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]]>The schedule was packed with authors, musicians, bands, speakers, filmmakers and even a comedy act. There is too much to say and too much to show, but we have some video clips below that give the flavor of it. As we have more uploaded, we’ll update this page with links to them.
ACM’s festival is essentially the distillation of all of the activities it carries out as an organization. It’s basic mission is to promote and defend the Christian faith (ie, work to have as many people enjoy eternal life as we can), but has an emphasis on carrying out this defense through the arts.
Thinking through how that actually looks for an artist or apologist is something we do all year long. At the festival, we show how it looks.
ACM is the only Christian apologetics organization that focuses on defending the faith through the arts.
Please enjoy the videos below. We hope to see you next year!
Watch:
Links to reactions to the 2016 Athanatos Festival:
Christian Arts Festival: The Athanatos Experience
by Jamie D. Greening
On the Athanatos Christian Arts and Apologetics Festival
by Medieval Otaku
Post-Festival Thoughts
by Bernard Bull
Check out the hashtag #AthanatosFest2016 on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Some pics:
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ACM hosted our first annual Athanatos Arts & Apologetics Festival this summer, August 4-7, 2016 in Greenwood, WI, featuring many artistic expressions: music, film, novels, drama, the visual arts, etc. In the spirit of ACM’s mission to defend the Christian faith through the arts, the festival encouraged artists to appeal as much to secular audiences as with Christian ones.
In that spirit, we invited apologist Hillary Morgan Ferrer to deliver her talk, “Stealing Past Watchful Dragons: Christian Art in a Hostile World.” In it, she sets out to:
- critique the ‘Christian Art’ box without discounting the art that naturally fits inside the box
- explain and critique the stereotypes of ‘Christian Art’
- identify the misconceptions that create the ‘Christian Art’ box
- blow the box to smithereens and discuss what it means to glorify God through our art while being relevant to the culture
Listen to Stealing Past Watchful Dragons: Christian Art in a Hostile World by Hillary Morgan Ferrer:
This festival was held in conjunction with the ongoing Athanatos Writing Contest.
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]]>YOU TELL US: What if you never found your favorite elements in any books you read – would you have to become a writer and put them in your own stories? What is missing from stories that you could contribute?
We wanted to share with you a response from Deb Elkink, author of Wet Thaw, a compilation of two short stories, Wet and Thaw, the latter of which won The Graham Greene Award in Athanatos’ 2013 Short Story and Poetry Contest, and invite you to add your thoughts in the comment section, or email them to office@athanatosministries.org:
“This is exactly what I’m trying to do as a writer—bring meaning back to fiction. (And I so appreciate your Athanatos Ministries—was sad to see the end of your short story contests, as I’d received your 2013 Graham Greene award and wanted to try it again. Short story is making a comeback, I’ve heard!)
“I love fiction! I mean by that not simply that I love to read (in fact, I don’t devour everything in sight—and I strictly avoid the genre of so-called “Christian fiction” that is often shallow and silly) but that I love the idea of fiction as much as the existence of fiction. The British novelists had implicit spirituality written into so much of their work, but in our age their biblical basis isn’t even recognized, much less appreciated. My favourite current-day novels that do contain aspects of spirituality of course fall short because (1) it’s a pagan spirituality and (2) even that is not taken far enough to actually make reviewers sit up and take notice. An example is Joanne Harris’s Chocolat (made into the Johnny Depp movie, where it lost much of its literary value)—incredibly sense based, mythical in tone, romantic in the sense of dealing with great literary motifs, rich in symbolism.
“I would like to write like Harris does—what a gift!—but I would add the symbolism inherited from Scripture and promoted/developed by the great (implicitly Christian) British writers such as Dickens, Chesterton, Lewis (of course), and so on. I would bring back the symbolism (and develop new symbolism for our postmodern culture) in order to point readers back to Scripture—the only “real” literature that brings about lasting change.”
Thanks for asking!
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Date/Time: January 16 @ 8:30-5 pm.
Location: ACM’s offices at 105 S. Main St., Greenwood, WI.
Short Description: A day-long writing workshop geared for Christians, hosted by ACM (Dr. Anthony Horvath and instructor and writing contest judge, Debbie Thompson).
Cost: $100, Lunch included (pizza and subs).
Description: This workshop will provide the author with opportunities to refine their writing ability and consider what it means to be a ‘Christian’ author. The workshop will include practical guidance on story elements, such as plot and character development. It will also feature thought-provoking principles for Christians who desire that their stories do more than entertain. Attending authors will submit in advance a writing sample that is no longer than 3,000 words, which they will also evaluate throughout the workshop, both privately and in small group discussion, in light of what is learned throughout the workshop. The workshop concludes with tips on writing for publication. The workshop is hosted by Athanatos Christian Ministries, which is known internationally for its Christian writing contests and online writing workshops.
Registration Information: Email Dr. Anthony Horvath at director@athanatosministries.org or call 202-697-4623 to confirm your attendance and make payment arrangements.
Join and share the Facebook event.
Promotional Materials (posters, bulletin inserts, images):
http://athanatosministries.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Scribe-flyer-8_5x5_5-in-8_5x11.pdf
http://athanatosministries.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Scribe-flyer-8_5x5_5-in-8_5x11.jpg
http://athanatosministries.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Scribe-flyer-5_5x8_5.pdf
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ACM is proud to announce the release, with the editorial leadership of novelist Rob Cely, of its newest literary magazine, Pathos. A quarterly magazine of culture and faith, Pathos explores all the major ideas that move our world today: in politics, science, art and popular culture, and examine what they mean and how they intersect with the life of faith. Each issue also includes poetry, fiction and art from some of today’s finest emerging talents.
The description for the first edition:
In this issue Pathos explores the idea of The Grand Myth – the foundational beliefs that form the basis of our worldview and offer the framework through which we interpret our experiences. Plus, new fiction from Anthony Horvath, essays, poetry and more.
Download the PDF for free: Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.
Buy a print edition off of Amazon: Pathos: The Grand Myth
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]]>Why is apologetics, the defense of the Christian faith, important?
In one sense, Christianity needs no defense. God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, does not depend for His existence on our belief. However, many people who do not know the living God are separated from Him in part by intellectual obstacles. Removing those obstacles by showing that Christianity indeed makes sense on a rational level is an act of love and care for our neighbor. Defending the faith also builds up a strong foundation for believers. A securely built house has a solid, well-built foundation, so that the vagaries of wind and weather don’t damage it or cause distress to the inhabitants. It’s natural to have questions and doubts – think of the disciples, asking Jesus “increase our faith!” or the man who cries out “Lord, I believe: help my unbelief!” Apologetics helps strengthen the foundations by providing answers to questions and doubts, so that the Christian can grow stronger in his or her faith.
What about “literary apologetics”?
Literary apologetics is that mode of apologetics that functions through the use of the Imagination in stories, poetry, drama, and song. Imagination is a mode of knowing; it is the twin sister of Reason. Imagination that is not grounded in Reason can become what JRR Tolkien called “morbid fantasy,” unhealthy and unhelpful; conversely, Reason that is not supported by Imagination can become sterile, rigid, and unfruitful. Literature is particularly well suited to bring these two often-separated sisters together, so that Reason and Imagination can illuminate the path to truth.
Stories, poetry, and drama can help us to both comprehend the truth (with our intellect) and apprehend it (imaginatively and emotionally). As with rational argument, literature cannot in itself bring a person to know Christ, but it can open doors, challenge assumptions, and most importantly provide a glimpse of experienced truth. Stories invite readers to indeed “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8).
Literature can best fulfill this role when the author is committed both to expressing the truth and to creating a good story. The best literary apologists – CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien, GK Chesterton, Dorothy Sayers, and others, just to name those of the past century – did not set out to wrap a moral in a story, or explicitly to promote Christianity through their fiction writing. Rather, they believed fully and deeply, and sought to glorify God in all that they did – and so their stories show the truth, in deep and satisfying ways.
Today, we need a new generation of Christian writers who will do what those great writers did. We need well-informed, thinking Christians, who know their Scripture and theology, are committed to living out the Christian life in word and deed, and show forth that living truth in their work.
We need writers who will immerse themselves in the best writing of centuries past and learn from it, and be able to draw on that rich treasury of imagery to do new things.
We need writers who are willing and eager to view writing as a God-given calling, and to joyfully pursue the craft and art of it with dedication and hard work.
Fortunately, we do not have to start from scratch! We have the works of Lewis, Tolkien, Chesterton, MacDonald, and others to study and learn from. We have people who even now are taking up the challenge of writing to draw people through the imagination to know Christ. In England, the poet and scholar Malcolm Guite (www.malcolmguite.com) is doing marvelous work with poetry. In my own blog, Hieropraxis (www.hieropraxis.com), I am attempting to cultivate an appreciation for literature and literary apologetics, as well as writing my own poetry.
And this ministry, Athanatos, is on the front lines of training writers and encouraging the reading of great works of Christian literature. To be an effective literary apologist means a commitment to the craft of writing, so that the great and glorious truth of our faith is presented to the world in the most beautiful, powerful, gripping, and transformative ways possible. Furthermore, to be an effective literary apologist means a commitment to community. Just as Lewis and Tolkien were part of the Inklings, commenting and critiquing each others’ work, so too the writers of today need the kind of community where “iron sharpens iron.”
I think we’re at the beginning of great things for literature in the service of God. Friends, let’s go further up and further in!
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I am very pleased to announce that Athanatos Christian Ministries has partnered with Hieropraxis, led by Dr. Holly Ordway, in their mutual quest to defend, promote, and transmit the Christian faith through the arts, and literature in particular.
ACM has been pursuing its vision for ‘literary apologetics’ by hosting conferences and writing contests for almost five years. These efforts have been primarily geared towards casting that vision and calling Christian authors and apologists to embrace it. With the help of Dr. Ordway, ACM is going to go much further. Writers and evangelists are not going to be prodded towards ‘literary apologetics.’ A new series of online courses, culminating in a Literary Apologetics Certificate, will actually equip artists, philosophers, and theologians for the task.
The courses are hosted in conjunction with ACM’s online academy of apologetics. Dr. Ordway will be the program director for the academy’s literary apologetics program. Even better, we are taking applicants for the program effective immediately, and our first courses in this area of study will be available in the winter session, which begins in mid-February, 2012. For more details, please visit the literary apologetics certificate page.
But that’s not all!
Dr. Ordway will also be presenting at ACM’s third annual online apologetics conference in mid-April, 2012. Indeed, Hieropraxis will be one of the conference sponsors! While the details of the conference are still somewhat tentative, you are welcome to check it out and even register right now.
I look forward to working with Dr. Ordway long into the future- as well as all those others out there yet to be discovered who likewise see the need to communicate the faith through the arts.
Yours,
Anthony Horvath
Executive Director, Athanatos Christian Ministries
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