Side-by-Side

Here are a couple striking images I found online. The first is, obviously, a view inside St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. The other is an interior shot of the Protestant Crystal "Cathedral" in California. The images say enough with regard to Catholic and Protestant uses for sacred art in expressing theological realities.

As I studied the images, I began thinking about how easily words lose their original meaning when carelessly tossed around without respect to their etymology. As learned Catholics and Orthodox know, "Cathedral" implies an episcopal authority, literally, a bishop's "seat" from which he oversees and guides the Church. But most all Protestants reject that idea as contrived popery. Yet, a word like "cathedral", loaded with historical and ecclesial significance is latched on to the thoroughly bishop-less Crystal "Cathedral" and no one seems to notice the glaring discrepancy. Other examples of sloppy word usage abound: Love, marriage, church, to mention a few, are stripped of their intrinsic meaning and molded to fit the trends of the day. "Love", or luv, is just a warm, fuzzy feeling, where more often than not eros is confused for caritas. "Marriage" is reduced to a fancy arrangement between two people who luv each other. "Church" is just any organized body of believers who come together to pray.