It is Re-Written: Lessons from Chester Brown’s Mary Wept on Biblical Traditions and Biblical Scholarship in the Wild

Chester Brown’s critically acclaimed 2016 graphic novel, Mary Wept Over the Feet of Jesus: Prostitution and Religious Obedience in the Bible, raises important questions about the right—and the right way—to interpret religious traditions outside sanctuary doors, and Religious Studies outside the Ivory Tower. With the help of generous notes and appendices, which take up a full third of the book, Mary Wept reworks Bible stories and biblical studies for a general audience to create a conspiracy-theory-based Christian apology for sex work. This article provides an introduction to Brown’s book and its relevant book-and-Bible-related contexts, and argues that Mary Wept represents neither Bible adaptation nor popularized biblical scholarship per se. Brown’s book is instead, I argue, best understood as a new species of “rewritten Bible” claiming the authority of scholarship as surrogate religious authority. It is therefore a pop culture weather vane of great interest to Religious Studies scholars, not least as a reminder of our public image and our professional responsibilities.

The effect of humor on remembering, understanding, and paraphrasing children’s video Bible stories

This study investigated the effect of humor in religious stories on a child’s ability to remember, understand, and paraphrase content, as well as on enjoyment. Ages of the children were also considered. Participants watched one of two videos teaching the story of Saul’s conversion found in Acts 9:1–22. Although inclusion of humor did not have a significant impact, there was a significant effect of age on remembering, understanding, and paraphrasing. Previous exposure to the story increased overall scores, which suggests that repetition is key to a successful learning experience.

Forms of Parental Involvement in the Spiritual Development of Children: Lessons from Grace Community Christian Ministries Church in Kitengela.

The paper focuses on the forms through which parents are involved in developing the spiritual welfare of their children. The study utilised a case study design to focus on Grace Community Christian Ministries Church (GCCM) in Kitengela. Data collection methods involved the use of interviews. A small group of nine parents - participants - from GCCM church membership was selected. The collected data was further analyzed thematically. The following themes were generated: teaching, Bible stories, family activities, prayer, modelling, Church attendance, choice of school, exhaustion and lack of time, lack of support from spouse, inexperience and, information gap. It was revealed that some of the ways parents got involved in nurturing their children spiritually included: teaching, Bible stories, family activities, prayer, modelling, Church attendance and choice of school for the children. However, the most common methods used were Church attendance and Sunday school. The paper thus recommends that GCCM church should train parents on how to empower their children spiritually at home so that they do not only rely on the activities in Sunday school.

Catholic Tracts and Parabolic Stories in Ming-Qing China

This paper aims to survey the development of the Chinese Bible and related Christian tracts, especially those showing parabolic interests, in the transitional period between the Ming and the Qing dynasties. The nomenclature of the Bible as the “Shengjing” does not come automatically; it went through a long period of development before it finally distinguished itself as Chinese Christian terminology referring to the Bible, their sacred scripture. During the long period of transition, many Christian tracts appeared to help shape the formation of the Chinese Bible. Stories with parabolic significance appeared in such process as canon formation in Chinese in the steps of translation and engagement with Chinese cultures. Members of the Society of Jesus played a major role in the process.

Woord en beeld

As an ecumenical theologian I studied all my life the words of the Holy Scriptures. I am also interested in images, strengthening the power of expression of words and the Word, and the other way around. In our present time the culture of images seems to be more and more important. One image can tell you more in a minute than many words can do. The Bible is interpreted by many interpreters and preachers in books, sermons and meditations. How can images interpret these Bible Stories? It is a challenge to show the correlation between the words of the Bible and its images. In this essay, I focus on the parable of the prodigal son. It shows three personalities: the father and his two sons. This raises the question: what about the mother? What is the interference between this story and the way individual artists managed to shape it in paint, pencil, stone, woodcut, and other materials? The youngest son is a spoiler. His life is adventure and pleasure and he has no limits. The eldest son is responsible and obedient, but he also has his dark side. Both of them could be a question to us. With whom could we identify ourselves? Some artists in their finest imagination did not stick to the story and made images of the mother or even of a prodigal daughter.

Worship with Children: Agentive Participation in Dutch Protestant Contexts

Children take part in liturgical-ritual activities. In Sunday services, children’s church, Sunday school, and special services, children sit in pews, respond to Bible stories, and perform liturgical actions like singing in a choir, welcoming people, saying a prayer, or participating in the Lord’s Supper. Based on participant observations and interviews, this book describes and analyzes the variety of worship practices with children in Dutch Protestant contexts. A central concern is how people adapt worship to suit children and how children contribute to worship. The conclusions show children as agentive participants in worship. In addition, the conclusions nuance the debate on intergenerational worship, highlight the importance of spirituality for both adults and children, and explore how the material environment influences worship. This practical theological research gives a better understanding of Dutch Protestant liturgical rituals with children and their theological significance.

Symbolic Goods in Israeli Posters

"This article deals with symbolic goods in posters in Israel from the period before the establishment of the state to the present day. The poster and the symbolic goods that appear in it, serve as an agent of ideological companies. In this study, I will examine the nature of the relationship between the symbolic goods and the Zionist-Israeli ideology, by comparing the symbolic goods represented in them over time and space. The questions the research asks are: What are the contribution and importance of symbolic goods as an ideological tool in Israeli posters? Has the world of symbolic goods that served Zionist ideology origin or been borrowed from other ideologies? The methodology is Qualitative research by: study case, Visual – genealogical. The conclusions of the study indicate the importance of the symbolic goods in the foundation of the State of Israel by posters and other media. The symbolic goods that characterize the posters in Israel, consist in part of content related to Jewish tradition and religion (Bible stories and myths) and its other part is influenced by the symbolic goods appropriated from ideologies around the globe. Keywords: Symbolic Goods, Posters, Marketing, Ideology, Zionist Movement, Israel. "

Penerapan Storytelling Dalam Menceritakan Kisah Alkitab Pada Anak Sekolah Minggu

Learning in Sunday schools requires good innovation in order to produce quality learning. In this study, the authors examined the application of storytelling in telling Bible stories to Sunday school children. Therefore, the authors use a qualitative approach by conducting observations and directed discussions on participants so that data obtained about the application of storytelling methods. The results showed that the application of storytelling-assisted lecture methods was carried out in accordance with the steps. The application of storytelling also provides benefits in the form of Increased ability to understand children, as evidenced by the success of retelling stories, specifically Bible stories; increased listening ability in children; increased ability to remember, so that you can retell; increased listening ability in children. Children can concentrate on listening to the teacher's story. These results can be achieved because of an increase in listening, listening, remem-bering, and understanding so that the memorization process occurs which ultimately helps children retell stories that have been heard. Abstrak Pembelajaran pada Sekolah Minggu memerlukan inovasi yang baik agar meng-hasilkan kualitas belajar. Dalam penelitian ini penulis meneliti tentang penerapan storytelling dalam menceritakan kisah Alkitab pada anak Sekolah Minggu. Oleh karena itu, penulis menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dengan melakukan observasi dan diskusi terarah pada partisipan sehingga diper-oleh data tentang penerapan metode storytelling. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa penerapan metode ceramah berbantuan storytelling dilakukan sesuai dengan langkah-langkahnya. Penerapan storytelling juga memberikan manfaat berupa: meningkatnya kemampuan memahami pada anak, terbukti dari keber-hasilan menceritakan kembali cerita, secara khusus cerita Alkitab; mening-katnya kemampuan mendengar pada anak; meningkatnya kemampuan meng-ingat, sehingga dapat menceritakan kembali; meningkatnya kemampuan menyi-mak pada anak. Anak dapat berkonsentrasi untuk menyimak cerita guru. Hasil tersebut dapat tercapai karena terjadi peningkatan menyimak, mendengar, mengingat, dan memahami sehingga terjadi proses memorisasi yang akhirnya membantu anak-anak menceritakan kembali cerita yang telah didengar.