8 PAGE RELIGION PAPER ON : Contemporary megachurch-style congregations seem to have little interest in art and architecture. How much do art and architecture really matter to worship and theology? Are these traditions still relevant? What combination of art and architecture add significantly to theological understanding and provide the greatest enrichment of the worship experience? Make your argument in conversation with one of the theologians and one of the architects we studied. MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND THE TOPIC !!

8 PAGE RELIGION PAPER ON : Contemporary megachurch-style congregations seem to have little interest in art and architecture. How much do art and architecture really matter to worship and theology? Are these traditions still relevant? What combination of art and architecture add significantly to theological understanding and provide the greatest enrichment of the worship experience? Make your argument in conversation with one of the theologians and one of the architects we studied. MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND THE TOPIC !!

User_6368 added on 05/01/15 at 06:06 PM (PST):

CLASS LECTURE NOTES :

RELG 310 Ecclesiology

o Ecclesiology (ekklesia Greek for democratic assembly/assembly of the faithful) - The doctrine of the church/Christian community; worship, fellowship, learning, and ministry; The social side of Christianity

How did the early church behave?
Shared common property no private ownership
Togetherness and unity
Faith healings
Exorcisms
Evangelism (converts)
Sold possessions to help one another
Baptized new believers
Fellowship
Breaking of bread
Worshiped at the temple
Praised God
Hold the culture accountable
Universal
Mission Bearing witness and missions of mercy & justice
Discipleship
Structure Enough order to manage, and enough freedom to follow Gods call
Polity Church government; Episcopal (bishops, pope) and Congregational
Pliny to
Syncretism Adding Gods of the lands taken over by the Roman Empire to the line up
Didache Non-canonical text; Teaching of the 12; Extremely high moral standards
All bishops created equally
Extension of the heavenly community

o Koinonia - Congregation/fellowship; Church that worships the God of Israel

Ignatius
Told Christians to stick together and follow your bishop each town had their own bishop to avoid persecution
Three-fold order of ministry:
- Deacons
- Presbyters
- Bishops (priests)
Martyred in Rome
Letters were writhed with his martyrdom
Church unity and intense relationships among the people in the community
Ignatius teachings stayed in effect until Constantines Edict of Toleration (Edict of Milan); Christos, in hoc signo vinces
Caecilian (Catholic) and Majorinus (Donatist) of Carthage; Donatists vs. Catholics

Donatists
Mostly peasants
Church of the martyrs
Said the sacraments performed by clergy that recanted their faith during persecution should be deemed invalid
Ex opere operantis (from the work of the one doing the work)
Augustine comes along, who sided with the Catholics

Augustine and the Catholics
Mostly the Latin-speaking upper class
Ex opere operato Its about the work of God, not the person performing the sacrament; We cannot have so much riding on the unknowable purity of the priesthood
Augustine used force on the Donatists, which would later cause the Crusades and the same battles we fight today

Sacraments
Most important place for believers to receive the sacraments
Oath of allegiance
Visible sign for an invisible grace
Eucharist has always been very important to the Christian faith
In the early church, only the baptized could take part in Eucharist
Didache says cup first before the bread
Didache had 3 prayers to God to say during Eucharist
Justin Martyr gave 2 descriptions of Eucharist in one of his first apologies; Bread, wine, water
Ancient church took Eucharist at every service, much like the Catholic and Orthodox churches still does today
Eucharist is the first sacrament that leads to sacramental theology
Augustine included the Lords Prayer and others
At one time, there were as many as 30 sacraments
1439 at the Council of Florence, the church established the seven official sacraments:
1. Baptism
2. Confirmation
3. Eucharist
4. Confession (or penance, BEFORE Eucharist) Penitents; 1) Contrition, 2) Confession with absolution, and 3) Satisfaction
5. Marriage (Non-priests and monks)
6. Ordination (Priests and monks)
7. Last rites
831, Radbertus said the bread and wine BECOMES the body and blood of Christ (transubstantiation Aristotle), became official doctrine at the 4th Lateran Council; Augustine disagreed (the only fight he ever lost) believed it was only symbolic as Protestants do today
Some protestants call sacraments ordinances

Sacraments During the Protestant Reformation
Penance Developed into a system of indulgences (monetary payment used to make satisfaction during penance); Needed to build the Vatican but didnt have the money to do it; Payments were NOT required although many thought it was
Johann Tetzel Effective and ruthless salesman of indulgences making extravagant claims, like avoiding purgatory; Caused Luther to write his 95 Theses (the straw that broke the camels back) and nailed them on the Parish door of Wittenberg, Germany marked as the official beginning of the Protestant Reformation
Luther says salvation is a FREE GIFT from God that we CANNOT earn
Luther became critical of the entire sacramental system because they are not based on scripture and are being held captive by church leadership have put humans in the center of the church, not God as it should be; Tells us sacraments should be divinely instituted, scriptural, and have a promise every sacrament (promise) has a sign, and that sign is the sacrament; Church is exploiting human needs in order to control people
Babylonian Captivity after the Babylonian Conquest
Luther believes there are 2, maybe 3 sacraments
Ordination is a ritual, NOT a sacrament priesthood is for ALL believers once you are baptized, you are called into ministry to serve God in whatever way God calls you to
NO last rites because it is a wrong interpretation of the Book (Epistle) of James at the expense of other sick people
Marriage can be annulled, therefore it is NOT a sacrament not talking about divorce (only permitted in chastity); Marriage is an allegory
The only purpose of confirmation is to give the bishops something to do nice ceremony, but it is NOT a sacrament
Included footwashing sometimes
Struggled with whether or not confession was a sacrament because he believed ANY Christian could hear confession, not just a priest
Eucharist The way in which Christ is present in the bread and wine is a mystery, and maybe were not supposed to know we are using Aristotle, a secular way to explain a divine work (idolatrous); Consubstantiation Jesus is in there, but we dont know how; Part of his problem with transubstantiation was hocus corpus sounds like hocus pocus; Denial of the cup to layity if we are going to do this, we might as well have baptism without water; Mass as a reenactment of the sacrifice the power of the mass is the word of God, everything else is created by humans - Salvation by faith ALONE, faith in Gods promise; Had a problem with mass being in Latin and the priest facing away from the congregation and speaking quietly should be absorbed by all in the local language, loudly
John Calvin Says Eucharist is a spiritual nourishment
Ulrich Zwingli Contemporary of Luthers; Agreed with Luther about the denial of transubstantiation and denial of the cup to layity, mass is not a sacrifice, but went a step further to say Eucharist is a memorial meal; Words of institution Zwingli said to emphasize do this in remembrance of me instead of this is my body, this is my blood; Disliked Luther personally
John Wesley Sacrament must be instituted by Christ AND be visible; All sacraments are means of grace, but not all means of grace are sacraments; Sacraments are for those who long for Gods grace; You do not need to be baptized yet because Eucharist is part of the journey to baptism more focused on the conversion experience, converting AND confirming

Baptism in the Ancient Church
Over time, baptism developed more symbolism
Didache opened with the ways of life and the ways of death
Began with pretty loose guidelines
Five Step Program of Baptism:
- Preliminary inquiry
- 3 year probationary period
- Fasting for 1 or 2 days turns into the great fast of Lent
- Baptism
- Continue in post-baptism instruction to learn the bigger meaning of baptism and Eucharist
Hippolytus and Apostolic Traditions
Steps taken in the early church before a baptism could be performed
- Interrogation
- Catechism (training, exorcism, and observation)
- Time of testing
- Before the baptism on Sunday at dawn, you take a bath on Thursday, fast on Friday and Saturday, Exorcism on Saturday, and all-night vigil on Saturday evening
- Person performing the baptism prays over the water, takes off all your clothes, renounces Satan, drive out evil spirits, and finally enter the water, oil of thanksgiving, came out of the water and put on a robe, signifying purity, more oil
- Participant can now pray with other baptized Christians
The ancient church may have baptized babies, but we re not sure; By the 3rd century, they definitely did

Baptism After the Protestant Reformation Anabaptists
Anabaptists (re-baptizers) and Conrad Grebel wanted to restore the church to its primitive state
Very clear that the clergy had too much power in the church focused more on the ministry of the layity
Concerned over infant baptism because Jesus was baptized as an adult Baptism of Believers
Wanted to throw out their own infant baptisms, so they took turns RE-baptizing themselves, hence their name
Real Christians are defined by the Anabaptists were convinced believers who were baptized as adults in full consciousness of their faith and who act like Christians
Regarded as troublemakers
Balthasar Hubmaier (German-speaking Swiss) Roman Catholic priest; Became a key Anabaptist thinker
Peter Riedemann and Love is Like Fire
Schleitheim
DO NOT regard baptism as a sacrament, it is an ordinance

Baptism After the Protestant Reformation John Calvin, Church of England, and Eastern orthodox
Says it is okay to baptize infants

Baptists (est. 1600s)
Separatists (wanted to separate from the Church of England) exiled to Amsterdam
John Smyth and Helwys
Met some Dutch Anabaptists and learned of Baptism of the Believers
General Baptists - Armenian (free will)
Particular Calvinist
7th Day Free will, but had to worship on Saturday
Baptism and footwashing in conjunction for some Baptists
All Baptists agree on congregational autonomy and baptism of the believers

The Purpose of the Ecclesia - Wesley and German Pietism
Went to Savannah, GA as a missionary to convert the Native Americans; Since he was already ordained clergy, he didnt feel his conversion was sufficient; Got in a big storm on the way, and the Moravians instead of stressing held hands and sang hymns
GP developed in Germany as a reaction to overly-intellectual Lutherans, which the Moravians felt was moving away from what Luther wanted (piety) and instead was moving towards dogma wanted a more intimate relationship with God
Philip Jakob Spener (1635-1705) Lutheran pastor in Frankfurt, Germany; Collegia pietatis; Pia Desideria
Spread into Moravia (Czech Republic) and throughout Europe
Zinzendorf (1700-1760)
Herrnhut Community
Moravians never were and still arent very big, but are best known for their influence on John Wesley
My heart was strangely warmed at Aldersgate
Waiting actively, dont just sit around and wait for God
Started what he called Methodist Societies like congregations, but he did not want his followers to leave the Church of England; As they grew, they split up into classes with class leaders got the idea of small groups from the Moravians
Classes of Penitence for people that needed extra help
Wesley genuinely believed that salvation is not possible without the Christian Community to hold each other accountable and encourage one another in Christian devotion and living
To love me is to pray for meto provoke me in good works
Methodists went from working class to upper-middle class
Economics If you have a lot of money, you should not leave it to your children as it will ruin them; The love of money IS the root of all evil
Gain all you can (but not at the expense of others or yourself), save all you can (NO self gratification), and give all you can pray over it and give it ALL to God to do as much good as possible (we are stewards, not proprietors God is the only proprietor; All of our things isnt really ours anyway)
Schism between the northern and southern church over the issue of owning slaves

Icons
In general, Jews and Muslims have a strict warrant against icons (graven images), but not Christians
Ancient Romans used to cremate their dead; however, Christians began believing that they needed their bodies for the resurrection
Catacombs of Callixtus, home of early Christian and Jewish artwork
Mosaic in a recently discovered church in Megiddo, northern Israel, 3rd-4th century CE
Iconoclasm Doctrine of NO images
Christ the Good Shepard, Mausoleum
Theodore of Studite Exiled 3 times, one for the veneration (respecting: worshipping BEFORE the icon, not TO the icon) of icons
John of Damascus
Iconostasis
Iconographer Writer of an icon
Christ Pantocrator (Lord of All)


Church Architecture
Ecclesiology refers to the church building as well as the congregation
Visual way in which a congregation communicates their beliefs about God
Sacred space
What is a church, domus dei (the house of God) or domus ecclesia (the house of the people of God)
Acts 17: You cant contain God in a building
Moral objection: Jesus focused on the importance of ethical Christian behavior in everyday life
Tension between the earthly and he heavenly
Christians met in private space until Constantinian toleration in the early 4th century CE
Early churches in the shape of the emperors house, moving from the secular space to the sacred space
Churches in medieval Europe took the shape of a body, as in the body of Christ
The Protestant Reformation greatly influenced church architecture; Focuses on the importance of the word/scripture and the pulpit instead of architecture and icons
Puritan meeting houses Used for civic activities as well as religious ones; Very simple
Old Ship Meeting House
The Evangelical preaching of the 17th and 18th centuries changed church architecture greatly
Camp meetings during the 1st and 2nd Great Awakening; Amphitheater-style seating with mass dramatic conversions Christian fellowship
Broadway Tabernacle
1850s-1880s: More elaborate churches being built in the US to portray the rise of American society to middle-class and upper-middle-class; Gothic revival
Round arches (Roman) Pointed arches (Gothic)
The Congregational Church Ancestors of the Puritans
Riverside Church, NYC
Washington National Cathedral Finished in 1990; Woodrow Wilson and Helen Keller among those buried here
Modern churches, modern architecture; Split chancels Pulpit and lectern
National Cathedral in Brazil
Frank Lloyd Wright
Brutalist Architecture and the Christian Scientists Church
Church Growth Movement and Megachurches
Willowcreek Community Church
Chestnut Ridge Church biggest church in WV
New Catholic Cathedral in LA
Yancey Chapel in Alabama