>
>
>The worship space in my congregation is a fine example of 1950's American
>Neo-Gothic architecture. I've general understood such spaces as patterned
>after the tabernacle and temple with the sanctuary corresponding to the
>holy of holies, the choir corresponding to the holy place, and the nave to
>the court yard, that the openness of the sanctuary symbolizes our access to
>God in Christ Jesus, and the inclusion of the people within the building
>shows that we are all a kingdom of priests offering our praises to God and
>interceding for the world.
>
>My question: Is all this the fruit of my overactive imagination or did the
>folks who designed these building really have this kind of thing in mind?
>The simple little history of church architecture I read this morning
>suggests that the gothic pattern of a nave and a chancel divided into choir
>and sanctuary has little to do with theological symbolism. I was wondering
>if it played a role in the 19th and early 20th century neo-gothic revival?
I would answer 'yes' to your question, and disagree with your
'little history'.
Although a part of the general romantic mediaevalism of the
nineteenth century, the taste for the neo-gothic reflected also a view that
the Middle Ages represented a zenith for Christianity. Thus neo-Gothic
architecture was a conscious reaction to the neo-classical and its pagan
allusions which had dominated church architecture. The principle proponents
of this style, Augustus Welby Pugin and to some extent John Ruskin saw this
connection clearly. While the neo-Gothic is best suited to 'catholic'
(whether Roman or Anglican) ritual, (especially in the interior space
determined by the outer structure), this linking of architecture with belief
allowed Protestant denominations with theologies quite different to happily
use the form as well.
A good and concise exposition on this topic can be found in William
Westfall's _Two Worlds_(McGill-Queen's University Press, 1989), particularly
chapter 5 "Epics in Stone" pp. 135 et seq.
Ted Smith
>
>
Edward (Ted) Smith "Tradition refuses to submit to the small
Ph.D. candidate and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely
Dept. of History happen to be walking around"- Chesterton
University of Guelph
Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1
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