Sacred power, sacred space : an introduction to Christian architecture and worship / Jeanne Halgren Kilde.

Main entry:

Kilde, Jeanne Halgren, 1957-

Title & Author:

Sacred power, sacred space : an introduction to Christian architecture and worship / Jeanne Halgren Kilde.

Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2008.

Description:

236 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
A method for thinking about power dynamics in Christian space -- Early Christian meeting space in the Roman empire -- Imperial power in Constantinian and Byzantine churches -- From abbey to great church, fortress to heavenly city -- Transformations of the Renaissance and Reformation -- Formalism and non- or anti-formalism in worship and architecture -- Historicism, modernism, and space -- Concluding observations.

Summary:

Jeanne Halgren Kilde's 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 individual's 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 Kilde's 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, church buildings are, in Kilde's view, dynamic participants in religious change and goldmines of information on Christianity itself.

Resources:
Table of contents
Rutgers restricted
Electronic access restricted; authentication may be required:

ISBN:

9780195314694 (cloth)
0195314697 (cloth)
9780195336061 (pbk.)
0195336062 (pbk.)
(ebook)
9781435656802
1435656806

Subject:

Liturgy and architecture History.
Church architecture History.
Liturgie et architecture Histoire.
Architecture chrétienne Histoire.
Church architecture.
Liturgy and architecture.
Kyrkoarkitektur historia.
Liturgik.

Form/genre:

History.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 261593
Call No.: BIB 192612
Status: Available

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