A review of ‘A Christian Theology of Place’

John Inge

Ashgate Publishing Ltd 2003

We love the place, O God,
wherein thine honour dwells;
the joy of thine abode
all earthly joy excels.

It is the house of prayer,
wherein thy servants meet;
and thou, O Lord, art there
thy chosen flock to greet.

Bullock and Bakers’s warm text and Henry Jenner’s meditative tune combine to make this nineteenth century hymn an enduring feature of contemporary hymnody. The hymn extols the virtues of the church building,  each verse visits a different aspect of the building and concludes with the appreciation of the church as a sacred place of prayer where God and people meet. There is no mention  of a view, gathering momentum, that our ecclesiastical buildings are a liability, demanding vast sums to maintain and heat and a space inappropriately designed for creative use!

In his book ‘A Christian Theology of Place’ John Inge  sounds a note of caution as he makes a case for the importance of place and sacred place in particular. He urges Christian theologians to take place seriously and especially as a bulwark against the current post modern dehumanizing effects of the loss of  an appreciation of place.

Recently appointed Bishop of Worchester and using Ely Cathedral as an initial stimulus the author gathers together a broad and varied bibliography.   Employing a wide range of references from scholars working in a variety of disciplines,  John Inge differentiates between space and place and identifies the ‘loss of place’ as a regrettable feature of modernism.   He reveals that while the Greeks recognised the significance of place, in the Western intellectual tradition space and time have received more attention than place in the realm of human experience. To redress this imbalance phenomenology or experience, scriptures and Christian tradition are used to construct a Christian theology of place.

In a thoroughly referenced chapter on ‘Place and the Scriptures’ the conclusion is reached that place is a ‘primary category of the Old Testament faith.’  The Holy Land and Jerusalem remain of vital significance to the faith of the Jews. Many Christians, too, share a similar appreciation of this same location as the place of the birth and out working of the incarnation and all that flowed from it. On this basis a theological paradigm of people, place and God is established as an integral and vital component of the main world faiths in general and the Christian faith in particular.

Turning to the New Testament tradition, the question is posed as to how Christians keep together the belief that Christ redeemed all places and is Lord of time and space and hold on to the importance of the incarnation of Christ inviting us to value place. At this point the writer refines his thesis to address the role of sacred space within the Christian tradition and the need to understand and experience place sacramentally.

Using references which include Eusebius,  Herbert and Traherne, there is an acknowledgment that ‘sacramentality’ is an idea that can be widely applied to the material world, as the Celtic tradition has helped us to rediscover. Sacramental places are defined in terms of places of spiritual encounters in particular places. There are numerous examples of places where spiritual encounters have occurred and remain significant, not only for the committed, but for the community at large.  The value of sacred places is that they are places where holy people have experienced, and continue to experience God and where something of the glory of God has been and is revealed. Moreover they serve as a reminder to Christians and others that, while all time and space remain under the Lordship of God in Christ, a sacred place is not the whole picture, but is space set apart [holy] on behalf of, rather than instead of, the whole.

The theological demise of sacred place began with the Reformation when many reformers were, according to the author, ‘determined churches would become simply meeting places.’  Much later, as a result of Vatican 2, the Roman Catholic Church initiated a shift from sacred place to sacred time with an emphasis on times when the faithful gather and make Jesus Christ sacramentally present.  In the writer’s opinion this still holds with Roman Catholic churches regarded, in the main, as worship centres for the celebration of the Mass and open for this purpose only!

The fervour of the author to re-examine and counter these developments has provided the main impetus for ‘A Christian Theology of Place’. He recognises that the move away from valuing churches as holy places and sacred space is perceived by some as a return to pure Biblical roots. Nevertheless place and sacred space, in particular, is where God and people meet and where God is often powerfully focused, for both the committed and diffident to experience. Indeed, Inge passionately believes that the reordering of a parish church to make it more functional, utilitarian and practical at the expense of its role as primarily a sacred place, is to herald the church’s ‘final capitulation to modernity’

Inge justifies the importance of sacred places on more than a narrow Biblical basis and brings in tradition and experience to bolster his position.  In constructing  his theology of place the author is firm in his belief that places and things do not hallow people but the stream and enduring faith of people hallow places. Thus, even when a building is empty it speaks of its use,  inspiration and holiness. In this sense Inge suggests churches should be understood as shrines because they root the Christian community to its tradition and past and, furthermore,  point to prophetic witness in the present and encourages an eschatological view of the future. Therefore, church is regarded as a sacred place for all time and not just at those times when the faithful gather for Word and Sacrament.

There is no desire either for the church to become a museum or to become too holy to be any earthly good!  Every church tells a story through its artefacts and various times of re-ordering, thus demonstrating a Christian community’s constant engagement with changing community and the wider world. The book’s conclusion is direct and unequivocal,  ‘The Christian faith cannot and should not, if it is to remain true to its roots rather than become enslaved to secular modernity, surrender to this lack of awareness of the significance of place.’

‘A Christian Theology of Place’, maintains that a church building can witness to the importance of roots and stability,  and place and destination in an increasingly mobile and fragmented society. Moreover, it can point to a destiny beyond mortal existence and resurrection. For these reasons the author counsels caution and care to ensure that in our enthusiasm to remove pews and re-order our parish churches we do not detract from or reduce their time honoured and sacred qualities. There is a plea to the Christian community to reflect theologically and as a result come to a greater appreciation of their church building, not considering it as a millstone but as a treasure to be cherished and preserved. 

As the Church of England wrestles with Fresh Expressions of church and considers theologically and strategically  the re-ordering of some of it’s sacred places,  ‘A Christian Theology of Place’ and the words of William Bullock may be good places to begin that reflection.

We love the place, O God,
wherein thine honour dwells;
the joy of thine abode
all earthly joy excels.

It is the house of prayer,
wherein thy servants meet;
and thou, O Lord, art there
thy chosen flock to greet.
1272

Richard Emblin