tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post2941421585850365621..comments2024-03-29T04:31:15.219-05:00Comments on Pastoral Meanderings: Art that is written. . . Pastor Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10653554256101480140noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-39749867981462082532017-02-12T13:10:59.275-06:002017-02-12T13:10:59.275-06:00Try telling the monks of Mount Athos that theirs i...Try telling the monks of Mount Athos that theirs is religious art and don't ask them to place a dollar value on their icons. They will look at you like you have a third eye. I think Lutherans and the Orthodox agree on the eternal value of church art, iconography, and architecture. How sterile are the stages in nondescript auditoriums of the Western mega-churches bereft of the furniture, vessels, crucifixes, stained glass, crosses, liturgical paraments and other adornments, candles, and did I mention crosses? How dismal the meeting rooms, the gymnasiums, the movie theatres, the barrooms. Church plants appear in the most unlikely places never seem to become full fledged liturgical churches and get past the trappings of the culture. Don't get me wrong. I think you can have house churches where the Gospel is proclaimed but why would you not want to worship in the Hagia Sophia given the chance? The whole point of the liturgy is to transport the earthbound believer into the heavenly realms. Give me that "Old Time Religion" like the Lutheran version of the ancient Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com