800 years, up in smoke, Notre Dame Cathedral

Sad to see history burn like this. Hope it wasn't arson.

seekingmuch said:

We will never know who did it. France will pander to the obvious suspects, that have been trashing churches all over France, and come up with some absolute BALONEY of why it burned. They don't want a Holy War in France over it.

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You could well be right. We already see a lot of civil unrest in France with protesting from the yellow vests so the last thing the government would want is a conflict between religions.

Ttalkkugjil said:

You are, perhaps, making some good points. It's sad, tragic really, that you feel the need to insult me as you do so. Placing you on "ignore" for a time. Hoping to see an attitude change in you when I take you off "ignore."

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I expect you will not be able to read this---I, in no way insulted you. If you took my saying that you seem to not take much joy in life--it is not an insult but an observation from what you said. Sorry you took it that way. I hope you take a look around you and see more beauty and joy in life.

Ttalkkugjil said:

The true temples we should be concerned about are our bodies. They're the Spirit's temple. She dwells within.

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While we Lutherans traditionally consider things sacred in their use, we tend to get attached to the church building itself, too.

My church is nothing like Notre Dame in its architecture, it's late 50's Danish Modern architecture, and much smaller, but I can recognize generations of people have used that building for a sacred purpose, and I'm sure for Christians in France it's very difficult to deal with the destruction of that kind of symbol, especially in a country that has often been militantly secular.

It was only a building. Who cares? It wasn't even a very nice cathedral.

FireDragon76 said:

While we Lutherans traditionally consider things sacred in their use, we tend to get attached to the church building itself, too.

My church is nothing like Notre Dame in its architecture, it's late 50's Danish Modern architecture, and much smaller, but I can recognize generations of people have used that building for a sacred purpose, and I'm sure for Christians in France it's very difficult to deal with the destruction of that kind of symbol, especially in a country that has often been militantly secular.

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One biilding goes down, it's likely to be rebuilt or else have another building go up in its place. Such is the nature of transitory things.

Oh, and are you making the error of thinking that the way you yourself think about things is the way all Lutherans traditionally consider things.

Ttalkkugjil said:

One biilding goes down, it's likely to be rebuilt or else have another building go up in its place. Such is the nature of transitory things.

Oh, and are you making the error of thinking that the way you yourself think about things is the way all Lutherans traditionally consider things.

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Because it generally is. Celebrating the destruction of churches and religious art is the sort of stuff that Luther's opponents like Karlstadt did.

FireDragon76 said:

Because it generally is. Celebrating the destruction of churches and religious art is the sort of stuff that Luther's opponents like Karlstadt did.

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"Celebrating?" Really. I've heard no one celebrating here. Accepting is not necessarily celebrating.

Jon Osterman said:

It was only a building. Who cares? It wasn't even a very nice cathedral.

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It looked like a prototypical Gothic cathedral. This was the first uniquely western style of church architecture. Cathedrals like this, in my mind, always communicate something of immense grandeur to actually be in them. At the time, having that many windows in a church was revolutionary. Originally, churches were fairly dark and illumined by candles a great deal.

Ttalkkugjil said:

Hmm... I seem to recall you going on and on about beautiful things on Earth. Sorry if I'm mistaken.

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We are to love and focus on the world Jesus loves (Jn 3:16-17) and rules over (Rev 1:5; Mt 28:18)--the world he gave to his followers (Rom 4:13-18/1 Cor 3:22).

Jesus loves the world and reconciled it. We are to love what Jesus loves.

seekingmuch said:

We will never know who did it. France will pander to the obvious suspects, that have been trashing churches all over France, and come up with some absolute BALONEY of why it burned. They don't want a Holy War in France over it.

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That's what I fear, that they don't dare point the finger towards the arsonist community in France because they don't want to incite a Jihad. So how do we know if it was actually an accident of renovation or whether they are too afraid to reveal an arson?

Love history, so sad to see it burning yet a man ran into a burning building not to save a life but to save a small piece of wood known as the true cross and a crown of thorns. Find it hard to believe these items are authentic, either way they do draw the crowds and the mans passion to save them has hailed him a hero. No lives were lost and the building can be restored as many have before. Safe Easter to all

Symbolic of French faith?

I'm catching up on this. I saw it on my fb feed. What was the cause of it?

Ttalkkugjil said:

The true temples we should be concerned about are our bodies. They're the Spirit's temple. She dwells within.

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You're calling the Holy Spirit "She???"

Jesus taught in a building. In 'The' Temple. It meant a lot to Him. Remember how upset He got with people trading in it? Notre Dam is not just 'another' building. No. It is a monument to God. A place of prayer and worship. A place that brought people together in the name of God.

Jon Osterman said:

It was only a building. Who cares? It wasn't even a very nice cathedral.

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People who make their livelihood in the fields of history, architecture, and even clergymen care.

If you personally don't care, the very LEAST you could do is to refrain from making harsh and unChristlike comments like this.

"It wasnt even a very nice cathedral"

Have you actually looked at the photos. See above. The Notre Dame Cathedral was one of the most beautiful buildings in the World. I cant imagine how anyone could stand there and not think about the Majesty of God.

My earlier comments were not intended as an attack on the French people. I am sure that many of them are devastated by what has happened. It is a tragedy.

In addition, it is likely that the loss of Notre Dame will have an economic impact on Paris. Millions of people used to visit the Cathedral every year. THIS disaster is an enormous setback for Paris ... culturally, financially, psychologically - and Spiritually.

Prayers for everyone affected. I am glad that no-one was killed.

It is astonishing just how many people are using this to promote their own personal beliefs.

After doing a very little research I found some remarkable statistics. It took centuries to construct using no power tools whatsoever. Many tradesmen spent their entire lives on this job alone. It is a monument to human art and architecture and an incredible achievement. It took an entire forest of 13,000 oak trees and right now that dead wood is eight centuries old. Can you imagine just how dry that wood was? The roof was sheathed with between 200 and 300 tons of lead so pouring water on it from above was next to useless.

I understand that the stone structure has not been compromised and that most of the relics and works of art were rescued. The fire started in the upper reaches while renovations and/or repairs were in progress. This suggests to me that the fire may have indeed been accidental.

I suspect that authorities around the world are now reassessing just how vulnerable some of the other world treasures are.