Spiritual seekers with Christian baggage
In the old days, travelers would carry a little pouch of home soil with them. Is such a thing imaginable on a spiritual journey?
CULTURAL CHRISTIANITY
This is an art project entitled Reading Between the Lines by the Belgian architects Pieterjan Gijs and Arnaut Van Varenberg. It is also known as ‘the transparent church’. The structure has a height of 10 meters and is located in the east of Belgium, in a region known for its walking tourism. As a part of its surroundings, which can be viewed through all of its sides, Reading Between the Lines symbolizes Christianity in our time.
Forms of Cultural Christianity
I look at the phenomenon of ‘cultural Christianity’ differently than theologians, religious scholars and politicians. For me, it is a relationship with that Christian part of European culture which has ‘something’ to do with my identity. Finding that ‘something’ was one of the goals of my inner quest. Below I present the results of this quest and my conclusions with regard to cultural Christianity.
Publications on cultural Christianity show how diverse cultural Christians are. It is difficult for me to determine which type I belong to. What I can say is that, for me, cultural Christianity does not only stand for assigning value to certain stories, historical church buildings or rituals and holidays. I believe that Christianity offers a good basis for a philosophy of life that can be valuable and relevant in all times. Lev Tolstoy also thought so, and his writings on this theme were an important source of inspiration during my research into the essential statements of Jesus. Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s views on ‘non-religious Christianity’ are also very appealing to me.