Paul and Sacred Space

This chapter analyses the terms with which Paul of Tarsus designates various sacred spaces—hieron, naos, eidoleion, ekklesia—in conversation with the archaeology of sacred spaces, research on the Pauline house churches, and with the help of theories of space, new materialism, and the sacred. The chapter starts with an introduction of the analytical frameworks and ends with ideas about ‘monumentalization’: that the social-structural relations between people in a sacred space tended to materialize over time into purpose-built buildings—hence the double meanings of synagogue, ekklesia, and hieron as designations both of assemblies and later of the buildings accommodating the respective assemblies. A central argument is that Paul’s letters constitute a special case in the development of the early Christian ekklesia and the parallel development of the synagogue, because in Paul’s time the temple in Jerusalem was still standing and was a self-evident part of his religious universe.

The First Church of Russian Emigration in Berlin: The Fate of the Masterpiece

This article dwells upon the tragic history of the architecturally unique Russian Community House with a church. It was built by the design of an architect Nikolai Vasilyev (1875–1958). The presentation of the material in the article begins with the history of the Orthodox embassy house churches in Berlin. Despite the long historical and matrimonial ties between Russian and Prussian Reigning Royal Houses, there was no separate capital Orthodox church edifice in Berlin. The rector of the embassy church A. Maltsev advocated the construction of it, but the First World War interfered with the plans to build a new Orthodox church in Berlin. However, the increase of the Orthodox community after 1917 at the expense of the emigrants made the construction of a new church edifice even more essential. The design was developed by N. Vasilyev. Considering the need to create a multifunctional building, which should be located among a dense urban development and blend in style with the neighboring buildings, the architect embodied his old designs for monastery structures in the Neo-Russian style, carrying the idea of the “Temple-Castle” (designs of the Metochions of Kalyazinsky Alexander Nevsky Monastery and Feodorovsky Gorodetsky Monastery in St. Petersburg). The building, which included premises for various purposes, was crowned with a church in the spirit of Novgorod ecclesiastical architecture with an open gallery for processions. This unique architectural monument suffered a sad fate – the building was sold for debts and bought by German Labor Front (DAF). The former community house was a subject of a complete reconstruction in accordance with the plans for the administrative development of the district. However, a plot of land was allocated to the Russian community for the construction of a new church edifice, which was consecrated in 1938, but that new church was no longer as interesting and unique from an architectural point of view as the first temple. Thanks to the analysis of archival materials it was found out that the reconstruction was not completed and the former community house survived in its original form (only the domes were dismantled) during the Second World War. The building was converted to a hotel only in the late 1950s or early 1960s.

Menstimulasi Praktik Gereja Rumah di tengah Pandemi Covid-19

This paper is an analysis of various collective resources to consider the current practice of churches in Indonesia in connection with the Covid-19 pandemic. Government regulations have restricted social gatherings, including worship in churches, to break the chain of the spread of this deadly plague. Finally, worship was held online by adopting internet-based technology to carry out worship in their respective homes. This paper is qualitative research litera-ture to analyze the Covid-19 phenomenon from the perspective of Christian theology. As a conclusion, the church must see the pandemic outbreak as an opportunity to stimulate the rise of house churches through the government's social restriction policy regarding religious worship. The house church is typical of the church carried out by the early church in the Acts. Abstrak Paper ini adalah analisis berbagai sumber daya kolektif untuk mem-pertimbangkan praktik gereja-gereja di Indonesia saat ini sehubungan dengan pandemi Covid-19. Peraturan pemerintah telah membatasi pertemuan sosial, termasuk ibadah di gereja demi memutus rantai penyebaran wabah yang mematikan ini. Akhirnya, ibadah pun diadakan secara online dengan mengadopsi teknologi berbasis internet untuk melaksanakan ibadah di rumah masing-masing. Paper ini merupakan penelitian kualitatif literatur untuk menganalisis fenomena Covid-19 ini dari perspektif teologi Kristen. Sebagai kesimpulannya, gereja harus melihat peristiwa wabah pandemi ini sebagai kesempatan untuk menstimulasi bangkitnya gereja rumah melalui kebijakan pembatasan sosial dari pemerintah terkait ibadah keagamaan. Gereja rumah merupakan tipikal gereja yang dilakukan oleh gereja mula-mula di dalam Kisah Para Rasul.