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| How to Read a Church: A Guide to Symbols and Images in Churches and Cathedrals | 
 enlarge | Author: Richard Taylor
Publisher: HiddenSpring
Category: Book
List Price: $18.00
Buy New: $10.98
You Save: $7.02 (39%)
New (22) Used (10) from $10.98
Avg. Customer Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 46325
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8 x 4.9 x 0.8
ISBN: 1587680300
Dewey Decimal Number: 246
EAN: 9781587680304
ASIN: 1587680300
Publication Date: July 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
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Product Description
Churches and cathedrals were originally built to be read. They are alive with images and symbols--all of which are packed with meaning. But today few people, from regular visitors to tourists, truly understand the wealth of meaning in what they find there. How to Read a Church is must reading for anybody who wants to know more about what they see in a church or cathedral. It explores the principal features of churches and what each represents. It also explains: " the significance of church layout " the importance of such details as the use of colors or letters " the identity and significance of people and scenes " the symbolism of animals, plants, colors, numbers, and letters " the meaning of it all In addition to exploring these brick-and-mortar motifs, the author also reveals fascinating and unexpected details such as how to 'read' the priest and the congregation, and he shows the varied ways that church architecture and appointments reflect the Christian year. From major themes to small but vital details, How to Read a Church will serve as a fascinating guide to the history, meanings, and messages of these beautiful buildings and the treasures they contain.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
Point of Clarification June 17, 2006
21 out of 34 found this review helpful
I've not yet finished the book, but early on Mr. Taylor mentions that the "Catholic Church 'banned' the Latin Mass in order to increase participation by the laity.
Whatever the high points of this book may be, the Church never "banned" the Latin Mass. In fact, the Second Vatican Council, which ALLOWED for some parts of the mass to be translated into the vernacular, also encouraged local parishes to catechize (educate) their members in the basic Latin prayers of the Mass so they could participate. It appears that it was easier to translate the mass into dozens of different languages than it was to get Catholics to learn a few phrases and prayers in Latin. At any rate, the Latin Mass is still celebrated with great enthusiasm and beauty in parishes all over the world (unfortunately some of them are schismatic, but many are in communion with Rome). As for the vernacular mass, "full and active participation" is a rarity in most parishes.
Pope Benedict has reiterated this call for Catholics to learn some of the basic prayers in Latin so that in this truly global society we may pray together with one voice.
Back to the book - Mr. Taylor's premise is dead on; Churches were meant to be read - to create a feast for the senses and create an atmosphere of awe and sanctity. i look forward to finishing the text, and perhaps using it as a textbook for a class.
 Terrific resource March 6, 2007
16 out of 16 found this review helpful
Taylor's book is a terrific resource explaining a much misunderstood subject. Churches are indeed designed to be 'read'; to be, in the words of another reviewer, "a feast for the senses." Taylor explains that classical church architecture reflects the understanding that a church is a ship (the word 'nave,' referring to the interior of a church, is from the Latin 'navis' for ship) sailing the faithful to a New Jerusalem, led by their 'captain' priest. Rich eucharistic symbols like the pelican, a bird which feeds its young with its blood, are explained in detail. Were more people to absorb the lessons of this book, we perhaps would see an end to the artless, crude church designs that have dominated over the past 40 years.
Interpreting art and architecture June 5, 2007
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
Ever wonder why some saints in paintings and sculpture have square haloes? Why columns have foliate capitals? And what are all those hand signals? Richard Taylor explains in How to Read a Church, written not as a scholastic thesis but as a general guide for lay persons. The basic layout of churches, the number and placement of stained glass windows, the grouping of figures and how to identify who's who - all of this can be helpful in figuring out what the builders and decorative artists were trying to convey to those viewing and appreciating the results of their labors. The book works as a resource, and does not have to be read from cover to cover. Individual chapters, such as that on styles of crosses, can be read separately and perused at leisure. Nice resource.
 a misnomer of a book January 9, 2007
8 out of 11 found this review helpful
While the contents of the book are most interesting the author does not deal at any length with the specifics outlined in the title. The bulk of the text deals with in-depth explanations of various bible characters and stories. The couple of line drawings towards the end of the book show captions to explain various parts of the garmets illustrated but NOT all of them are explained and then other descriptive words are introduced which are not shown on the illustrations. I did read the entire book and it was rather a disappointment.
 Informed, well-written June 7, 2007
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
This is a well-written, religiously neutral excursion of the visual symbols and elements of the Christian church, more or less as it exists today and leaning somewhat to the Anglican church. It is not a history of Christian church architecture or symbols through the ages though the author seems to be fairly conversant with the relevant art history. It is no more or less than a brief description of what is behind what you'd see in an English church, with accounts of the lives of Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Peter and all the rest, in case you know absolutely nothing.
The charming churches the author is most familiar with are relics, and efforts like this one that may in some way preserve them are good. They, the churches of the past, are as much like America's mega-churches as flowers are like asphalt. I don't know if they have mega-churches in Europe. I don't think so. They, the mega-churches, help us envision the utter banality of the age to come. And what a long way we have traveled since Chartres.
The author is studiously non-evangelistic, which is good, but one feels the absence of faith in or hope for anything beyond the obvious. It is really a rather light-hearted anatomy of Christian churches, lacking soul. If there's no hope of meaningfulness, no hope that these places may convey the possibility of a real inner life, it all seems rather hollow.
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