new church life: march/april 2017
“Too often, though, museums don’t let the religious role and significance
of their objects show. They treat them as art, or history, or sometimes science,
and their fascinating back-story is suppressed. . . . I’m not suggesting that
there’s anything wrong with this – simply that it would be valuable for
museums also to help visitors understand their religious meanings – as
Glencairn Museum does.”
Diane Apostolos-Cappadona, noted scholar of religious art at Georgetown
University, wrote that Glencairn Museum “is unique in its dedication to
collecting and displaying the art of world religions in the United States. The
only other such museums of which I am aware are St. Mungo’s Museum of
Art and Religion in Glasgow and the Museum of World Religions in Taipei.
While there are museums that specialize in modern religious art, such as
the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art in St. Louis and the Gallery of
Modern Religious Art in Vatican City, their focus is narrower than the wide
lens of Glencairn Museum.”
Brian adds: “While it may be a new trend in museums to give religious
meaning back to religious objects, the Academy’s museum, from its
establishment, has interpreted the
objects in its collections as expressions
of faith, used for the very purpose of
understanding their religious meaning
in their religious context.
“The goal has always been to
use objects to better understand the
religious beliefs of other cultures
throughout history, and to see how
these cultures have received and
responded to the Lord’s influx.
“For while we are taught that the
Lord’s church exists specifically where
the Word is, where the Lord is known,
and where Divine Truths are revealed,
we are also taught that there is a union
of heaven through the Word with
people who are outside the Church,
where the Word is not found. For the
Lord’s Church, whether specific or
universal, is everywhere and exists
with everyone who acknowledges a
divine and lives a good life.”
Education is key to the museum’s
Glencairn Museum “is
unique in its dedication
to collecting and
displaying the art of
world religions in the
United States. While
there are museums
that specialize in
modern religious art,
their focus is narrower
than the wide lens of
Glencairn Museum.”
(Diane Apostolos-
Cappadona, noted
scholar of religious art)
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