I do a little freelance writing on the side. My next article is going to be on the top 10 religious-themed Prince songs. Which ones do my fellow orgers like?
Right now "The Cross" is my fav.

Anna Stesia
Let's Go Crazy

Anna Stesia
The Holy River

Everywhere

rave777 said:

these 2 are great
they put Jesus in His proper place
as God

My name is Prince

The Word

Holy river
The word

The ladder

Still would stand all time

Elephants and Flowers

I would die for you

Let's go crazy

For The Tears in Your Eyes
The Cross
Still Would Stand All Time
God
Elephants & Flowers
Everywhere
Last December
Anna Stesia
Let's Go Crazy
Holy River
The Word

Snap said:

Jesus is not "God" in the full sense. Jesus HAS a God (John 20:17, Rev. 3,12) so he is not the Almighty God. Though Jesus is a called a God Hebrew and Greek terms allow such usage without it being some kind of polytheism. YHWH is God, the Father and God of the Lord Jesus.

"Everlasting Now"

"God is Alive"

Jesus is God. The Father, The Son, The Holy Spirit. The Trinity, 3 in 1.

Lovesexy.
Sign O The Times
Positivity
Paisley Park
Purple Rain
4 The Tears In Your Eyes
God Is Alive
Crystal Ball

HomeSquid said:

TNorrisjr:

Here we go.

AvramsDad said:

I mean, like, sooooo?

I love how they went from The One God to a Three In One Package. Pay One, Get Three! Convenient.

Now let's re-write the Holy Book so it suits us. Where shall we begin? Shall we write out all feminine influences on Jesus? Let's!

I love COntroversy.

Holla Our Father!
[Edited 7/27/07 8:35am]

The Love We Make

HomeSquid said:

Oh dear.. take it to P & R.

Millions of Christians would disagree with you.

Well, I like Prince's '88/'89 version of God;

God comes like a dog in heat.

Woohoo! WOOF! WOOF!

HamsterHuey said:

You my friend have nailed it. The whole "3 in 1" concept was forced upon Christianity long ago for political and philosophical reasons.

Personally, to me, whether one believes the reality that God is truly one or subscribes to a confusing "trinity" concept doesn't make one more Christian than the other. A think real Christians can disagree on many things as long as the main, necessary beliefs are shared.All Christians MUST believe Jesus Of Nazereth was the Son of God and faith in his sacrificial death is essential to life

Peace

HomeSquid said:

I, we can agree I am a real atheist then.

I think Jesus was just one very cool carpenter that made it big in ways he'd never imagine himself.

His teachings were screwed up over the years by crazy people and people in it for their own gain. I can dig the echoes of his true life filtering through some of the books they wrote about him, though.

The Word, I just love it.

HamsterHuey said:

perfect

AvramsDad said:

ANd I am not digging the re-writes much,know what I'm saying?

I Would Die 4 You.

Nothing comes even close.

rushing07 said:

Ermmm.

Just cuz he claims to be the messiah? Ermmm, nope.

I mean, I can read religious themes in a lot of his songs (Forever In My Life/The Question Of U) but hell, (heh) I never considered I Would Die 4 U.

I lost my Songs 4 Sundays playlist...

It was created after reading Susan Rogers' words about Prince creating religiously themed songs on sundays especially.

I kinda liked that idea.

HamsterHuey said:

I think there are a lot of religious references in that song.
In the first verse he talks about being an entity that exceeds (or combines) the two elements that create mankind (the meaning of "I'm not a woman I'm not a man" is I would argue more than an allusion to Prince's androgenic scene persona). That entity is expected to be never understood by the addressee. Kinda like god.

The chorus is an obvious allusion to the sacrifice of Christ.

The second verse talks about the relationship between the narrator and the addressee. This closeness that they share is unlike other positive human-to-human relationships such as friendship or love (I'm not your lover , I'm not your friend, I am something that you'll never comprehend), And again the narrator is certain that the address will not be able to fully understand that connection. Rings a bell?

Verse 3 is again reference to Christ, who comes to save all.

This motif of Christ the redeemer, the comforter of mankind is continued in Verse 4:

You're just a sinner I am told
Be your fire when you're cold
Make u happy when you're sad
Make u good when u are bad

In Verse 5, the narrator makes it clear that he/she is not human.

I'm not a human
I am a dove
I'm your conscious
I am love
All I really need is 2 know that
U believe

Just like a Christan God, the narrator is the essence of love, a divinity that calls for faith and that resides both in religious symbols (dove=symbol of the Holy Ghost) and in humans themselves (consciousness).

Naturally, the song can be read in many different ways.

P.S. What I'm saying about Christianity might not be very accurate. I've been to a church twice in my life.

rushing07 said:

Oh, alright. But just cuz you wrote such a long post and I can't be arsed to make a point he is actually blaspheming all through the song, claiming to be god, non-sexual and, hurray; a birdy.

I like him best as a dove. Cuz it rhymes with love.