The Significance of the Features and Furnishings of a Christian Place of Worship
Different Christian churches have different features and furnishings
inside of them. These differences in the churches show that churches
place different emphasis on what they believe in. The features and
furnishings in a church help people to worship.
There are objects in catholic churches which would not be found in non
catholic churches and there are objects found in non catholic churches
which have objects which catholic churches don’t have.
In a Catholic church most of the features and furnishings are meant to
aid people’s worship of God and Jesus. A church is meant to create an
atmosphere of awe and a sense of respect towards God and what he
represents.
When entering a church the main focus is usually on the alter. An
alter is found in Roman Catholic Church, they are linked to sacrifice.
It is used to re-enact the sacrifice of Jesus during the mass. Unlike
other religions Catholics believe Jesus’s death is the most important
point. This is important to strengthen a person’s belief that God sent
his only son to die for us which is one of the central beliefs of the
Roman Catholic religion.
This contrasts with the communion table which focus’s instead on the
last supper, non Catholics believe that Jesus’s life and resurrection
is more important than Jesus’s death. It reminds people of the last
supper and gives the community an opportunity to share together when
taking the Holy Eucharist, this is when people take the bread and wine
which is the body and blood of Christ.
The host, the blessed bread, is kept in a Tabernacle. A tabernacle is
used in Roman Catholic churches to hold the host as hosts are not
thrown away because it is the body of Christ. This shows the real
presence. It is also a focus for people praying, it aides their
worship.
In a Roman Catholic Church a sanctuary light is lit when hosts are
present in the Tabernacle.
Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you… so that he many give eternal life to all you gave him” (John 17:1-2). He continues, “I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth,” (John 17:19). Jesus’ prayer is to bring us into perfection with God, for us to know him, and understand his love for us. This is achieved through God’s loving sacrifice as evidenced in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life”. Opposite from the notion that we must sacrifice our first born sons for God, God sacrifices his son for us. This is made reality in the passion and suffering of
The Essential Features in an Orthodox Synagogue Recall, select, organize and deploy knowledge of Jewish belief and sources of authority, practice and organisation. The main function of the Jewish synagogue is worship, with the emphasis on prayer and reading. For Jews the synagogue is not just a building the word synagogue also refers to the community or congregation. The main features of all synagogues, especially the symbols, are designed to help people to worship God. The layout of the building is rectangular, with seats arranged on three sides.
the redemption of the innocent. His heart and mind lay in the correct place by leaving the
life. To live to see his children grow up, to see his unborn child be
The Western church is described as being smaller in land mass, and less diverse (Shields, & Butzu, 2007, p. 103). The Eastern church is described as being quite vast, and full of different types of people (each with their own languages and customs that had an effect on the development of their worship styles and methods). Further we discover that the West had celebrated a time of peace (Christianity was legal, so there was a significant decrease in martyrdom), conversely the Eastern church was geographically located closely to an Islamic population, which meant it had a large military in comparison to the West. I should also point out that there was a shift in this time-period of the church providing what can be described as a governmental role, so in a very practical way being a bishop in the East could mean sending troops to defend members of your church (Shields, & Butzu, 2007, p. 103).
A church needs to maintain itself to accommodate the ever-growing needs of churchgoers and other parties. With the passage of time, the church is increasingly investing in methods that help church visitors to be comfortable. One of the main ways though which the church is trying to accomplish this is the seating.
Chapter four addresses the divisions within the Corinthian church, such as jealousy, quarrelling and their defective view of the church. The apostle Paul links their view of the church to church leadership stating “If they had a true view of the church, they would have a true view of the leaders of the church” (p79). The situation was that their view was lower for the church and higher for the leaders thus they were boasting about the leaders. Paul’s view was that the Corinthian church was spoon feed Christians not maturing as they should. Paul’s reference to addressing the church as worldly did not mean they were unregenerate because they did possess the Spirit but they were not being spiritual, not being controlled by the Holy Spirit. He goes on to say “They have experienced new birth by the Spirit but have remained babies in Christ; they have not yet become mature in Christ” (p80) The Apostle most likely would express the same opinion about many Church congregations today. Many churches are elated with their church growth, but it is often superficial. If the church does not offer a real growth opportunity the journey is short lived. The church fills up with Christians not participating in the sanctification process. As with many churches today the Corinthians had a self-serving attitude about themselves and their church. The Corinthians would have never behaved the way they did if they had a higher view of the church and what it stood for and a lesser view of the leaders. Paul outlines three visions of the church “each of which has important implications” (p82). The first metaphor is agricultural: God’s field (v9) 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God...
The increase of wealth during the twelfth century allowed artists to showcase their talents in churches. The apse titled Christ in Majesty with Symbols of the Four Evangelists in the church of Santa Maria de Mur displays the representation of divinity through its subject matter, technique, and style. In the apse, the main subjects revolve around scenes from the Old and New Testament with Christ as the focal point. For technique, the artist employed fresco painting instead of mosaics to show the images. The style of the apse avoids a sense of realism by hiding the bodies of the figures in the drapery and using the hierarchy of scale.
Q: Use St Peter’s basilica and Donato Bramante’s Tempietto in Rome, in opposition to John Balthasar Neumann’s Pilgrimage Church of Vierzehnheiligen in Bamburg, Germany, to argue that a rational engagement with architecture is a more effective means to comprehend and understand architectural form.
... Christ and for his role in overcoming evil and suffering, and with the idea that the negative effects of suffering can be countered by compassionate love of others.
meal. He knew that it was now time for him to return to his father.
everything we have, we dedicate it to Him, and we live our lives in service to Him.
What is worship? Worship defined as the structuring of time to help it fulfill its purposes. Martin Luther defined Worship as God Speak (rede) to us through the word of God and that in return we talk (reden) back to Him in prayer and songs of Praise. Worship began with obedience to God and a one on one with God. Praise is congregational confirmation.
Throughout history the term “worship” has been used to describe the act or process of created beings paying homage or bringing sacrifice to God. From the earliest recorded instance of worship in the fourth chapter of Genesis until this very day we see that in every age and culture there is abundant evidence that mankind has been created as a worshipful being. However, not all worship is biblical or true worship, and therefore not all is acceptable to God. Jesus cites the prophet Isaiah’s instruction on a worship that is “vain” in Matthew 15:9. The Apostle Paul teaches of a worship that is “ignorant” in Acts 17:23. Even in the very first act of worship noted above, we see that the offering of Cain was rejected by God as unacceptable to Him. Worldwide use today of the term “worship” loosely includes everything from the attendance at any given “place of worship” to the intense attention one might pay to their own body. This worldly “philosophy of worship” is not only flawed, but extremely dangerous when one explores what true worship is, the proper place for it in the life of a believer in Jesus Christ and the impact that it has on both the worshiper and the world in which we live.