Andrew McGowan Bible History Daily How December 25 Became Christmas
Lee Coley Law & Religion UK A call to cull collective worship in schools?
The National Gallery is producing a series of short videos on angels featuring paintings in its collection. Here are the first two.
What are angels?
Messenger angels
From darkness to light: A four minute time-lapse video of Liverpool Cathedral’s Advent Darkness to Light service
Tallie Proud 10 of the best Christmas videos 2015
To the National Gallery links, as a result of a visit yesterday, I would add Visions of Paradise: Botticini’s Palmieri Altarpiece, http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/calendar/visions-of-paradise
The angel videos produced by The National Gallery are lovely. The Assumption of the Virgin, by Francesco Botticin is wonderful. Angels pass through that permeable boundary between mythology and metaphysics. “Eternal God, you have ordained and constituted in a wonderful order the ministries of angels and mortals…” In our time when popular mythology, especially that of the younger crowd, is filled with everything from pointy eared Vulcans to light sabre wielding Jedi to pouty angst filled vampires, how could showings on the theme of angels not be of interest? Thanks so much for this. What a great way to start… Read more »
I want to thank Thinking Anglicans for the Andrew McGowan article. I am very familiar with the “December 25 as a means of co-opting the polytheists” theory. But I was absolutely fascinated with the theory that December 25 was chosen as means of tying together Jesus of Nazareth’s birth and crucifixion. Birth and death, beginning and end, all tied together in one continuous cycle. Thomas Cahill, famous for writing “How the Irish Saved Civilization”, also wrote a book about the Jews. In that book he credits the Jews for seeing time as linear — a definite beginning and a definite… Read more »
The National Gallery angels: wonder full. More please.
Isn’t that a marvellous and most unusual representation of the Holy Trinity which illustrates Andrew’s McGowan’s article!
The conception of the Cross Carrying Christ Child on 25th March, nine months before Christmas. The Babe of Bethlehem is preceded by the Dove of the Holy Spirit heading Exocet-like towards the womb of the BVM and the Infant holy, Infant lowly is being sent on His way by the hand of a seemingly bottom-smacking God the Father. Tremendous – this image would make a most fantastic Christmas card bearing the inevitable message – “HE’s NOT THE MESSIAH, HE’s A VERY NAUGHTY BOY”
Today’s Observer has a news article and an editorial about another report on collective worship scheduled for publication tomorrow.
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/dec/06/religious-teaching-school-assemblies-axe-report
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/06/faith-british-schools-hope