+1 862 207 3288 The word “church” translates the Greek Biblical term “ekklesia” which means assembly. Over the course of time, the term ekklesia (ecclesia in Latin) was also applied to the building in which the assembly gathered. The buildings were originally homes, then modified houses, then rectangular basilicas in the West (or, in some cases, round buildings in the East), and subsequently Romanesque, then Gothic, then Italian Renaissance style, and then Baroque, One may certainly admire the buildings—for example, the grandeur of Gothic Cathedrals and the beauty of their stained glass windows. List what you consider the positive achievements/contributions of the following architectural developments of church style: Romanesque, Gothic, Italian Renaissance style, and Baroque . Briefly explain the reasons for each of your choices. What might be negative dimensions of the developments—from the perspective of the assembly being the Church? In that regard, what was Baroque architecture and decoration seeking to achieve in regard to the assembly that was gathered within? Do you find that style appealing? What was the reason for its somewhat theatrical dimension? Did that architecture really restore the full participation of the entire community?
WEEK #1
“From Age to Age”, by Edward Foley, the author starts the book by depicting the importance of Christian tradition and the basis for the religion that we now come to know as Christianity. He begins by thoroughly describing the early architecture and importance of Temple, Synagogue, and Home. He associates these sublime infrastructures used for religious purposes because they are a big part of what conforms the Christian tradition from the stages of development. Furthermore, he reiterates that Jesus of Nazareth was Jewish, however, the name Christianity emerged when Jesus began to have followers. They were called Christians and these began as one of the sole differentiators between the rise of this potential new religion. These places of worship mentioned by Foley are all links between Judaism and early Christianity.
The temple was a place of worship and sacrifice specifically used by the Jewish. As the early Jewish-Christians began to distinguish themselves from other Jews, the temple became a place of tension for them. The temple used instrumental music as a distinct part of their worship. On the other hand, the synagogue was more concentrated in gathering for study, pray, and proclaim. It also was the place where Jesus was first remembered to preach his message. Synagogues, as both assemblies and buildings, were context in which the disciples prayed; thus it was one of the ways that Jews came to believe in this new way. The Home was a more intimate place for the family got together to worship and to spend important meetings sharing “ritual eating”. The practice of prayer was not meant to be confined to any specific locations nor precise times; it was more of a constant humble way of life.
Furthermore books for worship between Judaism and Christianity were similar because one was derived from the other, hence it makes perfect sense for the history and teachings in holly books to be alike.
The articles aid in the explicit description of the last supper where we can see Jesus sharing meals with what they describe as “sinners and tax collectors” along with others; which he called friends to symbolize acceptance, devotion, and compassion to God’s love and faith. As for the architectural infrastructures, such as the Temple of Jerusalem, it is unbelievable how advanced and solid these designs where to withstand all this time.
WEEK #2
In the first century, the word ekklesia was a Greek common noun, used in the ordinary everyday street language of the people. The word ekklesia meant “assembly”, hence it was not a connotation of physical place, it was more of a gathering and congregation of people.
However, as time passed the term ekklesia changed meaning. During the second and third centuries this term specifically meant the physical place where Jesus’ followers gathered to worship. Indeed it was still an assembly of people, however more specifically confined to a definite physical place of devotion. Moreover, another distinct change during the second and third centuries was that the church’s need for worship segued from domestic settings to public buildings. This change was due to the exponential increase of Jesus’ followers, thus there became a demand for more accessible and larger buildings for prayer that where characterized by simple and open architectural designs of grand size to accommodate the myriad of individuals who gathered for prayer.
During the second and third centuries, there was still a plethora of Jewish heredity that could be identified. Distinct elements of continuity where still present during the second and third centuries, such as, the importance of gathering in homes or “ekklesias” for praying and listening to religious public readings along with lyrics and music that was played during the time of worship that directly resembled that of the first century. In addition, another distinct element of continuity is that spoken and improvised prayer/words are more important than reading prayers from books. Furthermore, Jewish and Christian roots regarding meals and the importance of the Eucharist showed a high level of relation and continuity throughout these centuries.
New developments arose during the second and third centuries regarding music, buildings and forms of prayer, among other characteristics. To begin with, music varied because it was not accompanied by musical instruments. It was more directed towards a thoughtful and somewhat intricate passage of storytelling with a religious meaning and purpose behind it, rather than just a harmonious lyrical singing. Moreover, this shift to a more involved and deep manner of storytelling was also characterized for being more inclusive due to the upsurge of responsorial preaching; where the audience listened attentively and responded accordingly to create unity and inclusiveness. Regarding buildings, there was a noticeable transition from “home church” to “public church”. Thus, architecture changed because now worship buildings where designed for the specific purpose of prayer. Furthermore, churches were bigger in size to be able to hold a large group of devoted worshipers. This transition to public churches affected women’s role in church because they lost power/influence because worship was no longer done in their homes.
The fluidity from improvisation to fixity and order adapted and changed throughout time. It was not an immediate change from improvisation to a formulated manner of preaching. Writings such as The Apostolic Tradition and Didache emerged as guidelines that aided and directed prayers; however, they still gave freedom to improvise. They aided as rubrics in order to facilitate the accurate representation of the “word of the lord” throughout extended territories of Christian followers. These books also gave fixed instructions for the sacraments, roles of bishops and other members of the church. With exponential growing numbers of Christians, as discussed in From Age to Age, the emergence of books, such as the ones mentioned above, were necessary to designate specific religious roles, guidelines, and practices. Thus the growth in numbers of Christians served as a catalyst for the development of a more systematic and universal way of worshiping.
The first three centuries set the basis of Christianity. Derived from Judaism but modified accordingly to what Jesus of Nazareth believed in, the plethora of changes that Christianity underwent in the first three centuries are all responsible and directly paralleled with worship in the present. Now it is a more complex and structured system to keep faith and teachings consistent and in an orderly manner.
WEEK #3
The idea of how assemblies gathered for worship segued from the context of congregating in houses or homes to public buildings, also known as Basilicas in the west. Basilica architectures where formed by 4 rows of columns, two on each sides which conform isles alongside a wider open space in the center between these rows where people gathered. There where two different style basilica buildings as portrayed by the book. The word “basilica”, basically meant “for king”, thus this explains the sublime intricate architecture involved in a basilica. They where public buildings adapted to Christian use; Constantine was responsible for expanding the idea of a specialized public place of prayer, alongside with the Christian religion, by building two gigantic basilicas amongst a plethora of other churches.
The exponentially fast growing number of Christians now required a level of planning, structure, and organization much more complex than that of the previous centuries. Since the assembly places such as public churches or “basilicas” where much more grand in size; it is thus necessary to better understand architectural elements to build these worship places.
The experience of worshiping had gone under a series of changes because of the extended increase of Christian followers. Due to this, the assembly shifted from a communal manner of worship to a more hierarchical manner, having specific tasks and responsibilities to fulfill. Additionally there was an introduction of silver and gold vessels used for mass to carry what were seen as sacred things, such as the body and blood of Jesus (Eucharist, wine and the breaking of bread).
Worship experience in assemblies reformed in some ways such as how readings were done in a louder tone and chanting manner in order to be clearly heard in the large assembly places. There is a much more structured liturgy with the development of the books. In the early periods people improvised by making up the Eucharistic payers that went along, now these prayer is written, thus there was a much more structured and developed congregation and what is being said.
The continuity regarding the importance of the Eucharist and its representation or symbolism of recognizing a special presence of Christ in this rite was still as significant and spiritual during these times. Moreover, the way bread loaves where cooked and shaped varied depending on the place where it is being baked, but the baking process and ingredients were generally similar; Roman bread had a cross in the center to be able to be broken easily. However, the practice of how one loaf shared by the many and one cup shared by the many was introduced to imply that Christians are all one family. There was modification in the fourth century that the churches where designed facing the east and every basilica church in Rome had only one altar that could retain larger assemblies.
As discussed in this chapter, since congregations became much larger, music became more complex with the formation of choirs and music directors. Unaccompanied chants and hymns were common. Although there were indeed a myriad of changes that allowed the Church to keep evolving and adapting to its followers needs, the basis of the religion itself remains pure and true.
WEEK #5
The preceding period of Romanesque churches provided some marvelous architecture. As noted in the book, in this particular period, as the churches went higher and higher, almost a competition emerged to note who could build a superior building. As depicted by Foley, one of the churches that collapsed because of its height along with the lack of engineering was the cathedral church of Bovey. This “competition” served as a catalyst for all the new innovative and magnificent religious structures that were being built during this era.
The gothic churches usually had an immense space due to its large architecture, thus they began to divide up and partition the space, such as a place for the choir, the altar, and the assembly. Hence the baptized are going to be pushed away from the altar and the ones that are going to be close are the ordained which gathered according to their rank. Other factors are also emerging which distance the assembly, such as the number of masses is multiplied, they are not sung they will be prayed silently and you get multiple priests at multiple altars celebrating the Eucharist. Thus you now have multiple altars saying mass and the people hearing mass, the people are going to become silent observers. Moreover, between the 7th and 11th centuries the baptized received communion in the tongue instead of in the hand, however as mentioned in the book, as more people begin to feel unworthy of receiving the Eucharist, less people had communion.This decrease in the approach of the Eucharist made necessary the implementation of Easter duty to make people receive it at least once a year.
Vessels where the host is contained and raised to receive the Eucharist. The Eucharistic theology changed in the manner that the assembly will be silent observers, as mentioned above, “watching” the mass rather than being active participants. Moreover, hierarchical dimension will come in this particular period in ways such as that only those anointed (bishop and priest) are able to touch the book, the people cannot touch it. The presence of Christ in the bread is developed through Eucharistic theology where a change takes place and Christ becomes in presence when the priest says “this is my body this is my blood”, and they after elevate the host in the liturgy to induce the spirit of Christ. This created a segue where now people looked at the Eucharist rather than only hearing it. Now there was a change in the idea that the Eucharist was now the “real body” of Christ and the church is the “mystical body” of Christ, this used to be the other way around in the early centuries.
Gothic churches are pointy in the arch where the point is taken higher and higher, thus enabled the Gothic style to develop ever further; they where the “skyscrapers” of the medieval times because of their grand and high intricate architectures. Typical of gothic cathedrals are huge windows which let in light with religious designs that showed biblical stories or portrayed various figures of Christianity in the glass itself. Furthermore, gothic cathedrals have spaces in the walls filled with colored glass to reduce weight and lighten the load of the wall and on the outside of the building they built “ utrices” that enabled the weight of the building to be balanced throughout the structure. As Foley notes, the stained glass gives the building a sword of darkness due to its colored light reflected through the stained windows in contrast with the stones.
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