Cultural artifacts comprise of a broad range of items created by humans such as writings, artworks and objects which can be used to provide information pertaining to people who make use of the artifacts and their cultures. They are of critical importance to the study of civilizations of human begins over the course of history. Artifacts offers insight into social structures, technological and economic development among other attributes which can be used in the reconstruction of the past and the conclusion of information pertaining to past human civilizations. They can be categorized into 3 distinct groups which consist of; primary artifacts (e.g. the Shroud of Turin), secondary artifacts (e.g. The “Original” Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls), and tertiary artifacts (e.g. Leonardo da Vinci’s painting of The Last Supper). The utilization of the various categories of artifacts has proved to be a crucial guide for scholars. This paper focuses on prominent religious artifacts in the Christian religion, their evolution and consequential impact on shaping of identities within and across cultures (Wartofsky, 2012). Christianity is one of the world’s largest religions with a following of over 2.4 billion people. This massive following makes it an ideal choice for the evaluation of cultural artifacts affiliated to the religion and the influences that these artifacts have had and continue to have on its followers. Religious artifacts are objects which are used in and significant to worship, festivals as well as possessing an anchoring effect to the believers through reminding them of their beliefs. Examples of artifacts in the Christian faith include; The Bible (which can be considered to fall under both primary and secondary classes of artifacts), icons such as images of Jesus as well as Rosary Beads, which are prominently used in prayers.
The Bible is considered to be a major cultural artifact in the Christian religion. It transgresses the mere classification of a religious book to encompass both a historic and social connotation to it. Its contents represent a direct reflection of the culture that is Christianity. It possesses the capacity to influence multiple facets of societies with more prominent impacts exhibited in language, art, literature and politics. The Bible has been used widely though time to direct better conception of people’s motivations. Despite being an accumulation of philosophies, proverbs, poetries as well as letters and apocalypses written over a century ago in points and cultures different from present ones, the writing are still considered relevant to the modern day subscribers of the Christian faith. Christians have over the years considered the Bible as a symbol which can be used to stand for; holiness, the holy ternary, divine healing, justification, contrition towards God as well as the purge of the Holy Spirit among many others. The proclamations in the Bible help forge cultural traits among Christians through the encouragement of renovation of the mind, fortification of belief in a supreme being, the practise of love and forgiveness and patience in the lives of the Christians and provides a general set of guides towards wisdom and enlightenment of the believes. In the Book of Books by Melvyn Bragg, the author points out the radical impact of the King James’ Bible and the role it plays in the shaping of society. Bragg further argues that the Bible is a mark for democracy and has heavy influence in British political history. This impact stretches out into the governing of the rights and duties of the monarchs and advocates for balance and tolerance, traits which have been beneficial to the British civic life. It is considered to be a cultural icon due to its momentous impact on politics, art, language and literature. This makes it to be more than just a cultural artifact as it transcends to the levels of essential cultural tools which discloses truths about human beings and guides their lives. This is more readily expressed through the deeply rooted influence that the Bible has on basic Western civilization and Indian democracy. (The penetration of the influence of the Bible in the Indian democracy as well as other Christian dense nations may be attributed to, among other reasons, the effects of colonization of these countries by the western civilizations). The Bible has been instrumental in the formation of multiple sets of values and beliefs of western cultures. Mangalwadi credits the Bible’s influence over morality, heroism, compassion, family, true wealth multiple other aspects of the modern day civilization. The Bible’s influence on arts is immense. Art could serve different purposes as an activity such as acknowledging and honouring the supernatural, guiding the growth of the soul with a sense of beauty while at the same time showing truth. These art forms were highly intertwined with the teachings of the church which mainly originated from the Bible. Prominent artists developed their artworks centred on themes originating from the Bible. One of the most notable art pieces was the painting of the Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci. The subject matter being painted was of important cultural significance as was the message the artist themselves aimed at conveying to their audience. Other forms of art such as music developed for use in the church also possess significant impact in the shaping of the Christian culture. During the early times of Christianity in the western civilizations, believers were to “Speak to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs”. Modern day musical features such as anthems, operas, symphonies, cantatas, motets and concertos trace their origins to the Church (Alles, 2016). Cultural artifacts in religion have been instrumental in the forging of modern day civilizations. The Bible being a Christian religion artifact can be considered to be one of the most influential artifacts of our generation. This is owing to the massive population of Christians around the world who all subscribe to the beliefs and teachings encompassed in this single artifact.
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References
Alles, B. (2016, June 10). Christianity’s Contributions: Cultural artifacts (Part 1). Retrieved from http://www.bradalles.com/Christianitys-contributions-cultural-artifacts/
Wartofsky, M. W. (2012). Models: Representation and the scientific understanding (Vol. 48). Springer Science & Business Media.
