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Year 4

How Christians use art to show faith

I can describe different examples of how Christians use art to express belief.

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New
New
Year 4

How Christians use art to show faith

I can describe different examples of how Christians use art to express belief.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Christians have represented their beliefs in art for many centuries. This includes modern artists painting today.
  2. We do not know what Jesus looked like. We know he lived as a first century Jew in Palestine.
  3. Many Christians throughout the world represent Jesus from within their own culture.
  4. Sometimes Christians use art to challenge established views.

Keywords

  • Incarnate - embodiment of God in human form

  • Biblical - ideas contained in the bible

  • Challenge - to dispute the truth or validity of an idea

Common misconception

We know what Jesus looked like. The white Jesus seen in stained glass windows is an authentic representation of Jesus.

We do not know what Jesus looked like. Artists all over the world can paint or represent Jesus from within their own cultures.


To help you plan your year 4 religious education lesson on: How Christians use art to show faith, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

You could liaise with your teacher in charge of art and see if you can use any questioning techniques used in art lessons to appreciate meaning in pieces of art in this lesson.
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This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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5 Questions

Q1.
In an Orthodox church you will often find art in the form of ...
Correct Answer: icons, Icons, ikons, Ikons
Q2.
Many Orthodox and Catholic Christians will __________ icons and statues.
Correct answer: venerate
worship
idolise
Q3.
For many Muslims it is considered forbidden to produce __________ art.
abstract
Correct answer: figurative
any
Q4.
What might you commonly see in many mosques?
paintings
landscapes
Correct answer: calligraphy
sculptures
Q5.
Which statement best fits how Christians view art?
All Christians think art can help them express their beliefs.
Correct answer: Some Christians use art such as icons or statues. Others do not agree with this.
No Christians use art to help express their beliefs.

5 Questions

Q1.
What does the word incarnate mean?
Correct answer: God being human in Jesus
Jesus dying on the cross
Jesus coming from the Middle East
Q2.
Match the word to the definition.
Correct Answer:incarnate,embodiment of God in human form
tick

embodiment of God in human form

Correct Answer:biblical,ideas contained in the Bible
tick

ideas contained in the Bible

Correct Answer:challenge,to dispute the truth or validity of an idea
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to dispute the truth or validity of an idea

Q3.
African artists may paint Jesus as African because ...
Correct answer: we do not know what Jesus looked like
Jesus was actually from Africa
Correct answer: many artists draw Jesus inspired by their own culture
there is only one correct way to draw Jesus
Q4.
What Christian belief does this artwork show?
An image in a quiz
Correct answer: incarnation
baptism
forgiveness
Q5.
Sometimes Christians use art to __________ established views.
support
explain
Correct answer: challenge
Q4 Pittman, Lauren Wright. A Choice, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57082