Architektura w dziejach teologii

Abstract

Architecture has always been a means of expressing world viewpoints that are governing in a given society. Gothic architecture expressed man’s desire to come closer to divine infinity. Gothic cathedrals would combine two worlds separated by an infinite metaphysical distance. Baroque architecture attempted to include in the vertical scheme the whole heritage of the passing and the temporal: aspects of nature, human existence and the richness of human spirituality. All this in a temporal, diachronic aspect, an aspect subjected to constant change, an aspect full of energy, dynamics and motion. The 20th century introduced trends that attempted to unite the visible world with the divine. Matter was divine and the divinity was material. This pantheistic interpretation of nature was reflected in architecture. Will Christian architecture come to an end or will it triumph? Will architecture be a stumblingblock or a spring-board for the Christian faith? This triumph will not be achieved by looking for new arguments in the never-ending debate, but through a better understanding of Christian Revelation, which is known but superficially, both by Christians and their adversaries. That is the reason why architecture contains and expresses merely a general outline of Christian doctrine. Ideas expressed in other architectural styles also have a superficial influence.