Christian History Magazine #152 - Christianity and the Theater
What does a Christian relationship with theater look like? In this issue of CH, join us as we explore this relationship, from critique to creative participation, starting in the early church and ending in the twentieth century.
- Item number: 4925
- Media type: Magazine
- Running Time: 56 pgs
- Region: All
- Production Year: 2024
- Producer:
Description
What does a Christian relationship with theater look like? Throughout the years, Christians have approached this question in numerous ways. Some in the early church, like Tertullian, rejected theater, identifying anti-Christian and idolatrous roots that made participation a problem. These critiques persisted and were echoed throughout the Reformation and up to the present.
But others embraced theater, redeemed it, and created it. Even in the ancient church, where many critiques originated, drama came to Christians through liturgical worship and spoke of a participation in the holy through performance. Medieval religious dramas often drew from biblical stories, spurring annual pageants that led entire communities to vividly remember the work of Christ. Exploration of Christian themes permeated even the secular sphere of theater in Shakespeare’s day. As modernism and despair rose and dominated theater and culture, Christians like the Inklings and Dorothy Sayers proclaimed the gospel on stage.
Learn more about not only the most famous playwrights, but also about the abbesses, noblewomen, Mexican and African American dramatists, and contemporary actors who have brought the greatest Story ever told to new audiences through theater. Join us in this issue of CH as we explore the relationship between Christianity and theater, from critique to creative participation, starting in the early church and into the twentieth century.
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