Sunday, July 16, 2017
Discipleship and Architecture: Works in Progress
The earth was formless and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.
Parthenon, 447 B.C.
One of the only things I remember my first year studio professor saying is, “A work of Architecture is never finished.” The term “inchoate” means “just begun, and so not fully formed or developed; rudimentary.” “Tohu va vohu” is the Hebrew phrase that gets translated as “formless and void” as a way to try to grope with human language towards toward the primeval condition before which Silence and Light separate and words emerge.
I submit that these are images of the self. Like a work of Architecture that is “in process” or under construction, we are unfinished, inchoate, formless and void. We tend, however, to imagine the opposite. A facebook friend of mine – Sean Davidson - suggested that we tend to imagine that we “have arrived at the end and can see everything clearly and all at once.” He’s the one who got me thinking more about this, actually.
Aligned with that tendency of ours, John McArthur - sounding like he might have been preaching about tohu va vohu - accuses N.T. Wright of writing “a mass of confusing ambiguity, contradiction, and obfuscation” (toward the beginning of this video). Similarly, last week when Eugene Peterson made what sounded like a grand pronouncement of his affirmative stance on LGTBQ rights, the left celebrated another step in a victorious march towards equality while bookstores from the right made plans to take his books off their shelves.
Architecturally, this is to imagine that we see from the top of the Tower of Babel. In the scriptures, however, the Tower of Babel was never finished. There is no seeing from heaven. Just as I have a tendency to want to be final and secure in my judgments of John McArthur, McArthur is more certain in his judgments of N.T. Wright than is proper for the order of human knowledge.
Crystal Palace, 1851
Further, McArthur’s finely delineated pronouncements about Wright are indicative of how McArthur goes about reading and interpreting both scriptures and the world in the first place. John McArthur doesn’t love beginnings. The appearance of McArthur’s language in the world is disconnected from the tohu va vohu from which the words of his mouth emerge. McArthur doesn’t realize that the perfectly harmonious relationships achieved at the Parthenon are a sacrificial ending and thus a beginning of something new rather than an achievement of something eternally ultimate.
When the Crystal Palace was finished, it was visited by people from around the world. In the mid 19th century, such travel was a big deal. For most of the rest of the world, the Cyrstal Palace didn’t only symbolize a vast empire’s achievement of great material wealth and of a new vision for humanity centered on individual rationality. It also symbolized something final and ultimate obtained by a great power that we lack.
I submit that Eugene Peterson’s recent pronouncements became a fantastical and unobtainable display of an illusory, final, and transparent Crystal Palace - from which we get a clear view of everything all at once - that those on both sides of the argument mimetically sought in a rivalry to grasp.
Architecture, then, is formational for the self and our character. It is both indicative of and shapes our desires and urges that lie behind the scenes of action on the familial, social, and political stages. The segregation, rivalry, blame, protest, dissent, and self-righteous assertion that characterized the “lightless heat” surrounding Eugene Peterson’s interviews can be summed up in Architectural images that embody our socio-political history. In other words, the work of Architecture is interwoven with the work of discipleship.
Greek Temple at Paestum, 550 BC
So, “What would it be like to interact with each other as though we are on the way rather than at an end?,” my friend Sean asks. “I like beginnings,” Lou Kahn is well known to have written. His favorite Greek Temple wasn’t the Parthenon. Instead, it was Paestum.
Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you…” The end of the first verse of the scriptures is and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters. We learn throughout the scriptural story that, in such beginnings, the Spirit is at work sending us out as disciples is a Spirit of love.
So, part of what it means to love people, then, is to be “on the way,” to realize that we are all “in process” or “under construction.” The disciples were sent out two by two before Peter grew such cahones at Pentecost. If I imagine myself as John McArthur addressing an N.T. Wright with whom I disagree, imagining myself mirrored in the Temple at Paestum rather than in the Parthenon changes how I speak.
My tendency to close the gap between what I imagine that I can know as compared to what I actually know as a mere human is tempered in my response to those with whom I disagree on LTBQ rights if I don’t identify with the Tower of Babel or with the Crystal Palace but instead if I imagine lovingly caressing one of the concrete columns outside the dining hall of La Tourette. Eventually meeting a similar fate as the Tower of Babel, the Crystal Palace just so happened to burn down in November of 1936, anyway (four years before the start of WWII, which it portended).
Concrete Columns at La Tourette, by Le Corbusier, 1956
Perhaps, once I let go of such grand visions, I am more vulnerable and open, more sympathetic and affectionate. Maybe I am quicker to listen and slower to speak, slower to anger and richer in love. Maybe my mimetic rivalry is exchanged for “outdoing one another in showing honor” or “counting others better than myself.” Once my illusions have been consumed by fire at the altar of God, I am more capable of looking not only to my own interests but also to the interests of others, not counting equality as a thing to be grasped but taking the form of a servant.
Le Corbusier referred to poured in place concrete as “plastique.” The relevant definition of the term here is “capable of being molded or receiving form.” That sounds like a desirable trait for a disciple, right? That’s exactly what Lou Kahn saw of the Greek Temple at Paestum. Le Corbusier loved beginnings, too.
Abraham the exile is to Paestum as Solomon the imperialist is to the Crystal Palace.
To the exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappado′cia, Asia, and Bithyn′ia, chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood:
May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
Parthenon, 447 B.C.
I submit that these are images of the self. Like a work of Architecture that is “in process” or under construction, we are unfinished, inchoate, formless and void. We tend, however, to imagine the opposite. A facebook friend of mine – Sean Davidson - suggested that we tend to imagine that we “have arrived at the end and can see everything clearly and all at once.” He’s the one who got me thinking more about this, actually.
Aligned with that tendency of ours, John McArthur - sounding like he might have been preaching about tohu va vohu - accuses N.T. Wright of writing “a mass of confusing ambiguity, contradiction, and obfuscation” (toward the beginning of this video). Similarly, last week when Eugene Peterson made what sounded like a grand pronouncement of his affirmative stance on LGTBQ rights, the left celebrated another step in a victorious march towards equality while bookstores from the right made plans to take his books off their shelves.
Architecturally, this is to imagine that we see from the top of the Tower of Babel. In the scriptures, however, the Tower of Babel was never finished. There is no seeing from heaven. Just as I have a tendency to want to be final and secure in my judgments of John McArthur, McArthur is more certain in his judgments of N.T. Wright than is proper for the order of human knowledge.
Crystal Palace, 1851
Further, McArthur’s finely delineated pronouncements about Wright are indicative of how McArthur goes about reading and interpreting both scriptures and the world in the first place. John McArthur doesn’t love beginnings. The appearance of McArthur’s language in the world is disconnected from the tohu va vohu from which the words of his mouth emerge. McArthur doesn’t realize that the perfectly harmonious relationships achieved at the Parthenon are a sacrificial ending and thus a beginning of something new rather than an achievement of something eternally ultimate.
When the Crystal Palace was finished, it was visited by people from around the world. In the mid 19th century, such travel was a big deal. For most of the rest of the world, the Cyrstal Palace didn’t only symbolize a vast empire’s achievement of great material wealth and of a new vision for humanity centered on individual rationality. It also symbolized something final and ultimate obtained by a great power that we lack.
“The Crystal Palace…portended a universal surge of mimetic desire: people desiring and trying to possess the same objects. Germany, Russia and Japan set out to catch up with Britain and France in the nineteenth century’s first major outburst of appropriative mimicry. Two world wars eventually resulted…by 1945 the new nation states of Asia and Africa had already started on their own fraught journey to the Crystal Palace, riding roughshod over ethnic and religious diversity and older ways of life…The Crystal Palace now extends all over the world, encompassing the non-West and the West alike, literally in the form of the downtown areas of hundreds of cities, from radically ‘renovated’ Shanhai to the surreal follies of Dubai and Gargaon. Homo economicus, the autonomous, reasoning, rights-bearing individual, that quintessential product of industrialism and modern political philosophy, has actually realized his fantastical plans to bring all of human existence into the mesh of production and consumption…” – Pankaj Mishra, Age of Anger
I submit that Eugene Peterson’s recent pronouncements became a fantastical and unobtainable display of an illusory, final, and transparent Crystal Palace - from which we get a clear view of everything all at once - that those on both sides of the argument mimetically sought in a rivalry to grasp.
Architecture, then, is formational for the self and our character. It is both indicative of and shapes our desires and urges that lie behind the scenes of action on the familial, social, and political stages. The segregation, rivalry, blame, protest, dissent, and self-righteous assertion that characterized the “lightless heat” surrounding Eugene Peterson’s interviews can be summed up in Architectural images that embody our socio-political history. In other words, the work of Architecture is interwoven with the work of discipleship.
Greek Temple at Paestum, 550 BC
Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you…” The end of the first verse of the scriptures is and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters. We learn throughout the scriptural story that, in such beginnings, the Spirit is at work sending us out as disciples is a Spirit of love.
So, part of what it means to love people, then, is to be “on the way,” to realize that we are all “in process” or “under construction.” The disciples were sent out two by two before Peter grew such cahones at Pentecost. If I imagine myself as John McArthur addressing an N.T. Wright with whom I disagree, imagining myself mirrored in the Temple at Paestum rather than in the Parthenon changes how I speak.
My tendency to close the gap between what I imagine that I can know as compared to what I actually know as a mere human is tempered in my response to those with whom I disagree on LTBQ rights if I don’t identify with the Tower of Babel or with the Crystal Palace but instead if I imagine lovingly caressing one of the concrete columns outside the dining hall of La Tourette. Eventually meeting a similar fate as the Tower of Babel, the Crystal Palace just so happened to burn down in November of 1936, anyway (four years before the start of WWII, which it portended).
Concrete Columns at La Tourette, by Le Corbusier, 1956
Perhaps, once I let go of such grand visions, I am more vulnerable and open, more sympathetic and affectionate. Maybe I am quicker to listen and slower to speak, slower to anger and richer in love. Maybe my mimetic rivalry is exchanged for “outdoing one another in showing honor” or “counting others better than myself.” Once my illusions have been consumed by fire at the altar of God, I am more capable of looking not only to my own interests but also to the interests of others, not counting equality as a thing to be grasped but taking the form of a servant.
Le Corbusier referred to poured in place concrete as “plastique.” The relevant definition of the term here is “capable of being molded or receiving form.” That sounds like a desirable trait for a disciple, right? That’s exactly what Lou Kahn saw of the Greek Temple at Paestum. Le Corbusier loved beginnings, too.
Abraham the exile is to Paestum as Solomon the imperialist is to the Crystal Palace.
To the exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappado′cia, Asia, and Bithyn′ia, chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood:
May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
Wednesday, July 12, 2017
Discipleship and Architecture: Works of Love
In a long and ongoing conversation about "heaven" NOT being some distantly locatable place "out there" loosely corresponding to our idea of outer space, a friend semi-recently asked what I mean by "the other side of the veil"...
"Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man."
Hebrews 8:1-2
"For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf."
Hebrews 9:24
"Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us THROUGH THE CURTAIN, THAT IS, THROUGH HIS FLESH, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works..."
Hebrews 10:19-24
Two implications of those verses taken together and in context of the rest of Scripture are:
1. The heavens are and/or declare the glory, rule, and presence of God (ex Rom 1. 19-23, Acts 1. 8-11, Heb 11. 3, Ps. 19).
2. Our "good works" "re-veil," or make appear, the body of Christ, who is the visible image of the invisible God (like fruit from a vine).
This means that living in a secularist narrative, which declare the gods banished to outer space (or up to Mt. Olympus, or wherever) changes what it means to be obedient, changes the meaning of the appearance of the obedience of faith. And changes what it means to "stir one another up to love and good works."
Good works become legalism and salvation by works, because salvation is most primary associated with what's been banished from human affairs. If, however, the flesh of Christ IS the veil between heaven and earth, then "good works" are participation in God's remaking of creation. "'Surely the Lord is in this place; and I did not know it.' And [Jacob] was afraid, and said, 'How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.'"
Another way of saying this is that the Temple complex is a microcosm. Imagining ourselves moving through the Temple, then, helps us orient ourselves within the scriptural narrative. Also, though, the veil between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place helps us imagine the relationship between heaven and earth. We are priests, and heaven is just next to us, separated only by a thin veil.
This becomes important, because our predominant image of our cosmos is a photo of the globe from the moon. So, as we place ourselves in the scriptural stories in relation to God in heaven, we imagine moving not through the Temple but around on the globe in relation to a God who is outside it. The atmosphere replaces the veil as the governing image of our relationship between heaven and earth.
This becomes especially problematic as we try to live out our faith in a modern world, because it means we are really living out of a whole different narrative. What distinguishes the modern world as such, in fact, is exactly that governing image of the globe imagined from outside itself - as compared to dwelling upon the Earth, under the domus of heaven. Or, perhaps, as compared to imagining ourselves as living "in the camp" as sojourners on the way to the promised land whose firstfruits was the resurrection.
If we move around within the globe in relation to a God who is without, then we tend to imagine that God might intervene sometimes, maybe even more than we realize. Essentially, though, God lets the universe run according to the laws that He designed. If, however, we are in the Holy Place, and He is in the space just next to us with which we share breath, then Job 34: 14 enters our being intimately like the smoke from the incense in the Most Holy Place.
If he should take back his spirit to himself,
and gather to himself his breath,
all flesh would perish together,
and man would return to dust.
Job 34: 14-15
If heaven is imagined to be "up" and "out there" at a distance, then "good works" are "merely external" acts that do not bear upon the salvation that occurs "on the inside." If, however, God's very presence, the Shekhinah, is "in the building with us" or "in the midst of our camp," then "stirring up one another to love and good works" becomes the appearance of the body of Christ in the world, who is the Temple or the Tent, which is the centerpiece of the city or camp in which we dwell, live, and move.
If our image of heaven is governed by a photograph of the globe, then our image of the cosmos is governed by the scientific narrative of progress. The turning point of our history is the modern revolution of knowledge, technology, and politics. We participate in that history as our image of the world is governed by what we take to be scientifically proven as true. If, however, our image of the relationship between heaven and earth is governed by the Temple, by the Tent of Meeting, then Emmanuel, God with us, appears in our very midst as our actions in the world are governed by the other-oriented, self-sacrificial love of the cross. The turning point of history is then Golgotha, and we participate in the Truth, who is a person, with blood stained love.
P.S. For any Architects reading this, I do realize that "good works" means something particular in the language of Hebrews. A work of Architecture is and can still be, I would hope, a "good work" of self-sacrificial, other-oriented love that is an extension of the body of Christ in the world. The "good works" of Hebrews require the death of the self and a re-orienting of the cosmological order. The same could be said of architectural works of love that are juxtaposed against a different kind of work that reveals a different order.
Hebrews 8:1-2
"For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf."
Hebrews 9:24
"Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us THROUGH THE CURTAIN, THAT IS, THROUGH HIS FLESH, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works..."
Hebrews 10:19-24
1. The heavens are and/or declare the glory, rule, and presence of God (ex Rom 1. 19-23, Acts 1. 8-11, Heb 11. 3, Ps. 19).
2. Our "good works" "re-veil," or make appear, the body of Christ, who is the visible image of the invisible God (like fruit from a vine).
This means that living in a secularist narrative, which declare the gods banished to outer space (or up to Mt. Olympus, or wherever) changes what it means to be obedient, changes the meaning of the appearance of the obedience of faith. And changes what it means to "stir one another up to love and good works."
Good works become legalism and salvation by works, because salvation is most primary associated with what's been banished from human affairs. If, however, the flesh of Christ IS the veil between heaven and earth, then "good works" are participation in God's remaking of creation. "'Surely the Lord is in this place; and I did not know it.' And [Jacob] was afraid, and said, 'How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.'"
This becomes important, because our predominant image of our cosmos is a photo of the globe from the moon. So, as we place ourselves in the scriptural stories in relation to God in heaven, we imagine moving not through the Temple but around on the globe in relation to a God who is outside it. The atmosphere replaces the veil as the governing image of our relationship between heaven and earth.
This becomes especially problematic as we try to live out our faith in a modern world, because it means we are really living out of a whole different narrative. What distinguishes the modern world as such, in fact, is exactly that governing image of the globe imagined from outside itself - as compared to dwelling upon the Earth, under the domus of heaven. Or, perhaps, as compared to imagining ourselves as living "in the camp" as sojourners on the way to the promised land whose firstfruits was the resurrection.
If he should take back his spirit to himself,
and gather to himself his breath,
all flesh would perish together,
and man would return to dust.
Job 34: 14-15
If heaven is imagined to be "up" and "out there" at a distance, then "good works" are "merely external" acts that do not bear upon the salvation that occurs "on the inside." If, however, God's very presence, the Shekhinah, is "in the building with us" or "in the midst of our camp," then "stirring up one another to love and good works" becomes the appearance of the body of Christ in the world, who is the Temple or the Tent, which is the centerpiece of the city or camp in which we dwell, live, and move.
If our image of heaven is governed by a photograph of the globe, then our image of the cosmos is governed by the scientific narrative of progress. The turning point of our history is the modern revolution of knowledge, technology, and politics. We participate in that history as our image of the world is governed by what we take to be scientifically proven as true. If, however, our image of the relationship between heaven and earth is governed by the Temple, by the Tent of Meeting, then Emmanuel, God with us, appears in our very midst as our actions in the world are governed by the other-oriented, self-sacrificial love of the cross. The turning point of history is then Golgotha, and we participate in the Truth, who is a person, with blood stained love.
P.S. For any Architects reading this, I do realize that "good works" means something particular in the language of Hebrews. A work of Architecture is and can still be, I would hope, a "good work" of self-sacrificial, other-oriented love that is an extension of the body of Christ in the world. The "good works" of Hebrews require the death of the self and a re-orienting of the cosmological order. The same could be said of architectural works of love that are juxtaposed against a different kind of work that reveals a different order.
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