In relating to the surrounding culture in a post-Christendom world, Essay

In relating to the surrounding culture in a post-Christendom world, what lessons should the Church learn from the pre-Constanti - Essay Example In the twenty-first century the broadly Christian basis of society has given way to something much more diffuse. In particular the absence of a Christian values to underpin governmental regimes is resulting in an increasing number of potential conflicts between Church and State, and suggests that the Church needs to find ways of adapting to a new role outside the main value system of the majority of people. This paper examines the situation of the pre-Constantinian early Church and the way it related to the cultures surrounding it. The Church’s early relationship with Jewish, Roman and Greek culture is examined, and experiences gathered in this pre-Constantinian period are applied to the contemporary situation of the Church, showing that in terms of identity, ethnic relations, attitudes to war, social customs and political engagement, the modern Church has much to learn from its own earlier history. In modern times, as in pre-Constantinian times, Christianity is not the accept ed â€Å"norm†, and its doctrines are not perceived as the core values of society at large. Instead of sustaining and promoting a stable Church/State symbiosis, which we see in the post-Constantinian conceptof â€Å"Christendom†, the Church finds itself on all fronts in danger of entering into conflict through contamination from and resistance to the surrounding cultures. The implications of isolation from the dominant norms are perhaps most significant in the area of evangelism. In pre-Constantinian times, as in present time, any Christian outreach work must start from an assumption that people will require intensive mentoring, apprenticeship and instruction in even the most basic doctrines.1 Nothing can be taken for granted, in terms of factual knowledge or moral training in the family, and the position of outsider that the modern Church occupies means that it must find ways of operating that help to clarify, define and maintain its position in relation to a somewhat hostile environment . The first lesson that the modern Church must learn from this earlier stage in its history is therefore to revisit and re-emphasize its core message through teaching of basic Christian facts and principles. One aspect of early Church history which has perhaps been underplayed by later commentators is the extent to which it harmonized with the cultures around it in the very beginning. An important factor in its first spurt of growth was its focus in cosmopolitan centres, where a multitude of different cultures co-existed with each other without any problem: â€Å"Absorption and adaptation were to mark the progress of the church both in east and west so long as it remained predominantly urban.†2 The trading cities of the Mediterranean were a melting pot for different races but also for different ideas, and the fledgling church took advantage of this relative freedom to develop its structures and systems, often taking selected elements from different cultur al groups around them. Celebration of the Jewish Sabbath, for example, was a custom that was adapted for Christian use but was clearly borrowed from the Jewish tradition. Much of the rhetoric and some philosophical texts for exposition and teaching were borrowed freely

Ancient egyptian music Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ancient egyptian music - Research Paper Example Music in ancient Egypt was known for thousands of years and evidence for its existence has been found in the pre-dynastic period. It is mainly because of the massive influence of this art that if came to be found in many aspects of Egyptian life ranging from the palaces of the royal family and nobility, to the workshops of artisans and all the way to the tombs of the wealthy. It is a fact that music was a basic part of the religious services of this ancient state and it was associated with a number of gods to whom it was dedicated. Music was used by the priests to set the mood for the people to worship the gods and the fact that these gods were worshiped using music meant that the temple musicians held an esteemed place in the society. The ability of the priests to make use of music in religious ceremonies ensured that the music of worship was completely improved by the temple musicians so that it was not only used for religious purposes, but temple music also developed into an art f orm. Such gods as Hathor and Bes tended to be associated with music and this was despite the fact that they were also associated with childbirth, fertility, and dance and this made them extremely important to musicians. All of the major known classifications of musical instruments were well represented in ancient Egypt and these were used in diverse occasions, depending on the event as well as the people who used them. Among the percussion instruments that were used by the ancient Egyptians included hand-held drums, rattles, castanets, bells, and the sistrum (Lawergren 101). The last was a very significant rattle that was used in religious worship and it is because of this that in most cases, the sistrum was found in the possession of temple musicians (Krogh and Brooke 167). It is for this reason that the sistrum was mostly represented as being in the possession of temple musicians in the illustrations that