I have to analyse Christian Altars for a mini art research thingy but I'm overwhelmed with everything (I know nothing about Christianity) and all I really want to know is the purpose of the common symmetry, table clothes, candle placements, simplicity etc. On these altars
Christian Altars?
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- 3+ months ago by anonymous...
- Topics:
- art, mini, christian, altar, christianity, research, everything
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Responses (2)
Exodus 20:24 An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. 25 And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. 26 Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.
So God commanded the Jews regarding altars. The Christians have no instructions at all. What we call "Christian" is a made up religion: they build their altars (theirs, not God's) from wood, intricately decorated, and placed on a stage with steps going up to it. The bible defines Christianity in Romans:
Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Nothing there about an altar, or even a special building. Christians met in each other's homes for the first few hundred years. What you are talking about is show business.
Jesus Christ did not institute even one religious ceremony that was to be performed at an altar; nor did he command his disciples to perform ceremonies using one. Jesus’ mention of the altar at Matthew 5:23, 24 and elsewhere refers to religious practices prevailing among the Jews, but he does not indicate that his followers were to worship God using an altar.
Christianity rested on principles that are to be accepted and applied in everyday life and in every land, there was no longer any need for a holy city on earth, or for a material temple with altars, or for human priests of special rank dressed in distinguished vestments. “The hour is coming,” said Jesus, “when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you people worship the Father. . . . The true worshipers will worship the Father with spirit and truth.” (John 4:21, 23) The complexity of rites and the use of altars on the part of many have not followed what the bible say how the true God is to be worshiped.
For accurate information on this subject and others, please go to www.jw.org "search box" Also for free downloads, publications or read on line.