Exploring The Worlds Religions
Please answer one of the following questions:
1. Please see Prothero’s review of Pentecostalism (pp. 276-281) and Katherine Stewart’s article (“‘How Pentecostal Christianity Is Taking Over the World”: An Interview with Author Elle Hardy”). What are the five reasons Prothero offers for Pentecostalism’s explosive growth? Explain the “two modern doctrines” popular among some Pentecostals that Hardy finds “quite troubling.”
2. First, what is Prothero’s definition of “icon” (p. 235 in the textbook)? Now offer some quotes directly from Miller’s article (“Cara Quinn Wants Christians to Get to Know the Mothers of Their Faith”) that indicate how Quinn’s art, although different in style from traditional Christian icons, expresses the same purpose mentioned by Prothero. Why does Quinn think her art is needed?
3. See Anderson’s article, “The Man Who Painted Jesus.” According to the article, “The staying power of Sallman’s 1940 Nordic “Head of Christ” tells us nothing about the first-century Mediterranean Jewish teacher.” According to the article, if the painting tells us nothing about the historical Jesus, what does it tell us about?
4. About 40 pages of Prothero’s Christianity chapter (pp. 244-284) can be seen as his attempt to explain some of the many different forms of (“denominations”) of Christianity that have evolved over the centuries. What general observations can you offer about this process? What forces, issues, or values have divided Christians? What are some of the variables along which different types of Christianity have formed?