Cathedrals—Monuments to God or Men?

BY AWAKE! WRITER IN FRANCE

IN Moscow a resurrection of sorts has taken place. Christ the Savior Cathedral, razed by Stalin in 1931, has been rebuilt, its golden domes gleaming against the Russian sky. In the city of Évry, near Paris, workers have put the finishing touches on the only cathedral built in France during the 20th century. This comes just a few years after the consecration of the cathedral of Almudena in Madrid. Not to be outdone, New York City has the cathedral named St. John the Divine. Having been under construction for over 100 years, it has often been called St. John the Unfinished. Even so, it is one of the world’s largest cathedrals, covering over 120,000 square feet [11,000 sq m].

Throughout Christendom, huge cathedrals dominate the landscape of many cities. To believers, they are a monument to faith in God. Even nonbelievers may cherish them as works of art or as studies in architectural brilliance. Nevertheless, the existence of these elaborate and often outrageously expensive houses of worship raises serious questions: Why and how were they built? What purpose do they serve?

What Is a Cathedral?

After Christ’s death his disciples organized themselves into congregations, many of which met in private homes. (Philemon 2) For decades these congregations were cared for by spiritually “older men.” (Acts 20:17, 28; Hebrews 13:17) After the death of the apostles, however, there was a falling away from true Christianity. (Acts 20:29, 30) In time, a number of elders elevated themselves above the others and became viewed as bishops having oversight of a number of congregations—something Jesus had warned against. (Matthew 23:9-12) The word “church,” which originally applied to Christians themselves, was then also applied to their place of worship—the building itself. It wasn’t long before some bishops sought to have churches that befitted their rank. A new term was thus coined to describe the bishop’s church—the cathedral.

This term comes from the Greek word kathedra, meaning “seat.” The cathedral was thus the bishop’s throne, the symbol of his temporal power. From his cathedral the bishop presided over a jurisdiction, the bishopric.

“The Age of Cathedrals”

In 325 C.E., the Council of Nicaea formally recognized the establishment of bishops in cities. Supported now by the Roman State, the bishops frequently procured extensive gifts of land from the authorities. They also took over many pagan places of worship. When the Roman Empire foundered, the ecclesiastical structures  survived and grew to be dominant in the Middle Ages. That period soon became what French historian Georges Duby calls “the Age of Cathedrals.”

From the 7th century to the 14th century, Europe’s population tripled. This demographic upheaval primarily benefited the cities, whose prosperity increased. Consequently, the richest episcopal cities were the most favorable sites for the growth of colossal cathedrals. Why? Because these grand projects could only flourish where there was a continuous flow of money!

Another factor that fueled the building of cathedrals was the popular veneration of the Virgin Mary and religious relics. This blossomed as never before in the 11th and 12th centuries. Bishops expanded this worship, thereby increasing the popularity of their cathedrals. The title Notre-Dame (Our Lady) began to grace cathedrals in France at this time. “Which town did not dedicate a church and often its cathedral to her?” asks the Catholic encyclopedia Théo. Thus, Saint-Étienne cathedral in Paris was dedicated to Notre-Dame. Notre-Dame cathedral in Chartres, France, became one of Europe’s foremost shrines. “No single figure—not even Christ Himself—dominated the lives and thoughts of the cathedral builders as thoroughly as did the Virgin Mary,” says The Horizon Book of Great Cathedrals.

“We Shall Build a Cathedral So Great . . .”

Why, though, were many of these buildings so huge? As early as the fourth century, the cathedrals of Trier, Germany, and Geneva, Switzerland, covered immense sites, despite relatively small numbers of worshipers. In the 11th century, the population of Speyer, Germany, was unable to fill its vast cathedral. The Horizon Book of Great Cathedrals thus concludes that the “size and sumptuousness [of cathedrals] revealed a number of quite profane motivations.” Among them was “the arrogant pride of the bishop or abbot under whose patronage the edifice was to be built.”

During the 12th and 13th centuries, cathedrals measured 330 feet [100 m] on average, aiming to be as high as they were long. Winchester cathedral, in England, at 556 feet long, [169 m] and Milan’s Duomo, in Italy, at 475 feet, [145 m] are outstanding. “We shall build a cathedral so great that those who see it completed will think that we were mad,” declared a Spanish church official in Seville in 1402. In fact, the cathedral of Seville is said to be the world’s second-largest, with its lofty 174-foot-high [53 m] vault. The spire of Strasbourg cathedral in France measures 465 feet, [142 m] the equivalent of a 40-story building. In the 19th century, the tower of the Gothic Münster cathedral in Ulm, Germany, rose to 528 feet, [161 m] making it the tallest stone tower in the world. “No requirements of worship justify such excesses of gigantic proportions,” insists historian Pierre du Colombier.

During the 12th and 13th centuries, cathedral promoters tapped into yet another ‘profane motivation’—urban patriotism. Says the Encyclopædia Britannica: “Towns vied with each other to build the loftiest cathedral.” Town councillors, burghers, and guilds turned cathedrals into symbols of their city.

Costly Yesterday, Costly Today

One writer describes cathedral building projects as “bottomless financial abysses.” How, then, were these buildings—maintained even now at spiraling costs—financed in the past? In some cases prelates, such as Maurice de Sully in Paris, paid for them out of their own pockets. Sometimes political rulers, such as  King James I of Aragon, footed the bill. By and large, though, it was the revenue of the bishopric that financed the cathedrals. This money consisted of feudal taxes and income from property. In fact, the Bishop of Bologna in Italy possessed 2,000 estates! To this was added religious income from collections, indulgences, and penalties for sins. In Rouen, France, those who purchased the right to eat dairy products during Lent paid for the cathedral’s so-called Butter Tower.

Some individual donors were exceptionally generous, and they were honored by having their likenesses preserved in church stained-glass windows and sculptures. The principle of anonymous Christian giving had evidently been forgotten. (Matthew 6:2) A constant flow of cash was needed, since spending often exceeded estimates. Not surprisingly, then, the fervor to raise money often led to misappropriation and extortion. For example, the accusation of heresy often entailed the confiscation of one’s goods. This made possible the plundering of so-called heretics, such as the Cathari, and this financed several church building projects. *

Needless to say, it took constant pressure from the church to keep money flowing. It was not—as some historians have claimed—that the masses were spontaneously moved to build such edifices. Historian Henry Kraus states: “As deeply religious an era as the Middle Ages were, the construction of churches was not people’s first priority.” Many historians thus criticize the church for its extravagance. Admits The Horizon Book of Great Cathedrals: “The money expended by the church for building could have been used to feed the famished . . . or to maintain hospitals and schools. Thus, it could be said that the cathedrals cost hundreds of thousands of human lives.”

How They Were Built

Cathedrals are a testimony to human ingenuity. It is truly amazing that such immense buildings were constructed with the use of primitive technology. First, detailed plans of the building were drawn up. At the stone quarry, templates were used to ensure the uniformity of decorative features and the correct size of stone blocks. The blocks were carefully marked to indicate their exact place in the structure. Transport was extremely slow and expensive, but in spite of this, according to French historian Jean Gimpel, ‘between 1050 and 1350, France quarried more stone than ancient Egypt.’

At the construction site itself, workers accomplished great feats using the primitive lifting gear of the day—pulleys and hoists, often powered by men walking on wooden treadmills. The mathematical formulas used by engineers today were unknown back then. Builders had to rely on instinct and experience. Not surprisingly, many serious mishaps occurred. In 1284, for example, the vaults of Beauvais cathedral, in France, proved to be too large, and they collapsed. However, innovative features such as buttresses, flying buttresses, rib vaulting, and pinnacles enabled builders to reach new heights.

Construction lasted anywhere from 40 years for the fastest (Salisbury, England) to several centuries. Some, such as the cathedrals in Beauvais and Strasbourg, France, have never been finished.

“An Error of Priorities”

These ‘beautiful and thus costly structures,’ as Pope Honorius III put it, caused controversy from the start. Voices within the church were raised against the work and the phenomenal sums involved. Pierre  le Chantre, a 13th-century prelate of Notre-Dame de Paris, declared: “It is sinful to build churches as is done at present.”

Even today the cathedral at Évry, to name but one, provokes harsh criticism. As reported by the French newspaper Le Monde, many people feel that cathedrals reflect “an error in priorities” and that the churches “should invest in people and in evangelization rather than in stones and decoration.”

No doubt many who shared in the building of these vast edifices had a sincere love of God. Such ones clearly had “a zeal for God,” but it was “not according to accurate knowledge.” (Romans 10:2) Jesus Christ never suggested that his followers construct elaborate houses of worship. He urged true worshipers to “worship with spirit and truth.” (John 4:21-24) In spite of their beauty, Christendom’s mighty cathedrals stand in contradiction to this principle. They may be monuments to the men who built them, but they fail to glorify God.

[Footnote]

[Picture on page 13]

Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, Spain

[Pictures on page 15]

Top: The stained-glass rose window of Notre-Dame, Chartres, France

Above: Detail of a stonecutter, Notre-Dame, Paris

[Picture on page 15]

The 12th-century Notre-Dame cathedral, Paris

[Picture on page 15]

Interior of Notre-Dame cathedral, Amiens. It is France’s largest religious building, with vaults 141 feet [43 m] high