Around the world, church buildings, many of them beautiful cathedrals, are being repurposed in many different ways - sometimes into locations for activities condemned by the Church.
Codex Singularity: Search for the Prisca Sapientia
God's Opinions - Church Buildings
1. How Does God See That Thing
You’re Judging?
You got opinions?
So does God.
Guess who’s right - and who’s going to be reaping.
2. The More We Get Churched, the
More We Think We Know It All
For example, what do you know about:
Giving Money to Your Local Church
Why? Because the Bibles say so? No.
What do you want your church to spend
that money on? Bigger, better church
buildings - to “serve the Kingdom of God”
better?
3. Look at this beautiful church. How much money was collected and spent to make it so
beautiful? Oh, wait. What’s that I see? Is this a brewery? Why, yes, it is! Thank you,
Christians, for buying such a nice building for us to get drunk in!
4. How about this church!
Amazing architecture. It
must have taken many
years to pay for and build
this tremendous – um –
bookstore.
Thank you, Christian tithe
giver for your faithful
contributions! God is so
happy about your money
being used this way!
http://mentalfloss.com/article/29873/11-new-uses-old-churches
5. This fraternity loves the building you built them, church people. They can
throw the best parties and attract the prettiest girls with such a lovely building!
8. • But what is every church building best at?
• Exclusion!
• The buildings represent private clubs that only
paying members can join. And membership
depends not only on money, but also on
submission to the very specific set of religious
and cultural beliefs maintained by the human
owners of the building.
• Join club, make pledge, pay tithe - or get out!
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/22/churches-survive-church-of-england-religion-buildings
Church buildings also exist thanks to public money -
tax exemptions.
10. Jesus left the temple and was walking
away when his disciples came up to
him to call his attention to its buildings.
“Do you see all these things?” he
asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone
here will be left on another; every one
will be thrown down.”
Matthew 24:1-2
11. Matthew 19:21
Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give
to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
Mark 10:21
Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell
everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in
heaven. Then come, follow me.”
Luke 12:33
Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that
will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief
comes near and no moth destroys.
Luke 18:22
When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell
everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in
heaven. Then come, follow me.”
Jesus NEVER said to give money to churches.
12. Your Body is God’s Temple
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Do you not know that your bodies are
temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in
you, whom you have received from
God? You are not your own; you were
bought at a price. Therefore honor
God with your bodies.
13.
14. God made your body.
God lives in your body.
God cares about the
health of your body.
God heals your body.
How about you?
Do you care?
How about your
neighbor’s body?
Do you care enough to
give water, food,
medicine, clothing, and
shelter to improve the
temple of God in your
neighbor?
15. The Church in China
In recent years, the number of Chinese Christians has increased
significantly, particularly since the easing of restrictions on
religious activity during economic reforms in the late 1970s;
Christians were 4 million before 1949 (3 million Catholics and 1
million Protestants), and are reaching 67 million today. Various
statistical analyses have found that between 2% and 4% of the
Chinese identify as Christian.
Some Bible organizations claim that there are as many as 200
million Christians in China already.
Christianity is reportedly the fastest growing religion in China
with average annual rate of 7%.