The Christian Temple: Aspects and Development

By Richard Outhwaite

An insightful look into the Christian church, this book presents a general exploration and overview of Christian architecture focusing on the church as the archetype of Christian sacred space. The historical development of the church is examined from its Jewish antecedents and earliest forms to the later Western and Eastern divergence.

Not specifically confined to just a work on Christian architecture, Richard Outhwaite extends his study of the church to the liturgical action, to that which occurs within this sanctified space, and examines some of its historical roots. This volume is written basically from an Eastern Orthodox perspective and also makes observations of present-day developments and reflects on the present and future growth of the church and its function.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Apr 30, 2015
• ISBN: 9781499091663

Richard Outhwaite

Born on the American-Canadian border, Richard Outhwaite grew up in the home of his American parents and Canadian grandparents and great-grandfather. As an undergraduate, he majored in both chemistry and history, and did graduate study at St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood, New York. He worked as a bench chemist and then marketing director for a New York company while exercising his musical interests in opera recitals and serving as organist for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York as well as part-time organist in a Jewish synagogue. Moving to Seattle, he divided his time between the Orthodox Cathedral and Axios Recovery Services, where he served as president and executive director. He also sat on the board of directors of five other non-profit corporations. Now retired, he resides in south-eastern Ireland.

Book preview

Copyright © 2015 by Richard Outhwaite.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

KJV

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

Rev. date: 05/16/2015

Xlibris

800-056-3182

www.Xlibrispublishing.co.uk

684857

CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1 Sacred Space

Chapter 2 Jewish Worship

Chapter 3 Early Christian Worship

Chapter 4 Basilica

Chapter 5 The Christian Temple In The West

Chapter 6 Cosmology

Chapter 7 Development Of Liturgy

Chapter 8 Contemporary Observations

Bibliography

INTRODUCTION

A fascination with Christian churches is something I have had most of my life, and my travels have permitted me to indulge in this attraction. I have spent days in Rome visiting as many churches as possible and, perhaps not as long, doing the same in Venice. The prolific number of medieval churches in the Russian towns of Suzdal and Vladimir is amazing, and especially captivating to a student of the period are the Byzantine churches of Istanbul and Greece. The variety of domes, cupolas, and the signature conical towers of Georgia, is prolific. You can experience a feeling of culture shock in Goa, on the west coast of India, when you discover to your amazement – and perhaps amusement – churches that appear to be Hindu temples and vice versa. Of course, the grandeur of the French and English Gothic cathedrals is unique amongst Christian architecture.

All this has demonstrated to me that a church is more than just a building set aside for public worship. The structure encloses a space which is sanctified, consecrated, made holy: in effect, a sacred space. Within this space there is an action, a temple without the typical blood sacrifice,¹ a sacrifice of praise, where we bless God for things and not bless things for God – a liturgy. Something Fr Schmemann was fond of saying was that liturgy is the manifestation or epiphany of the true meaning of all reality, in its cosmic, ecclesiastical, and eschatological dimensions.² Therefore, this is not an essay on Christian architecture but an examination of the Christian church as enclosing sacred space, which is sacred through the liturgical action that occurs within it.

First I will consider the background – that is, what constitutes sacred space – and then the historical origin and development of the Christian temple, its theology, liturgy, and rôle in contemporary society. This is primarily a discussion of the church, and only of the development of liturgy and sacred space as is relevant and applies to it. I should add that most, if not all, of this is from an Eastern Orthodox prospective.

CHAPTER 1

There are … privileged places, qualitatively direct

from all others.

—Mircea Eliade

Put off thy shoes from thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.

—Exodus 3:5

SACRED SPACE

The concept of holy places has existed from earliest paganism, and it has been seen that a belief in the sacred exists in most primitive societies. Perhaps a sense of the holy was present even in earlier species than Homo sapiens. A sensation of superstitious awe can easily be assumed in any cogent creature.

Sacred space, therefore, is but an extension of holiness to that which is holy. The space would then have an element of power over those who regarded it as sacred and would serve as a point of orientation or focus for worship – be it from awe, fear, dread, respect, or love. As this influence would encompass more than just the individual, it would give cohesion to a community, a common symbolic³ unity. Within the sacred space is an element of the unknowable, imbued with the mysterious and numinous, but also that which is partially understood or intuited. It also embodies that which can represent or convey the purpose or morality of the community – its ontology or mythos, so to speak.

In reality, sacred space functions as a place for worship and celebration – liturgy. Ideally it is a symbol, and symbols can nurture the imagination to a much greater effect than fact. They give to believers an understanding of the order of the world.

The earliest evidence of human burial, some five hundred centuries ago, could be considered the original establishment of sacred space, albeit as an inchoate concept. From a modern perspective, we envision a holy place as germane to burial, if at all feasible. Cemeteries and tombs of ancestors have been considered sacred space from prehistory. By the very fact of its employment for burial, the space ipso facto was sacred – or, one could rationalise, it was sacred as a consequence of a revered individual being interred there. Any activity in sacred areas that would be regarded as profane has been considered taboo since primitive times.

In its most incipient form, sacred space could be a place of natural occurrence. Perception of an inexplicable event such as a lightning bolt or dust whirl postulated as the action of a deity, the emanation of intrinsically occurring vapours, or simply the presence of some natural object, such as a mountain, tree, spring, etc., which was regarded as sacred and, as a more formalised special concept or consciousness developed, was looked upon as sanctifying that space. An extension of this was to regard a space itself as sacred, such as a grotto, cave, or glade. Such a space then could invest with sanctity any people or things that occupied it. A place was holy because of what it contained or conversely, an object was sacred due to the space it occupied.

Because of the fresh water and food they supplied, lakes and similar bodies of water could easily become items of devotion – a sacred place as a sacred space. Such lakes figure in the religious practices of the pre-Columbian Latin American peoples as well as those in the Old World. Consider the Arthurian legends and the Lady of the Lake. Rivers, such as the Ganges and Jordan, also feature in this area; regard particularly the vital importance of the Nile to the early Egyptians. The very existence of their civilisation was predicated upon it. Crypts of cathedrals are often constructed on old pagan shrines found to have been built over sacred streams or springs. Based on the prevalent worship of sea deities, one could extend the point to the extreme of defining sacred space as encompassing oceans as well.

An example of emanating vapours, quite probably ethylene, would be at Delphi, the sacredness of which dates back to prehistoric times. Evidence has been uncovered that shows it was sacred to the primordial Greek goddess of the earth, Gaia, as far back as the eighth century BC, certainly predating its association with the oracle at Delphi, connecting it with Apollo. Of course, the proliferation of oracles in the ancient world, such as at Didyma or Erythrae, testifies to the locales of sacred space. Caves were common, as you can see from the dwelling place of the Cumaean Sibyl, another oracle of note.

Perhaps because they are removed from everyday life and also rather defensible, mountains and islands are frequently found as sacred in themselves or hold areas that are deemed sacred space. There are numerous examples, including Mont Saint Michele in northern France, Monte Casino in Italy, Fujiyama in Japan, Jokhang Temple in Tibet, and the man-made temple pyramids of Central America. Insular sacred spaces would be ones such as the Holy Island of Lindisfarne and Iona off the coast of Great Britain, and the sacred caves on Elephanta Island, southeast of Mumbai. Interesting, in the latter case, is that the Portuguese, during their exploration of Elephanta, did not destroy