Faith and Folklore

Faith and Folklore

Folk lore preserves many things that written historical records miss. Unlike the fairy tales of princesses and castles, folk tales are often set in mundane, everyday situations. Because of this they show the unofficial, but probably more realistic, hopes and fears of the ordinary people. The official records are about what the kings did, what the governments thought, what the church hierarchy believed. Folk tales are very different, showing what people living in the villages believed, people who had not been told the offical version of the world, people who, for many reasons, were unable to conform to how those in charge wished the world to be.

Faith & Folklore is a study of some of these aspects of folk-religion and superstition. The focus is on how late paganism and Christianity reacted and, often, worked together. The study look at how folk lore has continued into the modern day and, although it doesn't touch on neo-paganism, considers the unofficial spirituality of the age and whether there is the opportunity for dialogue between 'official' and 'unofficial' belief. Given our post-modern, post-christendom and post-everything else society in the west the boundaries and definitions are not entirely clear, but you've got start somewhere!

Partly the study is an appeal for the 'church' to rediscover an earthly (and an earthy) spirituality once more, where God can be seen throughout his creation and throughout the human race, and not restricted to a particular expression of Christianity.

It was undertaken by Neil Roberts, from Chelmsley Wood Baptist Church in 2005, which is a long time ago and there has been some interesting developments on the edges of faith. You can see a pdf copy of the slightly shortened version here. It probably has a few typos in it, but other than that, get back to us with you think!