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 CHURCH ARCHITECTURE, 
 
 SCRIPTURALLY CONSIDERED, 
 
 FROM 
 
 THE EARLIEST AGES 
 
 TO 
 
 THE PRESENT TIME. 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. F. CLOSE, A. M. 
 
 PERPETUAL CURATE OF CHELTENHAM. 
 
 “ NUGyE SERIA decent 
 
 ‘‘ IN MALA.” .... 
 
 Hor. Art. Poet. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 HATCHARD AND SON, PICCADILLY; 
 HAMILTON, ADAMS AND CO. 
 PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 
 1844 . 
 
CHELTENHAM: J. ,T. HADLEY, JOURNAL OFFICE, 
 
 Queen's Buildings. 
 
TO 
 
 HIS DIOCESAN 
 THE RIGHT REVEREND 
 JAMES-HENRY 
 
 LORD BISHOP OF GLOUCESTER AND BRISTOL, 
 THE FOLLOWHSTG PAGES 
 ARE 
 
 BY HIS lordship’s PERMISSION, 
 E.ESPECTEIJEEY DEDICATED 
 BY HIS OBLIGED AND FAITHPUL 
 SEBYANT, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 Cheltenham, March 'iQth, 1844. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2016 
 
 https://archive.org/details/churcharchitectuOOclos 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Impelled by a deepening conviction that the 
 evils intended to be exposed in the following pages, 
 are perilous, and growing ; and seeing that as yet 
 no systematic attempt has been made to impede 
 their progress, the Author presents the subject in 
 this form to the public, in the hope that more able 
 pens may be enlisted on the same side ; and that 
 some who possess more leisure and opportunity of 
 research than the writer of this Work, may be 
 induced to lend their aid towards the exposure of 
 the grievous superstitions which many are labouring 
 to introduce into the Church of England. 
 
 The Pastor of a populous parish cannot be 
 expected to dive so deeply into antient ecclesiastical 
 literature as the student in his cloistered retreat : 
 and candid minds will give the author of the follow- 
 ing pages the benefit of this consideration : — but 
 on topics which bear on the stirring interests of his 
 own times — the movements of the public mind — 
 the evolutions of doctrinal theories — the rise and 
 
progress of popular errors — the state and tempe- 
 rature of the theological atmosphere, on these and 
 similar subjects, the position which the Author 
 occupies may qualify him to form an equally correct 
 opinion — and may entitle him to he heard with at 
 least the same attention as that which is yielded 
 to the more profound scholar, or the more subtle 
 theorist. 
 
 He would only add, therefore, that if there 
 are any who value his opinion — any who would 
 listen to his advice — any who believe that he 
 would not needlessly create alarm — he entreats all 
 such of his readers to accept his solemn conviction 
 — (after watching the progress of present events, 
 and comparing them alike with the rise of kindred 
 errors in the fourth century, and in an age nearer 
 our own,) — that some of the worst doctrinal errors 
 of the mediseval and subsequent centuries are now 
 gradually and systematically returning and settling 
 down, silently and unperceived in the Protestant 
 Church, by no other means than these, viz. the 
 
 EESTOKATION OE THE EMBLEMS OF SUPEESTI- 
 TION, AND THE EXTRAVAGANT DECORATION OF 
 
 CHURCHES. 
 
V 
 
 His convictions and his fears may be pro- 
 nounced illusory, — but greater and wiser men have 
 seen and have denounced the same evils — as will 
 appear from the following pages : — the Author is 
 content to shield himself behind such holy and 
 eminent persons as Hooper, Pilkington, Grindall, 
 and the authors of the Homilies, and he feels 
 confident that the Protestant feeling of the country 
 will go along with him. 
 
 Deeply concerned for the grand and funda- 
 mental truths which he believes to be at stake, he 
 commends the cause to Him, whose glory he de- 
 sires above all things to promote. 
 
^c. ^c. ^c. 
 
 That man is in a great degree the crea- 
 ture of external circumstances, may be 
 asserted without any fear of being 
 charged with the materialism of Owen, 
 or the fatalism of the Koran. The 
 wisest and most religious of men cannot 
 wholly divest themselves of the various 
 exterior influences which affect the cur- 
 rent of their feelings, and in some 
 degree tend to warp even the most un- 
 bending judgment. And that the gene- 
 rality of mankind are subject to such 
 impressions, and are often wholly go- 
 verned by them, cannot be denied. 
 
 This tendency is more observable in 
 religious matters than in the affairs of 
 common life: and hence the necessity 
 of guarding with the utmost vigilance 
 
 B 
 
8 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 those avenues of the imagination, the 
 feehngs and affections, by which subtle 
 error may steal into the heart and 
 betray it, ere it is conscious of an 
 enemy’s approach. 
 
 We are perhaps in peculiar danger 
 of this sinister influence when we are 
 engaged in the eager pursuit of sub- 
 jects of a mixed nature, partaking partly 
 of a religious, and partly of a secular 
 character. When any science or study 
 wholly unconnected with religion is the 
 object of our pursuit, we are compara- 
 tively safe, but when that object is of 
 such an indefinite character, that while 
 its leading features are secular, its more 
 remote and secondary influences are re- 
 ligious, then we have need of double 
 watchfuhiess. This appears to be pecu- 
 liarly the case with the subject before 
 us. 
 
 Church Architecture might at the 
 first glance appear to be a subject essen- 
 tially secular, and practically material; 
 to ascertain by diligent search the 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 9 
 
 earliest and most comely specimens of 
 Christian Churches — to study their va- 
 rieties — to class them under different 
 orders — to select that style best adapted 
 to modern use, and to embellish it 
 with suitable decorations, all this ap- 
 pears to have little connection with re- 
 ligious principle or spiritual feehng. 
 
 And yet has the whole art or 
 science of Ecclesiastical architecture 
 the strongest possible bearing on the 
 religious character of the country ; in- 
 terAvoven with all its spiritual sympa- 
 thies, and national prejudices, it exer- 
 cises a diffusive and extensive influence 
 even over the essential truths of re- 
 vealed rehgion. 
 
 It will not be disputed that the 
 cultivation of this art among the an- 
 tients, had a sensible influence in form- 
 ing both public morals and public 
 taste ; nay, that it sometimes held the 
 destinies of nations in its balance ! 
 
 The mighty Pyramids of Egypt — 
 the costly and exquisitely wrought 
 B 2 
 
10 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 temples of Greece and Eome— contri-' 
 buted not a little to fasten upon the 
 minds of the people the idolatries with 
 Avhich they were identified. The cla- 
 morous shouts at Ephesus — “ great is 
 Diana of the Ephesians,” may be traced 
 in great measure to the existence of 
 that temple erected there to her ho- 
 nour, which was the wonder of the 
 world. The open gates of the temple 
 of Janus, at Eome, proclaimed that the 
 world sighed for peace, and when they 
 were solemnly closed, they tended to 
 promote and render permanent that 
 peace which they appeared only to 
 announce. 
 
 The prosecution of this idea would 
 lead us too far from our particular sub- 
 ject : but it may safely be observed 
 
 that no well informed and thinking 
 person will for a moment deny that 
 the architecture of the antient world, 
 identified as it most frequently was 
 Avith their idolatrous rites, tended to 
 commend those rites to the hearts of 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 11 
 
 the people, and enlisted their pride, 
 their science, their cultivated taste, and 
 their national feelings, all on the side 
 of idolatry ! So that even the scep- 
 tical philosophers themselves, who de- 
 spised the polytheism of the vulgar 
 herd, cherished and upheld the system 
 for the sake of the arts and sciences 
 with which it was interwoven. 
 
 Now the constitution and philosophy 
 of man’s nature are unchangeable 
 divers influences may be brought to 
 bear upon them — the religion which 
 affects them may be false or true — but 
 the tendencies will be uniform. In 
 other words, Christian architecture wiU 
 possess as much power of affecting the 
 minds of men as Pagan architecture 
 had, — the structures erected in the 
 name of Christ will tend to produce 
 impressions in favour of His divine 
 religion, in the same manner and de- 
 gree as the temples of the antient 
 gods and goddesses affected the minds 
 of by-gone generations. Hence it be- 
 
12 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 comes a matter of no little importance 
 that Christian Churches should be built 
 in accordance with the genius and spirit 
 of the Christian religion, — lest while 
 we are raising mighty structures, and 
 lavishing on them vast sums of money, 
 we may be fostering superstitious or 
 even idolatrous tendencies in the souls 
 of those who are to worship there. 
 
 As the experienced architect is dis- 
 turbed by any violation of good taste, 
 or by any departure from the rules of 
 art, in the building on which he ga^es, 
 so should the pious and enlightened 
 Christian be at least equally offended if 
 he discovers in buildings consecrated to 
 the simple worship of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, decorations and emblems more 
 worthy of the ponderous ceremonial of 
 the Jewish, or the idolatrous corrup- 
 tions of the Papal system. 
 
 And inasmuch as it appears essen- 
 tial, more particularly at the present 
 time, that we should form a sober and 
 scriptural judgment in this matter. 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 13 
 
 alike remote from the barbarism of the 
 tabernacle, and from the pompous su- 
 perstition of the Vatican — a scriptural 
 investigation of the subject cannot be 
 uninteresting or uninstructive. 
 
 Ecclesiastical architecture existed 
 long before the Christian era — and it 
 would appear to be in accordance 
 with sound reason, and philosophy, as 
 well as with, the principles of revealed 
 religion, to look back over the early 
 history of man as recorded in the 
 Book of God, and to examine the 
 various modes in which through suc- 
 ceeding ages he has been approached : 
 — the formless spontaneous devotions 
 of our sinless parents in Paradise — the 
 rude altars of the patriarchs — the costly 
 and elaborate ceremonial of the Israel- 
 ites — the extreme simplicity of primi- 
 tive, apostolic, Christian worship — the 
 decorative style of the mediaeval ages — 
 the return to primitive simplicity at 
 the blessed Beformation — and the final, 
 glorious, perfect worship of the Be- 
 
14 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 deemed in heaven : — all these various 
 transitions in the method of approach 
 to the Great God by his accepted 
 worshippers ought to be well pondered, 
 before we form our judgment as to 
 the propriety or impropriety of preva- 
 lent opinions on this subject. 
 
 This then shall be the object we 
 now propose to ourselves : — searching 
 for truth amidst its deep fountains, in 
 the everlasting hills of God’s forma- 
 tion, the holy Scriptures — we shall 
 not greatly err — and perhaps by God’s 
 blessing upon our meditations we may 
 not only arrive at sound conclusions 
 on controverted points — but may find 
 spiritual edification in contemplating 
 the wisdom of God as displayed in 
 the beautiful adaptation of successive 
 systems of worship to the genius of 
 the dispensation to which they belong. 
 
 But before we attempt to follow 
 the progress of ecclesiastical architecture 
 from Abel’s rude altar to the temple 
 of Solomon, and thence to the modern 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 15 
 
 ages of the world — an enquiry suggests 
 itself relative to the mode of man’s 
 approach to his Maker, as well in 
 his state of primitive innocency, as in 
 that of his restored perfection in the 
 final glory. In these we justly expect 
 to discover the most acceptable manner 
 of worship — that which is most pleasing 
 to Almighty God, offered as the Avilling 
 homage of an innocent creature, or as 
 the grateful sacrifice of those who once 
 were guilty and impure, but now are 
 redeemed, restored, and glorified. We 
 thus gaze on man at his beginning, 
 and at his end — as he first came forth 
 from the hands of his Maker, and as 
 he is again brought near to him in 
 his final blessedness. 
 
 A wonderful coincidence is here 
 observable: neither in Paradise, nor in 
 Christ’s glorious kingdom, is there 
 any temple ! Xo altar — nor propitia- 
 tory — nor sacred place is there ! “I 
 
 SAW NO TEMPLE THEREIN,” OXClaimS 
 
 the inspired evangelical Prophet, as 
 
 B 3 
 
16 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 he beheld the New Jerusalem — com- 
 ing down out of Heaven, fitted for 
 the new Heaven and the new earth 
 which had already been created for 
 its reception ! * A Jerusalem — but 
 stripped of the old Jerusalem’s chief 
 glory — A Jerusalem without a tem- 
 ple! What can this denote but that 
 in that final triumphant state no form 
 of M'orship will be found — none of 
 those various methods of approach 
 now so needful for man in his pre- 
 sent state of separation from his God 
 — no temple because the God of the 
 temple is there — no reflectors of the 
 image of God, because God himself 
 is there — as it is added, for the Lord 
 God Almighty, and the Lamb are 
 the temple of it!” His people see 
 him as he is — eye to eye and face 
 to face ; — “ that which is perfect is 
 come,” so “ that which is in part is 
 done away.”*j* The building is com- 
 
 * Revelations, xxi. 22. 
 
 t 1 Corinthians xiii. 10. 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 17 
 
 plete, therefore the unsightly scatFolcI- 
 ing is removed! The journey is over, 
 therefore the provisions of the way 
 are needed no more. Churches, tem- 
 ples, ordinances, sacraments, are the 
 means by which God reveals himself 
 to his people now — but there will be 
 no temple there ! 
 
 And as in man’s final glory, so 
 in man’s primitive innocence — there 
 was no temple in Paradise ! Tlie 
 holy pair, unconscious of sin, needed 
 neither altar, nor propitiatory, nor ora- 
 tory, nor sacred place of worship, for 
 all was sacred and holy ! When at 
 the dawn of day these holy, happy 
 beings, rose from their soft slumbers, 
 and walked forth to meet their God 
 and to present their welcome orisons, 
 they beheld indeed a glorious temple ! 
 What though no stately building 
 raised by man’s device was there — no 
 lofty spire, nor groined roof, nor in- 
 tersecting arches, nor tessellated pave- 
 ment — nor proud altar — nor fragrant 
 
18 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 incense — nor gorgeous decorations — 
 yet did they worship in God’s holy 
 temple! And when the soft mist arose, 
 as a thin veil, before the breath of 
 the morning, (for neither rain, nor 
 storm, nor tempest yet were known) 
 revealing the beauties of that creation 
 of God, what a glorious temple burst 
 upon their view ! Beneath their feet 
 the verdant carpet of nature sprinkled 
 with her choicest flowers — above them, 
 the high vault of heaven lighted up 
 with the ascending sun — the trees and 
 shrubs sparkling in its glories — the mur- 
 muring of the streams which “ watered 
 the garden” — the warbling of the happy 
 tenants of the air — and the gentle 
 lowing of cattle as yet untutored in 
 suffering — this, and more than we can 
 describe or conceive, was the temple, 
 and the only one, in which our first 
 parents worshipped ! God himself 
 dwelt in his pure creation — he met 
 his innocent creatures and they rejoiced ! 
 Neither man in his sinless state, nor 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 19 
 
 man in glory needs the feeble help 
 of temple services ! — an affecting, a 
 humbling conclusion is unavoidable : — 
 
 ALL TEMPLES, ALTARS, CHURCHES, AND 
 RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES, ARE THE BADGES 
 AND PROOFS OF THE FALLEN, GUILTY 
 STATE OF MAN ! 
 
 This truth may well sink into our 
 hearts, to humble our pride, and to 
 teach us the true end of all those 
 buildings which have since been ele- 
 vated for God’s worship — they are 
 testimonies to the guilt of man, while 
 they lead him to the fountains of 
 mercy ! What speaks the blood of 
 Abel’s sacrifice — or of Noah’s — or of 
 Abraham’s, or of his son’s? — “What 
 meaneth this service” — this blood-stained 
 altar — this writhing victim ? They tell 
 of sin — and the sinner’s doom — and 
 the sinner’s exposure to God’s wrath ! 
 And what meaneth that pompous cere- 
 monial — that dark and holy place, se- 
 parate and secluded, into which one 
 man alone dares enter, and he but 
 
20 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 once a year] And wherefore all those 
 slaughtered animals, that river of hlood 
 — those divers washings ? They testify 
 to man’s guilt, and separation from 
 his God, and the difficulty of access 
 to him — while they open a way thither! 
 And what but this is taught in Chris- 
 tian edifices and the Christian ordi- 
 nances performed in them ] Why do 
 we there assemble together ] Why 
 hear the gospel preached ] Why lis- 
 ten sabbath after sabbath to the word 
 of God 1 Why kneel around the 
 sacred table, and partake of the me- 
 morial of redeeming love ] Why ] 
 but because we all are sinners, vile 
 and miserable, lost without Christ, 
 and only kept in the right way by 
 the healing grace of God which thus 
 visits us in his appointed means I 
 With what feelings then of humi- 
 liation and sorrow should we contem- 
 plate a Christian sanctuary! We may 
 decorate it with splendid masonry — 
 lavish vast sums on its shrines, create 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 21 
 
 “ a dim religious light,” by means of 
 costly painted mndows; — and after we 
 have done all, as we traverse the 
 aisles of the stately cathedral, and 
 muse upon the solemn scene around 
 us — well may we exclaim — “ Whence 
 is all this]” It is sin! Sin has raised 
 this vast pile, it is a house of refuge 
 for the guilty ! What is this temple 
 but a lazaretto for infected souls ! — 
 What but an hospital for the recep- 
 tion ‘‘ of the halt, and the maimed, 
 and the blind” — it tells of benevo- 
 lence and mercy, but it reminds us 
 of our guilt and misery : and as when 
 we contemplate some beautiful and 
 extensive building — displaying the skill 
 of the architect, and calculated to 
 excite our highest admiration, and 
 we ask— to what purpose is this build- 
 ing dedicated] And it is replied, “it 
 is A LUNATIC asylum!” how then 
 does our heart sicken ! The edifice 
 loses all its charms in our eyes — 
 we turn away in sorrow, grieving 
 
22 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 more that man’s calamity should need 
 such an extensive receptacle of misery, 
 than rejoicing at the benevolence which 
 has called it into existence : — even so, 
 a deeply pious and religious mind 
 contemplating the noble religious edi- 
 fices of his native land, will rather 
 mourn over the madness of sin, and 
 the insanity of vice, which created 
 the necessity for these houses of mercy 
 — than feel disposed to vaunt himself 
 in their beauty or magnificence ! He 
 never can forget that there was no 
 temple in Paradise, and that there 
 will be none in Heaven — because in 
 Paradise and in Heaven there was 
 no sin ! 
 
 Let then every student of ecclesi- 
 astical architecture, as he pursues his 
 favorite subject, remember that the 
 foundation of every religious structure 
 in the world is laid deep in the cor- 
 ruptions of the human race — and that 
 but for the sin and wickedness of 
 man he had lost his occupation ! He 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 23 
 
 dwells among the tombs, he stumbles 
 over the gravestones — while he searches 
 out his favourite style ; — ^let him not 
 forget, in the elaborated details of an 
 earthly structure, to record in his 
 heart its origin and its object ! 
 
 But turn we now to the book of 
 God — the most ancient book : and let 
 us trace the rise and progress of all 
 the religious edifices sanctioned by 
 the Almighty. Our guilty parents now 
 have fallen from their innocency — 
 they are banished from their abode of 
 bliss and purity — wretched exiles, clad 
 in the garments furnished by those 
 victims which their sin hath slain ! 
 And now they seek an altar and a 
 sacrifice. Abel brings a lamb of the 
 flock, and offers it the Lord. It is 
 not said, indeed, that he built an 
 altar — but it appears to be implied: — 
 and this is all the record left us of 
 the ceremonial of the earlier portion 
 of the patriarchal age : from Adam 
 
 to Noah, a period of 1650 years. 
 
24 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 all that we know of the religion of 
 God’s saints is this — “ they walked 
 WITH God perhaps the few who 
 loved and served Him through that 
 era of spiritual apostacy, walked more 
 nearly with him than believers since 
 have done. In the immediate enjoy- 
 ment of his presence they needed not 
 the oft repeated sacrifice, and the 
 blood-stained altar ; nor was it until 
 the little family of ransomed ones 
 issued forth from their ark of mercy 
 that the erection of the first altar is 
 recorded — ‘‘And Noah bnilded an al- 
 tar unto the Lord, and offered burnt 
 offerings.”* From that time forth, 
 during what may be termed the second 
 portion of the patriarchal age — from 
 Noah to the descent into Egypt, 640 
 years^ — the erection of altars and the 
 offering of sacrifices are events of con- 
 tinual occurrence. Whithersoever the 
 Patriarchs wandered, there bnilded they 
 
 * Genesis viii. 20. 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 25 
 
 ail altar and worshipped. The very 
 nature of their earthly pilgrimage 
 precluded the adoption of fixed abodes 
 of worship, or the consecration of 
 edifices to the God whom they served. 
 Yet now it was that men began to 
 attach special interest and sanctity to 
 particular spots, endeared to them by 
 the recollection of some hallowed in- 
 tercourse with heaven, or distinguished 
 by some special interference in their 
 behalf. 
 
 Thus Abraham, soon after he had 
 obeyed the call of God, “ budded an 
 altar there unto the Lord who had 
 appeared unto him.”^ The same did 
 he in Bethel if — and after his first 
 sojourn in Egypt, returning thither, 
 “ he called there upon the name of 
 the Lord,” in the very spot “ where 
 he had made an altar at first. 
 When he ‘‘ pitched his tent in 
 
 * Genesis xii. 7. f Genesis xii. 8. 
 
 X Genesis xjii. 4. 
 
26 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 Mamre,” “ he built an altar there.”* 
 Holy mysteries began to accompany 
 the revelations of heaven to the Father 
 of the faithful — as “ the smoking fur- 
 nace and the burning lamp” which 
 passed between the pieces of his sa- 
 crifices.*]" And at another place, “ he 
 planted a grove and called there on 
 the name of the Lord, the everlasting 
 God.” Here too we trace the origin 
 of sacred depositories of the dead : the 
 beautiful, the inimitable description of 
 the purchase of a burial place by 
 Abraham, from “ the sons of Heth” 
 is familiar to every student of scrip- 
 ture. There he deposited the remains 
 of his beloved Sarah — there he him- 
 self was laid — and afterwards Isaac — 
 and Jacob and Josej)h ! But still 
 they buried their dead in other spots ; 
 Deborah, Behecca’s nurse, was buried 
 beneath an oak at Bethel; and lla- 
 chel, the much-loved wife of Jacob, 
 
 * Genesis xiii. 18. 
 
 t Genesis xv. 17. 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 27 
 
 was buried by the wayside on the 
 road to Bethlehem, and Jacob raised 
 a pillar over her grave, which existed 
 in the days of Moses! 
 
 Still no sacred temples reared their 
 heads to greet the traveller on his 
 way : simple was the worship of the 
 patriarchs — ‘‘ Isaac went out into the 
 fields to meditate” or pray ‘‘ at even- 
 tide — and Jacob’s “House of God,” 
 
 was a mountain top, and a solitary 
 stone, which he raised as a memorial 
 of God’s gracious visit to his soul. 
 To notice every spot consecrated hy 
 the worship of Jacob, or Israel, as 
 he was called of God, would weary 
 the reader.'!' Yet it is interesting to 
 observe that the last patriarchal altar 
 of which we read, was built by Jacob, 
 when, at the command of God, he 
 was going down to his son Joseph, in 
 Egypt; there God met him and blessed 
 
 * Genesis xxiv. 63. 
 
 t Genesis xxxi. 47 — .553 xxxiii. 20 3 xxxv. 1 — 4; &c. 
 
28 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 him, and renewed his covenant with 
 him ; and there the altar services of 
 the patriarchs appear to have closed. 
 We read of neither altar nor sacrifice 
 in Egypt, nor would the Egyptians 
 have tolerated them. And to this, in 
 great measure, may be attributed the 
 rapid decline of the Israelites from 
 the service of the God of their fathers 
 soon after the death of Jacob and 
 of Joseph. 
 
 Thus closes the patriarchal age — 
 the age nearest to Adam — and the 
 age of all others distinguished by 
 simplicity in worship ; above 2300 
 years of the world’s existence have 
 rolled by, and as yet no kind of 
 temple is raised to the worship of 
 Almighty God. 
 
 A fearful blank of more than 200 
 years now occurs in the history of 
 divine worship, during which period 
 the knowledge of the true God wtis 
 almost forgotten among Ilis people. 
 But then an era altogether new, and 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 29 
 
 wonderful, opens upon us. A system 
 of public worship is established by 
 immediate revelation, presenting a most 
 striking contrast to that of the pre- 
 ceding age. God calls his people out 
 of Egypt; — with a mighty hand and 
 stretched out arm, he delivers them 
 out of the rage of powerful enemies, 
 and gathering them around the base 
 of one of the rugged mountains of 
 the Desert, he makes known his will 
 to a nation by a voice from Heaven 
 itself ; — he inscribes his law with his 
 own finger on tables of stone, and 
 commissions his servant Moses to erect 
 a tabernacle, or moveable temple for 
 his worship — to consecrate a priest- 
 hood — and to establish a most elabo- 
 rate and circumstantial system of re- 
 ligious ceremonies. 
 
 The transition from the worship of 
 the patriarchs to that of Israel under 
 this new dispensation was sudden and 
 extraordinary. The naked simplicity 
 of the former contrasts most singularly 
 
30 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 with the decorated, and minute cere- 
 monial of the latter. But it must 
 be borne in mind as a point of much 
 general importance in this enquiry 
 that not only was every sacrihce, 
 offering, and religions ceremony under 
 this new law prescribed by God him- 
 self, and the smallest deviation punish- 
 able by the ecclesiastical authorities, 
 but every portion of the tabernacle 
 itself, its curtains, rings, posts, altars 
 — even to the very spoons and forks 
 used by the priests, were matters of 
 direct revelation — Moses received “ the 
 pattern of everything in the Mount 
 nothing was left to his own invention 
 or discretion. Matters in themselves 
 of the most trivial importance and 
 whicli could have no intrinsic value 
 whatever, are here enforced with a 
 scrupulosity and even a rigour, which 
 proves at once that these detailed and 
 burthensome forms of worship were all 
 
 * Hebreivs viii. 5. 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 31 
 
 of a symbolical and typical character 
 — pointing to mysteries yet unrevealed 
 — and destined to be abolished when 
 the blessings which they represented 
 should be realized. 
 
 In this tabernacle, and first temple 
 of the Most High, He was pleased to 
 dwell — ^here, and here only would he 
 be worshipped ; this was indeed a holy 
 place ; and thither all must come 
 who desired to find audience with 
 heaven : — pardon for their sin, or as- 
 sistance and direction in their earthly 
 pilgrimage, could here alone be ob- 
 tained. Visibly and miraculously pre- 
 sent here, Jehovah journeyed with his 
 people — ^he marched before them in 
 the desert — and when they reached 
 the land of promise “ He pitched his 
 tent in Shiloh” and after that ‘‘ in 
 Salem was his tabernacle and his 
 dwelling place in Zion.”^ From the 
 days of Moses unto the time of his 
 
 * Psalm Ixxvi. 2. 
 C 
 
32 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 servant David, (or rather of Solomon) 
 did Jehovah thus inhabit this moveable 
 dwelling : and the remarkable fact is 
 thus presented to us that no less 
 THAN 3000 YEARS, OR ONE HALF OF THE 
 world’s present EXISTENCE, HAD PASSED 
 AWAY BEFORE ANY LOCALITY WAS DEDI- 
 CATED TO THE ALMIGHTY, OR ANY PER- 
 MANENT BUILDING ERECTED TO HIS 
 NAME ! No form of worship existed 
 in Paradise — only a simple altar sufficed 
 for the patriarchs, — and the divine cere- 
 monies of the Mosaic dispensation had 
 existed 450 years before the thought 
 of any fixed habitation for the Deity 
 had entered into the hearts of His 
 people ! 
 
 The particulars connected with the 
 erection of the first stone temple to the 
 Most High are too remarkable to be 
 hastily passed over. 
 
 As the Poyal Psalmist — the man 
 after God’s own heart, sat in his palace, 
 meditating on the great goodness of 
 God to him all his days — it appears 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 33 
 
 suddenly to have struck him that the 
 habitation in which Jehovah dwelt 
 was in all respects inferior to his own : 
 “ and he said to Nathan the prophet, 
 I dwell in a house of cedars but the 
 Ark of the covenant of the Lord re- 
 maineth under curtains.” The pious 
 prophet catching the feehng of his 
 royal master, immediately responded to 
 it ; encouraged him to pursue the 
 thought, and erect a more suitable dwel- 
 ling for the Most High — “ Do all that 
 is in thine heart ; for God is with 
 thee.”"* In this however it appears he 
 spoke “ without the Lord and not 
 by the direction of his spirit : for that 
 same night he was charged by the 
 Lord with a very different message to 
 His servant David ; a message which 
 indicates a remarkable unwillingness 
 on the part of God to allow a per- 
 manent temple to he erected : not 
 simply on the ground that David was 
 
 * 1 Chron. xvii. ], 2. 
 
 B 2 
 
34 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 a man of war — and a soldier from 
 his youth, but because the Lord fore- 
 saw the fearful superstitions wliich 
 would take their rise from this source 
 and flow down in baneful streams to 
 the end of time. ‘‘ And it came to 
 pass the same night, that the word 
 of God came to Nathan, saying, go 
 and tell David my servant, thus saith 
 the Lord, Thou shalt not build me 
 
 A HOUSE TO DWELL IN. FoR I HAVE 
 NOT DWELT IN A HOUSE SINCE THE 
 DAY THAT I BROUGHT UP ISRAEL, UNTO 
 THIS DAY ; BUT HAVE GONE FROM TENT 
 TO TENT AND FROM ONE TABERNACLE 
 TO ANOTHER. WHERESOEVER I HAVE 
 WALKED WITH ALL ISRAEL, SPAKE I A 
 WORD TO ANY OF THE JuDGES OF 
 
 Israel whom I commanded to feed 
 MY people, saying, WHY HAVE YE 
 NOT BUILT ME A HOUSE OF CEDARS 
 
 Whence it appears that the original 
 suggestion was not a matter of reve- 
 lation from God to David, but a 
 spontaneous effusion of pious desire in 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 35 
 
 David’s own soul : — a desire which he 
 was compassionately allowed to cherish 
 — which was subsequently taken un- 
 der the special guidance of God 
 himself ; who, while he would not 
 allow David to accomplish it, en- 
 couraged him and instructed him to 
 make suitable preparations, that his 
 son Solomon might complete his de- 
 sign. 
 
 Thus originated the temple of So- 
 lomon — the first permanent building 
 ever erected to the honour of the 
 true God since the creation of the 
 world! It would occupy far too much 
 space in a sketch so brief as this 
 must be, to describe its costliness and 
 its glory. Amazing wealth, the accu- 
 mulation of David’s life — the spoils 
 of a thousand battles — together with 
 the free will offerings of the people 
 — were lavished on this gorgeous edi- 
 fice. It is calculated that David’s 
 offerings amounted to eighteen millions 
 of our money, and those of the peo- 
 
36 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 pie to at least thirty millions : an 
 
 enormous sum in those days.* 
 
 But the most important circum- 
 stance in the narrative is this, viz. : 
 that as in the case of the tabernacle, 
 so of this temple, every part of it 
 WAS REVEALED BY GoD TO DaVID ! 
 “ The pattern of all he had by 
 THE Spirit “ all this, said David, 
 THE Lord made me understand in 
 
 WRITING, BY HIS HAND UPON ME, EVEN 
 ALL THE WORKS OF THIS PATTERN.”'!' 
 
 The minuteness and particularity of 
 this are most observable, and form a 
 striking contrast with the mode of 
 worship in the dispensations which 
 preceded and followed after. 
 
 After the decease of David, seven 
 years were occupied by his son Solo- 
 mon in building this famous temple : 
 — celebrated, not so much for the 
 beauty of its architecture, the rich- 
 ness of its decorations, or its won- 
 
 * See 1 Chronicles xxix. 
 
 t xxvlii. 11 j 12, 19. 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 37 
 
 derfiil extent, as for that by which 
 it was distinguished from all other 
 temples which have ever since been 
 erected — it was the visible habitation 
 of the Most High! On the day of 
 its consecration, Jehovah, as of old 
 in the desert, came down and over- 
 shadowed his resting place — ^he tilled 
 the temple with his sensible glory, 
 insomuch that the priests who minis- 
 tered could not stand in the temple 
 by reason of the glory, “ for the 
 glory of the Lord tilled the house 
 of God I ” * “ The Lord who had 
 
 said that he would dwell in thick 
 darkness” — had now displayed his ma- 
 jesty, for Solomon “had built a house 
 of habitation for him, and a place 
 for his dwelling for ever.”j* “Then 
 the tire descended from Heaven and 
 consumed the burnt offerings and the 
 sacrifices which had been offered, and 
 the children of Israel bowed them 
 
 * 2 Chronicles v. 14. 
 
 t vi. 1, 2. 
 
38 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 selves with their faces to the ground, 
 upon the pavement, and worshipped!”'^ 
 Thus God took possession of his house 
 — this was indeed a holy place — and 
 the only one ever thus consecrated 
 to God — the habitation which he had 
 built for himself ; there he dwelt 
 shrouded in majesty, in the unap- 
 proachable holy of holies for 416 
 years, until he was expelled by the 
 long continued provocations of his 
 people. Thither all the tribes of the 
 Lord were commanded to approach ; 
 here only would He be worshipped ; 
 when absent from this temple they 
 must look towards it, and worship 
 towards it — because God was there — 
 and all the emblems of salvation 
 were there : and, as now, there is 
 
 but one new and living way to God, 
 even by Christ Jesus, so then there 
 was access to Jehovah only by means 
 of those rites and ordinances which 
 
 * 2 Chronicles vii. 1—3, 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 39 
 
 typified him. It were impossible to 
 estimate too highly the sanctity of 
 that house, and of all its solemnities, 
 
 AS THEY THEN EXISTED ! the religion 
 of ceremony had reached its zenith, 
 and temple worship its glory ! Eccle- 
 siastical architecture, in the only style 
 ever sanctioned by God, sprung at 
 once to its perfection — it was not 
 wrought out by the slow process 
 of man’s invention, but was displayed 
 in all its proportions and beauty by the 
 hand of a people only partially civil- 
 ized ; — because they were guided by 
 Heaven itself Here, too, the religion 
 of locality and nationality was dis- 
 played: — not only the temple was holy — 
 but the very mountains of Zion, its 
 city, its land, its people were holy!” 
 “ Holiness to the Lord,” was inscribed 
 on its walls and bulwarks : — and had 
 the people continued faithful to their 
 God they had been invincible. 
 
 But we must hasten to the catas- 
 trophe — the end of this glory and 
 B 3 
 
40 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 sanctity is well known! God withdrew 
 himself from his rebellious ones — their 
 glorious temple was levelled with the 
 dust, and the people were hurried 
 into the captivity at Babylon! For 
 70 years and more, they were left 
 without altar, sacrifice, or holy place 
 — and for that period God was left 
 again without a temple dedicated to 
 his name on earth. 
 
 At the appointed time, faithful to 
 his promise, the Lord moved their 
 oppressors to restore the captives of 
 Zion, and a second temple is erected 
 — in many respects to be distinguished 
 from the first. Well might the old 
 men, who remembered the glories of 
 the former temple, weep over the 
 foundations of the latter!^ Not only 
 were many of the antient treasures 
 and mysteries wanting there — the urim 
 and thummim — the shechina — the ark 
 of Moses — and the tables of the law — 
 
 * Ezra iii. 12, 13. 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 41 
 
 but far more than these was wanting 
 — God Himself was not there! He 
 never dwelt but in one temple — ^his 
 holy fire never descended but on one 
 altar — the first house he filled with 
 his glory — ^but into this second house 
 he never entered ! Although this house 
 was never voluntarily polluted by ido- 
 latry — although the temple services 
 were maintained with a strictness un- 
 known before the Babylonish captivity, 
 even to the time of our Lord, yet 
 would not Jehovah return to the place 
 which he had forsaken until a new 
 era should come in, and he would 
 visit it in a manner unknown before. 
 
 We cannot mark too strongly this 
 singular distinction between the first 
 and second temple ; because upon this 
 depends the fulfilment of a remarkable 
 prophecy the accomplishment of which 
 appears to introduce a new and totally 
 dissimilar era in the history of temple 
 worship. We have seen how far in- 
 ferior in every respect the second tern- 
 
42 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 j)le was to that of Solomon ; not merely 
 in its extent, costliness, or decorations 
 - — nor simply in its deficiency in typical 
 emblems, but chiefly in this — that God 
 the Lord never entered it — never dwelt 
 in it. 
 
 Yet it was predicted by the Prophet 
 Haggai “ that the glory of this latter 
 house should be greater than of the 
 former — and in this place will I give 
 peace saith the Lord of Hosts. 
 Ltterly impossible is it for the Jew to 
 show by any reasonable explanation 
 any one point in which this prophecy 
 was fulfilled ! In every respect, upon 
 his hypothesis, the second temple was 
 inferior to the first — obviously and pur- 
 posely in the Divine Counsels — yet the 
 believers in the Lord Jesus Christ can 
 show in what the glory of this temple 
 far exceeded that of Solomon’s. And 
 in studying the accomplishment of this 
 prediction new light will break upon 
 
 Haggai ii. 9. 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 43 
 
 US relative to the special enquiry we 
 are now pursuing. 
 
 We must carry on our minds to 
 one of those interesting scenes which 
 began to attract the attention of the 
 Jewish E-ulers, and to excite alike their 
 surprize and enmity. Behold amidst 
 the courts of the second temple, a 
 simple teacher stands ; day after day 
 he is there accompanied by a few ob- 
 scure persons, his disciples; and the 
 throng of those who for various pur- 
 poses frequented the precincts of the 
 temple gather around him, attracted 
 by the eloquence of Him who spake 
 as never man spake ! Various are the 
 rumours respecting his person and his 
 office ; some think him “ a good man,” 
 others a deceiver — some said he was 
 “that Prophet,” others that he was 
 the very Messiah whom they expected. 
 But while they reasoned about him he 
 exclaimed — “ I say unto you that in 
 
 THIS PLACE IS ONE GREATER THAN THE 
 
44 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 TEMPLE ^ The son of man” — ‘‘ who 
 was the Lord also of the Sabbath 
 Day !” Who but the Lord of the 
 temple could be greater than the tem- 
 ple — the God who was worshipped 
 there ? Now was fulfilled the word of 
 the Lord by the prophet Malachi*!* 
 “ the Lord whom ye seek shall sud- 
 denly come to HIS temple — now was 
 the second temple honoured above the 
 first ; because not only was Jehovah 
 there as of old — hut Jehovah manifest: 
 — in the old temple he was not seen — 
 nor could He be — “ for no man hath 
 seen God at any time” — ^but now he 
 visits his temple as ‘‘ God manifest in 
 the flesh” — incarnate Deity is here — 
 “ Immanuel” — Jehovah-Jesus ! ‘‘ The 
 
 great mystery of Godliness” is unfolded, 
 and those who had eyes to see, beheld 
 Him who “ was the brightness of his 
 Father’s Glory and the express image 
 of his person.” f He appeared indeed 
 
 * Matthew xn. Q — 8. f Malachi in. \. + Hebrews i, 8. 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 45 
 
 in weakness, and humiliation — suited 
 to the character of the times, and the 
 close of a dispensation which was 
 passing away ; the glory of the second 
 temple was not of an earthly, sensible, 
 visible character — it was of a spiritual 
 and mystical nature : and so was this 
 display of Deity in it; its true glory, 
 God, was there — but not in pomp and 
 circumstance as of old — not in cloud, 
 and majesty — but veiled in human 
 flesh — there he stood Incarnate Deity 
 
 “ IN HIM DWELT ALL THE FULNESS 
 
 OF THE Godhead bodily” — or in a 
 bodily form;* in a human body. 
 
 Observe the transition ! God’s 
 actual presence has passed from a 
 dwelling of curtains, or of stone, into 
 a FLESHLY, LIVING BODY I he nevei* 
 entered before (as has been shewn) 
 into this second temple: in one only 
 temple of stone did he dwell; that 
 was hitherto his only material habita- 
 
 * Colossians ii. 9. 
 
46 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 tion: and now an organic change is 
 about to pass over temple worship — 
 a new temple is built for God’s holi- 
 ness, where it pleaseth him to dwell 
 — a temple not made with hands — 
 the temple of Christ’s body ! — “ a 
 
 BODY HAST THOU PREPARED Me!”"^ 
 
 Therefore it was that Jesus said again 
 to the Jews, when they sought of 
 him a sign — Destroy this temple 
 
 AND IN THREE DAYS I WILL RAISE IT 
 
 UP ! ” Howheit,” saith the Evan- 
 gelist, “ he spake of the temple of 
 His body!” 
 
 Sufficient importance has seldom 
 been attached to these remarkable 
 facts: — nor has the temple of Christ’s 
 holy body been adequately honoured! 
 Yet was that a vessel which con- 
 tained the Deity — and within its com- 
 pass was comprised all that had been 
 feebly typified by the elaborate cere- 
 monial of both temples ! Here was 
 
 * Hebrews x. 5. 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 47 
 
 the holy of holies — here the veil of 
 his flesh — here the true altar, sacri- 
 flce, high-priest, propitiatory, interces- 
 sion — all, all in one perfect Christ — 
 henceforth the true and only temple 
 of the Godhead, in which all type 
 and prophecy was accomplished and 
 fulfilled. But we must not stop to 
 speak of these things more particularly, 
 lest we lose the thread of our argu- 
 ment of facts which is fast leading 
 us to the introduction of the Chris- 
 tian dispensation. Behold they obey 
 His command — “they destroy this tem- 
 ple” — and behold he fulfils his pro- 
 mise — “ on the third day it is raised 
 up again” and rebuilt. As of the 
 two stone temples, so of the first 
 and second temples of Christ’s holy 
 body — the glory of the second, his 
 resurrection body, surpassed the glory 
 of the first, which was formed in 
 the womb of his virgin mother by 
 the overshadowing influence of the 
 Holy Ghost. Tarrying for a little 
 
48 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 season longer on earth, the day on 
 which the glory of this true temple 
 should be fulfilled at length arrived ; 
 and in the sight of many witnesses, 
 this divine temple was raised up on 
 high, and received up into Heaven — 
 to be adored and worshipped by angels 
 and archangels, and the spirits of 
 just men made perfect — who shall 
 behold that Temple for ever and 
 ever ! 
 
 And when the glorious living tem- 
 ple of Christ’s body was elevated from 
 earth to heaven, did the Lord leave 
 himself without some fitting habitation 
 here below '? Assuredly not ! Where 
 then did he seek a dwelling place for 
 himself? Certainly not within the now 
 desecrated walls of the temple of 
 Jerusalem, which as yet was stand- 
 ing: — certainly not in any building of 
 curtains or of stone — no more— never 
 more has he dwelt, or will he dwell 
 on this earth in any inanimate house 
 of wood or stone or earthly materials. 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 49 
 
 Having rejected Zion’s Temple, he 
 will neither build nor inhabit any 
 other. The Temple Dispensation has 
 PASSED AWAY ! The religion of cere- 
 mony and locality has come to an 
 end — a total change has passed over 
 the dispensation of God’s revelation: — 
 yet he has a temple and a habitation 
 among the children of men, which is 
 fully and accurately described in the 
 Christian records : — that Temple is 
 
 THE LIVING BODIES AND SOULS OF HIS 
 REDEEMED AND SANCTIFIED PEOPLE I HiS 
 
 Church ! The only Church of the 
 New Testament ! He is even now 
 preparing for himself this building, 
 more glorious than that of Solomon — 
 whose stones are more precious than 
 agates and pearls, and its decorations 
 more florid than human hands can 
 furnish! Of the foundation stone of 
 this great Christian Temple he had 
 spoken long before, — “ Behold, I lay 
 in Zion for a foundation — a stone — 
 a tried stone — a precious corner stone 
 
50 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 — a sure foundation; he that believeth 
 shall not make haste.” St. Peter 
 was inspired to expound this prophecy, 
 and apply it to the Lord Jesus 
 Christ “ Wherefore it is contained 
 in the scripture, behold I lay in Sion 
 a chief corner-stone, elect, precious : 
 and he that believeth on him shall 
 not be confounded. Unto you there- 
 fore that believe He is precious. ’’f 
 To lay this foundation well — to bid 
 all men see that on this stone alone — 
 (though it be a stone of stumbhng 
 to many, and a rock of offence) the 
 whole Church of the living God 
 must be based, was and is the great 
 office of the Christian ministry: hence 
 St. Paul, as “‘a wise master builder,” 
 declares — “ other foundation can no 
 man lay than that is laid, which is 
 Jesus Christ.” J This is “ the rock 
 of our salvation,” on which all are 
 
 ♦ Imiah xxviii. 16. t 1 Peter ii. 6, 7. 
 
 J 1 Corinthians iii. 11. 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 51 
 
 biiilded — “ the rock of ages.” And 
 because they are careful to make this 
 plain, and because they will build on 
 no other foundation stone than this 
 — therefore it is that in an inferior 
 sense “ prophets and apostles” are 
 themselves called “a foundation” — 
 and then “ Jesus Christ himself is 
 the chief corner-stone.”^ 
 
 And of what material is the su- 
 perstructure of this Christian temple 1 
 No other than hving souls! Indivi- 
 dual believers. They were described 
 well by Isaiah the prophet as by 
 nature rough, unhewn, misshapen 
 stones in a quarry — or as clay and 
 mire in a pit — and to humble them 
 in their after state he bids them 
 “ look to the rock whence they were 
 hewn, and to the hole of the pit 
 whence they were digged.”*]- Using 
 exactly the same figure, St. Paul says 
 to the behevers at Corinth, “Ye are 
 
 Ephesians ii. 20. 
 
 t Isaiah li. 1. 
 
52 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 God’s building” — and he was “a work- 
 man who needed not to be ashamed” 
 — and by such means God formed, 
 and fashioned, and polished, and de- 
 corated these rough stones until they 
 became polished corners of this spi- 
 ritual temple. Long and painful may 
 be the process by which a misshapen 
 lump of stone becomes a fair pro- 
 portioned pillar, or rich architrave, 
 or lovely model of the human frame : 
 — but by the skill, and wisdom, and 
 patience, and love of him who se- 
 lected the stone from the quarry, and 
 moulded the clay into a symmetrical 
 form, it is at last complete, and be- 
 comes a “ hving stone” in this great 
 living temple ! Here, indeed, is di- 
 vine architecture — here are beauty of 
 design, and perfection of execution, 
 “ In Christ all the building, fitly 
 framed together, groweth unto a holy 
 TEMPLE IN THE LoRD I ill whom ye 
 also are budded together for an ha- 
 bitation of God, through the Spirit!” 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 53 
 
 Yes, marvellous as this mysterious 
 and divine and holy building is — 
 each individual believer, perfectly in 
 himself, is the temple of God — and 
 all believers congregated together form 
 one great, glorious, new-covenant tem- 
 ple — inhabited by God himself — the 
 
 ONLY MATERIAL BUILDING HE RECOG- 
 NIZES UNDER THE GoSPEL DISPENSATION 
 AS ACTUALLY POSSESSED OF HIS PRE- 
 SENCE! “In whom,” that is in Christ, 
 ye also, as hvely,” or living, “ stones, 
 are built up a spiritual house, an 
 holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual 
 sacrifices, acceptable to God, by Jesus 
 Christ.”* St. Peter speaks not here 
 of evangelists, or pastors, or teachers 
 as SACRIFICING PRIESTS — but he des- 
 cribes all individual, spiritual, hehevers 
 as members of this mystical temple, 
 containing in itself, spiritually, all 
 that was typically prefigured in the 
 first temple. Holy incense ascending 
 
 * 1 Peter ii. 5. 
 
54 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 continually in the flame of divine 
 love, which glows on the altar of a 
 renewed heart, fragrant to God him- 
 self— ‘‘ a sweet smelling savour” — 
 “ know you not that ye are the 
 temple of God, and that the spirit 
 of God dwelleth in your’"^ “What? 
 know ye not that your body is the 
 temple of the Holy Ghost, which 
 is in you, which ye have of God?”-]* 
 This new-covenant temple was so- 
 lemnly consecrated on the day of 
 Pentecost. J Then were assembled “ all 
 tlie believers with one accord, in 
 ONE place” — all the living stones of 
 this spiritual temple : and then did 
 God the Holy Ghost, descend from 
 Heaven with circumstances not unlike 
 those which accompanied his conse- 
 cration of Solomon’s temple. On that 
 occasion, when the priests and the 
 people, and their glorious king were 
 
 * 1 Corinthians iii. 16. 
 
 t 1 Corinthians vi. 19. 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 55 
 
 all assembled — singing the praises of 
 God — “ the house was filled with a 
 cloud, even the house of the Lord — 
 so that the priests could not stand 
 to minister by reason of the cloud; 
 
 FOR THE GLORY OF THE LoRD HAD 
 FILLED THE HOUSE OF GoD.”* So in 
 the latter and more glorious house 
 there is ‘‘a sound from heaven as of 
 a rushing mighty wind — and it filled 
 
 ALL THE HOUSE WHERE THEY WERE SIT- 
 TING” — and tongues of fire sat on the 
 brow of the apostles — “and they were 
 
 ALL FILLED WITH THE HoLY GhOST ! ” 
 
 As the glory of God filled the old 
 temple, so the Holy Ghost filled 
 this new and better temple ! On the 
 same holy mountain — on the rock of 
 Zion — in the favoured city of Jerusa- 
 lem — stripped indeed of all the out- 
 ward gorgeousness of that royal and 
 priestly dispensation, which was pass- 
 ing away — but as far superior in 
 
 * 2 Chronicles v. 14. 
 D 
 
56 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 spiritual beauty, glory, holiness, and 
 display of salvation, as it was infe- 
 rior in earthly decorations — there was 
 the Gospel temple — the Christian 
 Church ! 
 
 As yet the second temple stood — 
 but, like the forest tree marked to 
 be felled by the woodman’s axe, the 
 sentence of destruction and desolation 
 was recorded against it ; — and amidst 
 its crumbling towers, and confused 
 ruins — this new, more lovely, more 
 enduring, more spiritual building was 
 even now rising, unperceived by those 
 Jewish builders, who had rejected the 
 only true corner-stone — but filled with 
 the personal presence of Jehovah : — 
 for as the Spirit of God departed 
 from Saul and entered into David, 
 and an evil spirit from God troubled 
 him — so into this Christian temple 
 the spirit of the Lord had entered — 
 and an evil spirit from the Lord 
 had taken possession of that once 
 holy, now desecrated temple of Jeru- 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 57 
 
 Salem — ^her priests, her altars, and 
 her sacrifices : — so that “ they who 
 offered them were as though they 
 slew a man — ^he that sacrificed a lamb, 
 as if he cut off a dog’s neck — he 
 that offered an oblation, as he that 
 offered swine’s blood according as 
 it was foretold by the prophet. 
 
 These infatuated men clung to 
 their forms, while the glory and power 
 of them were departed : “ Ichabod ” — 
 “ Ichabod” — had mournfully sounded 
 through the courts of the once ho- 
 noured temple of the Lord ! In vain 
 do its priestly builders strive to 
 avert the progress of the new and 
 spiritual temple, which soon became 
 too obvious around them on every 
 side. Their rage and their fury are 
 impotent — their ranks are daily thin- 
 ned by conversion — and the residue, 
 a wretched remnant, perish amidst 
 the unparalleled destruction in which 
 
 * Isaiah Ixvi. 3. 
 
 D 2 
 
58 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 their temple and their city were alike 
 involved ! 
 
 But that new covenant temple — 
 see how its long aisles stretch ont 
 in rich perspective !— see how lovely 
 its decorations— its fretted roof, its 
 “ polished corners,” its exquisitely 
 finished pillars ! Every grace and 
 virtue, the gift of God, is here 
 lavished : — its “ living stones” deco- 
 rated with patience — love — ^holiness — 
 faith — zeal ; its martyrs shine con- 
 spicuous, as if overlaid with gold 
 and precious stones ; while they en- 
 dure all things, and count not their 
 lives dear that they may glorify 
 their God ! What was Solomon’s 
 temple in all its glory when com- 
 pared with this living temple ? How 
 wonderful this work of God — how 
 splendid this display of his grace ! 
 Every stone in this temple, however 
 beautifully chiselled — ^how fair soever 
 its proportions — was once a rough 
 unhewn misshapen block, deeply em- 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 59 
 
 bedded in the rock of sin — or as 
 slimy clay in the pit of human 
 corruption ! How humbling, how 
 worthless its origin ! How sovereign 
 the grace, how amazing the skill, 
 the wisdom and the love, which by 
 means varied and diversified, has 
 changed this shapeless mass into a 
 habitation of God, through the Spirit! 
 Speak not of the curious or costly 
 inventions of man — or the edifices 
 which he has raised, or can raise — 
 
 “ this is the Lord’s house, wherein 
 it pleaseth him to dwell” — the living 
 bodies and souls of his people sanc- 
 tified and set apart to his honour 
 and glory ! 
 
 This living spiritual building we 
 
 AFFIRM TO BE THE ONLY ONE OF 
 WHICH MENTION IS MADE IN THE 
 
 New Testament. The locality of 
 temple worship appears to have passed j 
 away with the Mosaic dispensation 
 — again God dwells in the moveable 
 tabernacle of his people’s bodies, and 
 
60 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 the only Church he recognizes is the 
 congregation of the faithful, the as- 
 semblies of the saints. 
 
 It may here however be objected, 
 that while it is clear that the beau- 
 tiful figure of a spiritual temple, as 
 illustrative of the Christian Church, 
 may be drawn from the apostolic writ- 
 ings, and may be further illustrated 
 from the allusions of the prophets, 
 yet that it does not follow that this 
 was to be the only temple under the 
 Christian dispensation. This objection 
 would have great force if the archi- 
 tectural phraseology were of only 
 occasional occurrence in the New 
 Testament — or if it were ever applied 
 to a material building. So far from 
 this, however, allusions to the various 
 parts of the temple, and its services, 
 are of constant recurrence in the 
 writings of the apostles, and without 
 one single exception, are always used 
 in a spiritual sense, and applied 
 either to Christ himself, or to his 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 61 
 
 people, whether as worshipping here 
 on earth or finally in glory ! The 
 whole argument of the Epistle to 
 the Hebrews turns upon this point : 
 not merely the abolition of the Mo- 
 saic ceremonial and temple worship, 
 but its accomplishment and perfection 
 in the spiritual services of the Chris- 
 tian Church : not by the substitution 
 of another elaborate * ceremonial in 
 the place of that which was done 
 away, but in the graces of Christian 
 worshippers. The terms connected 
 with temple architecture abound in 
 the apostolic writings — as taberna- 
 cle * HABITATION *]' HOUSE J ALTAR § 
 
 * 2 Corinthians v. I, 4. — “The tabernacle of our 
 body;” and 2 Peter i. 13, 14. Hebrews viii. 2. — “The 
 church is the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, 
 and not man;” and ix. 11. 
 
 t Ephesians ii. 22. — “ Habitation of God through the 
 Spirit.” 
 
 i Hebrews iii. 6. — “Whose house are we.” 1 Timothy 
 iii. 15. — “ The house of God, which is the church of 
 the living God!” Hebreivs x. 21; 1 Peter iv. 17. — 
 “ Judgment must begin at the house of God.” 
 
 ^ Hebrews xiii. 10. 
 
62 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 SACRIFICE * — DWELLING PLACE f SANC- 
 TUARY J — TEMPLE, &c. — but in no 
 single instance are they applied to any 
 thing but to the bodies and souls 
 either of Christ or of his people : 
 to the spiritual Church, its head or 
 its members- 
 
 The practice of our Lord and his 
 apostles evidently confirms this view. 
 It would seem that while as the 
 Messiah of the Jews He fulfilled all 
 righteousness, by adhering to the 
 temple ordinances, which still ex- 
 isted, He was careful at the same 
 time to separate as much as possible 
 every service and ordinance con- 
 nected with the Christian religion 
 from the ceremonies and service of 
 the temple. He indicated by his 
 words and deeds that the religion 
 
 * Romans xii. 1. — “Your bodies a living sacrifice.” 
 
 t 1 John iv. 12 — 16. — “ Dwelleth in God, and God 
 in him.” 2 Timothy i. 14. — “The Holy Ghost dwelleth 
 in us.” 1 Corinthians iii. 16. John vi. 56; xiv. 17, &c. 
 
 X Hebrews viii. 2. — “True sanctuary.” 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 63 
 
 of SACRED PLACES WRS passing away: 
 that the time was at hand when 
 worship in the despised mountains 
 of Samaria, would he as acceptable 
 as on Mount Zion— “ so that men 
 worshipped the Father in spirit and 
 in truth. In accordance with this 
 design, while he frequented the tem- 
 ple and taught there — he retired 
 to the mountains for prayer, and to 
 the Garden of Gethsemane, with his 
 disciples, for social communion with 
 God. He preached and prayed in 
 all places, and under all available 
 circumstances. And when he would 
 institute the holy sacrament of his 
 body and blood he did it not in 
 the temple, but in a private house, 
 in an upper chamber, in an obscure 
 street in Jerusalem. 
 
 When he met his disciples after 
 his resurrection, on the first day of 
 the week, and taught and blessed 
 
 * John iv. 20 — 26. 
 
 d3 
 
64 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 them — and worshipped with them — 
 it was again in an upper chamber : 
 — and when he descended in the 
 power of the Spirit into his new- 
 covenant-temple, on the day of Pen- 
 tecost, it is said that they were 
 all with one accord in one place — 
 and that that place was not the 
 temple, must he evident from the 
 circumstances of the times. Subse- 
 quently, the disciples preached the 
 Gospel every where — in the temple — 
 in the market place — in private houses 
 — or wherever two or three were 
 met together. But it is expressly 
 said, that “while they continued daily 
 with one accord in the temple” — 
 they did not “break bread” there — 
 but “from house to house their com- 
 munion, or their sacramental supper, 
 was in private houses. 
 
 It is true that the circumstances 
 of the primitive Christians would al- 
 
 * Acts ii. 46. 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 65 
 
 most prevent the possibility of the 
 erection of churches for some years 
 after the first promulgation of the gos- 
 pel. But when we consider that the 
 sacred canon comes down to a period 
 little short of one hundred years after 
 Christ, it is at least a remarkable 
 fact that no allusion is made through- 
 out the New Testament to any build- 
 ing SET APART FOR DIVINE WORSHIP. 
 
 The passage in 1 Corinthians, xi. 22 
 may prove that the early Christians 
 did on some occasions meet together 
 in a place distinct from their private 
 houses, for the reception of the Lord’s 
 supper — but to suppose that the ex- 
 pression — “ THE Church of God ” — 
 means the building wherein they were 
 assembled, is not only contrary to the 
 whole context, but is opposed to the 
 generally admitted fact that the Greek 
 word there used was not applied to 
 an EDIFICE, or building, among Chris- 
 tians until more than a century after 
 the Apostle wrote ! And that the 
 
66 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 holy communion was still administered, 
 and the Gospel preached, in private 
 houses, in other parts of the world, 
 we know from the circumstance re- 
 corded to have taken place at Troas, 
 where “On the first day of the week,” 
 the Christian sabbath, “ the disciples 
 came together to break bread, and 
 Paul preached unto them “ and there 
 were many lights in the Upper 
 Chamber where they were gathered 
 together ! ” * 
 
 Indeed it would tax the ingenuity 
 of the most ardent worshipper of pri- 
 mitive Christian architecture to disco- 
 ver one line in the New Testament 
 to prove that separate, much less con- 
 secrated buildings were set apart, or 
 intended to be set apart, during the 
 hves of the holy apostles, for Chris- 
 tian worship. Such a custom, how- 
 ever becoming and needful in the 
 subsequent ages of the Church, can- 
 
 * Acts , XX. 1 , 8. 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 67 
 
 not therefore claim to be primitive, 
 APOSTOLICAL, or SCRIPTURAL. As far as 
 
 the inspired writings of the New Tes- 
 tament are concerned, we therefore 
 re-affirm — that they recognize no tem- 
 ple but the spiritual one which we 
 have attempted to describe — and that 
 upon the subject of Christian Church 
 Architecture they observe a remark- 
 able and studied silence. 
 
 And thus ends our brief notice 
 of Church Architecture, scripturally 
 considered, from the beginning : — but 
 even this rapid survey is calculated to 
 impress upon our minds the wisdom of 
 God in adjusting the character of his 
 worship under succeeding dispensations 
 to the genius of the dispensation to 
 which it belonged. There was the 
 simple and even rude altar of the 
 patriarchs, suited to the simple age 
 in which they lived: — then the ela- 
 borate ceremonial of the Levitical law, 
 adapted to a dispensation of type and 
 emblem, destined to be abolished 
 
68 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 when a more perfect revelation should 
 be made : — and then the Christian 
 worship — how few its ordinances, how 
 simple its services ! The Sabbath day, 
 the two holy sacraments, and the 
 institution of an order of men ex- 
 pressly dedicated to the spiritual 
 services of the Church — these com- 
 prised all the positive enactments of 
 this new code — but as to the kind of 
 buildings in which they were to 
 assemble and worship, their Great 
 Master and his immediate followers 
 w^ere silent. But this general prin- 
 ciple is deducible from the whole 
 analogy of God’s dealings with His 
 people : viz. that the Churches in 
 
 WHICH Christians worship should, 
 
 AS TO EXTERNAL DECORATIONS, HAR- 
 MONIZE WITH THE GENIUS OF THE 
 
 Christian dispensation. 
 
 Here then we might at once turn 
 to the modern attempts to revive the 
 decorative style of Church Archi- 
 tecture; and testing it by the general 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 69 
 
 principles now established, and by 
 the practice of the apostles and their 
 converts in the first century, we 
 might at once decide the question, — 
 whether it is consistent with the 
 simplicity and spirituality of Christian 
 worship to lavish vast sums of money 
 on the decoration of the outward 
 structure and the mere ceremonies of 
 worship] But inasmuch as the present 
 disposition extravagantly to adorn our 
 Churches is not an invention but an 
 IMITATION — and as the perfection of 
 modern efibrt consists in copying that 
 which is considered antiquity — it will be 
 more satisfactory to glance at the rise 
 and progress of that style of Archi- 
 tecture which is to be restored ; and 
 if we should trace its source to some 
 of the most benighted and corrupt 
 periods of the Church, and find it 
 identified with, and contributing to- 
 wards, the superstitions which were 
 then prevalent, our fears will at once 
 be awakened, and a holy jealousy will 
 
70 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 be excited in our minds, lest with the 
 restoration of the varied emblems of 
 superstition and idolatry — the corrup- 
 tions with which they were allied 
 should gradually be introduced along 
 with them. 
 
 Ascending, then, to the earliest 
 days of the Christian Church, of 
 which there are but scanty records 
 in uninspired history, we find a sin- 
 gular conformity with all we have 
 traced in the canon of scripture. It 
 is a disputed point whether any 
 churches, or distmct places of wor- 
 ship, existed at all during the second 
 CENTURY. Friends and foes admitted 
 in these early days that “ the Chris- 
 tians had neither altars, nor temples, 
 nor IMAGES ; but affirmed that God 
 could be worshipped in every place, 
 and that his best temple upon earth 
 is the heart of man.” Lardner says, 
 (vol. ii. p. 212) “Moreover it is now 
 generally allowed that in the first and 
 second centuries, Christians had not 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 71 
 
 any regular or spacious buildings to 
 meet in.” And again, (vol. IV. p. 526) 
 “ It may be suspected that the early 
 Christian Churches were only private 
 houses, or buildings very like them, 
 consisting of several rooms, separated 
 from each other by walls and par- 
 titions.” The earliest authorities given 
 upon this point occur at the com- 
 mencement of the THIRD CENTURY ! 
 when it appears, that places of Chris- 
 tian worship began to be erected and 
 to be multiplied. But it is most im- 
 portant to observe that, until the 
 close of this century, none of those pe- 
 cuharities of construction were known, 
 which are now considered antient, 
 PRIMITIVE, and almost necessary to the 
 very character of any building to be 
 termed a church. 
 
 As yet churches were not built 
 
 in THE FORM OF A CROSS — the dis- 
 tinctions of CHANCEL and NAVE- — and 
 the separation and portioning off one 
 part of the congregation from another 
 
72 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 — ^were unknown ! The original and 
 most antient form was oblong — and 
 is said to have been intended to 
 imitate a ship — alluding at once to 
 the Ark of Noah — and to the tem- 
 pest-tossed character of the people of 
 God A Hence the subsequent term 
 NAVE — from A ship — not from 
 
 i/ao9, A TEMPLE. The latter term was 
 rejected with indignation by the early 
 Christians, as well as its kindred 
 word f^uo/uio^, ALTAR — as savouring either 
 of Judaism, or of heathenism. Well 
 would it have been for the Church 
 if the same jealousy had been con- 
 tinued in succeeding ages ; and well 
 were it for us, if the same spirit 
 could be awakened now ! Until the 
 Fourth Century there is no trace 
 of the CONSECRATION of chuTchesj’ — 
 and the extravagant notions about 
 holy places had not yet become pre- 
 
 * So Tertullian, de bapt, and De Pudicit. 
 t See Dr. Hook’s Church Dictionary — \xnAev consecration: 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 73 
 
 valent. Neither is there any notice of 
 the ASPECT of churches — the virtue 
 attached to building them due east 
 and west — had not yet been dis- 
 covered ; nor yet the superstitious 
 and unfounded notion that one part 
 is more holy than another. In fact 
 it may safely be athrmed that not 
 one of the peculiarities of the churches 
 of the subsequent ages had been in- 
 troduced at the close of the third 
 century — and therefore it follows that 
 the whole system of structure and 
 internal arrangement now so strenu- 
 ously advocated, and which so many 
 persons are devoting themselves to 
 introduce, are copies of a later and 
 more corrupt age, and are neither 
 
 PRIMITIVE, APOSTOLIC, nOT SCRIPTURAL! 
 
 With the opening of the fourth 
 century a change, at first gradual, 
 but subsequently rapid and widely 
 diffused, took place in regard to 
 Church Architecture. Then it was that 
 the opinion became prevalent that 
 
74 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 church.es should he divided into three 
 parts, distinguishing the clergy, the 
 FAITHFUL, and the catechumens a 
 servile imitation of the division of 
 the Jewish temple — the holy of holies 
 — the sanctuary — and the court ! It 
 would far exceed the limits of this 
 Essay to follow the infinity of details 
 of structure which followed from this 
 commencement. But it would be 
 easy to trace to this one false step 
 all the divisions, and subdivisions, 
 the chapels, sanctuaries, shrines, and 
 redundant superstitions which subse- 
 quently disfigured the buildings in 
 which professed Christians worshipped. 
 The principle once admitted, that 
 Christian presbyters were sacrificing 
 or interceding priests — and of neces- 
 sity holier than the people to whom 
 they administered — the consequences 
 became unavoidable — and they are 
 inscribed in visible characters on 
 every antient ecclesiastical building 
 still remaining in the world. In fact 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 75 
 
 the ceremonies of Christian worship 
 in the fourth century lost alike their 
 simplicity and spirituality ; Levitical 
 and mythological observances were in- 
 terwoven with Christian services, and 
 the ecclesiastical structures were built 
 with a view to accommodate the su- 
 perstitions of the times. 
 
 Then Church Architecture arose 
 AND FLOURISHED ! Then ecclesiastical 
 buildings were multiplied, in which 
 scenes were enacted alike disgraceful 
 to Christianity, morality, and reason. 
 In fact, the huge piles which were 
 raised towards the middle and close 
 of this century might more justly 
 be considered as vast mausoleums — in 
 which truth, scripture, light, salvation, 
 and common sense were entombed 
 together — than churches of the saints, 
 in which ‘‘ the God of the spirits of 
 all flesh” was to be worshipped, 
 through the Son of his love. Super- 
 stition, and the extravagant decoration 
 of churches, progressed together — now 
 
76 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 was the age of lying wonders, false 
 miracles, holy places, altars, shrines, 
 of MONACHisM and CELIBACY — with all 
 the monstrous evils which naturally 
 followed in their train. The testimo- 
 nies of the early fathers of this age, 
 and even of preceding ages, establish 
 the existence of the evils which they 
 laboured in vain to suppress. They 
 expected “ to gather grapes of thorns, 
 and tigs of thistles” — and they won- 
 dered that they were disappointed ! 
 The holiest and best of the fathers, 
 along with much precious truth, che- 
 rished the very principles whose bane- 
 ful, though legitimate, fruits they 
 sincerely lamented ! 
 
 The Church Architecture of that 
 and the following centuries evidenced 
 the spiritual state of Christendom, 
 and contributed its share towards es- 
 tablishing the almost universal reign 
 of spiritual darkness which followed. 
 The mania for extravagant decoration 
 of Christian temples, as they were 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 77 
 
 now called, reached its height, when, 
 at the opening of the sixth century, 
 Justinian I. encouraged the infatuated 
 and false devotions of the people, 
 who loaded the priests and their 
 shrines with costly decorations, which 
 they were taught to believe would 
 contribute to the salvation of their 
 souls. This emperor it was who 
 raised that vast and pompous temple, 
 the church of St. Sophia, at Constan- 
 tinople— of which its imperial architect 
 is said to have exclaimed, in the 
 pride of his heart, “ I have sur- 
 passed THEE, O Solomon!” 
 
 Spiritual pride and superstition 
 seem to have exhausted themselves 
 in this age — and whether from the 
 subsequent disturbances of Europe, or 
 firom some other cause, the mania 
 for ecclesiastical architecture, in a 
 measure, subsided after this period ; 
 until, in the tenth century, the opi- 
 nion, universally prevalent, that the 
 end of the world was approaching. 
 
78 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 prevented entirely the erection of new 
 churches, and even, in some cases, 
 suspended the repairs which were 
 necessary to maintain the existing 
 edifices. In the eleventh century 
 architectural taste revived, and the 
 art was cultivated with great assi- 
 duity until, in the thirteenth cen- 
 tury, Church Architecture reached 
 
 THE HEIGHT OF ITS PERFECTION ! 
 
 What the spiritual condition of 
 Christendom was, during this same 
 period, it were superfluous to record. 
 But whether it be coincidence or 
 causality, the fact must be admitted 
 that whenever extravagant attention 
 was paid to Church Architecture, 
 then the most debasing superstition 
 prevailed, and the most notorious cor- 
 ruptions were dominant. Superstition 
 and church decoration were coeval 
 from the beginning : departure from 
 
 simplicity in doctrine and worship, 
 was accompanied with an equal de- 
 parture from the simplicity of primi- 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 79 
 
 tive architecture : each contributed to 
 promote the other — until, in this 
 thirteenth century, spiritual darkness, 
 the most profound, dwelt and reigned 
 in the gloomy aisles of structures, 
 architecturally speaking, of surpassing 
 beauty. 
 
 The greater part of all the splen- 
 did ecclesiastical buildings, whether 
 religious houses or churches, which 
 arose after the eleventh century w^ere 
 erected by funds drawn from the re- 
 sources of the deepest superstition ! 
 The splendid cathedral of Notre Dame, 
 at Paris — St. Peter’s at Pome itself 
 — and many other churches of the 
 same date, were built with money 
 
 RAISED BY THE SALE OF INDULGENCIES ! 
 
 All the finest specimens of Gothic 
 architecture, which now form the 
 models of imitation to our modern 
 artists, are monuments of the most 
 debasing ignorance, and the most 
 notorious imposture. The pointed arch 
 — and the fretted roof— and the 
 
 E 
 
80 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 gloomy crypt — and the secret stairs 
 —and stone altars— and elevated 
 chancels, credence tables, and painted 
 windows ; the reredos, the trypticks, 
 the reliquary. See. See. are the em- 
 blems of a gloomy, false, idolatrous, 
 and persecuting worship, from which 
 we were mercifully delivered at the 
 blessed Reformation ! 
 
 Yet it is to these — and none but 
 these — that the modern students of 
 Church Architecture would bring us 
 back. There is no relic of the me- 
 diaeval, or dark ages, which is not 
 now commended — and efforts are 
 making to introduce them even into 
 our parish churches. Without loading 
 my pages with a multiplicity of evi- 
 dence to prove the lengths to which 
 this modern mania would lead us, let 
 the following suffice : — 
 
 “ The Ecclesiologist, published by 
 the Cambridge Camden Society,” (Nos. 
 xxvii. and xxviii. of November, 1843,) 
 contains enough to awaken the fears 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 81 
 
 of all who prefer simplicity of faith 
 and worship to the meretricious deco- 
 rations of the dark ages. It must 
 be remembered that this pubhcation 
 is authenticated by a powerful society, 
 at the head of which are found some 
 honoured names of distinguished per- 
 sons, who it is hoped would be far 
 from sanctioning that which is here 
 put forth to the public as authenti- 
 cated by them. 
 
 After informing his reader “ that 
 the rubricks and canons of his church 
 are apparently opposed to each other 
 — and actual usage different firom both 
 — and that the explanations of Bi- 
 shops, in THEIR visitation articles, 
 are at variance and obscure” — af- 
 fording a fair specimen of the irre- 
 verent style in which the advocates 
 of ecclesiastical antiquity speak of the 
 writings of the English church, and 
 of her venerable Bishops — the reviewer 
 proceeds to commend the work before 
 him, and to “ wish it all success, 
 E 2 
 
82 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 though only a collection of extracts;” 
 chiefly, it should seem, for the fol- 
 lowing reasons : — Because “ precedents 
 
 ARE ADDUCED FOR LIGHTED TAPERS, 
 THE CONSECRATION OF ALTAR-PLATE, IN- 
 CENSE, CENSERS, CRUCIFIXES, HANGINGS, 
 STONE ALTARS, WAFER-BREAD, MITRES, 
 PASTORAL STAVES, PROCESSIONAL CROSSES, 
 RECONCILIATION OF CHURCHES, FRANK- 
 INCENSE, BOATS, TRICANALIA (fOR THE 
 WATER OF mixture), &C. ThE EXTENT 
 TO WHICH THESE PRECEDENTS OUGHT 
 TO INFLUENCE CHURCH RESTORERS IN 
 THE PRESENT DAY, IS A FURTHER 
 
 question!!”- — (Ecclesiologist, p. 50.) 
 The animus of the reviewer, and of 
 the society which he represents, can- 
 not be mistaken ; although he may 
 think that the time is not come “for 
 the restoration of those vestments 
 and ornaments to which the English 
 Church is entitled.” — (p. 51.) Hoav 
 
 much he longs for that day is evi- 
 dent from the delight he displays at 
 the discovery and restoration of cer- 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 83 
 
 tain Popish antiquities in various 
 churches. 
 
 “ Some new poppy heads of cre- 
 ditable design” are found in one 
 church : in another, “ the walls of 
 
 the CLERESTORY havc been plastered — 
 the east window renewed — a fine per- 
 pendicular REREDOS has been brought 
 to light, consisting of a central ta- 
 bernacle — A SET-OFF FOR TAPERS — A 
 RELIQUARY on the north, and sacristy 
 DOOR on the south and, as a great 
 desideratum, “ a good many pues have 
 been cleared away.” In another “early- 
 decorated church,” the reviewer is gra- 
 tified with the discovery “of a large 
 fresco painting, representing the tor- 
 ments of the damned :” — hopes are 
 expressed that as the prejudices against 
 painted windows are passing away, 
 so “ their appropriate and necessary 
 accompaniment, painting on walls and 
 roofs, will speedily be revived.” (p. 57.) 
 In an article in the preceding number 
 various other church ornaments are 
 
84 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 recommended with an air of conscious 
 authority : especially for the eastern 
 
 wall of a parish church. For this 
 
 “ HANGINGS OF COSTLY MATERIALS AND 
 OF SUITABLE COLOUR” are proposed ! — 
 We might imagine that we had re- 
 turned to the tabernacle in the wil- 
 derness ! Pictures al-fresco are next 
 commended as “ altar-pieces” — “ and 
 where there is no other reredo s, and 
 where the church has an oil painting, 
 we wish STRONGLY TO RECOMMEND THE 
 RE-INTRODUCTION OF TRIPTYCHS. A TRIP- 
 TYCH WILL ALWAYS GIVE A FITTING 
 DIGNITY TO AN ALTAR !” (p. 34.) Eco- 
 nomy will support this view : “Far 
 
 less money than is expended on many 
 showy skreens would procure a good 
 DEVOUT PICTURE ! the leaves of the trip- 
 tych, in ordinary cases, being simply 
 DIAPERED. A demand for ecclesias- 
 tical PAINTING would soon command 
 
 a supply,” “ and what should 
 
 hinder that foreign artists of the new 
 Catholic school should supply us with 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 85 
 
 what we wantr’ “What might 
 
 NOT BE HOPED FOR IF THE ChURCH 
 WOULD ONCE AGAIN MAKE PAINTING 
 HER HANDMAID T’ 
 
 What indeed! All that Rome her- 
 self could desire! All that could rival 
 the darkest ages, when painting, sculp- 
 ture, music, and all the arts lent 
 their aid towards bewitching the peo- 
 ple with the abominable idolatries of 
 an apostate church ! 
 
 What the martyred Bishop of 
 Gloucester would have thought of 
 such propositions for the restoration of 
 Popish emblems, we may judge from 
 the following extract from Hooper’s 
 IV. Sermon on Jonas (pp. 491 — 2) : — ^ 
 
 “ But this prayer of Jonas is so 
 acceptable, it might he thought of 
 some men that the place where Jonas 
 prayed in should have bettered it; as 
 the foolish opinion of the world is at 
 this time, that judgeth the prayer said 
 
 Parker Society’s Edition. 
 
86 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 at the high altar to be better than 
 that which is said at the quire, that 
 in the quire better than it that is 
 said in the body of the church, that 
 in the body of the church better than 
 the prayer said in the field, or in a 
 man’s chamber. But our prophet sayeth, 
 the Lord hath no respect to the place, 
 but unto the heart and faith of him 
 that prayeth ; and that appeareth ; for 
 penitent Jonas prayeth out of the 
 whale’s belly, and miserable Job upon 
 the dung-heap, Daniel in the cave of 
 the lions, Hieremy in the clay pit, 
 the thief upon the cross. Saint 
 Stephen under the stones. Wherefore 
 the grace of God is to he prayed 
 for in every place and every where, 
 as our necessity shall have need and 
 wanteth solace. Although I commend 
 the prayer made to God in the name 
 of Christ to be like in every place, 
 because that our necessity requireth 
 help in every place ; yet I do not 
 condemn the public place of prayer. 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 87 
 
 where as God’s word is preached, his 
 holy sacraments used, and common 
 prayer made to God, but allow the 
 same, and sorry it is no more frequented 
 and haunted. But this I would wish, 
 that the magistrates should put both 
 the preacher, minister, and the people 
 in one place, and shut up the par- 
 tition CALLED THE CHANCEL, THAT SE- 
 PARATETH THE CONGREGATION OF ChRIST 
 ONE FROM THE OTHER, AS THOUGH THE 
 VEIL AND PARTITION OF THE TEMPLE 
 IN THE OLD LAW YET SHOULD REMAIN 
 IN THE CHURCH ; WHERE INDEED, ALL 
 FIGURES AND TYPES ENDED IN ChRIST. 
 
 And in case this were done, it should 
 not only express the dignity and grace 
 of the New Testament,” [instead of 
 the dignity and grace of high altars] 
 “ but also cause the people the better 
 to understand the things read there 
 by the minister; and also provoke the 
 minister to a more study of the things 
 that he readeth, lest he should be 
 found by the judgment of the congre- 
 e3 
 
88 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 gation not worthy neither to read nor 
 to minister in the Church. Farther, 
 that such as would receive the holy 
 communion of the precious body and 
 blood of Christ, might both hear and 
 see plainly what is done, as it was 
 
 USED IN THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH, when 
 
 as the abomination done upon altars 
 was not known, nor the sacrifice of 
 Christ’s precious blood so conculcated 
 and trodden under foot.” 
 
 Oh, for a revival of the spirit that 
 stirred our martyred Reformers — our 
 truly Protestant Bishops and Arch- 
 bishops, who knew what Popery was — 
 and the true character of her idola- 
 trous emblems ! Let us listen to the 
 warnings of other of the defenders of 
 the reformed religion established in 
 these realms. Thus that learned scho- 
 lar, and Godly Bishop, Pilkington — 
 one of the fugitives driven from their 
 native land by the persecutions of 
 Queen Mary — but afterwards restored 
 in better times — and placed in the 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 89 
 
 see of Durham, and employed in the 
 revision of our Protestant Prayer Book; 
 — speaking of the true nature of Chris- 
 tian worship, he saith: — 
 
 “ And therefore God doth not so 
 much require of us to build him a house 
 of stone and timber ; but hath willed 
 us to pray in all places, and hath 
 taken away that Jewish and Popish 
 holiness which is thought to be more 
 in one place than another. All the 
 earth is the Lord’s, and he is present 
 in all places, hearing the petitions of 
 them which call on him in faith. 
 Therefore those bishops which think 
 with their conjured water to make 
 one place more holy than the rest, 
 are no better than Jews — deceiving 
 the people, and teaching that only to 
 be holy which they have censed, crossed, 
 oiled, and breathed upon.”"^ 
 
 And in the same spirit, further on, 
 he says : — 
 
 * “ Exposition of the prophet Aggeus.” (pp. 62, 63.) 
 — Parker Society’s Edition. 
 
90 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 “ The pope’s church hath all things 
 pleasant in it to delight the people 
 withal : as, for the eyes, their God 
 hangs in a rope, images gilded, painted, 
 carved most finely, copes, chalices, 
 crosses of gold and silver, banners, &c. 
 with rehcs and altars ; for the ears, 
 singing, ringing, and organs piping ; 
 for the nose, frankincense sweet, to 
 wash away sins (as they say); holy 
 water of their own hallowing and 
 and making ; priests an infinite sort, 
 masses, trentals, diriges, pardons, &c. 
 But where the Gospel is preached, 
 they knowing that God is not pleased 
 but only with a pure heart, they are 
 content with an honest place appointed 
 to resort together in, though it were 
 never hallowed by Bishop at all, but 
 
 HAVE ONLY A PULPIT, A PREACHER TO 
 THE PEOPLE, A DEACON FOR THE POOR, 
 A TABLE FOR THE COMMUNION, WITH 
 BARE WALLS, OR ELSE WRITTEN WITH 
 
 Scriptures, having God’s eternal 
 
 WORD SOUNDING ALWAYS AMONGST THEM 
 
ARCHITECTURE, 
 
 91 
 
 IN THEIR SIGHT AND EARS ; and last of 
 
 all, they should have good discipline, 
 correct faults, and keep good order in 
 all their meetings. But as they wept to 
 see this second house no more costly 
 nor pleasant to the eye ; so our poor 
 papists w^eep to see our Churches so 
 bare, saying they be like barns, there 
 is nothing in them to make curtsey 
 unto, neither saints nor yet their old 
 little God.” 
 
 In such strain did they write who 
 had recently smarted under the oppo- 
 site extreme of superstitious and idol- 
 atrous decorations. Theirs was not 
 the effeminate, specious charity now 
 inculcated, but the true love which 
 proclaims error in faithful language, 
 that precious souls may escape from it. 
 
 In like manner another champion 
 of the Reformation — a worthy fellow- 
 sufferer, and companion in affliction 
 with the former, when restored, and 
 enthroned successively in the Sees of 
 London, York, and Canterbury, thus 
 
92 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 “instructed the Laity;” and especially 
 the churchwardens and questmen. 
 
 “ 5 Item. — That the churchwardens 
 shall see that in their churches and 
 chapels all altars be utterly taken 
 
 DOWN AND CLEAR REMOVED eVCn Unto 
 the FOUNDATION, and the place where 
 they stood paved, and the wall where- 
 unto they joined whited over and 
 
 MADE UNIFORM WITH THE REST, SO AS 
 NO BREACH OR RUPTURE APPEAR I And 
 
 that the altar stones be broken, de- 
 faced, and bestowed to some common 
 use. And that the rood lofts be 
 taken down and altered, so that the 
 upper boards and timber thereof, both 
 behind and above where the rood lately 
 did hang, and also the seller or loft, 
 be quite taken down unto the cross- 
 beam, whereunto the partition between 
 the choir and the body of the church 
 is fastened, and that the said beam 
 have some convenient crest put upon 
 the same. And that all the boards, 
 beams, and other stuff of the rood- 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 93 
 
 LOFTS be sold by the churchwardens 
 to the use of the church, so as no 
 part thereof be kept and observed.”* 
 
 Similar injunctions were issued by 
 him to the province of Canterbury, 
 when he was preferred to Lambeth. 
 Thus did these holy Fathers of the 
 Reformed English Church pull down, 
 destroy and abolish, those emblems of 
 superstition which their unworthy de- 
 scendants are labouring to restore, 
 with a “ zeal not according to know- 
 ledge.” 
 
 And if these authorities are not 
 sufficient, let us learn wisdom from 
 the accredited Homilies of our Church. 
 We have seen how the advocates of 
 the new Catholic school would deck 
 our parish churches — ^let us now see 
 how positively our church forbids 
 
 it!t 
 
 * See Remains of Archbishop Grindall, published by 
 the Parker Society, (p. 134.) 
 
 t Homily against peril of Idolatry, and super- 
 fluous DECKING OF CHURCHES. 
 
94 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 “ Contrary to the most manifest 
 doctrine of scripture ; and contrary to 
 the usage of the primitive church, 
 which was most pure and uncor- 
 rupt ; and contrary to the sentences 
 and judgments of the most antient, 
 learned, and godly doctors of the 
 church — as hereafter shall appear — 
 the corruption of these latter days 
 hath brought into the church infinite 
 multitudes of images ; and the same, 
 
 WITH OTHER PARTS OF THE TEMPLE 
 ALSO, have decked with gold and sil- 
 ver, PAINTED WITH COLOURS, Set them 
 with stone and pearl, clothed them 
 
 WITH SILKS AND PRECIOUS VESTURES, 
 
 fancying untruly, that to be the chief 
 decking and adorning of the temple 
 or house of God, and that all people 
 should be the more moved to the due 
 reverence of the same, if all corners 
 thereof were glorious, and glistering 
 with gold and precious stones. Where- 
 as they, indeed, by the said images, 
 and SUCH glorious decking of the 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 95 
 
 TETJPLE, have nothing at all profited 
 such as were wise and of understand- 
 ing ; but have thereby greatly hurt 
 the simple and unwise,” &c. &c. 
 
 So in the third part of the same 
 homily “ the excessive painting, gilding, 
 and decking,” not only of images, “but 
 of the temples and churches, is further 
 answered and confuted.” Antiquity is 
 appealed to, and the most antient 
 fathers, against these pompous decora- 
 tions. “ In their times the world was 
 won to Christendom, not by gorgeous, 
 gilded, and painted temples of Chris- 
 tians which had scarcely houses to 
 dwell in ; but by the godly, and, as 
 it were, golden minds and firm faith 
 of such as in all adversity and perse- 
 cution professed the truth of our reli- 
 gion.” 
 
 “ Unto the time of Constantine,” 
 (confirming what has been already ad- 
 vanced in these pages,) “ by the space of 
 above 300 years after our Saviour Christ, 
 WHEN Christian religion was most 
 
96 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 PURE AND INDEED GOLDEN, Christians 
 had but low and poor conventicles, 
 and simple oratories, yea, caves under 
 the ground, called cryptse, where they 
 for fear of persecution assembled secretly 
 together.” 
 
 The Homily proceeds to notice the 
 “ abuse” of dedicating churches to 
 “ Saints,” and cites Jerome, with a 
 caution ‘‘ that he was too great a liker 
 and allower of external and outward 
 things” — yet even he says — “ Many 
 build walls, and erect pillars of churches: 
 the smooth marbles do glister, the 
 roof shineth with gold, the altar is 
 set with precious stones ; but of the 
 ministers of Christ there is no elec- 
 tion or choice. Neither let any man 
 object or allege against me the rich 
 temple that was in Jewry, the table, 
 candlesticks, incense, ships, platters, 
 cups, mortars, and other things, all of 
 gold. Then were these things allowed 
 of the Lord, when the priests offered 
 sacrifices, and the blood of beasts was 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 97 
 
 accounted the redemption of sins. — 
 Howbeit all these things went before 
 
 in figure.” “Thus you see,” saith 
 
 the Homily, “how St. Jerome teacheth 
 the sumptuousness among the Jews to 
 be a FIGURE TO signify, and not an 
 EXAMPLE TO FOLLOW.” — “ No more did 
 the old godly bishops and doctors of 
 the church allow the over sumptuous 
 furniture of temples and churches, with 
 plate, vessels of gold, silver, and pre- 
 cious vestments. St. Chrvsostom saith. 
 In the ministry of the holy sacraments 
 there is no need of golden vessels, 
 but of golden minds. St. Jerome com- 
 mendeth Exuperius, bishop of Tolose, 
 that he carried the sacrament of the 
 Lord’s body in a wicker basket, and the 
 sacrament of his blood in a glass, and 
 so cast covetousness out of the church. 
 
 Likewise were the vestures used 
 
 in the church in old time very plain 
 and single, and nothing costly.” 
 
 All “ this is noted, not against 
 churches and temples which are most 
 
98 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 necessary, and ought to have their due 
 use and honour — nor against the con- 
 venient cleanliness and ornament thereof 
 —but against the sumptuousness and 
 ABUSES of the temples and churches. 
 For it is a church and temple also that 
 glistereth with no marble, shineth with 
 no gold or silver, ghstereth with no 
 pearls nor precious stones; but with 
 PLA iNESS AND FRUGALITY, signifieth no 
 proud doctrine nor people, but humble, 
 frugal, and nothing esteeming earthly 
 and outward things, but gloriously 
 decked with inward ornaments ; ac- 
 cording as the prophet declareth say- 
 ing, “ The king’s daughter is alto- 
 
 GETHER GLORIOUS INWARDLY.” 
 
 In like manner, in the ‘‘ Sermon 
 ON Repairing Churches,” “ Solomon’s 
 temple is declared to be a figure of 
 Christ, and we know,” saith the 
 Homily, “that now, in the time of 
 the clear light of Jesus Christ, the 
 
 * Sermon against peril of Idolatry. — Part iii. 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 99 
 
 Son of God, all shadows, figures 
 
 AND SIGNIFICATIONS ARE UTTERLY GONE, 
 
 all vain and unprofitable ceremonies, 
 both Jewish and Heathenish, fully 
 ABOLISHED. And therefore our churches 
 are not set up for figures and signi- 
 fications of Messias and Christ to 
 come, but for other godly and necessary 
 
 purposes Moreover the church 
 
 or temple is counted and called holy, 
 
 YET NOT OF ITSELF, but bocaUSO God’s 
 
 people resorting thereunto are holy, and 
 exercise themselves in holy and hea- 
 venly things.” And the object for 
 which churches are built is declared 
 to be — “First, there to hear and learn 
 the blessed word and will of the ever- 
 lasting God — Secondly, that there, the 
 blessed sacraments, which our Lord 
 and Saviour Jesus Christ hath ordained 
 and appointed, should be duly, reve- 
 rently, and decently ministered — and 
 THIRDLY,” for pubhc worship. 
 
 An ORDER of intention the reverse 
 of that which some of our modern 
 
100 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 churchmen would approve of! The 
 DECORATION commciided by our Homi- 
 lies is very modest : — “ When God’s 
 house, the church, is well adorned” — 
 not with a fine reredos — and a pious 
 picture of the new Catholic school — 
 but “with places convenient to sit in, 
 with, the pulpit for the preacher, with 
 the Lord’s table” (not a high altar) 
 “ for the ministration of his holy 
 supper — with the font to christen in, 
 and also is kept clean, comely, and 
 sweetly, the people are more desirous 
 and the more comforted to resort thither, 
 and to tarry there the whole time ap- 
 pointed them.” — And in the conclusion 
 of this Sermon the people are called 
 upon to rejoice in this primitive sim- 
 plicity. 
 
 “ Wherefore, O ye good Christian 
 people, ye dearly beloved in Christ 
 Jesus, ye that glory not in worldly 
 and vain religion, in fantastical adorn- 
 ing AND DECKING, but rcjoicc in heart 
 to see the glory of God truly set forth, 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 101 
 
 and the churches restored to their an- 
 tient and godly use — render your most 
 hearty thanks to the goodness of Al- 
 mighty God, who hath in our days 
 stirred up the hearts, not only of his 
 Godly preachers and ministers, but also 
 of his faithful and most Christian ma- 
 gistrates and governors to bring such 
 Godly things to pass.” 
 
 It is feared we have rather occasion 
 earnestly to pray that it would please 
 God to awaken the minds of Godly 
 pastors and magistrates to return to 
 the simplicity and fidelity of their sainted 
 and martyred Reformers in this matter! 
 
 One more reference must be made 
 to the Homilies, throughout which au- 
 thorized lectures of our Church this 
 subject is handled in the same man- 
 ner. In the Sermon on “ the Place 
 AND Time of Prayer;” (part ii.) — 
 the Papists are said to have defiled 
 their churches “ with gross abusing 
 and filthy corrupting of the Lord’s 
 Supper, the blessed sacrament of his 
 
102 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 body and blood; with an infinite num- 
 ber of toys and trifles of their own 
 devices, to make a goodly outward 
 show, and to deface the plain, simple, 
 and sincere religion of Jesus Christ.” 
 And the popishly inclined persons are 
 reproved for forsaking the church “be- 
 cause it is altogether scoured of such 
 gay gazing sights, as their gross fantasy 
 was greatly delighted with;” so that a 
 woman is represented as saying to her 
 neighbour — “ Alas, gossip, what shall 
 we now do at church, since all the 
 saints are taken away, since all the 
 goodly sights we were wont to have 
 are gone ; since we cannot hear the 
 like piping, singing, chanting, and play- 
 ing: upon the organs that we could 
 
 bl-e?” 
 
 It is possible that in these last 
 days CHURCHES might be named where 
 tliis good man’s “ gossip” might still 
 find the delight of her heart, in al- 
 most as great perfection as before the 
 Reformation ! 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 103 
 
 But, in the close of this discourse, 
 the preacher again incites his hearers, 
 instead of lamenting the removal of 
 such Popish mimes, rather “ this ought 
 we greatly to praise for — that such 
 superstitious and idolatrous manners, as 
 were utterly naught, and defaced God’s 
 glory, are utterly abolished, as they 
 most justly deserved ; and yet those 
 things that either God was honoured 
 with, or his people edified, are de- 
 cently retained, and in our churches 
 comely practised.” 
 
 Warnings and exhortations from the 
 lips of such men as those whose writ- 
 ings have now been quoted, ought to 
 have weight on the minds and con- 
 sciences of their descendants, who enjoy 
 their Christian liberties through their 
 fidelity and courage. It is hardly pos- 
 sible to conceive any thing more opposed 
 to the modern mania for the restora- 
 tion of architectural relics than the 
 entire testimony of the Fathers of the 
 Eeformation: and surely they must be 
 
 F 
 
104 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 at least as competent judges of the 
 tendency of these antient decorations 
 of churches as we are ! He, indeed, 
 must be infatuated by a superstitious 
 love of antiquity, or must be ignorant 
 of all the natural tendencies of man 
 as illustrated in his religious history 
 from the beginning, who can persuade 
 himself that aU these relics of the 
 deepest superstition can be restored, 
 and the eyes of the people become 
 familiarized with them, without produc- 
 ing the most baneful effects upon the 
 character of the national religion. It 
 is easy to be conceived that many 
 young enthusiasts in the restoration of 
 our churches to the pattern of by-gone 
 ages, are far from intending to intro- 
 duce the superstitious usages with which 
 these things were connected. Just as 
 artists and professional persons are re- 
 ported to study paintings of a most 
 objectionable character without any cor- 
 ruption of their morals, while they for- 
 get the effect which will be produced 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 105 
 
 on ordinary minds by their exhibition : — 
 so these students of antient architec- 
 ture, disconnecting the objects of their 
 artistical admiration from the errors 
 in doctrine and discipline in which 
 they originated, do not know, or do 
 not consider, what irreparable mischief 
 they may occasion to the public mind! 
 
 Yet to the furtherance of such ob- 
 jects — the restoration of churches to 
 their original superstitious models, are 
 we now urged to contribute vast sums 
 of money, while the teeming thousands 
 of our population have neither school 
 house, nor church, nor pastor, nor 
 teacher ! At the risk of being charged 
 with acting upon “ the principle of 
 Judas Iscariot,”* it may be affirmed, 
 that under such circumstances, this is 
 money grievously wasted. At all times, 
 and under any circumstances — the re- 
 storation of such emblems of an idola- 
 
 * See Dr. Hook’s Church Dictionary — under the head 
 of Church. 
 
 F 2 
 
106 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 trous superstition ought to be opposed 
 by a Protestant clergy and laity — but 
 in the present times most especially — 
 when not only is every farthing valu- 
 able that can be raised for encreasing 
 church accommodation for the people; 
 — but when there are not wanting 
 those who are ready to avail themselves 
 of the EMBLEMS of superstition to re- 
 vive the USAGES of superstition. 
 
 Were the present disposition to la- 
 vish money on decorative church archi- 
 tecture a mere matter of taste, or of 
 cultivated pursuit, it might be less 
 rej)rehensible ; — but when this art is 
 magnified into such undue importance 
 — when it swallows up funds which 
 would avail to build many a church 
 for the poor man — and when, above 
 all, it is made subservient to the in- 
 troduction of superstitious practices — 
 surely it is time for all who love the 
 truth to rally around it, and to resist, 
 by all lawful measures, the revival of 
 antiquated heresies by means of wood 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 107 
 
 AND STONE, AND TAPESTRY, AND HANG- 
 INGS, AND PICTURES, AND IMAGES ! 
 
 It is one of our worst signs that 
 some faithful watchmen do not see 
 the danger which threatens them ; — 
 they regard these pursuits as trivial 
 and childish — as mere matters of fancy; 
 and do not perceive that it is im- 
 possible to restore the images of sins 
 without fostering the introduction of 
 the sins themselves ! They vainly 
 imagine that we may have crosses, 
 pictures, and images in our churches 
 without either worshipping them, or 
 promoting the worship of them : — 
 they may discover their error when 
 too late ! 
 
 In vain do we look for any simi- 
 larity between these popish, or me- 
 diaeval restorations, and the simple 
 unadorned worship of the times of 
 the apostles, or of the century which 
 succeeded them: — there is no authority 
 for this extravagant decoration of build- 
 ings in the New Testament — none in 
 F 3 
 
108 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 the truly primitive church — and it is 
 opposed to the spiritual character of 
 the dispensation under which we live. 
 In exact proportion as attention has 
 been paid to such things in any age 
 of Christianity — and places, vessels, and 
 ceremonies have been esteemed holy — 
 in that proportion has the church lost 
 sight of the true sanctity of the heart, 
 and renewal of the spirit by divine 
 grace. And earnestly is it hoped that 
 ere long the dangerous tendencies of 
 these pursuits will become apparent to 
 all right minded persons ; and that the 
 true Protestantism, which is the hidden 
 energy of our church, may awake 
 from her slumbers, and shaking off 
 at once the follies of her deluded 
 sons, may exhibit herself in her genuine 
 resemblance to pure, primitive, scrip- 
 tural Christianity, before it was cor- 
 rupted by the Judseo-pagan supersti- 
 tions of the fourth century, or disfigured 
 by the more modern additions of 
 Popery. 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 109 
 
 But it may be asked in conclusion 
 — would you then desecrate the houses 
 of God in the land — strip them of all 
 their ornaments — or assemble the peo- 
 ple in barns, or in the open air, to 
 worship God ? Far from it ! Although 
 it is denied, in accordance with the 
 cloud of witnesses of the Protestant 
 Beformation, that any forms of any 
 church can impart the same kind of 
 
 CONSECRATION and CHARACTER of hoH- 
 
 ness to a Christian building as that 
 which was imparted to the one only 
 temple in which Jehovah Himself 
 dwelt : — ^^vhile it is denied that the 
 consecration of churches can be argued 
 from the New Testament, or can be 
 established by reference to a dispen- 
 sation which, IN THIS RESPECT, bore 
 no analogy to that established by 
 Christ— yet would all pious Christians 
 humbly and thankfully acquiesce in 
 that ordinance of man, through the 
 church, which has set apart a house 
 in which the rites of our blessed re- 
 
110 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 ligion may be performed, the holy God 
 may be worshipped, Christ may be 
 preached, and the souls of men con- 
 verted and edified ! That such a build- 
 ing should be severed from all secular 
 uses, and devoted to holy services, is 
 accordant with all the best feelings 
 alike of the natural and spiritual man ! 
 — But that one part of that building 
 is more holy than another^ — that one 
 should be elevated above another — 
 that one should be for the priests, 
 and another for the people — one for 
 those initiated in the mysteries, and 
 another part for the uninitiated, is 
 utterly repudiated as unscriptural — 
 
 UNSANCTIONED BY PRIMITIVE USAGE 
 
 AND CALCULATED TO INTRODUCE FALSE 
 NOTIONS AND SUPERSTITIOUS PRACTICES. 
 
 And as to the decorations and or- 
 naments of churches; if any rule could 
 be laid down it would be this; — that 
 a Christian church should not only in 
 all its details harmonize with the sim- 
 ple and spiritual genius of Christianity 
 
ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 Ill 
 
 — but that there should be an adapta- 
 tion to its position in its own locality. 
 There is the same propriety attainable 
 in this — the “ quid decens, and quid 
 non” — as in the character of a Chris- 
 tian’s dress. Our garments were origi- 
 nally given us to hide our shame, 
 and we have made them the food of 
 pride, and the means of displaying our 
 conceit and foUy — so it is with our 
 churches. We have proved that they 
 are memorials of our sin and separa- 
 tion from God, while they bring us 
 near to him ; — and we by senseless, 
 extravagant decoration make them mi- 
 nister to our pride and arrogance ! — 
 But as in the one case, so in the 
 other — the perfection of a Christian’s 
 apparel is such an adaptation to his 
 situation in life, that no one should 
 remark either its affected simplicity, or 
 its studied costliness ; — so should it be 
 with church decorations. Let the modest 
 village church yet raise its humble 
 spire among the cottages by which it 
 
112 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 is surrounded — and amidst the palaces 
 of the great, let the noble church, with 
 its suitable architectural beauties, and 
 becoming ceremonial, appear worthy to 
 stand among the abodes of wealth or 
 rank, by which it is chiefly furnished 
 with guests : — ‘‘ Let all things be done 
 decently and in order !”^ 
 
 * 1 Corinthians xiv. 40. 
 
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