Religion and Theology

The dominant shape of the cross  expressed in the language of floor plans and stone carvings  bear witness to Christianitys central image. Baptistery and altar gives spatial prominence to the great sacraments which are indispensable points of contact between believers and their God. The multitude of saints who takes their places in niches over doorways and in windows reminded new generations of Christians that many had lived and died in this faith and that one day those ranks will include another generation  their own. The cathedral and basilica also reveals how people thought about God during these eras. Stern statues of Jesus as judge, warmer ones of Mary as mother, paintings of the Creation and the End Times all reveals not only ideas and events from earlier centuries but the way artists, patrons, parishes, or communities understands the relationships between God and humanity.

Evidence of changing understandings of the relationship between God and humans can be found in the rearrangements of a chance. When altars move closer to people, or clergy and worshippers pull down some of their architectural barriers, something is happening to basic beliefs about divine-human interaction. Shifts in style from one building to the next can also be important clues of subtle changes in congregational membership, attitudes, and self images. At best, buildings provide clues about a congregation at certain key moments in its life  the time of its founding, or the time of a move to a new location, or the time when sufficient disease about an old architectural or artistic style existed to motivate a congregation to rearrange the furniture or redesign its home. Changes in a building may provide clues to the ways in which a congregation participated in a larger perspective.

St. Peters Basilica, the most famous church for it is the seat of power of the Catholic Church, denotes historical and political situations during the fourth century (Medieval Period). Constantine and his Church planners needed an architecture that had meaning in the Roman world during that time. Totally new architectural forms will not be as effective as architectural forms that carry meaning.

This leads to use of category of Roman building known as the Basilica. Roman basilicas serve places for public gatherings law courts, financial centers, army drill halls, reception rooms in imperial palaces. Roman cities regularly have a Basilica as a central public building. It is, like present day City Hall, a center of public power. These basilicas regularly have an architectural form we call an apse. The apse is a semi-circular projection usually off the short wall of the rectangular building. The apse is the site of the law court. It is the magistrate that dispenses the law. Adjacent to the seat of the magistrate regularly appears the image of the Emperor. This clearly symbolizes the translation of legal authority from the Emperor to the Magistrate.() A Modern day examplemodel of a church is the Our Lady of Atonement Church in Baguio City, Philippines. The site where the cathedral stands is a hill referred to as Kampo by theIbaloi people. In 1907, a Catholic mission was established byBelgian Missionaries from theCongregatio Immaculati Cordis Mariae, who named the site Mount Mary.

Construction on the cathedral itself begins in 1920, under the leadership of the then-parish priest, Fr. Florimono Carlu. The building is completed by 1936, and consecrated that year. During World War II, the cathedral serves as an evacuation center. It withstood the carpet-bombing of Baguio City in 1945. The remains of thousands of bombing victims during the war are interred within the grounds of the cathedral. The cathedral has a distinct pink facade with arose window and twin square bell towers with pyramidal roofs.Within its large courtyard is a view deck that overlooks the downtown road, accessible through a 100-step stone staircase, or through the adjacent campus ofa university. It brought with it seat of power in this small city like that of the basilica, though modern. In subtle ways, economic and financial powers are felt in this modern day church structure.