Cover; Half Title; Title Page; Copyright Page; Table of Contents; Acknowledgements; The Documents; List of Illustrations; 1 The Shape of the Question; 2 The Philosophy; 3 God-Given Buildings; 4 Synagogues and their Liturgy; 5 Heaven and Earth; 6 Synagogue Proportions; 7 The Mosaic Floors of Synagogues; 8 Christian Dedication Services; 9 The First Part of the Eucharist; 10 The Second Part of the Eucharist; 11 The End of the Tradition; Documents; Appendices; Chronological List of Sources; Bibliography and Abbreviations; Synagogue Sample Plans; Church Sample Plans; Index
Summary
The designs of synagogues and churches are acknowledged to be very alike. But the designers' procedure was confidential, and so far standard explanations have been unsatisfactory. A synagogue should express heavenly values with earthly materials. This combination was in fact expressed in numbers, for, as Plato said, they linked heaven and earth. Scripture described both the Jewish Tabernacle and Temple with a wealth of numbers. Proportions based on these numbers were used to design synagogues. Only a few Jewish documents survive, but they reveal a symbolism, which Christians sometimes repe