To Know The History Of Churches Westfield NJ Is The Way To Go

By James Peterson


Depending on context, the word church has more than one meaning. The meaning used in this article is that of a building used by believers for religious activities. Even though it is often associated with Christians, church buildings can also be used by other religions for religious activities. When one is in need of getting a greater understanding about most churches Westfield NJ is the right location to check out. There are several different religious buildings in that area from which one can learn a couple of things.

The earliest church has been determined to have been established somewhere between 233 and 256. The Church of Saint Simeon Stylites is among the oldest surviving churches worldwide today. The Church of Saint Simeon Stylites is located in Aleppo, a Syrian city. Many ancient buildings that served as church buildings are now under other uses. Similarly, many modern buildings that were not meant to be church buildings as being used for worship.

The word church has its origins in the Greek language where it refers to anything pertaining to the Lord Jesus Christ. Initially the word ecclesia was in wide usage in the English language before it started losing its popularity. However, some languages such as the Greek and Latin languages retained this initial term. As a result, all Latin-derived languages such as Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Italia have retained the term up to this day.

Besides Latin-derived languages, the term ecclesia was also adopted in Celtic languages such as Irish, Welsh, and Breton as well as the Turkish language. On the contrary, the English language moved to the term church and dropped ecclesia. The term was initially spelled as churche before becoming church. Other languages that adopted derivatives of the term church include Russian, German, and Scottish.

In accordance to the Bible, construction of churches was not done by the earliest Christians. The books of Acts and both first and second Corinthians state that people who believed in Christ could gather in temples, homes, and synagogues. Western European communities are responsible of starting the construction of church buildings. This started during the 11-14 centuries.

Medieval churches were used for other activities too besides worshiping. The community could use them for other activities they had. For example, they served as halls for banquets and meeting places. Cathedrals were at times used to hold fairs and mystery plays. In addition, during the time for harvesting, the church could be used to store and thresh grains. In Europe, construction of churches began during Renaissance before moving to the Americas.

The architecture followed in constructing churches is the shape of a cross. The architecture is comprised of small rectangular room at the from which connects to a longer rectangle in a straight shape. This long rectangle is connected to by two medium-sized rectangles about a third of the length from the front. The front rectangle makes the sanctuary while the longer rectangle makes the sitting place for the congregation.

Church buildings are of many different types. Some of them include basilicas and cathedrals. Cathedrals are church buildings in which the seat of the bishop is housed. They are normally Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, or Catholic.




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