with Rev Dr Chris Walker
Notre Dame Cathedral
It was terrible to see the famous Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris burning. It is over 850 years old. Watching the extent of the flames burning the wooden roof and then the timber spire fall and break was heart rendering. I felt saddened having visited the cathedral many years ago, let alone Parisians and French people. People were shown watching stunned. We were told that tourists visiting Paris went to see the cathedral as the most visited monument in Paris, even more than the Eiffel tower, the two most notable features of the city of Paris. Now Notre Dame Cathedral was in ruins though thanks to the fire fighters not completely burnt down. It will be possible to rebuild it and the French government wants to do so in five years. What does such a building represent?
Notre-Dame de Paris, “Our Lady of Paris”, was built originally to honour God and be a place of worship and community. Building commenced in 1160 and took 100 years to complete. It was modified somewhat over the centuries. It suffered desecration during the French Revolution. In the 19th century it was the venue for the coronation of Napoleon. In 1831 Victor Hugo published his novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame which raised popular interest in the cathedral. This led to major restoration work between 1844-1864. It became a proud feature of Paris and France and survived the two world wars. It took what was probably an electrical fault to start the fire that nearly destroyed it.
Symbolic buildings are important. Sydney has the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House which people around the world are familiar with, especially thanks to the fire work displays on new-year’s eve. St Mary’s cathedral is our most notable cathedral used not only by Roman Catholics for special events. Washington has the White House and New York has the Statue of Liberty symbolic of their democracy and emphasis on freedom in the USA. London has its Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace signifying its democracy and continuing royal family in the UK. Such buildings are important symbols of a nation and provide it with national pride. While buildings can be severely damaged or destroyed, they are usually restored or replaced because of their important role in representing the nation and what it stands for in a physical way. Often, they are upgraded or superseded to make way for a more impressive building. Government House in Canberra was deliberately built to attract attention by its new location and huge flag.
In Israel’s history the Jerusalem temple was central to the life of the nation. The temple built by King Solomon was impressive. When it was destroyed by the Babylonians about 586 BCE it was a terrible blow to the people. The first replacement temple built after the Persian King Cyrus allowed Jews to return to Jerusalem was not inspiring. The temple was only made magnificent again due to Herod the Great who ruled just prior to Jesus. He embarked on a building program to assert his rule. When Jesus’ disciples commented on the size of the stones of the buildings of the temple, he spoke of the coming destruction of the temple. Jesus knew it was a crucial time for the nation and lamented the nation’s failure to respond to him and his way of peace. This came to pass when a Jewish uprising was put down forcefully by the Romans and the temple destroyed in 70 CE.
Jewish faith since then has not had a central temple as its focus but has relied upon the development of synagogues which came to be important from the time of the Babylonian exile as places of worship and community for Jews. Synagogues came to be built around the Roman Empire where Jews moved to and established communities.
Do we then down play the importance of impressive buildings? It is certainly possible to worship God in functional buildings or in no buildings at all. Open air services of worship can be memorable. For Christians, despite the medieval emphasis on building cathedrals to the glory of God, and no doubt also to the glory of those who built them, the emphasis should be on Jesus Christ rather than impressive buildings. While we do benefit from buildings, the focus should always be on Jesus himself, the crucified and risen one. In our individual lives as Christian disciples and as communities of faith, we need to look to Jesus’ life and teaching, his death and resurrection and seek to follow his way of love in our lives. In that way we give glory to God.
Nevertheless, buildings can help. When I was principal of the Uniting Church theological college in South Australia one of the courses that I team taught was on worship. For one class we visited three local churches: the Anglican, Uniting and Catholic churches. The Uniting Church was not impressive. It had been expanded in a somewhat ad hoc way as the congregation grew.(It has since relocated and a modern appealing church has been built which is well used.) The Anglican church was acceptable as a suburban church. The Roman Catholica Church however was impressive. The space and way in which it was built and furnished conveyed something. It was a space that lent itself to worship. This was commented on by the students. They saw the desirability of seeking to make places of worship have a spiritual atmosphere by how the physical space is set up.
I trust Notre Dame will be rebuilt in order that it continue to be a symbol for the nation. I hope people will value it even more as a result of the fire. Its physical presence can convey to people of faith God’s presence. People without faith may be led to sense something of God through the building and through its religious leaders. May Notre Dame Cathedral like Jesus experience resurrection and new life.
Chris Walker
Chris is currently serving the Assembly of the Uniting Church as the National Consultant for Theology and Discipleship.
He has served in a range of positions and places in the Uniting Church including local church ministry in three congregations in NSW, as a regional education and mission officer, and consultant for evangelism and discipleship, in Queensland, as principal of Parkin-Wesley College in SA, and as a mission resource officer for Parramatta-Nepean Presbytery.
He has a passion for theology, mission and discipleship. His interest in writing has resulted in various publications including five books, most recently Peace Like A Diamond: facets of peace (Spectrum, 2009) and Living Life to the Full: Spirituality for today’s baby boomers (Openbook, 2005).