What is the purpose of the Church?

[Unofficial Reverand Alex]

The answer, of course, would depend on what religion is in question. I am interested in other religion's answers for their own particular "Church" (whatever form that may take). What I present is my Catholic Christian answer for this question.

The purpose of the Church is to bring Christ to the world, to make His presence real and known. As such, she (the Church) gives to the poor, brings a message of hope and salvation, while maintaining the sometimes difficult truth that our lives need to change for God to truly work in us, for the betterment of ourselves & everyone around us.

So far, I suppose anyone with optimistic & moralistic beliefs would agree. Things get a little more interesting when Church buildings are involved.

Some form of "house of worship" is common in many religions. This is another point where I want non-Christian input: What is the theology behind Buddhist, Muslim, or other religious houses of worship? How does God/the gods/spiritual ideas influence the way your buildings are constructed?

As a Catholic, this is often one of the most pervasive complaints against the institution of the Church. Why spend so much money on buildings, instead of giving it to the poor?

There are several angles to take here. The first is a matter of perspective; I believe the quality of God's house should be greater than the quality of the houses of the people. If everyone lives in a mansion, with a barn for a church, that seems off. Money is still being spent on buildings, but it's self-serving, instead of God-serving. I would expect a modest church in a modest part of the world, a run-down building surrounded by even more run-down buildings. Sometimes, the resources for a building (any building) simply don't exist. Even more so than an expensive Church, I would suspect people to see a deep moral depravity in people using money that could be given to the poor for building extravagant homes for themselves, regardless of what (if any) religion you may be.

The deeper angle is that of bringing God's presence into the world. Give money to the poor; of course! Yet charity is not the only way that God is known. Jesus did not spend all of His time serving the poor; some time was spent preaching, some time was spent partying (hey, His public ministry started at a wedding feast in John 2!), and some time was spent in the Jerusalem Temple, a magnificent building that He never condemned. Nowhere does Paul write for people to not imitate the Jerusalem Temple's use of resources to draw people to God. As wonderful as charity is, that's not the only way to bring God into the world; people are also drawn by beauty, by art, by the magnificence of a grand cathedral that brings awe to even my non-religious friends. What could inspire so much time & effort?

Vast resources are put into music; consider the magnificent church organs, or for the modernist Protestants, the amount of money that electric guitars, drumsets, and other equipment costs. All of this, at best, is meant to draw people to God. Spiritual lyrics, distinctive genre, and guiding God's good creation of sound to beauty is an incredible way to make a creative God real to people!

There is also a deep Christian theology built into these magnificent cathedrals: rocks. Rocks aren't much to behold; sure, a few look really pretty, and some people become geologists to study unusual and interesting rocks. Yet most rocks are nothing special; annoying for construction projects, heavy to move, and a uniform dull color. Yipee.

Now consider the stone cathedrals made by rocks. If the power of man can raise lowly rocks into a magnificent structure, what can the power of God do for lowly people? Consider this from the Christian Scriptures to see how this meshes with God & man:

"Rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, insincerity, envy, and all slander; like newborn infants, long for pure spiritual milk so that through it you may grow into salvation, for you have tasted that the Lord is good. Come to him, a living stone, rejected by human beings but chosen and precious in the sight of God, and, like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it says in scripture:

“Behold, I am laying a stone in Zion,
a cornerstone, chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in it shall not be put to shame.”" --1 Peter 2

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And please do read these two articles. The first adds credibility to some of my previous points; the second is essential to understanding my view, as it brings up many good points that I did not, for sake of avoiding repetition. While you may not know or care about the dissenting Protestant opinions on Catholic church buildings mentioned, addressing the disagreements makes for a more thorough explanation of what is being defended.

How Beauty Led to My Radical Reversion

The Beautiful Church: Why Must Catholic Churches Be So Ornate?

As another reason that I post this in a subforum open to more than just Christians, I'm in a discussion with @awitch in another thread, where the cost of the Vatican was brought up. This forum provides a good place for me to guide that bit of the discussion over here, giving more focus to the topic of buildings, freeing up the other thread for the other parts of the discussion. As many non-Christians lament their inability to post in other sections of this forum, I would like to help you all out by posting here; please reciprocate with respect when you reply.

So what do you all think? I don't know if this will serve as a comprehensive explanation for elaborate church buildings, but I intend for this to show that there is some level of reverence, not necessarily greed, involved in monetary investments in houses of worship.

 

[awitch]

My opinion is that the function of a church is to get people to gather together because it's easier to collect their money. The elaborate, gaudy, and grandiose designs, aren't meant to impress god, they're meant to impress the people to get them in the doors. Having a nicer building is also meant stay competitive with the neighboring houses of worship. The second article mentions it, but doesn't really address the issue: why an omnipotent, omnipresent god needs a fancy house at all. But hey, if you want to give your hard earned money so that god who is everywhere can have a nicer house than you, be my guest.

Do you know where else your money is going? Abuse settlements? Political Action Committees? Upgrades for the priest's retirement home, maybe?


When I practice outdoors, I have the sky and a single rock to serve as the altar, and I need nothing more. I'm not sure if you could count a solitary practitioner as a "church", but the purpose of the service is typically to check in the gods and say hello, express appreciation, and celebrate. And when I'm done, there's no trace I was ever there.

 

[ananda]

This is another point where I want non-Christian input: What is the theology behind Buddhist, Muslim, or other religious houses of worship? How does God/the gods/spiritual ideas influence the way your buildings are constructed?

The teachings of early Buddhism do not prescribe houses of worship; the closest equivalent might be monasteries, simple buildings for the housing of monks or nuns, intended "simply to counteract cold, to counteract heat, to counteract the touch of flies, mosquitoes, wind, sun, & reptiles; simply for protection from the inclemencies of weather and for the enjoyment of seclusion." (MN2) Another close equivalent would be stupas, structures designed to house the remains of enlightened individuals for the inspiration of others towards practice. The profound clarity of the Teachings (Dhamma) themselves is considered the true magnificence that transforms minds and hearts, not ornate buildings which, though they might possess an initial appeal to the external senses, are otherwise hollow on more fundamental levels.

As to your other question: the closest equivalent to the "Church" as a body would be the Sangha: this is the Buddhist collective of partially and fully enlightened individuals who practice out of compassion for the happiness & welfare of beings, and they guide primarily through personal example towards the goal of nibbana: the supreme happiness.