{"id":214,"date":"2011-09-19T19:06:00","date_gmt":"2011-09-19T19:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/09\/temples\/"},"modified":"2011-09-19T19:06:00","modified_gmt":"2011-09-19T19:06:00","slug":"temples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/09\/temples.html","title":{"rendered":"Temples"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Star Foster at Patheos has a new piece up<\/a> on Ephesus<\/a>, which is best known in the West as an early Christian site but which was known in antiquity for its massive Temple of Artemis<\/a>, one of the Seven Wonders of the World<\/a>. The history in Star\u2019s article is good but what grabbed my attention was this musing on the religious implications of a people who built and rebuilt a grand temple, until they stopped.<\/p>\n

the creation of devotional objects and buildings, their maintenance and their use in rites, are all merely outwards symbols of internal devotion. If the internal devotion is gone, the practice becomes rote superstition, and who is willing to invest in maintaining rote superstition? Are temples an investment in our devotion? <\/b>[emphasis added] A reminder of what we already hold true and a sign to ourselves and others that we are faithful?<\/p>\n

For the ancients, temples were a sign of devotion and prosperity. It was an investment in their own culture, values and future. Worth thinking about as our numbers grow.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Did the people of Ephesus say \u201cArtemis has blessed us so we will build this temple for her and to remind ourselves to honor her\u201d? Or did they say \u201cwe want to show everyone how rich and powerful we are, but we also want to look pious \u2013 we\u2019ll build a temple to Artemis\u201d? <\/p>\n

Large ornate buildings are never a physical necessity. They are tangible statements about the values and priorities of those who build them. They are symbols of identity and pride. They can also be symbols of vanity. And they can be all of that at the same time. Look at examples from mainstream American culture: government buildings, corporate headquarters, shopping malls, football stadiums\u2026<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know why the Ephesians built their grand temple over and over again, whether it was gratitude or pride or vanity or some combination of all three. But I do know this \u2013 temples are a concrete expression of multi-generational thinking. <\/p>\n

Until the modern era, large construction projects could take decades, even centuries. You don\u2019t start building a temple unless you\u2019re confident there will be people to finish it after you\u2019re dead and gone. You don\u2019t build a temple unless you\u2019re confident there will be worshippers and pilgrims for years to come. You don\u2019t build a temple unless you\u2019re convinced the needs of future generations are as important as the needs of the current generation.<\/p>\n

Should today\u2019s Pagans build temples? Honestly, I think we\u2019re a couple decades \u2013 and maybe a couple generations \u2013 away from having the the resources to devote to large symbols of status and pride. And even when we have the resources, the Druid in me would prefer they be spent on forests and groves instead of bricks and mortar.<\/p>\n

But the fact that we\u2019re even having this conversation means we\u2019re beginning to think in multi-generational terms. <\/p>\n

And that\u2019s a very good thing.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Star Foster at Patheos has a new piece up on Ephesus, which is best known in the West as an early Christian site but which was known in antiquity for its massive Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The history in Star\u2019s article is good but what grabbed my attention […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nTemples<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Star Foster at Patheos has a new piece up on Ephesus, which is best known in the West as an early Christian site but which was known in antiquity for its\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/09\/temples.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Temples\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Star Foster at Patheos has a new piece up on Ephesus, which is best known in the West as an early Christian site but which was known in antiquity for its\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/09\/temples.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-09-19T19:06:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-giY1sgx8p-0\/TnfXw0b0XWI\/AAAAAAAAAqU\/Hr2B54Ygryk\/s400\/P1010016.JPG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/09\/temples.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/09\/temples.html\",\"name\":\"Temples\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-09-19T19:06:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-09-19T19:06:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad\"},\"description\":\"Star Foster at Patheos has a new piece up on Ephesus, which is best known in the West as an early Christian site but which was known in antiquity for its\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/09\/temples.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/09\/temples.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/09\/temples.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Temples\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/\",\"name\":\"John Beckett\",\"description\":\"Musings of a Druid, Pagan, and Unitarian Universalist.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad\",\"name\":\"John Beckett\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"John Beckett\"},\"description\":\"I grew up in Tennessee with the woods right outside my back door. 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