Showing posts with label transcendence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label transcendence. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Cathedrals and the Transcendence of God


Why would anyone ever want to worship in a big ol' ugly cathedral? One reason I believe people are attracted to Gothic architecture is because it communicates the transcendence or "bigness" of God. To quote John Piper, people go to the Grand Canyon not to feel big about themselves but to be overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of it! (my paraphrase). A lot of modern churches do a pretty good job (using architecture and liturgical forms) to communicate the immanence or closeness of God but they are not doing a very good job communicating the transcendence or even the holiness of God for that matter.