Dear Parishioners,

Continuing to reflect on the cross cultural concept of sacred places as reservoirs of memory, we might also ask whether there is an actual need for such places. Are there not other ways that individuals and communities have for the purpose of preserving memories of the past? The answer is “yes.” Societies have consistently found creative ways to do this. Furthermore, we might also ask whether we as Christians even need churches, chapels, shrines or other sacred places. In an absolute sense we do not, because within the New Testament epistles, Jesus Christ is acclaimed as the true and lasting temple not made by human hands.

Recall that the entire story of salvation as narrated in the Bible begins in a garden (the book of Genesis) and ends in a city (the Book of Revelation) where there is no temple, for the Lamb of God is its source of light. We must recognize however, that the Christian faith grew out of Judaism, the faith of Israel. Although the ancient Israelites eventually constructed a magnificent temple in Jerusalem which they came to revere as the most sacred place on all earth — the axis mundi (the axis or center of the entire planet), their initial intuition was to not con-struct any physical structure that could be misconstrued as attempting to con-fine God or limit his presence.

Instead of a permanent building, we read in much of the Old Testament that the Israelites fashioned a movable tent called the tabernacle, which housed the Ark of the Covenant and other ritual appointments. The mobility of this tent reminded the Israelites that they were a pilgrim people with whom God had made a covenant. God’s part in this covenant relationship was to journey with his chosen people and protect them from harm. When tragedy and mis-fortune befell them, it was interpreted as both, a divine punishment for their infidelity, as well as an incentive to repent and be reconciled with God.

Over time, the Israelites became less nomadic and more sedentary, establishing towns, villages, homes and farms. It was during this time in their history that they began to imitate the religious customs of their Pagan neighbors. Among these was the erection of a permanent place for sacrificial worship that necessitated an elite cultic priesthood. When they first made this request of King David, he was eager to oblige them since he had already been successful in building the royal palace and military offices. God, however, was initially displeased with Israel’s request but then, begrudgingly, acquiesced. He would not allow David to build the temple however, because in his military career he was responsible for too much bloodshed. Instead it was his son, Solomon, who would build the temple in Jerusalem, the second most magnificent edifice in the ancient world. The only building that surpassed its splendor was the temple of Karnack in Egypt. On three different occasions, the Jerusalem temple was plundered and destroyed by Israel’s enemies. After its last destruction by the Romans in 70 AD, it was never rebuilt. Today, only a portion of the outer wall of the temple remains standing. It is sometimes referred to as the “Wailing Wall” because devout Jews (and Christians as well) approach this remnant wall with tears of compunction and prayers for peace.

In the New Testament, the Gospels record various accounts when Jesus, his family and his disciples visited the Jerusalem temple. Perhaps the most noteworthy is the occasion when Jesus is said to have “cleansed” the temple of all its commerce activity. Nonetheless, Jesus and his early disciples regarded the temple as a holy and privileged place where people renewed their identity as God’s chosen people. Shortly after the temple was destroyed and Christians began to disassociate themselves from their Jewish communities, there was no understanding that Christianity needed to be bound to any particular property or place. Interestingly during the first three hundred years of the Christian era, when membership in the church was outlawed by the Roman government, the Christian faith thrived. During these times of persecution, Christians worshiped in domestic settings called “House Churches,” owned by wealthy members of the community, some of whom were women. When the Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in 313 AD, he also gifted the church with public buildings that had previously been used as courtrooms and places for legal transactions. These buildings, called “Basilicas,” were now being transformed into recognized places for Christian worship which was becoming more formal and structured, adopting as it did, trappings from the Imperial Court.

Sacred buildings for Christian worship first became necessary for the sake of convenience. The rapidly increasing number of worshipers needed a regular place where they could gather for public prayer and be protected from natural elements like cold, wind and rain. The next logical phase in this architectural evolution was to adorn these buildings with artwork that included images of Christ, the saints and scenes from the Bible. This earned for the church the title “Mother of the Arts.”

But besides providing for the practical needs of the community, church buildings gave artists and catechists rich opportunities for theological expression and religious instruction. This came as a direct consequence of Christianity’s most fundamental belief in the Incarnation i.e., that God took flesh in Jesus Christ. Theologians reasoned that although God is wholly transcendent and incapable of being controlled or con-fined by the work of human hands, God still desired to take on human form and permeate this world with divine grace. The stuff of this world therefore, is capable of communicating God’s presence, albiet, not perfectly, but in a manner that God himself desired.

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