The Wise Master Builder

The Wise Master Builder

This title was first published in 2000: Did the plan of medieval churches have any underlying symbolic meaning? This work re-opens the debate about the importance of geometry and symbolism in medieval architectural design and argues the case for attributing an intellectual meaning to the planning of abbeys and cathedrals. In challenging prevailing claims for the use of arithmetical rations in architectural design, notably those based on the square root of two, Dr Hiscock advances a perspective consisting of proportions derived from the figures of Platonic geometry - the square, the equilateral triangle and the pentagon - and provides evidence for the symbolic interpretation of these figures. The investigation further reveals whole series of geometric relationships between some of England's most celebrated Norman cathedrals, such as Norwich or Durham, together with a wide sample from the Continent, from Old St Peter's in Rome to Chartres Cathedral, and sets out a comprehensive design method in each case. Hiscock first demonstrates the proposition that the ideas of Christian Platonism, including number and geometry, remained current and were employed in the thought of the early Middle Ages. In particular, he argues that they can be associated with the leading persons in the 10th-century revival of monasticism and that they found expression in the "white mantle of churches" that spread across Western Europe at the end of the first millennium AD. The book then provides a detailed analysis of the geometric proportions of church plans between the 9th and 12th centuries in Germany, France and in England. This research seeks to demonstrate that a coherent sequence of geometric forms can be seen in thse plans, forms which correspond to the key figures of Platonic geometry as understood in the context of Christian Platonist thought. In conclusion, the author shows how the system of design proposed could be set out on site using the known working methods of medieval masons.

Jesus Christ the Wise Master-builder of His Church

The Ministry, Vol. 10, No. 01

This issue of The Ministry contains a complete record of the twelve messages given during the 2005 winter training on the Crystallization-study of the Building of God, held December 26-31 in Anaheim, California. The crucial truth and burden embodied in these twelve messages may be summarized in four statements: (1) The building of God is the processed Triune God wrought into us so that under His continual dispensing we become His enlargement, expansion, and corporate expression. (2) The three tabernacles--the type of the tabernacle, the reality of the tabernacle, and the consummation of the tabernacle--reveal the goal of God's economy to have a corporate people to be His dwelling place for His expression and representation in eternity. (3) The intrinsic element of the work of the divine building is to minister the building and builded God into others for the building up of the Body of Christ. (4) The desire of God's heart is the building of God into man and the building of man into God for the building of a great corporate God-man, the New Jerusalem. These messages are being published immediately following the training in order that they may benefit the saints participating in the many video trainings that are held throughout the earth. The Reports section includes an update on the purchase of the Bower House property in England and highlights on how the new facility is being used to carry out the burden of the work in Europe. In the Announcements section we include the 2006 schedule of European and Middle Eastern events as well as a calendar, giving the dates and locations of the seven Living Stream Ministry conferences and trainings--the seven annual feasts--for 2006. One cannot measure the benefits derived during these feasts from the Lord's rich speaking in His ministry and the mutual blending and building up of the saints and the churches in the Lord's recovery from every continent.