Lastly, relevance doesn't change the message; it reshapes its presentation. Let us not become like the Pharisees who were willing to crucify anyone who challenged their traditions and their stylistic inflexibility, confining people to a dead and dull religion. “God: The Villanelle” by Marvin Klotz is a perfect example of someone who sees religion confined to rules, rituals, and regulations. It is evident that Klotz views religion as a source of much human misery:
We burn, behead, ruin, rack, pursue jihad
Against the wretches who refuse to bend—
Reveal eternal horrors of our gods (God: The Villanelle. pp. 449).
However, this poem also reveals that relevance can help reshape how Christian’s relate to those who focus on all of the things that
…show more content…
It is not something that you can explain in a class. Culture is caught, not taught. Culture develops and evolves on a daily basis and is a living breathing part of how society lives life. Culture is determined and defined by words, actions, and priorities. Whether people know it or not, God has put the seed in every person and when they come into an environment of literature and creative arts they are remind of who they really are. A truth we must embrace is that literature and the creative arts shape culture, which includes church and unchurched people alike. We are all a part of shaping culture. That is not to say that Christians must accept everything culture throws at us, but it does mean that we refuse to hide from it. Christians are called by God to be the salt and light of the earth. While we cultivate and embrace wholesome and God fearing lives, we must not ignore the fact that this same light needs to be shone within culture. When one reads the Book of Acts in the Bible, one will discover that the Gospel was meant to thrive in the public square. If the Gospel was meant to thrive in the public square, then Christians should not fear, but embrace the assortment of culture within society. In fact, this is our
Our second poem displays the lost meaning of religion, confusion of love and how our misinterpretations on both lead us to think. Take for instance this line: “No way is [he] bringing me home. He wants someone to fix his religion.” Humans constantly want another human to give meaning to their lives in any kind of way. Some even go as far as interpreting sex and one night stands as actions of sincere love. Our secondary character is trying to find meaning in his religion once more, probably thinking if he finds someone to have sex with, eventually they’ll fall in love and it’ll give his life meaning again, ultimately “fixing” his religion. The character’s self-doubt about his religion and his actions to recuperate that meaning displays the lost meaning of religion. The line “Believe me I love religion, but he’s too quiet when praying” shows the lack of knowledge in America when talking about religion. Praying is a sacred time for people to talk to God and be thankful for them or to ask for guidance. Stating that “he’s too quiet when praying” shows a kind of lost in the meaning of religion, as it’s not a thing that’s enforced as much as it was decades
People, specifically in the U.S., have gone from viewing the bible as “The absolute, unchanging word of God,” to, “A collection of guidelines, allegories, myths, and stories useful for good living. Offensive versus must be igno...
This is not an easy question, and yet the Church cannot avoid responding to it. Over the centuries, various Christian communities have developed alternative perspectives on this very influential Christ-culture connection. In the extreme, some believers have advocated a complete rejection of culture (Anabaptists, fundamentalists), while others at the opposite end of the ecclesiastical spectrum ...
As society continues to change, it is important for Christians to realize that they must respond in new and different ways. The original publisher, Tindale House, published this essay as an informative measure while Baker Academic uses this essay as a way to teach how to evaluate a specific style of writing. This essay's purpose is to not only be a source of information, but also an essay that can be evaluated in order to learn about a specific style of writing.
Culture, what is it exactly? Many people believe that your culture defines who you are as a person, as well as in society. When in retrospect, culture is something that you have no control over. You are brought up in a certain way that your family has been brought up for generations. No amount of schooling or experience, can help shape or control who you really are as a person. Sure, in your lifetime you can see extraordinary things that might change your view or opinion on certain subjects, but overall, your culture is what defines you. For many people, it is strange and weird to see something out of the ordinary when it comes to doing thing different. For example, what some might consider to be an insult, others might see it as common courtesy. What type of foods that might be deemed as foul and disgusting in one culture, might be seen as an everyday source of nutrition for another. Culture is a part of who we are, and what we believe in, even if sometimes it seems a little crazy. I believe that is comes down to two main things when dealing with culture. One is how you were raised in this world. Two, your religious side or background, and three how it all ties you together as the person you are.
Culture is a factor that shapes our everyday lives, along with being exposed to new and unique cultural aspects everyday. Being changed and having your thoughts on events differ than originally isn’t a bad thing. Culture does change the way people are informed and the way they view the world through language, social interactions, and religion.
A culture can easily be metered by its nonmaterial values. America was originally founded on solid values that today are all but abandoned. Self-discipline and hard work have been replaced by instant gratification and laziness. Also, the American material culture is shown though the products sought after in our materialistic society. The iPod, sports, car, boats and other luxury items are what are considered America’s material icons. It is becoming harder and harder to live a Christian testimony given the negative cultural shift in our society. G...
This excerpt conforms to my worldview that the essence of Christianity is based on how an individual responds to others who are in need of both physical and spiritual help. As I continue to develop and grow in Christ, I will apply this principle throughout my lifelong journey of helping others and teaching the Gospel.
The American culture is diverse and constantly evolving due to many various aspects of society, including, but not limited to, religion. It cannot be said that there is one American culture because there is no national language in America. Also, the lack of a single culture is displayed by the strong need for political correctness in America. Finally, it is evident that the culture in America has changed through the years due to changes in American religion.
I want to start by defining what culture is, “Culture is the way of life of a people, specifically the shared and human-created strategies for adapting and responding to the social and physical environment. pg 518” I learned that culture isn’t only about what one thing is acceptable or about one way or life. Culture is about a lot of things. I learned that it includes material things that different cultures have in common for example material culture is something like a lawn mower, a car, or an ipod. These are things that other cultures other than the american culture have or consider part of their norm. The book states that this is a way for people to understand others and relate to them. Non-Material culture includes things like peoples values, values are what people think is important to them. For some cultures praying everyday at a set time is a value to them. It is something that they find important to them. Beliefs are a non-material culture. These are what people believe in, it can range anywhere from believing in a god to believing in things like santa. These beliefs help define a culture and why it is the way it is. Symbols are type of a non-material culture, they are words that are dif...
Though there are many things that we can understand and learn from, we are reminded yet again to point it back to Jesus. This claim discusses the importance of knowing that in what we do Christ is integrated in our actions, behaviors, values, etc.
Culture is something we have all heard in our daily lives. In literature, culture is used very well and analyzing it to get the true meaning of culture portrayed in a text can be very useful. Culture can mean various things from what you do and what you think to your general lifestyle. It defines the person you are and is present within everyone’s life.
Culture is defined as a configuration of learned behaviors and results of behavior whose component elements are shared and transmitted by the members of a particular society(Linton, R. 1945). American culture is obviously typical culture model widely transmitted internationally in the contemporary era. Thanks to aborigines in American Continent and the large number of migrants from worldwide, American culture presents the characteristics of diversity and tolerance which deeply affected and shaped by native American culture, European culture and African culture. Culture itself is an abstract concept embodied by language, architecture, poems, rituals, music, arts and religions. In this
To examine the impact of culture upon identity, we must first define what identity is. There is the age-old trend to view identity as the classical question of “who am I?”, when in reality, the common definition of identity is “...[the] individual's perception of self in relation to others” rather than the personality of the individual in question (Woodward). While personality is a way that we characterize ourselves by the traits that we posses, the identities that we claim are inherently a part of the groups that we assign ourselves. When I was young and in Sunday school, I was taught that the answer to the question of “who are you” is that I am a child of God, and I belong to the group of Christians. Now, some would reject that response almost immediately on the basis of that this answer does not define them, and in doing that, we have already segregated our identity based upon a group that we are a part of. Our identity is necessarily a product of our society and our relationships and the groups assignments that we give ourselves...
Culture is passed down from one generation to the next generation. It is a societies beliefs and customs and the core values that unite people together. Culture is learned from past generations. It is how we live our day to day lives. Culture is not the same for everyone. Some cultures are very religious, while others are not. Some cultures live lavish lives, while others get by with the bare necessities. It is the food we eat, the clothes we wear, our family traditions and beliefs.