We spent two weeks on the Danube river recently and part of the tour was a variety of churches chapels and sanctuaries.  One of our guides a nonreligious person ” was also one of the most knowledgeable about Gothic and Baroque architecture.  In the course of looking at a number (a large number!) of cathedrals she talked about the theology and world view each represented.  I had never thought about it but it got my mind going about other things.

Briefly” Gothic architecture was built around the transcendence ” awe and majesty of God.  Everything pointed vertically and the effect was to draw the congregation’s attention to heaven and the life hereafter.  The theologians and clergy of that period of history were caught up in the splendor of heaven – partly because of the squalid and miserable conditions below.  Life was difficult and the prospect of a better life was compelling.  The church represented a “universe in miniature” that was designed to convey the distant and awesome glory of God.  “The logical and ordered nature of the structure reflected the clarity and rationality of God’s universe.”

On the other hand” the Baroque period was something of a reaction to the Gothic and as always the conditions of the world had changed.  People had lived through extensive wars plagues economic downturns and there was something of a general desire to focus on making this life better instead of thinking only of the hereafter.  So the emphasis was not spires “reaching toward heaven” and the “ordered nature of structure” but light color ” texture and art intended to draw people in – a kind of celebration of creation and the here and now.

I think evangelical philanthropy is in something of a similar transition from a primary focus on the hereafter towards both the celebration of creation” the arts and the role of the church in the here and now.  Of course we have such a short history but there is clearly a shift from the generation that was motivated so strongly by “finishing the task”to a generation that sees the role of philanthropy as broader.  Who is right?  I don’t think that is the issue.  I loved both Gothic and Baroque.  There is room for each.