{"id":4297,"date":"2011-05-05T12:05:00","date_gmt":"2011-05-05T16:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?p=4297"},"modified":"2012-01-25T23:54:09","modified_gmt":"2012-01-26T04:54:09","slug":"kierkegaard-church-buildings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/kierkegaard-church-buildings\/","title":{"rendered":"Kierkegaard on Church Buildings"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In his day, Kierkegaard viewed church buildings as one of the primary factors that inhibited the health and mission of the church. In his book, Attack upon Christendom<\/a><\/em>, he wrote this:<\/p>\n

Think of a hospital. The patients are dying like flies. The methods are altered in one way and another. It\u2019s no use. What does it come from? It comes from the building, the whole building is full of poison. That the patients are registered as dead, one of this disease, and that one of another, is not true; for they are all dead from the poison that is in the building.<\/p>\n

So it is in the religious sphere. That the religious situation is lamentable, that religiously men are in a pitiable state, nothing is more certain. So one man thinks that it would help if we got a new hymnal, another a new altar-book, another a musical service, etc., etc.<\/p>\n

In vain\u2014for it comes from\u2026the building\u2026<\/p>\n

Let it collapse, this lumber room, get rid of it, shut all these shops and booths\u2026 And let us again serve God in simplicity, instead of treating him as a fool in magnificent buildings.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This concludes my series on church buildings, which will eventually find their way into my book, Close Your Church for Good<\/a>. <\/em>Next week, we move on to a different subject: Pastors.<\/p>\n

If the topic of church buildings is controversial, the subject of professional pastors is even more so. Don’t miss a post: Subscribe to the blog in a reader or by email<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In his day, Kierkegaard viewed church buildings as one of the primary factors that inhibited the health and mission of the church.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4335,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[15,32],"class_list":{"0":"post-4297","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"tag-close-your-church-for-good","8":"tag-theology-church","9":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nKierkegaard on Church Buildings<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In his day, Kierkegaard viewed church buildings as one of the primary factors that inhibited the health and mission of the church.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/kierkegaard-church-buildings\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kierkegaard on Church Buildings\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In his day, Kierkegaard viewed church buildings as one of the primary factors that inhibited the health and mission of the church.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/kierkegaard-church-buildings\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Redeeming God\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-05-05T16:05:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-01-26T04:54:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/kierkegaard.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"520\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeremy Myers\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@redeeminggod\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@redeeminggod\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeremy Myers\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/kierkegaard-church-buildings\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/kierkegaard-church-buildings\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jeremy Myers\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"headline\":\"Kierkegaard on Church Buildings\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-05T16:05:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-01-26T04:54:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/kierkegaard-church-buildings\/\"},\"wordCount\":261,\"commentCount\":16,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/kierkegaard-church-buildings\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/kierkegaard.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Close Your Church for Good\",\"Theology of the Church\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/kierkegaard-church-buildings\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/kierkegaard-church-buildings\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/kierkegaard-church-buildings\/\",\"name\":\"Kierkegaard on Church Buildings\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/kierkegaard-church-buildings\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/kierkegaard-church-buildings\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/kierkegaard.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-05T16:05:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-01-26T04:54:09+00:00\",\"description\":\"In his day, Kierkegaard viewed church buildings as one of the primary factors that inhibited the health and mission of the church.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/kierkegaard-church-buildings\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/kierkegaard-church-buildings\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/kierkegaard-church-buildings\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/kierkegaard.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/kierkegaard.jpg\",\"width\":\"520\",\"height\":\"250\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/kierkegaard-church-buildings\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Kierkegaard on Church Buildings\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/\",\"name\":\"Redeeming God\",\"description\":\"Liberating you from bad ideas about God\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\",\"name\":\"Jeremy Myers\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jeremy Myers\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\"},\"description\":\"Jeremy Myers writes about Scripture and theology in a way that redeems God and people from the prison of religion. He is a popular author and blogger and often gives away free eBooks to his blog subscribers.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\",\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/redeeminggod\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Kierkegaard on Church Buildings","description":"In his day, Kierkegaard viewed church buildings as one of the primary factors that inhibited the health and mission of the church.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/kierkegaard-church-buildings\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Kierkegaard on Church Buildings","og_description":"In his day, Kierkegaard viewed church buildings as one of the primary factors that inhibited the health and mission of the church.","og_url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/kierkegaard-church-buildings\/","og_site_name":"Redeeming God","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804","article_author":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804","article_published_time":"2011-05-05T16:05:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-01-26T04:54:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":520,"height":250,"url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/kierkegaard.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jeremy Myers","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@redeeminggod","twitter_site":"@redeeminggod","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jeremy Myers","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/kierkegaard-church-buildings\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/kierkegaard-church-buildings\/"},"author":{"name":"Jeremy Myers","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c"},"headline":"Kierkegaard on Church Buildings","datePublished":"2011-05-05T16:05:00+00:00","dateModified":"2012-01-26T04:54:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/kierkegaard-church-buildings\/"},"wordCount":261,"commentCount":16,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/kierkegaard-church-buildings\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/kierkegaard.jpg","keywords":["Close Your Church for Good","Theology of the Church"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/kierkegaard-church-buildings\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/kierkegaard-church-buildings\/","url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/kierkegaard-church-buildings\/","name":"Kierkegaard on Church Buildings","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/kierkegaard-church-buildings\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/kierkegaard-church-buildings\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/kierkegaard.jpg","datePublished":"2011-05-05T16:05:00+00:00","dateModified":"2012-01-26T04:54:09+00:00","description":"In his day, Kierkegaard viewed church buildings as one of the primary factors that inhibited the health and mission of the church.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/kierkegaard-church-buildings\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/kierkegaard-church-buildings\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/kierkegaard-church-buildings\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/kierkegaard.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/kierkegaard.jpg","width":"520","height":"250"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/kierkegaard-church-buildings\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Kierkegaard on Church Buildings"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/","name":"Redeeming God","description":"Liberating you from bad ideas about God","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c","name":"Jeremy Myers","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jeremy Myers"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/"},"description":"Jeremy Myers writes about Scripture and theology in a way that redeems God and people from the prison of religion. He is a popular author and blogger and often gives away free eBooks to his blog subscribers.","sameAs":["https:\/\/redeeminggod.com","http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804","https:\/\/x.com\/redeeminggod"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4297"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4297\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}