Dissertation submitted for the Degree of Photomedia BA (Hons)
Chapter 1 (extract)
Christianity started in the Roman province of Palestine (present-day Israel, Palestine and Jordan) and is based on the life, teachings, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Although Jesus only taught for three years and died an apparently humiliating and painful death on a cross outside Jerusalem, his birth is now celebrated around the world and is the point from which time is measured.
Keene writes that:
“Christianity grew initially as a radical movement within the much older tradition of Judaism. Jesus was a Jew and remained faithful throughout his life to the Jewish faith, but, after his death, the new religion spread more widely among the Gentiles than the Jews. Christianity soon developed a life of its own, apart from its mother faith, although the link between the two remained complex and problematic for a long time.
“As Christianity spread beyond the Roman Empire, the life and teachings of Jesus remained at the heart of the faith.”
(Keene, 2002:6)
Christians believe that Jesus is God, or the ‘Son of God’, who became incarnate to restore the relationship between God and mankind that had been broken by human sin. They believe that when Jesus was crucified and rose again, he broke the hold of sin and death, and that today he reigns as Lord of all creation. Christians can: have a personal relationship with God through Christ, live in the power of the Holy Spirit, be grafted into a community of believers, and respond to the radical teachings of Jesus.
On Church membership Keene observes:
“Today Christianity is the world’s largest religion… with some 1,500 million followers throughout the world.”
(Keene, 2002:7)
From:
TO WHAT EXTENT CAN PHOTOGRAPHS OF CHURCH ART AND DESIGN COMMUNICATE CHRISTIANITY?
Splashes of Ink 