rjs1:
Protestant churches do not focus on an altar where the sacrifice of Our Lord Himself is presented. Nor do they focus on a tabernacle which contains Jesus Himself in sacramental form. Moreover as time has progressed they have more and more turned the church into a theatre where the minister performs and does his routine.
The tragedy is that too many Catholic Churches have copied this trend.
Our churches originally were modelled on the Jewish temple with an idea of expressing the majesty of God with the altar replacing the Holy of Holies. Protestant theology rejects this concept and hence their architecture rejects it too.
I disagree… only because this is too much of a generalization and simply not true. It’s just not true that ALL Protestant theology rejects the concept of the altar/table as being a place of sacrifice and praise. I could list many traditions where this is the case.
Many Protestant churches are altar-centered - the one I’m appointed to is. And many Protestant Churches are designed with a “holy of holies” architecture, with railings around the altar/table. In fact, old American courtroom design followed many of the old churches that were around… and since Catholic churches were scarce in the early days of America, the only design to follow were Protestant churches.
As much as the early Americans rebelled against Anglicanism, their church architecture still reflected their Church of England roots. In fact, many of the New England Congregational Churches reflected the same design - even though their sacramental theology was very low or even non-existent.
Today, incredible building costs dictate church architecture as much as anything - regardless of whether they’re Catholic or Protestant. Certainly, “lower church” traditions will have a worship space that is less a sanctuary and more like an auditorium. However, I’ve noticed of late that more Catholic Churches look like this. As I said earlier, this is probably more related to financial reality than theological preference. Worship spaces often have to double as fellowship halls, gymnasiums, schools, etc.
There is a beautiful Catholic Church downtown here; it just underwent a multi-million dollar renovation that nearly broke the church and the diocese. Heating/cooling and maintenance costs are astronomical, and taking up a huge part of their budget. I LOVE that church… but I wonder when you draw the line?
O+
There are some very odd people in the USA. 
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