'the Pilgrim Course'.

[Khandro]

A good Idea, isn't it?http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/10348174/Church-devises-Sunday-school-for-adults-to-revive-10-Commandments-and-Lords-Prayer.html
I don't wish to mention any names, but hope some of you will sign up while I'm away.

[boxtops]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/10348174/Church-devises-Sunday-school-for-adults-to-revive-10-Commandments-and-Lords-Prayer.html

[Khandro]

Thanks, Shall wave Thurs.

[jomifl]

Ever since shops were allowed to stay open, sports events and entertainments to take place and pubs to stay open longer, there have been better things to do on a sunday than to be preached to by sanctimonious, self rightious, misguided and sadly ignorant reality deniers. Let us know how you get on Khandro. Good to see that you have fallen off the fence (or fallen between two horses) and have now committed yourself to working for god.

[tearinghair]

A basic knowledge of the Bible is essential to help people appreciate great works of art - literature, painting, music - because so many of them were created at a time when religion was part of the fabric of everyone's life. I don't think this initiative is intended to convert, simply to fill in gaps that have been left as the trend away from attendance at church has increased. Maybe I'm naive.

[Old_Geezer]

I expect they'll just preach to the converted.

[naomi24]

Why do you want people to sign up?

[atalanta]

I love reading the Bible. It gives me tons of ammunition to use against religion.
And while we're at it, what was that bit about "thou shalt not covet ?"
I hope everyone who is involved in fashion, sales, marketing will immediately stop everything they are doing to make people covet stuff.
And the one about graven images ? - are all the church people going to throw away their statues, icons, stations-of-the-cross, crucifixes and all the other "graven images" ???
That'll be the day.

[beso]

tearinghair //A basic knowledge of the Bible is essential to help people appreciate great works of art - literature, painting, music - because so many of them were created at a time when religion was part of the fabric of everyone's life.//

Rubbish. The works stand on their merits as an image.

[tearinghair]

Try teaching a text like Camus' 'The Fall' to a group of sixth-formers who don't know what the Fall was....

[joko]

that is nonsense tearing hair

understanding who the characters are, or what the themes of an art work is, is not the same as appreciating it.

you can appreciate art without having the slightest clue about its origins

you do not have to read the bible to appreciate art - only if you see a work and would like to know more about it, then you would look it up - you certainly do not need a bible study class

[jomifl]

Absolutely joko ^

[tearinghair]

No, it's not nonsense, it's an opinion. I still maintain that you can appreciate art of any type more fully if you know the background to the item in question. It doesn't have to be Christian; do you not appreciate Dido's aria 'When I am laid in earth' more completely if you know the story of the Aeneid? Otherwise there may be a whole layer of understanding missing, which may be detracting from your enjoyment of it - though I suppose you would not necessarily be aware of it. I'm not saying that you have to believe the background, simply to understand the story behind it.

And I didn't, when I read the article originally, understand it to mean 'Bible study classes', but something more superficial. I accept that I may have misunderstood that.

[sherrardk]

There are lots of adult who have very basic literacy and numeracy skills, personally I would rather time and effort be spent on that than the 10 Commandments and the Lord's Prayer. Oh, and while I am here - why do I need any biblical knowledge to understand art and how will understanding art help in my day to day life, pretty sure I can get by without any sort of art appreciation.

[sherrardk]

Also, why do the Godly amongst us feel the need to shove it down others throats yet I don't see the non-believers doing the same thing, flogging a dead horse maybe?

[tearinghair]

sherrardk, it was simply an opinion, as I said. I'm not suggesting that anyone needs to study art or music or literature or anything similar; just that if they do enjoy it, they may possibly appreciate it more if they understand some of the background to it. With regard to your second post, as the suggestion came from a bishop I suppose he feels it's his job.

[sherrardk]

Sorry, I wasn't referring to the professional godly person, I was referring to the people who post on here.

[tearinghair]

Hmm. I hope that doesn't mean me - I think this is the first time I have posted in this section and my comments are as a retired teacher, not as a 'godly person'!

[Khandro]

jomifl; Your concurrence with the above; //you can appreciate art without having the slightest clue about its origins// demonstrates the inability of both you and its author to differentiate between 'form' and 'content'.
When it come to aesthetics too, I suggest you adopt the advice given by T.S.Elliot to the 'evangelical atheist' Bertrand Russell; "Better stick to mathematics" :-)

[jake-the-peg]

Bertrand Russell : Philosopher, Mathematician and Logician, anti-war campaigner Fellow of the Royal Society

TS Elliott : Wrote about Cats

[society]

"are all the church people going to throw away their statues, icons, stations-of-the-cross, crucifixes and all the other "graven images" ???
That'll be the day. "

Atlanta, good point.