THE APPLICATION OF LUTHERAN PRINCIPLES

TO THE CHURCH BUILDING.

DER KIRCHENBAU DES PROTESTANTISMUS VON DER REFORMATION BIS zur GegenwarT. Herausgegeben von der Vereinigung Berliner Architekten. Mit 1041 Grundrissen, Durchschnitten und Ansichten. Berlin. Toeche. 1893.*

HANDBUCH DES EVANGELISCH-CHRISTLICHEN KIRCHEN

BAUES, von Dr. Phil. Oskar Mothes, K. S. Baurath. lustrationen im Text. Leipzig. Tauchnitz. 1898.†

Mit 59 Il

Many of They are

IT is said that the Lutheran Churches of the United States build a new House of Worship for every day of the year. these are small and are built of perishable material. intended to give place to more substantial structures. They follow the styles of building which obtain in the regions in which they are built, and bear curious marks of the untrained taste of those who have contributed to their erection. Even if pastor and committee have some peculiarity of taste or a little knowledge of architecture, their means are limited; they must borrow and must hasten to pay; and there are so many incongruous ends to be served by the building, that it seems vain to aim at unity. or to consider symbolism, or any of the rules of art. If the edifice, on the other hand, is to be built of brick or stone, and is in any sense built for the future, as well as the present generation,

* Church-Building of Protestantism from the Reformation until the present time. Edited by the SOCIETY OF ARCHITECTS of Berlin. With 1041 plans, sec tional drawings and views. Berlin. Toeche. 1893.

+ Handbook of Evangelical-Christian Church-Building, by Dr. Phil. OSKAR MOTHES, K. S. Baurath. With 59 illustrations in the Text. Leipzig. Tauchnitz. 1898.

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it is recognized to be wise and necessary to consult an architect; but not one architect in a thousand has any knowledge of German Church Architecture, or of the requisites of a Lutheran Church; and they therefore copy either Protestant Episcopal Churches, whose principles are altogether different from ours, or Methodist or Zwinglian Churches whose spirit is opposed to ours; or, if a well-schooled German architect is chosen, his work does not find the sympathetic coöperation of the builders or the approval of the community. The time has come, I think, for a consideration of the principles of Lutheran Church Architecture. In what respect do these differ from the principles of Roman Catholic or Reformed architecture? Is there a history of Lutheran Church Building? Is there any distinctively Protestant style of architecture; any distinctively Lutheran? What peculiar arrangement or style is demanded by the genius and history of Lutheran belief and worship?

The books whose titles accompany this article dispose of the notion that the Protestant Reformation merely adopted the church buildings that had been in use, with few and no characteristic modifications of their interior, and that there has been little church building in Germany until the recent immense growth of cities required the formation of new parishes and a heavy outlay upon new places of worship. Instead, they tell us of hundreds of churches, many of them of monumental construction and style, of all varieties of architectural style, obedient to the tastes prevalent in different eras, in some cases of daring experiments undertaken to invent new, distinctive, evangelical styles of architecture, and beginning in the age of the Reformation and sprinkled through all the years that have elapsed since. Both books give us a lively scientific criticism of these attempts, and discuss the theories of architects; while the Berlin architects give us pictures and plans which make the discussion intelligible. They make it perfectly clear that there is no postulate which has not been considered in the Fatherland, no novelty

which has not been tested. They also show us that German architecture is peculiar. At another time I may attempt a comparison of English Church Architecture with the same art in Lutheran Germany, a subject that promises the utmost interest and instruction. They demonstrate, moreover, that Protestantism is not wedded to any particular style of architecture but may make use of all the historical styles. While Mothes agrees in this, he evidently prefers the Gothic style and urges that it is native to the German. They hold that certain modifications of pre-Reformation architecture are required by the principles of Evangelical Protestantism; but, at the same time, that these modifications are a return to the usage of the Church in the ages preceding the dominance of Roman Catholicism.

Mothes closes his suggestive preface with these words:

"Luther did not, and the Evangelical Church neither can nor will, cast to one side the tradition of the Christian Church, but they would cleanse it from the human opinions and the abuses which have formed upon it in the course of time; and they demand the same purification of ecclesiastical art, of architecture.

"A Handbook for this art therefore should, first of all, give a veracious description of the development of ecclesiastical art before the Reformation, based on careful investigation, and show how this followed the course of the history of the Church, and in what places, within what limits, and in what way, the resultant tradition can be used by the Evangelical Church or must be rejected by her. It must show what has been done for Evangelical ecclesiastical art since the Reformation, its achievements, failures, and faults. With this it should give suggestions, how the edifices of the Evangelical Church should be shaped and completed so as to agree in their ARRANGEMENT with the ritual-liturgical as well as with the practical requirements of our Church: in their CONSTRUCTION with the modern technical standpoint and the general principles now acknowledged; in their FORM and CHARACTER with the spirit of Christianity in gen

eral, the simplicity and inexhaustible depth of the nature and word of Jesus given in the Gospel, with the Evangelical Church especially, which is built on this foundation; and with the unchangeable laws of BEAUTY, which have their origin in the will of God, are symbolized to us in Nature, and therefore answer to that spirit."

An attempted condensation of the contents of these books would be tedious. To discuss even a few of the topics they suggest, might bewilder the reader and lead his attention away from the points which are really essential. I cannot pretend to the knowledge of the subject which would give value to any opinion I may express. It is more important that I should tell what those who are of authority say. Yet it is a duty of those who have given anxious attention to the matter, and see the errors which ought to be corrected, to state the conclusions to which those of authority lead them. I propose, therefore, to lay down a few propositions which I hope may become a basis of discussion, and to add to them in the form of Notes material drawn for the most part from these books. It will be evident from my omissions what I consider to be open questions, and the attentive reader will discover that in some cases I am not convinced by the books. And it is right to add that though I think that these principles should be much more closely observed than they have been, I do not think that they ought to be regarded as a law and that every reverend old church ought to be altered to accord with them. The truth is, that we may learn a great deal from the ways in which our fathers, who certainly were not without the "Lutheran consciousness," endeavored to satisfy what they knew to be essential to their faith and their traditions.

PROPOSITIONS FOR DISCUSSION.

I. The Lutheran Church is bound to no particular style of Architecture. The style should be chosen with reference to the site of the building, its surroundings, and its purpose.

While the Gothic style may seem to have especial claims, on the other hand it is doubtful whether the Gothic is suited to the small structures which many are compelled to build. A large Gothic church with nave and aisles is not favourable to a Service where the minister must be seen in all parts of the Service and distinctly heard.

II. While many churches which had been built before the Reformation were taken over and in some respects were altered to adapt them to their new use, so many new Lutheran churches have been built in all periods since the Reformation, so many experiments have been tried, that the requirements and character of a distinctively Lutheran church building are fully known.

III. A Lutheran Church differs from a Roman Catholic Church

Word;

2. in making due provision for the preaching of the

3. in providing that the whole congregation may intelligently take part in the whole Service of worship;

4. in not making a separation between a "clergy" and a "laity;"

5. in providing for the Communion of the people, instead of a Celebration of the Sacrament;

6. in arranging for a Service whose reality depends on the presence and participation of the Congregation. On the other hand, the sanctity of a Roman Catholic Church is guaranteed by the supposed Presence of Christ upon the Altar, and the Consecration of the church.