While you are correct I do not think you are looking at the entire issue.
One reason for the church building is to serve as a place where the church can come together to worship, to experience the presence of God in a corporate setting.
You can walk into an older, more classically designed church and "feel" the holiness. It is obviously a sacred place and instantly removes distractions and gets you focused on God. Even atheists tend to speak more reverently in those sorts of churchs
Now walk into one of the modern destroyed churches and you feel no "presence" at all. They are simply big meeting rooms.
I am Penetcostal, but I was raised Catholic. The Catholic churches inspire a reverence that I have not found in any protestant church (sadly).
The Catholic architectural reformers, in my opinion, are seeking to sever man's connection to God in any way they can. They are neither Catholic nor Christian.
Now this is not saying that the church should be spending all their funds on big buildings. But when we are building we need to remember that the building will be seen as God's house and should be fitting for that purpose.
Feeding the poor does them no good whatsoever if we leave their souls starving. We need to make it as simple as possible for them to connect with God on a personal level. Classical churches are one tool that makes that easier to do.
>> You can walk into an older, more classically designed church and “feel” the holiness. It is obviously a sacred place and instantly removes distractions and gets you focused on God. Even atheists tend to speak more reverently in those sorts of churchs [...] Now walk into one of the modern destroyed churches and you feel no “presence” at all. They are simply big meeting rooms.
The presence of God is not in architecture ... and mistaking architectural power for God’s presence is also problematic in itself. People feel architectural awe at all kinds of places that are ENTIRELY unconnected with the Almighty ... the Taj Mahal, the Kremlin, the White House. There are some fairly impressive Mosques out there. Reverence-inspiring or not, this stuff is just irrelevant.
>> The Catholic churches inspire a reverence that I have not found in any protestant church.
God Himself was born in a humble stable in Bethlehem. His presence is not connected to the beauty of the building. If people’s reverence is dependent on the look of the building, is it really God they are experiencing ... or just run-of-the-mill architectural awe?
To boil the presence of God down to the look of the building is to take away from what His presence really is. His presence is just as likely to occur in a mud hut in Africa, in my bedroom in suburban Houston, or in a run-down Methodist church in central Texas as It is in an ornate church in Europe.
SnakeDoc
You can walk into an older, more classically designed church and “feel” the holiness. It is obviously a sacred place and instantly removes distractions and gets you focused on God. Even atheists tend to speak more reverently in those sorts of churchs
“Now walk into one of the modern destroyed churches and you feel no “presence” at all. They are simply big meeting rooms.
I am Penetcostal, but I was raised Catholic. The Catholic churches inspire a reverence that I have not found in any protestant church (sadly).”
AMEN. Very well said.