800 years, up in smoke, Notre Dame Cathedral

[seekingmuch]

I don't think it is renovation, but arson.

Apparently, desecrating churches is par for the course in France.

Catholic churches have been desecrated across France—and officials don’t know why

 

[Ttalkkugjil]

I don't think it is renovation, but arson.

Apparently, desecrating churches is par for the course in France.

Catholic churches have been desecrated across France—and officials don’t know why

It's just a building. Buildings get built and rebuilt all the time.

 

[Jonaitis]

It's just a building. Buildings get built and rebuilt all the time.

Verily.

However, I do have an appreciation for such historical and magnificent Gothic architecture. Not to mention that if this was arson this is an affront, not just to Catholics, but anyone who calls themselves Christians.

 

[Ttalkkugjil]

Verily.

However, I do have an appreciation for such historical and magnificent Gothic architecture. Not to mention that if this was arson this is affront, not just to Catholics, but anyone who calls themselves Christians.

That's a big if.

 

[Jonaitis]

That's a big if.

That's true...

 

[Ignatius the Kiwi]

It's just a building. Buildings get built and rebuilt all the time.

The second Temple was just a building. Nothing important about it.

 

[nChrist]

I'm a Christian, and I recognize Notre-Dame as one of the most beautiful buildings in the world. It was a spectacular masterpiece of construction. I haven't even mentioned all of the breath-taking art that was also burned up in the fire. In short, it is a great loss to the entire world - regardless of your religious affiliation. This makes me very sad.

 

[Ttalkkugjil]

The second Temple was just a building. Nothing important about it.

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

 

[Ignatius the Kiwi]

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

The spirit which indwells a body has indwelled in multiple bodies in the Notre-Dame Cathedral. It has been a place of worship for 800 or so years where the Sacrament has been performed constantly. Does that count for nothing? Does the effort of the artist to glorify God through that edifice count for nothing?

I can't take this attitude all that seriously because I don't anyone but the purest ascetic actually believes that buildings or material objects aren't that important.

 

[Jonaitis]

The second Temple was just a building. Nothing important about it.

Very different.

 

[Ttalkkugjil]

The spirit which indwells a body has indwelled in multiple bodies in the Notre-Dame Cathedral. It has been a place of worship for 800 or so years where the Sacrament has been performed constantly. Does that count for nothing? Does the effort of the artist to glorify God through that edifice count for nothing?

I can't take this attitude all that seriously because I don't anyone but the purest ascetic actually believes that buildings or material objects aren't that important.

The past is the past.

Fun fact about buildings - new buildings can be made.

Fun fact about art - new art can be created.

Neither building nor artwork are required for the Sacrament to be administered.

 

[derpytia]

The cathedral may just be a building but it is also the object that has been a part of human life for hundreds of years. Historians, clergy, researchers, and scholars found Notre Dame to be a source of inspiration, knowledge, and even a livelihood.

Just because you personally don't find it a great loss doesn't mean that other people don't as well. God gave gifts of learning and love of history and architecture to many people. This comes as quite a blow to some people. We should mourn with those who mourn and not cast judgement on them.

 

[W2L]

The second Temple was just a building. Nothing important about it.

People are the temple. God doesnt care about buildings. Hes impressed by those who obey Him, not with Gothic architecture

 

[mmksparbud]

It's just a building. Buildings get built and rebuilt all the time.

And I guess you think that Hearst Castle is just a house?

 

[W2L]

Matthew 6:19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

 

[Ignatius the Kiwi]

People are the temple. God doesnt care about buildings. Hes impressed by those who obey Him, not with Gothic architecture

The idea of God being completely ambivalent towards human achievement, or that he doesn't value that which humans do to worship or honour him (Cathedrals are built for his glory) seems without merit to me. The Temple of Solomon might not have compared to Christ, but it's construction was still ordered and it was an important building where the Shekinah dwelt along with the Ark of the Covenant. Were these things we should treat with apathy?

Your taking the importance of he human Temple to a ridiculous, almost Gnostic degree of importance, when you belittle anything material as not being worth God's consideration. Yes the human temple is more important, but that doesn't mean the physical building is unimportant. If Christians as a whole believed that they would not live in homes, set aside worship spaces and gather weekly in them. They wouldn't have material possessions period.

 

[Ttalkkugjil]

And I guess you think that Hearst Castle is just a house?

Just a castle.

We Christians have homes in Heaven that are brighter than the sun. Let us focus on those.

 

[W2L]

The idea of God being completely ambivalent towards human achievement, or that he doesn't value that which humans do to worship or honour him (Cathedrals are built for his glory) seems without merit to me. The Temple of Solomon might not have compared to Christ, but it's construction was still ordered and it was an important building where the Shekinah dwelt along with the Ark of the Covenant. Were these things we should treat with apathy?

Your taking the importance of he human Temple to a ridiculous, almost Gnostic degree of importance, when you belittle anything material as not being worth God's consideration. Yes the human temple is more important, but that doesn't mean the physical building is unimportant. If Christians as a whole believed that they would not live in homes, set aside worship spaces and gather weekly in them. They wouldn't have material possessions period.

Your taking the importance of he human Temple to a ridiculous, almost Gnostic degree of importance,

No, you are taking a building to a carnal degree.

 

[anna ~ grace]

Supposedly Christian apathy towards beauty, sacred space, architecture, history, and reverence always amazes me. I never get used to it.

 

[Ignatius the Kiwi]

No, you are taking a building to a carnal degree.

I don't believe I've taken anything to a carnal degree, I have only suggested buildings like Notre Dame are more important than you give them credit for.

Notice I admitted your premise that the human temple is worth more, but where you err is that you suggest physical buildings are therefore worthless. Which i think does in some way a disservice to God who put us on this material world with minds of creativity to actually allow us to build such things in the first place.

God gave us seemingly a boundless intelligence and we shouldn't use this for his glory? Is the work of our hands therefore meaningless? Does whatever we out of a desire to be creative, to build something that will last (this can be anything like a book or building or whatever). really count for nothing?