ruah arts group » Apologetics

The Gospel According to Dan Brown

ruah — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 04:41:31 +0000

He writes page turners to sell his “theology”. It’s not a big surprise to faithful and well-formed Christians–and in particular, Catholic Christians–but it seems to be news to the millions who read and love him into theological and historical delusion.

Read NY Times Op-Ed Columnist Ross Douthat here. He opens up the cancerous body of work and operates from head to toe, noting that Brown isn’t just your run of the mill anti-Catholic bigot, but an avant garde DIY hater of organized religion in general:

“Piggybacking on the fascination with lost gospels and alternative Christianities, he serves up a Jesus who’s a thoroughly modern sort of messiah — sexy, worldly, and Goddess-worshiping, with a wife and kids, a house in the Galilean suburbs, and no delusions about his own divinity.

But the success of this message — which also shows up in the work of Brown’s many thriller-writing imitators — can’t be separated from its dishonesty.”

That’s right folks. Douthat’s calling him a liar. In the NY Times. Sweet.

As a side note, I went to this Theology on Tap last week that, contrary to its description, was a thorough treatment of the book and movie, “Angels and Demons,” along with a fantastic overview of the Church’s teaching on art and film. Dr. Daniel VanSlyke, Associate Professor of Church History at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, was great, if not an eensy weensy bit long-winded. I’ll post the audio when I get it.

God in a Broken Frame: Another Look at Sacred Imagery

ruah — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 01:11:16 +0000

I just wandered over to Catholicexchange.com, which I like to do from time to time, and found something that piqued my interest: nice story and defense of sacred images by Arturo Vasquez. He introduces his overview of the importance of sacred images with an recent story of a burglared parish.

Iconoclasm’s foe: St. John Damascene

ruah — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 02:19:03 +0000

Happy Feast Day, artists! Especially if your work tends toward the Liturgical and Devotional Art end of things, because today, you may know, is the feast of St. John of Damascus, or St. John Damascene, Doctor of Christian Art. Monsignor gave a great homily today on St. John, telling us about his heroic defense of holy images against iconoclasm, which should be a reminder to us all to have holy images around us. We don’t have to look like a walking Leaflet Missal Catalogue, either, but the use of sacred images is tremendously important. Do you know how to defend the Church’s teaching on images to Protestants or Muslims?

Though I’m posting this in the evening, here are some ideas for celebrating this feast day–h/t to Catholic Culture for the links:

Pray for a renewal of the sacred liturgy and the liturgical arts, and make a donation to organizations that specifically promote renewal in sacred liturgy and arts
Read about his life and writings
Learn about the value of sacramentals
Place an icon of St. John in a prominent place with a votive candle

Other artistic Christian feast days: St. Francis de Sales, patron of writers and publishers(January 24), ( St. Catherine Ricci (February 13), St. Luke, patron of painters (October 18), St. Maximilian Kolbe, patron of publishers (August 14). Do you have any other suggestions for artists’ patrons?