Gardens of the Righteous: Sacred Space in Judaism, Christianity and Islam

Aesthetic beauty, which we find in the sacred art and architecture of the synagogue, the church, and the mosque, demonstrates a genre of correspondence. Borrowing from John Ruskin's Seven Lamps of Architecture, I will refer to this genre of correspondences as the seven lamps (" lamps" meaning that which illuminates the mind or soul) of sacred architecture. They are: sacrifice, truth, power, beauty, life, memory, and obedience; and when combined, they enhance devout practice and provide spiritual vitality in the sacred spaces they fill. Ruskin first proposed the seven lamps of sacred architecture in 1848 when he carefully examined the essence of Gothic architecture in Europe. It was Ruskin who first argued that these seven lamps sustain the essential character of religious architecture.