The Lion Companion to Church Architecture

by David Stancliffe

From the earliest establishments up through present day structures, this expansive history explores how churches have been conceived as spaces for worship throughout the centuries. Their development from the early Roman house churches through Byzantine, Romanesque, Gothic structures is addressed, as are the significant changes brought about by the Reformation. Infused throughout with the spirit of the human quest for meaning and transcendence, this is a lavishly illustrated guide to the history, meanings, and messages of houses of worship.

288 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2008

Reviews

[Viktoria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vahepeal tekivad mul lambist veidrad huvid ja kirikuarhitektuur on siis üks neist. Raamatus oli palju värvilisi pilte ja rohkelt keerukat spetsiifilist teksti, seega kahjuks kogu mu kogemus selle hiiglaskliku raamatuga piirduski lummavate piltide üle ahhetamise ja mõne huvitava faktiga.

Usun aga, et inimesele, kes juba jagab teoloogias ja arhitektuuris nii mõndagi on see kindlasti põnev lugemine

[Bill Forgeard · Rating 2 out of 5]

More church history reading! An interesting and enjoyable book with endless gorgeous photos of amazing churches. I enjoyed reading the history of the church through the lens of architecture -- how the early church gathered, what influenced Christians to start building churches, the theological and liturgical reasons behind church layouts (e.g. the change from adult baptismal fonts in the early church to infant baptismal fonts as Christendom matured), the variety of church expressions, yet the unity of central concepts (e.g. baptism and the eucharist, celebration of Easter). It was helpful to read about churches in obscure and often forgotten regions. The book certainly gave me the basic understanding of broad genres of church architecture that I was hoping for -- Classical, Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque etc.

The author appears to come from a liturgical, high church, possibly theologically liberal background, which showed in the first chapter about Holy Space as he happily incorporated concepts from various religions without comment. The final chapters were disappointing as the focus narrowed to recent Catholic and Anglo-Catholic architecture only -- I was hoping for a genuine examination of the vast variety of churches and styles that now exist in global Christianity. This is understandable given the heavy functionality of church architecture in most evangelical churches, but none-the-less the final chapters felt began to feel irrelevant and tied to the past at the expense of the present. (And yet this is an interesting article: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/t... )

The intricate architectural descriptions & heavy specialist terminology became tiresome quite quickly. I did wish for more attention to humble everyday churches. The author is obviously a lover of beautiful churches, but I also would have liked some attempted critique -- for example, of churches with little place for common people, of intricate worship which was a speciality of professional clergy, of the semi-pagan beliefs at the heart of medieval architecture (e.g. cathedral built on the relics of a Saint as the source of heavenly power), of the incredible expense.