Architecture and Theology: The Art of Place

301 Pages·2017·7.85 MB·English

by  Murray A. Rae

Murray A. Rae
taa
h
nr
e
c

d
a
h
r

t
t
i
oh
t
f e
e
p
c
o
l
a
t
l
c u
o
e
r
g
e
y
Architecture and Theology
This page intentionally left blank
Architecture and Theology
The Art of Place
Murray A. Rae
BAYLOR UNIVERSITY PRESS
© 2017 by Baylor University Press
Waco, Texas 76798
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission
in writing of Baylor University Press.
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard
Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National
Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.
Cover design by Nita Ybarra
Cover image: Watercolor of Corinthian column by Crystal Filep. Used with
permission.
Chapter 9 is an expanded version of “Building from the Rubble: Architecture,
Memory, and Hope,” in “Tikkun Olam”— to Mend the World: A Confluence of
Theology and the Arts, ed. Jason Goroncy (Eugene, Oreg.: Pickwick, 2014), 136– 51.
Used by permission of Wipf and Stock Publishers. www.wipfandstock.com.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Rae, Murray, author.
Title: Architecture and theology : the art of place / Murray A. Rae.
Description: Waco, Texas : Baylor University Press, [2017] | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017003710 (print) | LCCN 2017026299 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781481307659 (ePub) | ISBN 9781481307666 (ebook-Mobi/Kindle) |
ISBN 9781481307673 (web PDF) | ISBN 9781481307635 (hardback: alk. paper)
| ISBN 9781481307642 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Architecture and philosophy. | Christianity and the arts.
Classification: LCC NA2500 (ebook) | LCC NA2500.R324 2017 (print) |
DDC 720.1—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017003710
This ebook was converted from the original source file. Readers who encounter
any issues with formatting, text, linking, or readability are encouraged to notify
the publisher at [email protected]. Some font characters may not
display on all ereaders.
To inquire about permission to use selections from this text, please contact
Baylor University Press, One Bear Place, #97363, Waco, Texas 76798
For my parents,
Margaret and Alister Rae
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Preface ix
1 New Ways of Seeing 1
Doing Theology through the Spatial Arts
2 A Place to Dwell 11
Construing the World through the Construction of Place
3 Freedom and Rule 37
Conceiving the Law as a Realm of Freedom and Creativity
4 Making All Things New 75
Transforming the World through Adaptation and Renewal
5 A Foretaste of Heaven 105
Anticipating the New Jerusalem through the Civitas Terrena
6 Knowing and Dwelling 149
Considering Epistemology through Habitation and Homelessness
7 Presence and Absence 181
Discerning the Transcendent in the Realm of the Immanent
vii
viii ConTenTs
8 Places Full of Time 213
Marking Time through the Medium of Place
9 Building from the Rubble 237
Reaching for Redemption through Memory and Hope
Bibliography 257
Credits 273
Scripture Index 277
General Index 281
Preface
T
his book has been a long time in the making. I began thinking about
theology and architecture when, as an architectural student at the Uni-
versity of Auckland in 1984, I wrote a dissertation on church architecture.
Since that time, my awareness has grown that the fruitful interaction of the-
ology and architecture extends well beyond buildings designed for worship.
That awareness received considerable encouragement through the work of
Jeremy Begbie, who in 1997 established Theology Through the Arts, a pro-
gram of inquiry premised upon the conviction that theology has much to
gain by engaging the arts in theological conversation. Jeremy himself has
demonstrated how theological engagement with music can open up fresh
lines of inquiry and generate new ways of articulating the subject matter
of theology. The extraordinary fruitfulness of Jeremy’s efforts extends also
to the encouragement he has offered to artists and theologians to explore
together how conversation between them might yield rich insight into the
content of the Christian gospel.
Knowing of my own background in architecture, Jeremy approached me
in 2001 and invited me, along with Alan Torrance, to establish a colloquium
of theologians, architects, and other artists involved in shaping the built envi-
ronment, who could extend the work of Theology Through the Arts into the
arena of what we have called “the spatial arts.” In pursuit of that goal, Jer-
emy approached John Witvliet, director of the Calvin Institute of Christian
Worship at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. John’s enthusiasm
ix