| Richard Kieckhefer, Professor of Religion and History, Northwestern University
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Sacred Power, Sacred Space
An Introduction to Christian Architecture
Jeanne Halgren Kilde
Oxford, Oxford UniversityPress,
Price: £41.00 (hardback)ISBN-13: 978-0-19-531469-4Publication date: 24 July 2008248 pages, 45 illus.,
There is an alternative edition |
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| Description |
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- Survey of Christian spaces focusing on internal dynamics.
- Sheds light on how buildings contribute to transformations in Christian thought and practice.
- Ties together shifts and transformations in church architecture across periods
- Contains 50 illustrations, including line drawings and photos
- Uses clear prose pitched at an undergraduate audience
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Jeanne Halgren Kildes survey of church architecture is unlike any other. Her main concern is not the buildings themselves, but rather the dynamic character of Christianity and how church buildings shape and influence the religion. Kilde argues that a primary function of church buildings is to represent and reify three different types of power: divine power, or ideas about God; personal empowerment as manifested in the individuals perceived relationship to the divine; and social power, meaning the relationships between groups such as clergy and laity. Each type intersects with notions of Christian creed, cult, and code, and is represented spatially and materially in church buildings.
Kilde explores these categories chronologically, from the early church to the twentieth century. She considers the form, organization, and use of worship rooms; the location of churches; and the interaction between churches and the wider culture.
Church buildings have been integral to Christianity, and Kildes important study sheds new light on the way they impact all aspects of the religion. Neither mere witnesses to transformations of religious thought or nor simple backgrounds for religious practice, Kilde identifies church buildings as dynamic participants in religious change and goldmines of information on Christianity itself. |
| Authors, editors, and contributors |
| Jeanne Halgren Kilde, Grants Consultant, The Institute for Advanced Study at the University of Minnesota |
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