded, red-capped little lads are associated with <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Yule-festival">Yule</a>, the celebration of the winter solstice in pre-Christian northern Europe.</p>
<p>While these folklore figures were often believed to be quite helpful around a farm, even doing chores in secret at night, they also have a mischievous or sometimes even scary side. For example, in one <a href="https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/scandinavian-folk-belief-and-legend">legend</a> a young farm girl decides to put butter at the bottom of the porridge bowl left out for the nisse, instead of on top. The nisse was so angry he immediately went and killed the farm’s best cow. Once he discovered the butter at the bottom, he felt remorse, and to remedy the situation he stole a cow from the neighboring farm. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A diorama made of felt and wood shows elves with beards gathered around a taller structure with more elves inside." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501571/original/file-20221216-13-3qulih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501571/original/file-20221216-13-3qulih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501571/original/file-20221216-13-3qulih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501571/original/file-20221216-13-3qulih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501571/original/file-20221216-13-3qulih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501571/original/file-20221216-13-3qulih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501571/original/file-20221216-13-3qulih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Yuletide Lads,’ a Nativity set created by Icelandic artist Kristin Karolina.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Marian Library, University of Dayton.</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Iceland, the mythical creatures are called <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/meet-the-thirteen-yule-lads-icelands-own-mischievous-santa-clauses-180948162/">Yule Lads</a>, and they visit children’s homes in the lead-up to Christmas. A 2003 Nativity scene by Icelandic crafter and artisan Kristin Karolina <a href="https://ecommons.udayton.edu/imri_creches/94/">blends the two holiday traditions</a>, depicting the birth of Jesus with a band of troublemakers. Made of knitted wool and sheepskin, the mischief-makers are licking the porridge spoon and stealing the Christmas meal through the chimney with a fishing pole. </p>
<h2>The devil is in the details</h2>
<p>Across the Atlantic, a different type of troublemaker can be found in Nativities: Devils are a common feature in Christmas rituals across Latin America.</p>
<p>Devils at the Nativity are a physical representation of evil in the world, even in the presence of the Christ child. They sometimes specifically represent what Catholic teachings consider “<a href="https://artuk.org/discover/stories/a-brief-art-history-of-the-seven-deadly-sins">the seven deadly sins</a>”: lust, greed, pride, envy, gluttony, sloth and wrath.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A Nativity set in bright colors, with three devilish figures standing behind the Holy Family." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501574/original/file-20221216-22499-bicc86.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501574/original/file-20221216-22499-bicc86.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501574/original/file-20221216-22499-bicc86.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501574/original/file-20221216-22499-bicc86.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501574/original/file-20221216-22499-bicc86.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501574/original/file-20221216-22499-bicc86.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501574/original/file-20221216-22499-bicc86.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘The Devil Never Far,’ a Nativity set by Sotero Lemus Gervasio of Mexico.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Marian Library, University of Dayton</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The devil can be found in other popular religious traditions of the Advent and Christmas seasons. One of these practices is the appearance of the devil as a character in a “pastorela,” a popular Mexican <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5-QxRZGcRA&t=25s">dramatic portrayal</a> of the shepherds making their way to visit Jesus. In these <a href="https://www.proquest.com/openview/0beea9d3fac0789a/1.pdf?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=54559">Nativity plays</a>, a devil character plays tricks and sets obstacles in the shepherds’ path, trying to keep them from Bethlehem. </p>
<p>Some pastorelas are set in modern times, with the devil role highlighting human sinfulness. But these plays end with a hopeful message: the love, peace and joy in the church’s teaching that God became human.</p>
<p>Another practice called “<a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/spanish/2018/12/09/guatemaltecos-quema-diablo-virgen-inmaculada-concepcion-tradiciones-cnnee-mirador-mundial.cnn">la quema del diablo</a>,” or “<a href="https://money.yahoo.com/devil-goes-flames-guatemala-christmas-000645414.html">burning of the devil</a>,” is held in Guatemala. Individuals and groups set fires in front of their homes and around their communities to symbolize cleansing the world of all evil. It is held on Dec. 7, in anticipation of the <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/liturgical-holidays/solemnity-of-the-immaculate-conception-of-the-blessed-virgin-mar.html">Feast of the Immaculate Conception</a> on Dec. 8. This feast celebrates the church’s teaching that the Virgin Mary herself was conceived without sin, preparing her to become the mother of God.</p>
<h2>Alike in the eyes of God</h2>
<p>Contrasted against the vivid colors and expressions in the Latin American depictions, Nativities representing <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/A-History-of-the-Amish/Steven-M-Nolt/9781680990652">the Amish culture</a> in the United States often feature faceless figures in plain clothing. Amish teachings highly value humility and simplicity – many churches, for example, <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/top-ten-faq/">forbid individuals to pose for a face-on photograph</a>, as this can be seen as a form of pride. Even Amish dolls for children are often created without individual faces.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A simple Nativity set shows figures in hats and bonnets, with no facial expressions painted on." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501593/original/file-20221216-11363-ticjjl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501593/original/file-20221216-11363-ticjjl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501593/original/file-20221216-11363-ticjjl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501593/original/file-20221216-11363-ticjjl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501593/original/file-20221216-11363-ticjjl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501593/original/file-20221216-11363-ticjjl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501593/original/file-20221216-11363-ticjjl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Amish Christmas,’ a Nativity set by U.S.-based artist Esther Glock O'Hara.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Marian Library, University of Dayton</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While each Nativity set incorporates a different set of values and beliefs surrounding the birth of Christ, they are all examples of taking tenets of faith, which can often be abstract ideas, and representing them physically. And for many Christians, such traditions help represent their beliefs in a particularly powerful way: by picturing Jesus within their own culture.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195536/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Neomi De Anda works for the University of Dayton, consults for the Louisville Institute funded by Lily Endowment Inc. She receives funding from the Association of Marianist Universities, Louisville Institute, Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Religion and Theology, and Forum for Theological Exploration.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kayla Harris does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The Christmas story is about Jesus coming to mankind. As holiday decorations show, Christians around the world often picture him in their own cultures.
Kayla Harris, Librarian/Archivist at the Marian Library and Associate Professor, University of Dayton
Neomi De Anda, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, University of Dayton
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/196784
2022-12-18T12:20:18Z
2022-12-18T12:20:18Z
How to live up to the true spirit of Christmas
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501649/original/file-20221217-22510-tt2p4m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">People enjoying Christmas decorations in Johannesburg, South Africa. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Luca Sola/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>If the media, popular entertainment, and retail habits are taken as indicators then the celebration of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christmas">Christmas</a> is no longer just the reserve of Christians. This has some consequences for the religious and non-religious alike.</p>
<p>In popular culture and the media, Christmas is portrayed as a time of happiness, togetherness, generosity, and peace. In the “made for Christmas” movies, such as those on the popular <a href="https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/christmas">Hallmark Channel</a>, a “feel good” message is the order of the day.</p>
<p>Whether it be the rekindling of a <a href="https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/christmas-in-tahoe">long-lost love</a> or <a href="https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/christmas-at-the-golden-dragon">reconciling</a> between family members after a long and painful conflict, viewers are led to believe that there is a certain kind of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1350508419867205">“magic”</a> at work during what has become known in largely <a href="https://chrestomathy.cofc.edu/documents/vol11/davis.pdf">secular terms</a> as “the holiday season”. </p>
<p>Many people believe, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021516410457">either overtly or tacitly</a>, that Christmas and the celebrations surrounding it will bring them joy, peace, happiness and togetherness.</p>
<p>In my <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ids.v56i1.2849">research</a>, which is in a field called <a href="https://www.otago.ac.nz/ctpi/what/">public theology</a>, I study such “beliefs” to try to understand where they come from, why people hold them, and what implications they have for our social, political and economic life.</p>
<p>I call these <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books?hl=en&lr=&id=_3PnDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT17&dq=dion+forster+secular&ots=R7LY9TV9Ea&sig=Qp3CMnur46BuSNxLb6TKRyLvxv0#v=onepage&q=dion%20forster%20secular&f=false">“secular beliefs”</a> to differentiate them from traditional “religious beliefs”. A secular belief is not formally attached to a religion, or has become detached from a particular religion over time. In this sense, Christmas has come to embody a kind of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09345-1_5">“secular spirituality”</a>. This has much more in common with the dominant symbols and aspirations of our age (such as leisure, pleasure, social control and consumption) than it does with its religious roots.</p>
<h2>Understanding Christmas</h2>
<p>Christmas, as the name suggests, is linked to the birth of Jesus the Christ. As a professor of theology, I have often jokingly said, “Christ is not Jesus’s surname”. The word “Christ” comes from the Greek word <em>Χρίστος</em> (Chrístos), which is the Greek translation for the Hebrew word “messiah” (<em>מָשִׁיחַ</em> or <em>māšīaḥ</em>). For Jewish people, and later for Christians (people who name themselves after their messiah, Jesus the Christ), the messiah was God’s <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books?hl=en&lr=&id=wJe_SIyxwEkC&oi=fnd&pg=PR12&dq=messiah+as+liberator&ots=HPiqhXM9jn&sig=LDQwEKNz2FV2dQZL7fv46_Xaydc#v=onepage&q=messiah%20as%20liberator&f=false">promised liberator</a> – a King who would come to liberate God’s people from their oppressors and lead them in peace and prosperity.</p>
<p>Christians believe that Jesus is the promised messiah (according to passages in the Bible, such as Isaiah 9:6-7, John 4:25 and Acts 2:38). He came preaching a message of love, peace and anti-materialism. </p>
<p>Early in Christian history, Christians began to celebrate the birth of Jesus the Christ (the promised liberator) in special services, what became known as the <a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/mass">“mass”</a> after the Latin word <em>missa</em>. Hence, it was the combination of those two words that later became one word, Christmas, a feast that celebrates liberation, peace and joy through the messiah.</p>
<p>When presented in these terms, it would not be surprising to ask what the contemporary presentations of Christmas (particularly in the western world) have to do with the celebration of Jesus the Christ. Santa Claus, snowmen and reindeer seem to have replaced Jesus and his disciples. </p>
<p>Instead of focusing on messianic liberation and anti-materialism, Christmas is focused on parties, family gatherings, and gift-giving. In other words, like so much of western modernity, the focus has turned from the <a href="https://www.google.de/books/edition/A_Secular_Age/hWRXYY3HRFoC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=charles+taylor+secular+age&printsec=frontcover">sacred to the secular</a> and from God to the human self.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021516410457">Research shows</a> that there are seven primary activities and experiences that are attached to the contemporary Christmas holiday:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Spending time with family </p></li>
<li><p>Participating in religious activities</p></li>
<li><p>Maintaining cultural, national, or family traditions (such as decorating a Christmas tree) </p></li>
<li><p>Spending money on others to buy gifts </p></li>
<li><p>Receiving gifts from others</p></li>
<li><p>Helping others (such as a local charity) and</p></li>
<li><p>Enjoying the sensual aspects of the holiday (such as good food and drink, rest, and relaxation).</p></li>
</ul>
<p>However, the same research shows that for many people, these “peaceful” and “joyous” expectations are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021516410457">not met</a>. Christmas is no longer a time of joy, generosity, family togetherness and rest. </p>
<p>Rather, the contemporary expectations of the festive “season” – such as the costs associated with gift giving, travel, celebrations (such as work functions, family gatherings, and community events) – can lead to dissatisfaction, stress, conflict and disappointment. Perhaps you can relate? </p>
<p>Moreover, the burden on <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article-abstract/17/3/333/1822554?login=false">women</a> is often much higher than it is on men. Women are often expected to arrange gatherings, buy gifts, prepare food, clean up the aftermath and keep the peace.</p>
<h2>Rekindling the true spirit of Christmas</h2>
<p>So, taking these realities into account, what might you do to rediscover the “true”, or at least the historical “spirit” of Christmas this year (whether you are religious or not)?</p>
<p>Here are a few suggestions, based on sociological research.</p>
<p>First, social and psychological research shows that in general, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021516410457">but also at Christmas</a>, people report far greater “well-being”</p>
<blockquote>
<p>when experiences of family closeness and helping others were particularly salient.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Second, that “diminished well-being” is reported where people’s experiences and expectations “focused on the materialistic aspects of the season (spending and receiving)”. Moreover, the research <a href="https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021516410457">showed</a> that religious people who actively participated in religious gatherings tended to have a more positive experience of Christmas, with their expectations largely being fulfilled.</p>
<p>So, whether you are Christian, or have more of a secular spirituality, it may well be wise to recapture something of the historical “spirit” of the Christ-mass message by engaging in the responsible use of money and time, choosing positive consumption practices, while seeking to foster good relationships with family, friends and colleagues.</p>
<p>Moreover, pay careful attention to issues such as the gendered division of labour and responsibility by sharing the work and effort. In doing so, you just may have a happier Christmas.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196784/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dion Forster currently receives funding from the South African National Research Foundation (NRF), the HB Thom fund, and the Humboldt University of Berlin. He is affiliated with the Methodist Church of Southern Africa where is and ordained minister of religion.</span></em></p>
Research shows that religious people who actively participate in religious gatherings tend to have a more positive experience of Christmas, with expectations largely fulfilled.
Dion Forster, Full Professor of Ethics and Head of Department, Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology, Director of the Beyers Naudé Centre for Public Theology, Stellenbosch University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/194133
2022-12-15T13:06:07Z
2022-12-15T13:06:07Z
Why early Christians wouldn’t have found the Christmas story’s virgin birth so surprising
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500114/original/file-20221209-41413-3bblu5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=24%2C7%2C997%2C672&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'The Nativity,' circa 1406-10, by Lorenzo Monaco</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-nativity-circa-1406-10-artist-lorenzo-monaco-news-photo/1206224323?phrase=nativity&adppopup=true">Heritage Images/Hulton Archive via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/por-que-a-los-primeros-cristianos-no-les-habria-sorprendido-tanto-el-nacimiento-virginal-de-la-historia-de-navidad-219875"><em>Leer en español</em></a>. </p>
<p>Every year on Christmas, Christians celebrate the birth of their religion’s founder, Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee. Part of this celebration includes the claim that Jesus was born from <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew+1%3A18&version=NIV">a virgin mother named Mary</a>, which is fundamental to the Christian understanding that Jesus is <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%201&version=NIV">the divine son of God</a>.</p>
<p>The virgin birth may seem <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/15/opinion/believe-it-or-not.html">strange</a> to a modern audience – and not just because it runs counter to the science of reproduction. Even in the Bible itself, the idea is rarely mentioned.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=4ufVq8gAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">a scholar of the New Testament</a>, however, I argue that this story’s original audiences would not have been put off by the supposed “strangeness” of the virgin birth story. The story would have felt much more familiar to listeners at that time, when the ancient Mediterranean was full of tales of legendary men born of gods – and when early Christians were paying close attention to the Hebrew Bible’s prophecies.</p>
<h2>What the Bible does – and doesn’t – say</h2>
<p>Strikingly, the New Testament is relatively silent on the virgin birth except in two places. It appears only in the gospels of Matthew and Luke, written a few decades after Jesus’ death.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%201&version=NIV">Book of Matthew</a> explains that when Joseph was engaged to Mary, she was “found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.” The writer links this unexpected pregnancy to an Old Testament prophecy <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=isaiah+7%3A14&version=NIV">in Isaiah 7:14</a>, which states “the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will call him Immanuel.” According to the prophet Isaiah, this child would be a sign to the Jewish people that God would protect them from powerful empires.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A faded illustration shows an angel looking down at a woman kneeling on the ground in a cloak, surrounded by rays of light." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500112/original/file-20221209-30168-3510zz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500112/original/file-20221209-30168-3510zz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500112/original/file-20221209-30168-3510zz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500112/original/file-20221209-30168-3510zz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500112/original/file-20221209-30168-3510zz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500112/original/file-20221209-30168-3510zz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500112/original/file-20221209-30168-3510zz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A depiction of the Annunciation to Mary at Our Lady of the Assumption Church.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/the-annunciation-our-lady-of-the-assumption-church-royalty-free-image/538214856?phrase=the%20annunciation&adppopup=true">Catherine Leblanc/Stone via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Now the majority of early Christians outside of Judea and throughout the Roman empire did not know the Old Testament in the original Hebrew, but rather a Greek translation known as <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Septuagint">the Septuagint</a>. When the Gospel of Matthew quotes Isaiah 7:14, it uses the Septuagint, which includes the term “parthenos,” commonly understood as “virgin.” This term differs from the Hebrew Old Testament, which uses the word “almah,” properly translated as “young woman.” The slight difference in <a href="https://brill.com/view/journals/nt/43/2/article-p144_3.xml">translation</a> between the Hebrew and the Greek may not mean much, but for early Christians who knew Greek, it provided prophetic proof for Jesus’ birth from the Virgin Mary. </p>
<p>Was the belief in the virgin birth based on a mistranslation? Not necessarily. Such terms were sometimes synonymous in Greek and Jewish thought. And the same Greek word, “parthenos,” is also found in <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%201&version=NIV">Luke’s version of the story</a>. Luke does not cite the prophecy in Isaiah 7:14. Instead, this version of the Nativity story describes the angel Gabriel announcing to Mary that she will give birth even though she is a virgin. Like in Matthew’s version of the story, Mary is told that her baby will be the “son of God.”</p>
<h2>Human and divine?</h2>
<p>For early Christians, the idea of the virgin birth put to rest any rumors about Mary’s honor. It also contributed to their belief that Jesus was the Son of God and Mary the <a href="https://www.papalencyclicals.net/councils/ecum03.htm">Mother of God</a>. These ideas became even more important during the second century, when some Christians were <a href="https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103126.htm">debating Jesus’ origins</a>: Was he <a href="https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103321.htm">simply born</a> <a href="https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103126.htm">a human being</a> but became the Son of God after <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mark+1&version=NIV">being baptized</a>? Was he a <a href="https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103111.htm">semi-divine being</a>, not really human? Or was he both fully divine and fully human?</p>
<p>The last idea, symbolized by the virgin birth, was most accepted – and is now standard Christian belief. But the relative silence about it in the first few decades of Christianity does not necessarily suggest that early Christians did not believe it. Instead, as biblical scholar <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300140088/the-birth-of-the-messiah-a-new-updated-edition/">Raymond Brown</a> also noted, the virgin birth was likely not a major concern for first-century Christians. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+1&version=NIV">They affirmed</a> that Jesus was <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=philippians+2&version=NIV">the divine Son of God</a> who <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=hebrews+2&version=NIV">became a human being</a>, without trying to explain exactly how this happened.</p>
<h2>Greco-Roman roots</h2>
<p>Claiming that someone was divinely born was not a new concept during the first century, when Jesus was born. Many Greco-Roman heroes had divine birth stories. Take three famous figures: Perseus, Ion and Alexander the Great.</p>
<p>One of the oldest Greek legends affirms that Perseus, an ancient ancestor of the Greek people, was born of <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DLibrary%3Abook%3D2%3Achapter%3D4">a virgin mother named Danaë</a>. The story begins with Danaë imprisoned by her father, the king of Argos, who feared her because it was prophesied that his grandson would kill him. According to the legend, the Greek god Zeus transformed himself into golden rain <a href="https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0162%3Abook%3DP.%3Apoem%3D12">and impregnated her</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A painting shows a nude woman reclining on a bed with soft rain behind her." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500113/original/file-20221209-46034-p3m533.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500113/original/file-20221209-46034-p3m533.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500113/original/file-20221209-46034-p3m533.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500113/original/file-20221209-46034-p3m533.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500113/original/file-20221209-46034-p3m533.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500113/original/file-20221209-46034-p3m533.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500113/original/file-20221209-46034-p3m533.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A painting of Danaë, showing the golden rain above her, by Andrea Schiavone (1522-1563). From the collection of Museo di Capodimonte, Naples.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/danae-mid-of-16th-cen-found-in-the-collection-of-museo-di-news-photo/1155650935?phrase=danae&adppopup=true">Fine Art Images/Heritage Images via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When Danaë gave birth to Perseus, they escaped and eventually landed on an island where he grew up. He eventually became a famous hero who killed the snake-haired Medusa, and <a href="https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0028:book=4:card=604&highlight=medusa%2C">his great-grandson</a> <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DLibrary%3Abook%3D2%3Achapter%3D4%3Asection%3D8">was Hercules</a>, known for his strength and uncontrollable anger.</p>
<p>The playwright Euripides, who lived in the fifth century B.C., describes the story of Ion, whose father was the Greek god Apollo. Apollo raped Creusa, Ion’s mother, who abandoned him at birth. Ion grew up unaware of his divine father, but eventually reconciled with his Athenian mother and became known as <a href="https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Eur.+Ion+1-75&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0110">the founder</a> of various Greek cities in modern-day Turkey.</p>
<p>Lastly, legends held that Zeus was the father of Alexander the Great, the Macedonian ruler who conquered his vast empire before age 33. Alexander was supposedly conceived the night before his mother consummated her marriage with the king of Macedon, when Zeus impregnated her with <a href="https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0243%3Achapter%3D2%3Asection%3D2">a lightning bolt from heaven</a>. Philip, the king of Macedon, raised Alexander as his son, but suspected that there was something different about his conception.</p>
<h2>A familiar type of hero</h2>
<p>Overall, divine conception stories were familiar in the ancient Mediterranean world. By the second century A.D., Justin Martyr, a Christian theologian who defended Christianity, recognized this point: that virgin birth <a href="https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0126.htm">would not have been considered as “extraordinary</a>” in societies familiar with Greco-Roman deities. In fact, in an address to the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius and philosophers, Justin <a href="https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0126.htm#:%7E:text=Chapter%2022.%20Analogies,done%20by%20%C3%86sculapius.">argued</a> that they should tolerate Christian belief in the virgin birth just as they did belief in the stories of Perseus. </p>
<p>The idea of the divine participating in the conception of a child destined for greatness wouldn’t have seemed so unusual to an ancient audience. Even more, early Christians’ interpretation of the prophecy in Isaiah 7:14 from the Septuagint supported their belief that Jesus’ origin was not only divine, but foretold in their prophetic scriptures.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194133/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rodolfo Galvan Estrada III does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The idea of virgin birth has been part of Christianity since the start, but its significance has shifted over time.
Rodolfo Galvan Estrada III, Assistant Professor of the New Testament, Vanguard University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/195159
2022-12-12T13:38:52Z
2022-12-12T13:38:52Z
Who were the 3 wise men who visited Jesus?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498572/original/file-20221201-12-ffufr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C6000%2C3970&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Scholars have provided different interpretations of who the 'wise men' were who visited Jesus soon after his birth.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/inside-the-saint-sulpice-church-in-paris-royalty-free-image/1296007408?phrase=three%20wise%20men%20and%20jesus&adppopup=true">Christophe Lehenaff/Collection Moment via Getty images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Christmas Nativity scenes around the world feature a familiar cast of characters: Jesus, Mary, Joseph, an angel or two, some barnyard animals, shepherds and, of course, the three wise men led by a star. </p>
<p>Within the New Testament, the story of the wise men is found only in the Gospel of Matthew. It spans <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew+2%3A1-12&version=NRSVUE">12 short verses</a>, and is simpler than most readers likely remember. The wise men arrive in Jerusalem from an unnamed location “in the East,” led by a star and in search of a new king. They make their way to Bethlehem, where they bow before Jesus and offer gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Then, they return home by a different route.</p>
<p>The details in this story are slim, and so it raises more questions than it answers. Where were the wise men actually from? Why were they interested in Jesus? And, above all, who were they?</p>
<p>I am <a href="https://vandeneykel.hcommons.org">a scholar of early Christian literature</a> who has spent years <a href="https://www.fortresspress.com/store/product/9781506473734/The-Magi">researching and writing about the wise men</a>. I maintain that their identity in Matthew’s Gospel is ultimately more mysterious and more complex than what traditional Christmas stories suggest. One of the keys to understanding them lies in what Matthew calls them: “magi.”</p>
<h2>What’s in a name?</h2>
<p>“Magi” is a Greek word that is difficult to translate. Some versions of the New Testament render it as “<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew+2&version=KJV">wise men</a>” and others say “<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%202%3A1&version=TLB">astrologers</a>.” But neither of these captures the full sense of the term. </p>
<p>“Magi” is where the English word “magic” derives from, and just as magic can have both positive and negative connotations today, so too did magi have a range of meanings and uses in the ancient world. Some ancient authors speak positively of individuals they describe as magi, while others consider the label to be more of an insult.</p>
<p>Take, for example, the New Testament Book of Acts, which mentions two magi: <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=acts+8%3A9-24&version=NRSVUE">one is named Simon</a>, and <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=acts+13%3A4-12&version=NRSVUE">the other is named Elymas</a>. </p>
<p>Simon is a performer who amazes crowds with his ability to do magic, and he angers Jesus’ apostles by offering them money in exchange for some of their powers. Elymas is an adviser to a government official on the island of Cyprus, and he is referred to as a “false prophet.” He is struck blind for trying to interfere with <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Paul-the-Apostle">the apostle Paul’s</a> attempts to <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=acts+13%3A8-11&version=NRSVUE">convert the official</a> to Christianity.</p>
<p>When it comes to both of these characters, the label “magi” is meant negatively. It was intended to suggest to readers that they are sinister charlatans, and not to be trusted.</p>
<p>In other ancient literature, however, magi are sought-after specialists who possess valuable skills like divination. In <a href="https://www.biblestudytools.com/lxx/daniel/2.html">the Greek translation of the Book of Daniel</a>, the king of Babylon summons magi to his court and asks them to decipher the details of a strange dream. </p>
<p>The Greek historian Herodotus <a href="https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+1.107&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126">tells a similar story</a> in which the Median king Astyages asks magi about a dream featuring his daughter, and they foretell the birth of the Persian king Cyrus the Great. The Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria <a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rak/courses/999/Essenes.htm#Gymnosophists">likewise speaks of magi</a> as people with the special ability to understand mysterious visions.</p>
<p>Many ancient authors who speak of people as magi also frequently do so in the context of religion and ritual. One of the more well-known instances of this is a teacher named Zoroaster, from whom <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Zoroastrianism">Zoroastrianism</a> takes its name. </p>
<p>The Greek biographer Diogenes Laertius <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a1999.01.0258">says that Zoroaster was actually the first of all the magi</a>. He <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a1999.01.0258#%5B6%5D">also writes</a> that magi lived simple, ascetic lives characterized by limited comforts, and that they had a reputation for worshiping their gods through sacrifice. </p>
<p>The Greek biographer Plutarch <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0240%3Asection%3D46">speaks similarly of Zoroaster</a> as a magi who taught a form of spiritual dualism, good versus evil.</p>
<h2>The identity of Matthew’s magi</h2>
<p>Who, then, are the magi who visit Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew? The answer, it turns out, is complicated. Matthew doesn’t tell his readers exactly what he means when he refers to his visitors in this way, and so it is up to them to figure it out.</p>
<p>Biblical scholars <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300140088/the-birth-of-the-messiah-a-new-updated-edition/">often argue</a> that Matthew intended for the magi in his Gospel to be understood as gentiles or non-Jews who come to Bethlehem to worship Jesus. They surmise that this story is meant to foreshadow the fact that Christianity would eventually become a gentile religious movement instead of a Jewish one. </p>
<p>The argument that the magi are meant to be understood as gentiles is based in part on the fact that they come to Jerusalem and Bethlehem “from the East,” which could suggest that they are “outsiders.” But in light of how magi are spoken of in other ancient literature, this understanding is too simple. Had Matthew intended to say that gentiles came to Bethlehem, he would have done so without using a loaded word like magi.</p>
<p>Because Matthew doesn’t bother to say exactly who these visitors were supposed to be, the magi have fascinated readers and kept them guessing for nearly 2,000 years. </p>
<p>They have been imagined as <a href="https://members.efn.org/%7Eopal/therealmagi.html">Zoroastrian priests</a>, <a href="https://ca.thegospelcoalition.org/article/astrologers-met-jesus-toddler/">astrologers</a> and, of course, as <a href="https://www.classical-music.com/features/articles/we-three-kings-lyrics/">kings</a>. They have appeared in various forms in <a href="https://www.artbible.info/art/verses/36.html">paintings</a>, in <a href="https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2qklsb">film</a>, in <a href="https://americanenglish.state.gov/files/ae/resource_files/1-the_gift_of_the_magi_0.pdf">literature</a> and in <a href="https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/jamestaylor/homebyanotherway.html">song</a>.</p>
<p>Given the complex nature of the word magi in the ancient world, one has to wonder if Matthew chose this word precisely to inspire a sense of mystery in his readers, and to keep them wondering about who the magi actually were. </p>
<p>If this is the case, then I would argue that he certainly accomplished that goal many times over.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195159/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eric Vanden Eykel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
As Christmas approaches, Nativity scenes showing three wise men visiting the newborn Jesus are put up around the world. A scholar of Christian literature offers an explanation on their identity.
Eric Vanden Eykel, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Ferrum College
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/188036
2022-08-19T12:42:18Z
2022-08-19T12:42:18Z
We praise people as ‘Good Samaritans,’ but there’s a complex history behind the phrase
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478811/original/file-20220811-10549-ctanht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C4%2C1020%2C677&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Samaritans celebrate Shavuot atop Mount Gerizim, near the West Bank. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/samaritan-priests-participate-in-a-traditional-ceremony-news-photo/1241133861?adppopup=true">Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>“<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Good%20Samaritan">Good Samaritan</a>” is a label often used to describe someone acting selflessly to benefit others, even if a total stranger.</p>
<p>Some may recognize that the phrase has its origin in a biblical story, one of Jesus’ parables recounted in <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke+10&version=KJV">the Book of Luke, Chapter 10</a>. In this story, a traveler from <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Samaritans.html?id=s-r_rQEACAAJ">the Samaritan community</a>, a Middle Eastern ethnic and religious group, happens upon a man who had been robbed and beaten by the side of the road.</p>
<p>The injured man was ignored by two men passing by, both of whom belonged to groups who were religiously respected in Jesus’ Jewish community: a priest and a Levite, a tribe with special religious responsibilities. In contrast, the Samaritan gives first aid to the victim, places him upon his donkey, and transports him to an inn where the beaten man is housed, cared for and fed – with all his expenses paid by the Samaritan traveler. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.gannon.edu/facultyprofiles.aspx?profile=giles001">a professor of biblical studies</a> who has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1515/9781575065472-057">written about Samaritans</a>, I’ve learned that while most of my students have heard of the “good Samaritan,” fewer are aware of the social and historical realities reflected in the story – much less that the Samaritan community still exists today.</p>
<h2>Hidden lesson</h2>
<p>Samaritanism and Judaism <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Jews_and_Samaritans/qYNpAgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0">share a common origin</a> in ancient Israel, but the rift between the two communities had already been growing for centuries before Jesus’ birth.</p>
<p>The group’s sacred text is <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Samaritan_Pentateuch.html?id=YLVOwkX1hyAC">its own version</a> of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible: what Christians know as the Pentateuch, and Jews call the Torah. The Samaritan center of worship is on Mount Gerizim in the present-day West Bank, instead of Jerusalem, where the Jewish temple stood. The faith has its own priesthood, religious calendar and theology. According to <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Keepers/jR22wAEACAAJ?hl=en">Samaritan belief</a>, a messianic figure called the Taheb will usher in an era of Divine Favor, during which the ark of the covenant will be revealed, and Mount Gerizim will be restored as the only recognized center for worship.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="A black and white photo shows four men in turbans looking at a large scroll with text on it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478814/original/file-20220811-24-yr06qx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478814/original/file-20220811-24-yr06qx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=635&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478814/original/file-20220811-24-yr06qx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=635&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478814/original/file-20220811-24-yr06qx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=635&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478814/original/file-20220811-24-yr06qx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=798&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478814/original/file-20220811-24-yr06qx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=798&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478814/original/file-20220811-24-yr06qx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=798&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Samaritan high priest sits in front of Samaritan religious scrolls around 1900.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-samaritan-high-priest-as-pedagogue-c1900-from-journey-news-photo/802539714?adppopup=true">Print Collector/Hulton Archive via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Throughout the group’s history – particularly during the first century, the backdrop for the story in the Book of Luke – the Samaritans have often been marginalized and discriminated against by their neighbors. The relationship between ancient Jews and their Samaritan neighbors was hostile, so people listening to the story would have been shocked that the hero was a Samaritan.</p>
<p>Effectively, the parable turns social reality on its head. Those expected to act righteously and model behavior for others to imitate failed where the Samaritan succeeded. The parable challenged social norms and prejudice based simply on ethnic origin, religious affiliation and where people made their home.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A painting shows a man bandaging the wounds of a man laying on the ground." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478815/original/file-20220811-9731-nj6kfd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478815/original/file-20220811-9731-nj6kfd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478815/original/file-20220811-9731-nj6kfd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478815/original/file-20220811-9731-nj6kfd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478815/original/file-20220811-9731-nj6kfd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478815/original/file-20220811-9731-nj6kfd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478815/original/file-20220811-9731-nj6kfd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘The Parable of the Good Samaritan,’ painted around 1575, from the Art History Museum in Vienna.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-parable-of-the-good-samaritan-ca-1575-found-in-the-news-photo/959929150?adppopup=true">Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Hulton Archive via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Biblical mentions</h2>
<p>The story of the Good Samaritan is not the only time the Samaritan community makes its presence felt in the New Testament literature. </p>
<p>Just one chapter earlier, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke+9&version=KJV">Luke 9</a>, describes an unwelcome reception Jesus’ disciples receive as they are about to enter a Samaritan village. Jesus and his party are making their way to Jerusalem: an offense to the Samaritans’ belief that Mount Gerizim is the proper place for worship, an issue that often functioned as shorthand for all that separated the two communities.</p>
<p>The villagers therefore choose not to help the travelers on their way. In response, the disciples are ready to call down divine retribution as punishment from heaven. Jesus will have none of it, and rebukes the disciples while leaving the villagers in peace.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+4&version=KJV">Gospel of John</a> depicts an especially significant conversation between Jesus and a Samaritan. Worn out by a recent journey, he asks a woman to draw water for him at a well. She is rather taken aback, for as the editor of the the chapter explains, Jews don’t mingle with Samaritans. Nevertheless, she does as he requests. Their ensuing conversation mentions major tenets of belief where Samaritanism and Judaism differ, despite their many similarities: their contrasting ideas about prophets, “Messiahs” and where to worship. According to the story, she and many people from the nearby vicinity become followers of Jesus.</p>
<h2>Early converts</h2>
<p>In fact, it is quite likely the Samaritans were among the first followers of Jesus’ movement.</p>
<p>In the Book of Matthew, Jesus directs his disciples to <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew+10&version=KJV">preach only to the house of Israel</a>, and not to Samaritans or non-Jews, seeming to display an anti-Samaritan bias. The <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+4&version=KJV">Gospel of John</a> paints quite a different picture, however, first with the account of the Samaritan women at the well.</p>
<p>Later in John, when detractors accuse Jesus of having a demon and being a Samaritan, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+8&version=KJV">he only denies the first</a> – seemingly refusing to distance himself from the Samaritans.</p>
<p>The Book of Acts, which describes the start of the Christian church, includes the story of Stephen, who is described as the first martyr among Jesus’ followers. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=acts+7&version=KJV">Acts 7</a> depicts Stephen trying to defend himself against charges of blasphemy, using a text that is at least influenced by Samaritan tradition, if not a version of what will become the Samaritan Pentateuch itself. </p>
<p>The Book of Hebrews in the New Testament also shows Samaritan tendencies, such as <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=hebrews+11&version=KJV">referencing heroes</a> from <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Samaritan_Pentateuch/YLVOwkX1hyAC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=the+samaritan+pentateuch&printsec=frontcover%20p%20131-134">Samaritan tradition</a>. </p>
<p>Despite this important role in the beginning of the Jesus movement, the relationship between Christianity and Samaritanism has not always been positive. The group has often been required to <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Keepers/jR22wAEACAAJ?hl=en">navigate between much larger and more powerful groups</a>, whether they be Jewish, Christian or Muslim. Violence, displacement and conversions – both voluntary and forced – have dramatically diminished the Samaritan community over the centuries.</p>
<h2>21st century Samaritans</h2>
<p>Today, the Samaritans number somewhere around 1,000 people. Most are in communities outside Tel Aviv and near the West Bank city of Nablus, where they find themselves <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/22/world/middleeast/samaritans-israeli-palestinian.html">situated between Israeli and Palestinian cultures and institutions</a>. Most Samaritans hold Israeli citizenship and have Israeli health insurance, but many also attend Palestinian schools, speak Arabic and <a href="https://religionnews.com/2017/10/17/middle-easts-samaritans-link-muslims-and-jews/">have both Hebrew and Arabic names</a>. </p>
<p>The small size of the modern Samaritan community makes them easy to overlook. But for those who are willing to listen, the message of the Good Samaritan – a message of kindness, not blinded by nationalistic, religious or ethnic prejudice – resonates as loudly as it ever has.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188036/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Terry Giles does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Samaritans still live in Israel, where they are often caught between Israeli and Palestinian identities.
Terry Giles, Professor of Theology, Gannon University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/187140
2022-07-28T12:25:31Z
2022-07-28T12:25:31Z
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens a cultural heritage the two countries share, including Saint Sophia Cathedral
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476146/original/file-20220726-20-oe7xmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C57%2C5475%2C3367&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Saint Sophia Cathedra as seen from a surrounding wall tower in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 26, 2022.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/RussiaUkraineWar/d505840b588c4cb7a8e78b997e1dd163/photo?Query=saint%20sophia%20kyiv&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=10&currentItemNo=1">AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>More than <a href="https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/damaged-cultural-sites-ukraine-verified-unesco?hub=66116">160 Ukrainian cultural sites have been damaged or destroyed</a> since Russia invaded the country in February 2022, according to UNESCO. </p>
<p>The Ukrainian government <a href="https://culturecrimes.mkip.gov.ua/">claims the number of damaged sites is far higher</a>. Russia <a href="https://russiaun.ru/en/news/arria_150722">denies these charges</a>. </p>
<p>Ukrainian officials accuse Russia of deliberately targeting cultural sites, half of which are churches, monasteries, prayer houses, synagogues and mosques. Such a targeting would be a <a href="https://en.unesco.org/protecting-heritage/convention-and-protocols/1954-convention">violation of international law</a>. </p>
<p>As a scholar who has spent over <a href="https://vimeo.com/328307361">30 years studying Russian and Ukrainian religion and culture</a>, I’m deeply concerned about the cultural destruction of this war, which has already claimed <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61987945">thousands of lives</a> and has turned <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-60555472">over 12 million Ukrainians into refugees</a>. </p>
<p>An important monument under threat is <a href="https://www.medievalists.net/2022/02/cathedral-saint-sophia-kyiv/">Saint Sophia Cathedral</a> in Kyiv. Built in the 11th century, <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/ua">the church is one of Ukraine’s seven World Heritage sites</a> recognized by the United Nations. It represents the common Orthodox Christian faith that many Russians and Ukrainians share.</p>
<h2>Saint Sophia and the Byzantine model</h2>
<p><a href="https://youtu.be/SxM9JkYK41A">Saint Sophia Cathedral</a> was built under the reign of Grand Prince <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Yaroslav-the-Wise">Yaroslav the Wise</a>, whose father, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Vladimir-I">Volodymyr – also known as Vladimir – had adopted Orthodox Christianity in 988</a>. </p>
<p>According to a legend in <a href="https://www.mgh-bibliothek.de/dokumente/a/a011458.pdf">the early 12th-century “Primary Chronicle,</a>” Volodymyr chose Orthodoxy for the beauty of its worship services. The envoys he sent to Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, visited the famous Church of Holy Wisdom, the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hagia-Sophia">Hagia Sophia</a>. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3822741">Built by Emperor Justinian in the sixth century</a>, the Hagia Sophia is devoted to the <a href="https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Two-Hymns-to-Wisdom%3A-Proverbs-8-and-Job-28-Bakon/c155480e2ce6ee0b7774ffb97d5f5f66ce869e79#citing-papers">Divine Wisdom, who is personified as a woman in the biblical “Book of Proverbs</a>.” Convinced by his envoys’ favorable report, Volodymyr decided to be <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/25776328">baptized and to convert</a> his subjects. </p>
<p>After Volodymyr’s death, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00043079.2009.10786155">Yaroslav invited Byzantine architects and artists</a> to build an impressive cathedral for Kyiv just like the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2847951">Yaroslav, who had fought a civil war to succeed his father</a>, deliberately <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/41048427">imitated the Byzantine capital</a> to buttress his legitimacy. His new cathedral, Saint Sophia, even took its name from the imperial church in Constantinople.</p>
<h2>Christian symbolism in the Cathedral</h2>
<p>With <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-4181(81)90035-X">13 cupolas and a central dome that rises 29 meters</a> (about 95 feet) into the air, Saint Sophia is an imposing structure that served as a testament to the power and piety of its ruler. Elaborate mosaics decorate the sanctuary and dome. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004307742_015">Portraits of Yaroslav</a> and his family are prominently displayed in the cathedral’s princely gallery, where the ruler attended services.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476147/original/file-20220726-17-208ufd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Mosaics adorning the inner walls of Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476147/original/file-20220726-17-208ufd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476147/original/file-20220726-17-208ufd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476147/original/file-20220726-17-208ufd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476147/original/file-20220726-17-208ufd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476147/original/file-20220726-17-208ufd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476147/original/file-20220726-17-208ufd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476147/original/file-20220726-17-208ufd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A view of the interior of Saint Sophia Cathedral.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/APTOPIXRussiaUkraineWar/47d4fac432414ee59951102df858e51b/photo?Query=saint%20sophia%20kyiv&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=10&currentItemNo=0">AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A <a href="http://sofiyskiy-sobor.polnaya.info/en/mosaics_st_sophia_cathedral.shtml">mosaic of the Virgin Mary</a>, the Mother of God, stands in the apse above the altar. Raising her hands in prayer, Mary is framed by a Greek inscription from <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+46%3A5&version=AKJV">Psalm 46</a>: “God is in the midst of Her; She shall not be moved.”</p>
<p>The imagery and language are borrowed from Byzantium. Just as she was seen as a powerful divine protector of Constantinople, so now <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-war-rages-some-ukrainians-look-to-mary-for-protection-continuing-a-long-christian-tradition-178394">Mary protects Kyiv</a>. The tall <a href="http://sofiyskiy-sobor.polnaya.info/en/sofia_cathedral_mosaics_and_frescoes.shtml">central dome is adorned with a mosaic of an all-powerful image of Christ, known as “Christ Pantokrator</a>,” who gazes down from his throne at his worshipers. </p>
<p>The art historian <a href="https://las.depaul.edu/academics/history-of-art-and-architecture/faculty/Pages/elena-boeck.aspx">Elena Boeck</a> calls Saint Sophia “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40645508">the most ambitious Orthodox Church built in the 11th century</a>.”</p>
<h2>Decline and restoration</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.worldhistory.org/Saint_Sophia_Cathedral,_Kyiv/">Saint Sophia Cathedral</a> was consecrated in <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/126054">1049</a> and completed around 1062. As the power and importance of Kyiv declined, the church suffered from external attacks and internal neglect.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/41036277">1169</a>, the northern prince Andrei Bogolubskii of Vladimir sacked Kyiv – an event that the leader of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, <a href="https://risu.ua/en/metropolitan-epifaniy-calls-on-all-ukrainians-to-protect-the-state-from-russian-aggression_n126323">Metropolitan Epifaniy, has compared to the current Russian invasion</a>. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5699/slaveasteurorev2.94.4.0702">Mongol attacks in 1240</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/130324">1416</a> and <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/41035860">1482</a> further damaged the cathedral. </p>
<p>Restoration work in the 17th century in the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/41036455">baroque</a> style radically changed the cathedral’s outward appearance. The outer walls were plastered and whitewashed. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/126054">The church was bombed during the Russian civil war in 1918</a>. Under Soviet rule, the Communists plundered its treasury and secularized the building, which became a museum. In the 1940s, the church again suffered under <a href="https://networks.h-net.org/node/3180/reviews/6282/prusin-berkhoff-harvest-despair-life-and-death-ukraine-under-nazi-rule">German occupation</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.medievalists.net/2022/02/cathedral-saint-sophia-kyiv/">Saint Sophia Cathedral</a> stands as a monument to the East Slavic cultural heritage that Russians and Ukrainians share. Its extraordinary <a href="http://sofiyskiy-sobor.polnaya.info/en/sofia_cathedral_mosaics_and_frescoes.shtml">Byzantine mosaics and frescoes</a> have survived nearly a millennium.</p>
<p>Today, as during the Second World War, Ukraine has been invaded by a foreign army that <a href="https://media.un.org/en/asset/k1e/k1egkow771">threatens this heritage</a>. Although Russia has assured the United Nations that its armed forces are taking “<a href="https://russiaun.ru/en/news/arria_150722">necessary precautions</a>” to prevent damage to <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/527/">World Heritage sites, such as Saint Sophia</a>, war is destructive and unpredictable. Whether Saint Sophia Cathedral remains undamaged during this latest invasion remains an open question.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187140/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>J. Eugene Clay has received funding from the International Research and Exchanges Board, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Humanities Center, and the Social Science Research Council.</span></em></p>
Saint Sophia Cathedral was built under the reign of Grand Prince Yaroslav, whose father, Volodymyr, converted the region to Christianity.
J. Eugene Clay, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies, Arizona State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/185858
2022-06-27T03:46:41Z
2022-06-27T03:46:41Z
The Bible says nothing about abortion. So being anti-choice is a cultural and political decision, not a biblical one
<p>In many churches across the United States of America, and even perhaps here in Australia, Sunday worship would have been an opportunity to celebrate the decision of the US Supreme Court to overturn the protections established in the case of Roe v. Wade in 1973. On Twitter one theology professor has responded to the news with “<a href="https://twitter.com/MusingsOnChrist/status/1540337914508369922">Well, praise the Lord!</a>”, while another just gave a “<a href="https://twitter.com/DennyBurk/status/1540337676477517825">Hallelujah</a>”.</p>
<p>It’s clearly the case that the decision to overturn is seen as a victory for the Christian Right in the US and vindication of their role in electing President Trump.</p>
<p>The decision will be seen by many as a recovery of “biblical” values; a return to the Bible’s teaching on the sanctity of human life and the moral abhorrence of voluntary abortion.</p>
<p>So, this is a good time to remind ourselves that the Bible says nothing directly about abortion, the indirect evidence relating to biblical perspectives on the sanctity of life is deeply conflicted, and that one of the two major religious traditions that looks to the Bible as an authoritative text clearly affirms the moral necessity of abortion in certain cases.</p>
<h2>The Bible is silent on abortion</h2>
<p>Discussions about, and laws pertaining to, the practice of voluntary abortion can be found in the literature of the Ancient Near East and Hellenistic worlds in which biblical texts were written.</p>
<p>It seems to have been a concern in Assyrian society around 1500–1200 BCE. <a href="https://archive.org/details/ancient-near-eastern-texts-relating-to-the-old-testaments-james-b.-pritchard">There</a>, if a woman was discovered to have had “a miscarriage by her own act” she was to be prosecuted and, if guilty, impaled (alive or dead) on a stake.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:abo:tlg,0086,035:7:1335b">Aristotle</a> said abortion is appropriate as a means of controlling the size of a family, but should be performed early, “before sensation and life”.</p>
<p>But the Bible is simply silent on the question on which the Supreme Court has now pronounced. Old Testament scholar John Collins is right to <a href="https://religionnews.com/2020/10/16/what-does-the-bible-really-say-about-abortion/">say</a> “on this issue, there is no divine revelation to be had”.</p>
<p>What the Bible does contain are some verses which seem to refer to the status of the unborn fetus. The most famous and commonly cited is <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+139%3A+13-16&version=NRSVA">Psalm 139:13–16</a>, a poem in which the Psalmist expresses the view that God created them in the womb.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1540437968862814209"}"></div></p>
<p>In fact, the passage seems to suggest God “saw” who the poet was before they had even been conceived, let alone born (see also <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah+1%3A5&version=NRSVA">Jeremiah 1:5</a>). </p>
<p>It’s hard to see that the passage has any direct relation to the ethical/legal issues at stake in the modern debate, such as the nature of personhood, bodily autonomy, or the negotiation of competing rights.</p>
<p>More specific is <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exod+21.22-25&version=NRSVA">Exodus 21:22–25</a> which imagines a scenario in which a pregnant woman is injured through her involvement (or perhaps her intervention) in a fight between two men. The Hebrew version of this passage is clear about priorities: if all that happens is the fetus is lost through miscarriage then the man who injured the woman should just pay a fine. In the world of Exodus 21, this is the equivalent to losing ox or a donkey: the money is to make up for lost earnings and so the fetus is regarded as property.</p>
<p>But, if the woman herself suffers harm, then more direct restitution is required, depending on the severity of injury: “life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, etc.” The most important “person” in this scenario is clearly the woman. The Greek translation of this text, perhaps reflecting ideas of Aristotle outlined above, changes this latter injunction to make it clear it refers to any harm incurred by any child born “fully formed”.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/trump-still-enjoys-huge-support-among-evangelical-voters-and-its-not-only-because-of-abortion-148174">Trump still enjoys huge support among evangelical voters — and it's not only because of abortion</a>
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<h2>Jesus said nothing on the unborn</h2>
<p>When it comes to the New Testament there’s even less to go on.</p>
<p>Yes, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+1%3A41-42&version=NRSVA">John the Baptist</a> “leaps” in Elizabeth’s womb. But any attempt to extrapolate from that specific statement to general ideas about the personhood of the unborn is, in the words of New Testament scholar Richard Hays, “<a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/The_Moral_Vision_of_the_New_Testament.html?id=_c3PNTVBV5EC&redir_esc=y">ridiculous and tendentious exegesis</a>”. </p>
<p>And we do find condemnation of those who practice <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=gal+5%3A20%3B+rev+18%3A23&version=NRSVA"><em>pharmakeia</em></a> (sorcery or magic), which some suggest includes mixing potions to induce abortion. But we have no way of telling what practices are being referred to by that term.</p>
<p>Jesus isn’t remembered as saying anything about the unborn. Paul is silent on the issue.</p>
<p>Attempts to claim otherwise are ideologically informed cases of special pleading.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1541157824386027526"}"></div></p>
<p>So, the clear moral prohibition on abortion which we find in early Christian literature outside of the New Testament needs some kind of explanation.</p>
<p>That prohibition emerges in the late first or early second century in texts like the <a href="https://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/didache-roberts.html">Didache</a>, the <a href="http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/barnabas-lightfoot.html">Epistle of Barnabas</a>, and, with highly disturbing threats of the eternal torture of women, the <a href="http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/apocalypsepeter-mrjames.html">Apocalypse of Peter</a>.</p>
<p>It seems to have occurred as a particular interpretation of the Old Testament commandments “you shall not murder” and “you shall love your neighbour as yourself”, but then developed by way of cultural accommodation to the Greek/Platonic idea that the fetus is a living being.</p>
<p>The Christian rejection of abortion seems to have been predicated on assumptions the fetus is a person. The woman, without whom the fetus would be nothing at all, disappears from view. But on such questions, Jesus and the early apostles say nothing.</p>
<p>Yet, around the same time, Jewish teachers were clarifying a position on abortion in which the woman carrying the fetus continued to play a central role. The second century discussion in the section of the Mishnah called <a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Mishnah_Oholot.7.6?lang=bi">Oholoth</a> states clearly that if a woman is “in hard labour” then the fetus should be aborted “because her life takes precedence over the life of the child”. This requirement is only waived if the fetus has already been substantially born (defined as “the greater part [of its head] has come out”).</p>
<p>While we find nothing of this sort in the New Testament either, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mk+3%3A1%E2%80%936&version=NRSVA">Jesus is remembered</a> as invoking the same principle of the priority of saving life even if it means breaking Sabbath laws. Jesus’ ethical convictions owed far more to the traditions of Judaism than to the philosophical deliberations of early Christian treatises.</p>
<p>The recent decision of the Supreme Court is seen, in legal terms, as a victory for “originalism”: the idea that the Constitution should be interpreted according to some notion of its “original meaning”.</p>
<p>Applying the same criterion to the biblical texts would help to clarify that Christian support for legislation prohibiting abortion is a cultural and political stance. It has nothing to do with the Bible.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185858/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sean Winter does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Christian support for legislation prohibiting abortion is a cultural and political stance. It has nothing to do with the Bible.
Sean Winter, Associate Professor (New Testament Studies), University of Divinity
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/184524
2022-06-16T19:06:39Z
2022-06-16T19:06:39Z
Jesus’ earthly dad, St. Joseph – often overlooked – is honored by Father’s Day in many Catholic nations
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468766/original/file-20220614-24-mcq0xt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C6%2C1020%2C737&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'The Holy Family,' by the 17th-century Spanish painter Bartolome Esteban Murillo. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/la-sagrada-familia-c1650-a-tender-domestic-scene-showing-news-photo/615473950">The Print Collector/Hulton Fine Images via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The United States celebrates Father’s Day on the third Sunday of June. Many countries with a Catholic heritage, however, such as Portugal and Spain, have already honored fathers on March 19: the feast of St. Joseph, husband of Mary and <a href="https://www.lourdes-france.org/en/saint-joseph-patron-des-peres-de-famille/">patron saint of fathers</a>.</p>
<p>Joseph is easy to overlook. None of his words were included in the Christian Bible. In Islam, the Quran omits him entirely, though it does include <a href="https://ecommons.udayton.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1470&context=marian_studies">Jesus and Mary</a> by name; in fact, <a href="https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195390155/obo-9780195390155-0143.xml">it refers to Mary</a> more than the Christian Gospels do. And while Catholic tradition gives the highest veneration to the Virgin Mary, it gives less emphasis to Joseph’s significance – there is even a joke that a Sunday school student thought Jesus’ parents names were “Verge ‘n Mary,” after hearing her name so much more than his.</p>
<p>However, the Bible portrays St. Joseph playing a crucial role in the life of Jesus Christ, the founder of Christianity. In Catholic culture, Joseph is still an important role model of fatherhood and faith.</p>
<h2>Husband of Mary, father of Jesus – on earth</h2>
<p>The bulk of the biblical descriptions of Joseph come from what are called <a href="https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/schools/stm/sites/crossroads/resources/mini-course/birth-of-jesus/infancy-narrative.html">the Infancy Narratives</a> in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, which describe Jesus’ birth and childhood.</p>
<p>According to the Gospels, Mary, a virgin betrothed to Joseph, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+1%3A35&version=NRSVCE">conceived Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit</a> – and therefore Christians consider Jesus the Son of God. However, most Christians understand Joseph to be a true father in every way except biological, since Joseph was the legal father who raised Jesus.</p>
<p><a href="https://udayton.edu/directory/artssciences/imri/doddgloria.php">As someone who studies Catholic beliefs about Mary,</a> I have <a href="https://ascensionpress.com/products/the-virgin-mary-and-theology-of-the-body">argued</a> that interpreting their “betrothal” as a modern-day “engagement” is incorrect. The Jewish custom in that time period involved <a href="https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/ancient-jewish-marriage/">a two-stage marriage</a>: first a legal contract of marriage, followed later by a party with the husband taking his wife into his home. This is shown in the Gospels: Joseph learned that Mary was expecting before she came to live with him, so <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+1&version=NRSVCE">he planned to divorce her</a>; but an angel instructed him not to, and instead to take his wife into his home. Therefore, Joseph was already Mary’s legal husband at the time Jesus was conceived.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A painting shows an older man with a beard, with blue and yellow robes, being visited by a whispering angel while he sleeps." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468858/original/file-20220614-21-yi76mi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468858/original/file-20220614-21-yi76mi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=705&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468858/original/file-20220614-21-yi76mi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=705&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468858/original/file-20220614-21-yi76mi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=705&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468858/original/file-20220614-21-yi76mi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468858/original/file-20220614-21-yi76mi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468858/original/file-20220614-21-yi76mi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘The Dream of St. Joseph,’ by the 18th-century Italian painter Stefano Maria Legnani.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-dream-of-saint-joseph-by-stefano-maria-legnani-also-news-photo/461641451?adppopup=true">Sergio Anelli/Electa/Mondadori/Hulton Fine Art Collection via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some Christians believe that after Jesus’ birth, Mary and Joseph had several children together. The Gospels <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+13&version=NRSVCE">mention brothers and sisters of Jesus</a>. However, Catholics and Orthodox Christians hold that these verses refer to other relatives, not actual siblings. Jesus taught that children have <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+7&version=NRSVCE">an obligation to support their parents</a>, but when he was dying, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+19&version=NRSVCE">he entrusted Mary to the care of his Apostle John</a>, not a sibling.</p>
<p>Catholics believe Mary and Joseph had what the Catholic Church calls a “Josephite marriage” – that is, one that meets Catholicism’s requirements for a <a href="https://www.newadvent.org/summa/4029.htm">true marriage</a>, such as fidelity, but does not involve sexual intercourse.</p>
<p>Like any parent, Joseph had his challenges. At one point, for example, he and Mary <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke+2&version=NRSVCE">lost track of the 12-year-old Jesus</a> for three days while they were traveling. But in Catholic teachings, he models faithful fatherhood. Joseph provided for his family as a carpenter, and followed God’s instructions to care for them. He named and circumcised his son, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke+2&version=NRSVCE">presented him at the Temple in Jerusalem</a>, and took him to the Temple on holy days when possible, all in line with Jewish law. Joseph also <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%202&version=NIV">protected Jesus from Herod</a>, the King of Judea who wanted to kill the child, by taking Mary and Jesus to safety in Egypt and then Nazareth.</p>
<h2>Significance in Catholic cultures</h2>
<p>For Catholics, Joseph is the second-greatest saint after Mary, because only she knew, loved and served Jesus more than Joseph. In 1870, Pope Pius IX <a href="https://osjusa.org/st-joseph/magisterium/quemadmodum-deus/">declared</a> Joseph the patron saint of the entire Catholic Church.</p>
<p>The Catholic liturgical calendar has two days just for him. Joseph’s primary celebration honors him as the husband of Mary, and takes place March 19. It is a “solemnity” – a global celebration requiring <a href="https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib4-cann1244-1253_en.html#TITLE_II.">specific liturgies</a> – and in some countries, Catholics are obligated to attend Mass. Many Italians celebrate the day with <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/feast-of-st-joseph-bread-sculptures">a St. Joseph’s Altar</a> or Bread Table providing free food to all, as a way to thank the saint for his help.</p>
<p>May 1 is an optional feast that honors Joseph in his role as a worker. Pope Pius XII <a href="https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/st-joseph-a-feast-for-the-working?s=r">established this celebration</a> in 1955 to give a Christian dimension to International Workers Day, also known as International Labor Day or May Day, and counter its <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/04/30/1095729592/what-is-may-day-history">Marxist roots</a>.</p>
<p>Joseph also shares in the <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/liturgical-holidays/feast-of-the-holy-family-of-jesus--mary-and-joseph-.html">universal feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph</a> on the Sunday after Christmas, as well as some local commemorations. For example, the Oblates of St. Joseph, a community of priests and religious brothers, celebrates <a href="https://osjusa.org/about-us/apostolates/holy-spouses-ministry/feast/">Joseph and Mary’s wedding</a> on Jan. 23.</p>
<h2>Year of St. Joseph</h2>
<p>In 2020 an American priest, the Rev. Donald Calloway, published a popular book called “<a href="https://www.fathercalloway.com/books-and-gifts/consecration-st-joseph-wonders-our-spiritual-father">Consecration to St. Joseph</a>.” This guide encourages Catholics – many of whom traditionally devote themselves to Mary – to also consecrate their lives to Joseph, as their spiritual father. Calloway outlines a 33-day program to prepare readers for a ceremony entrusting themselves to Joseph’s care.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An illustration shows a man wearing two brown robes embracing a small blond child." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469093/original/file-20220615-10596-8g0k16.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469093/original/file-20220615-10596-8g0k16.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=905&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469093/original/file-20220615-10596-8g0k16.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=905&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469093/original/file-20220615-10596-8g0k16.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=905&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469093/original/file-20220615-10596-8g0k16.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1137&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469093/original/file-20220615-10596-8g0k16.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1137&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469093/original/file-20220615-10596-8g0k16.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1137&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">St. Joseph holds the infant Jesus and a lily, representing purity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/circa-1-ad-st-joseph-or-san-jose-the-husband-of-the-virgin-news-photo/51244756?adppopup=true">Geoffroy/Hulton Archive via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Afterward, Calloway wrote to Pope Francis and asked him to declare a “Year of St. Joseph” for the church. The pope has not spoken about whether this letter influenced him, but Francis did proclaim Dec. 8, 2020, to Dec. 8, 2021, the first-ever <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2020-12/pope-francis-proclaims-year-of-st-joseph.html">Year of St. Joseph</a>, a time for Catholics to deepen their knowledge of the saint and to pray for blessings from God through Joseph’s intercession.</p>
<p>Francis wrote a <a href="https://www.catholic.com/encyclopedia/apostolic-letters">public letter</a> called “<a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_letters/documents/papa-francesco-lettera-ap_20201208_patris-corde.html">With a Father’s Heart</a>,” which highlights Joseph’s paternal qualities, such as tenderness, courage, and being self-giving. “Fathers are not born, but made. … Whenever a man accepts responsibility for the life of another, in some way he becomes a father to that person,” Francis wrote.</p>
<p>Joseph is considered the <a href="https://catholiclife.diolc.org/2020/10/26/st-joseph-patron-of-a-happy-death/">patron of a happy death</a> because <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+19&version=NRSVCE">the Bible implies</a> that he died in the company of Jesus and Mary, before Jesus’ ministry and death. But in life, too, Catholicism sees Joseph as an encouraging ideal: a man who carried out his important role in the family with hope and joy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184524/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gloria Falcão Dodd received funding from the Mariological Society of America in 1999.</span></em></p>
The Catholic Church considers St. Joseph a role model of fatherhood and faith. In many countries, Father’s Day is celebrated on his feast day.
Gloria Falcão Dodd, Research Professor, University of Dayton
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.