Okay sorry for the plethora of responses ...
Disclaimer:I studied at school to become an engineer. As such I tend to look a buildings a little bit different than most
Okay
On page 10 his argument concerning the word "church" is caused by translation. Even the writer says that if an early greek christian was talking about the physical building we call a church they would say kuriakon see page 12. Where as the people who are called out to follow Christ are called the Ekklesia.
Two different words in greek that when translated are given the same word in english. The word church in english has more than one meaning
According to the Webster-Merriam Dictionary
1: a building for public and especially Christian worship
i.e. kuriakon2: the clergy or officialdom of a religious body
3 often capitalized : a body or organization of religious believers
i.e. ekklesia: as
a : the whole body of Christians
b : denomination <the Presbyterian church>
c : congregation
4: a public divine worship <goes to church every Sunday>
5: the clerical profession <considered the church as a possible career>
The words in bold were added by me.
That takes care of most of hi statements from page 10-14 not all just most
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Okay I agree concerning the sacred objects. Sadly we have a carnal mindset... not sure how to fix it. and yet at the same time as Rue stated I don't have any problem with separating things from everyday use.
I don't mind certain things being set apart to be used only for certain occasions. so ... i'm indecisive on this one
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We already covered the whole full meal aspect.
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Concerning Constantine
Yeah he may or may not have been the perfect Christan ... but who am I to judge a man who live thousands of years ago to say if he was a righteous and upright leader.
Now concerning building churches/temples/cathedrals. There is a simple reason why the early christians met in homes and caves and what not. If they had a church it would be easy to round up Christians and kill them!
Its not that they felt having one central location to gather was wrong. (clearly they did this even if it was just meeting at the same house where they tore down a wall to fit everyone).
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Okay finally talking about buildings
If you can't tell, I don't really care for everything the author is saying ... maybe I'll change later but there are just too many holes in what he is saying. (me arguing brings up his point concerning Greek rhetoric that comes later).
1. Every building before it is built is built with a purpose in mind.
Why do you think the dining room is by the kitchen?
why are there bathrooms inside movie theaters so large?
Why are bedrooms on the second floor of a house many times and not on the first floor?
if you were to take the author's preferred model for how Christians should assemble what would the building look like?
It would feature a large open space, that protects the area from the weather. There would be small circular (oh by the way circles are pagan too just look at Stonehenge) tables that would seat a handful of people who may be eating a meal together. In short it would look like a convention center set up to host a luncheon. On top of that what would happen if in this group of people a short person wanted to talk. Would someone lift that person onto their shoulder so everyone can see them? or would that stand on a chair or even the table so their voice can project. I would say that this author if he had a group large enough would set up a stage area or a podium so someone could stand and say something.
I must admit though, the other objects inside the church, such as the special seat for the speaker of the hour, which we give special meaning. I see his point there is no reason we should give so much credit to those objects....I'm not going to be able to look at the building I worship in the same ever again.
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"absorb and Christianize pagan religious ides and practices."
wow ... it happened then and it is still happening today...
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Evolution of the architecture
So... whats your point? all buildings are built with a purpose in mind. The churches of today are designed so that one person can teach a vast multitude of people at the same time. There is nothing wrong with that.
Concerning pews... Has the author ever tried to build a single chair? It takes a long time and they are expensive. A pew is easy in comparison.
Have you ever had multiple people attempt to stand up from a pew at once that isn't bolted down? There is the chance that upon standing they would either push the pew back or it could tip over. So bolt them down simple. If you don't believe me sit in a office chair that has wheels (it makes it easier to see) and stand up without holding on to anything. Does the chair move?
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Exegeting the building
I agree with this whole section 100%
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High Cost of Overhead
it would still exist it just wouldn't be as apparent.
As others had already said. True some of the costs can be consolidated. But look at your own personal budget I'm pretty sure we still pay those same expenses and it adds up to 30-60% of our budget.
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Delving deeper
Page 44 "it met in an already existing facility that was large enough to accommodate everyone" is the reason why it is okay for christians to own property specifically set aside for christians to meet.
