ST. PAUL'S LUTHERAN CHURCH & SCHOOL, MUNSTER, INDIANA
  • Home
  • Church
    • Discover >
      • Sunday School
      • Resources
    • Disciple
    • Connect
    • Youth
  • School/Preschool
    • Parents
    • Students
    • Preschool >
      • Summer Fun
    • Extra-curricular
    • Admissions
    • Faculty
    • Alumni
  • About
    • What We Believe
    • History >
      • Rededicated
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Church
    • Discover >
      • Sunday School
      • Resources
    • Disciple
    • Connect
    • Youth
  • School/Preschool
    • Parents
    • Students
    • Preschool >
      • Summer Fun
    • Extra-curricular
    • Admissions
    • Faculty
    • Alumni
  • About
    • What We Believe
    • History >
      • Rededicated
  • Contact

Looking at lent through art

2/17/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture"Man of Sorrows," Albrecht Durer
It probably makes for bad theology to say that a picture is worth a thousand words. After all, Christ, the very center of Christianity, is called the Word. Spreading the Gospel is done via language. But on the other hand, Christians have always used art to express and teach aspects of the faith, and Jesus is also called the exact image of God.

Christianity has made much of sacred art, filling churches and public places with images of Christ and His followers engaged in the various events recorded in Scripture. Jews and Muslims do not have the equivalent of crucifixes or manger scenes. Things like our stained glass window depicting Jesus praying in the garden would never appear in a traditional mosque or synagogue. In Jerusalem there is a large, modern statue of King David playing the harp, but his nose and some fingers are missing. It was defaced not by Israel’s enemies, but by devout Jews who consider it a violation of God’s law to make such a graven image. And of course we all know from the news about the objections of Muslims to any depiction of their prophet. Those religions usually use symbols and designs rather than representational art. So even though Jews, Muslims, and Christians claim to be Abraham’s offspring, typically only Christians would paint a picture of Abraham.

Sure, there have been Christian groups called “Iconoclasts” who have rejected the use of images in churches. For example, many of the Swiss Reformers (the fathers of modern Protestantism) painted over sacred art in churches and smashed beautiful statues on the theory that they amounted to graven images forbidden by the Bible. But Lutherans and most Christians generally have never fallen for the error of Iconoclasm. Our churches historically have featured plenty of statues and paintings depicting the great people and events of the Bible and Christian history.

This Lenten season our midweek services will look at some great Christian art in order to better understand the classic themes of Lent, like temptation, sin, sacrifice, and atonement. Hopefully this series will help us connect those high theological concepts with our regular, concrete, flesh and blood lives in Munster in 2015. Please plan to attend.

0 Comments

    Author

    Rev. Peter Speckhard, Senior Pastor at St. Paul's Ev. Lutheran Church, Munster, Indiana

    Picture

    Archives

    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    March 2017
    October 2016
    June 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015

    Topics

    All
    Anchored
    Art & Music
    Authority
    Bible Study
    Budgets
    Callings
    Catechism
    Challenge
    Christian Living
    Church Building
    Citizenship
    Communion
    Congregation
    Connection
    Cycles
    Death
    Denominations
    Direction
    Disappointment
    Discipline
    Disruption
    Education
    Endurance
    Eternity
    Evangelism
    Evil
    Faith
    Fear
    Forgiveness
    Fruits Of The Spirit
    Frustration
    Future
    Generations
    Gratitude
    Growth
    Heaven
    History
    Identity
    Idols
    Injustice
    Inspiration
    Isolation
    Joy
    Kindness
    LCMS
    Legacy
    Lent
    Liturgy
    Luther
    Memory
    Milestones
    Passover
    Patience
    Peace
    Perfection
    Pilgrimage
    Prayer
    Priorities
    Promise
    Protection
    Reading
    Rededication
    Reformation
    Rest
    Resurrection
    Sacrifice
    Safety
    Salvation
    Scripture
    Self
    Self-destruction
    Serving
    Shepherding
    Sin
    Stewardship
    Strength
    Suffering
    Synod
    Technology
    The Word
    Trinity
    Trust
    Truth
    Unity
    Vigil
    Vocation
    Wisdom
    Worry

    RSS Feed

©2022, St. Paul's Ev. Lutheran Church & School
Munster, IN