Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian. Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions. Some of those listed may surprise or even shock you. Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Vassilios Tzaferis: (b. 1936, Samos, Greece - d. 2015) biblical archeologist, university lecturer, museum curator, author, historical agency executive, specialist in the history of monasticism during the Byzantine period.  As an ordained Greek Orthodox deacon, he served in Nazareth. After renouncing his monastic vows, he married and fathered several children.

Roger S. Boraas: (b. 1926 - d. 2014) Ordained Lutheran minister,  United States Navy World War II veteran, university chaplain and professor, associate editor of the Harper's Bible Dictionary.

Marcus Borg: (b. 1942, Minnesota State, USA - d. 2015) University professor, author, Lutheran canon theologian. He was a member of the controversial Jesus Seminar which voted on the authenticity of the sayings and miracles of Jesus, rejecting many.  He was married to Marianne Wells Borg, an episcopal priest.

Robert Binn: (fl. 1840; aka Rob of the Reek) Binn lived on Croag Phadraig (Irish: Patrick's Stack), which is considered to be Ireland's Holy Mount because St. Patrick spent 40 days in prayer and fasting there in the fifth century. Patrick is said to have ended the pagan practice of human sacrifice which had been performed on the mountain for centuries. The word "reek" is Hiberno-English for "rick" or "stack," possibly referring to the rectangular bed of stones which mark where Patrick slept.
Those who were physically unable to climb the hill paid Robert Binn a fee to climb to the three holy stations and say prayers for their sick or dead loved ones.

Helen Hayes: (b. 1900, Washington, District of Columbia, USA - d. 1993; aka: Helen Hayes Brown McArthur; "the First Lady of American theater") Helen Hayes won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, a Tony, and a Presidential Medal of Freedom. She was the mother of actor James McArthur. Roman Catholic.

Film Comment: Ashes and Diamonds

Ashes and Diamonds (1958) is a black and white Polish film about a Resistance fighter who is ordered to kill a Communist leader on the last day of World War II.  Maciek, portrayed by Zbigniew Cybulski (the "Polish James Dean") is a casual assassin who makes the mistake of meeting a woman and falling in love.  He has to choose between abandoning his assignment and possibly living a happy life with the woman, or fulfilling his "duty" whatever the cost.  He chooses to kill his target and ends up dying in hail of bullets in a garbage dump.

There are numerous religious images in the film, the most prominent is a damaged statue of Christ hanging upside down in a destroyed chapel.  The film itself is more political than religious.

The entire film seems to point to the fact of Maciek's impending self-destruction, as if he has no choice. Many people think they have no choice, that "this is just the way I am."  They place their lives and their souls on the garbage dump and, yet, they could have made other choices.

Maciek would have been scorned as a traitor had he failed to carry out his mission but he could have chosen no to do it.  Unbelievers who make a choice for Christ may find that their lives are greatly complicated by their decision.  God never promised anyone an uncomplicated life, but He did say that He would provide strength so that the believer could bear it.

"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."  1 Corinthians 10:13

Unusual Christian Places: Notre Dame du Haut

Notre Dame du Haut is a Roman Catholic pilgrimage chapel built in 1955 in Ronchamp, France by “Le Corbusier.”  The pseudonym belonged to the Swiss-French architect Charles-Edouard Jenneret (1887-1965).  

The chapel is a totally concrete structure with walls which, in places, are ten feet thick.    The building is on the site of a 4^th century church destroyed during World War II.

The slanting concrete roof guides rainwater so that it appears to come off the roof like a fountain onto concrete slabs below.

Links

http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/ronchamp/

http://www.archdaily.com/201296/video-le-corbusiers-chapel-notre-dame-du-haut/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notre_Dame_du_Haut 

Book Comment: A Contract With God

Book Comment: Will Eisner is best known for his comic book, The Spirit, about a non-super

powered middle class crimefighter who seemingly returns from the dead and wears a little "Lone Ranger" style mask to obscure his true identity.  The weekly Spirit comic books ran for twelve years, but Eisner never considered them to be his best work.  For years, he had something else in mind; elevating the comic book format to the status of high art.

      He succeeded with this goal when he became the inventor of the graphic novel format with his A Contract With God, a series of four connected short stories about the lives of the Jewish immigrant inhabitants of a 1930's tenement in the Bronx.  The stories are interesting because they are so universal, as all great stories are.

       Some comment that the artwork is somewhat cartoonish, but it can be seen as exhibiting an exaggerated realism such as that evidenced in the great caricatures, such as the work of Bill Mauldin, who used the form to show the spirit-dulling effects of World war II on the soldiers involved.  The characters are real people but the way in which they are drawn shows that they are archetypic symbols representing many people who have found themselves in similar situations.  A Contract With God is rightly considered to be a classic because of the depth of its content, and not just because it was the first graphic novel.