I’ve been in large churches before, but this time I had a spiritual goal of understanding better why church officials want to build such monstrous edifices in the first place. Is there really a constructive positive spiritual reason to build such monuments of matter, or is it all just a big ego trip of the mortal mind?
Christian Science is so clear that Spirit is not in matter. You cannot find the infinite in the finite, the unlimited in the limited, the intelligent in the non-intelligent.
When I approached the altar and looked upon the Biblical scenes etched out in stone and veneered in gold behind the worship space, I wondered, “Was this incredible expense necessary to praise God, to teach the ideas of Christ, to bring humanity together as one in Love? Or could it have been done much simpler, through means of spiritual sense and with less material show?”
As I respectfully strode the corridors, curiously peeked into different corners and coves to see what lurked behind the obvious, I had great appreciation for the talent and skill that went into conceiving, designing and building the gargantuan construct. Those qualities certainly were evidence of intelligence at work in the lives of those who expressed the wisdom and creativity that enabled the building to rise in the first place. The precisely placed rock and stone was an impressive display of architecture and determination to achieve “greatness,” no doubt about that. But what was the motive that impelled the project in the first place? What kind of “greatness” was truly being sought?
I pondered Jesus’ probing comment to his quibbling disciples about “Who should be greatest?” They were posturing for position and status within their ranks. Jesus rebuked pride and ego severely at times with reminders that those who are greatest in heaven are least on earth.
As I mentally inventoried other eye-popping edifices I’d seen in other locations round the globe over the decades, I wondered if denominations were trying to outdo each other by seeing who could build the biggest edifice for everyone else to see and awe?
Is that what Jesus expected of his followers? I didn’t think so….
Jesus wanted his followers to build spiritual lives, spiritual mindedness, and works of help and healing. He didn’t spend anytime educating them on how to build material monuments. He wanted them to be spiritual monuments of wisdom, spirituality and primitive Christianity.
Cathedrals and large edifices can be impressive—to material sense. But for the first time I saw extra clearly that there is no Spirit in them. Spirit is Spirit. Matter is matter. Simple as that. One cannot look into a material thing and find Spirit. It is not there to be found. Spiritual sense alone discerns the things of Spirit, and they are located not in rock and stone, but in divine Mind.
I was grateful for the lesson.
As I left the architectural wonder behind, I thought about how mortal mind had its monuments to matter and Christ had its monuments to spirituality. But which was I building and worshipping in today…?
At the front entrance, a sign on the wall explained how the church existed to glorify God and bear witness to Jesus Christ. Noble motives, certainly…
As I walked through the sense-awing expanse of unending space and pillars of ascending columns, I peered up 200 hundred feet to the vaulted ceiling and asked, “Where is God in all of this? Is God here, in matter, in these bricks, in these stones, in the decades of sweat and labor that put this temple together?
These edifices took a long time to build. The peoples hearts were to glorify God. Of course God does need temples of stone, but the people were acting out of their highest understanding at the time.
I agree with Dennis.
Would we say the building of The Mother Church was building in matter or showing the devotion to the ideas that were unfolding.
I often think of the ones who labored for the idea but never saw it come to fruition in their lifetimes, yet they still contributed their best to the whole.
We hardly can imagine that since most everything is so instant today.
I see what you mean, Dennis. The hearts of the laborers and worshipers (though not the hearts of power-hungry church authorities) were pure.
Similarly, the heart of laborer and worshiper Mary Baker Eddy was so pure, so spiritually minded, so touched by the Christ, Truth, that she penned in Science and Health, “We should strive to reach the Horeb height where God is revealed; and the corner-stone of all spiritual building is purity.”
She also wrote, in Pulpit and Press, “While we entertain due respect and fellowship for what is good and doing good in all denominations of religion, and shun whatever would isolate us from a true sense of goodness in others, we cannot serve mammon.” Evan’s point precisely.
Evan,
By way of reply to your questions about what is the point of cathedrals, I would invite you to visit the cathedral at Amiens, built in 13th cent. Yes it was motivated by clergy appetite for grandeur at one level, but God was not limited by those motivations. I had never experienced anything like it. The stonework inside seems completely without weight – a pure spiritual song of joy and love and light. It is like the music of JSB. Contemplating it, the reality that Principle is also Soul came clear to me, as never before. Also the reality of God’s complete government. the centre of Amiens was turned to rubble by bombing in May 1940, the cathedral itself the direct target. It was not touched – not one stone. An old man still there tells of being in the cathedral, and feeling a sense of protection, even while standing on the balcony of the west front watching bombs destroy his whole town. A sense of protection, with the bombs falling directly around him. You can see a photo of the next day – the cathedral standing untouched surrounded by rubble. Mind is unfathomable sometimes, but surely built that cathedral, whatever the motivations of the clergy…
Do go to see it! Stand in it for a few hours in silence – even the tourists tend to be quiet in it.
Lots of love – I love your blog.
Anon England
Having seen many British cathedrals while living in the UK many years ago, I had a great appreciation for their grandeur…they point to God, somewhat like being in awe of the Grand Teton Mountains. They “reflect” the qualities of Soul and God’s greatness. He is not “in” them just as he is not in the bricks and mortar of a church or cathedral. Recently someone said that “we do not praise God because he needs the praise, but because we need to continually remind ourselves of his greatness.” I think these cathedrals can be seen as part of that need to praise!
Cathedrals were often the only way to know the Bible stories, since when they were build the ‘common man’ wasn’t taught to read. So the statues, the windows were meant to point out the stories and the largeness of God.
I agree, however, one can become obsessed and competitive if we seek God in the stone, windows, and building.
God is everywhere!
MBE only visited the building of the Mother Church once during construction or shortly thereafter.
Apparently, she did not place the structure as a particular spiritual
importance. So Evan you are right on tract.
I know what you mean and I agree wholeheartedly, Evan. When in Barcelona, Spain, a few years ago we visited the towering Sagrada Familia. This structure was the work and thought of the famous artist Antoni Gaudi. (I believe the word “gaudy” comes from his work:)) Although a beautiful and intricate structure, it is huge and everything else in the city seems miniscule in comparison. See the following link
http://www.aviewoncities.com/barcelona/sagradafamilia.htm
I love what Mrs. Eddy says about her church from Misc. Writings…”The First Church of Christ, Scientist, our prayer in
stone, will be the prophecy fulfilled, the monument up-
reared, of Christian Science. It will speak to you of the
Mother, and of your hearts’ offering to her through whom
was revealed to you God’s all-power, all-presence, and
all-science. This building begun, will go up, and no one
can suffer from it, for no one can resist the power that
is behind it; and against this church temple “the gates
of hell” cannot prevail.”
Thank you for your thoughts on this subject.
What a fun subject to explore, Evan. I’m glad you had the opportunity to ponder the issues. To me as an architect, the building techniques were somewhat interesting. But, as a Christian Scientist, it was marvelous to think of the real issues.
Just an interesting side note, the stolen Inca gold, the half that went to the secular government kick started the world financial system (thereby doing some good) on the secular side and the half that went to the churches went into the gilded glory of the priests.
Since the development of engineering was still evolving, the Master Builders would strive for the most with the least until it fell down and then they would change something the next time, hoping it would stay up this time. The Cathedral of Beauvais, France represents the pinnacle of this period. It stayed up the 3rd time, I believe. These cathedrals were built when the church was struggling with the secular kings and emperors for power and dominance, in the name of the Christ, of course.
Actually, Mrs. Eddy was in the Original Mother Church three times and insisted that the material structure be built. But when Christian Scientists got too impressed with the building itself, she said the church structure was a place to worship God and not church buildings.
As Malissa points out, Mrs. Eddy referred to The Mother Church as our “prayer in stone.” If we really translate things into thoughts as Science and Health teaches us to do, then we can see past the materiality of these places and see the qualities they represent. As some of the comments have pointed out, not all church structures are built with the same motives.
When Jesus’ disciples tried to impress him with the glorious Temple in Jerusalem, he remarked that one stone of the structure would not be left on another. This prophecy was soon fulfilled.
Yes, the material building is temporal. The spiritual or material lens we look at it with, determines what we see.
Fun to see what a lively dialogue Evan’s simple post generated. I guess I come from the viewpoint that the architects, artisans, even the funders and priests and those attending services found this cathedral to be their highest expression of the Divine, in that time of the 1300s. It was a symbol of their understanding of God’s ‘home,’ the closest they could come in their understanding to who/what God meant to them.
Mrs. Eddy taught us to evolve in our understanding from matter to spirit. So today this ‘edifice’ complex seems dated. Which obliges me to seek ‘more stately mansions’ in my own understanding. Tall order, Bob. Thanks for the post and the discussion!
One way of looking at material church buildings, in whatever culture, is that they often represent a focal point for the community. More often than not the population center itself is identified with the cathedral, basilica, wat, temple or whatever. So not only would the physical structure indicate how the surrounding populace regarded their particular diety, it would also reflect a level of communal self-esteem. That perspective is very prevalent here in Mexico. The closest thing I can think of in the States might be the Mormon temple in Salt Lake City. Or some of the “mission” towns that Father Serra founded along the California coast. I’m thinking of San Juan Capistrano (with affection)for instance. I dunno, have sports arenas replaced churches as community “identifiers?” If so, we might want to think REALLY hard about ceding their nomenclature to corporate advertising. Gives a whole new riff on what we’re worshipping.