The Cathedral Hypothesis

There are so many incredibly beautiful cathedrals in Europe. The first time I went back to my native England, I spent three months after graduation from high school. I was not yet a Christian but remember how awed I was by Gloucester Cathedral. It is by far the most prominent and impressive building in that city. There are many such cathedrals of both gothic-style and otherwise. Some of the most famous are Notre Dame, Chartres, Cologne and, Milan.

The thing that I find so significant about such cathedrals is the time in which they were built. Gloucester Cathedral was begun around the year 1200. In the Middle Ages, the education level of the average person was just about zero and very few could read or write. The majority of people were serfs, which in the feudal system was a step or two above slavery. Life expectancy was maybe 45 years. General learning and progress had gone backward from that of the Greeks and Romans in ancient times and the Moslem countries were the center of learning during this time.

But yet the Middle Ages was also very much an age of Christian faith in Europe. Despite it's obvious backwardness, the cathedrals produced during this time are stunning. This is particularly true of the stained glass windows.

Unlike many ancient monuments, these cathedrals are not made of limestone, which is a soft sedimentary rock that is relatively easy to work with. They involve extremely intricate designs carved in hard igneous stone. If a modern architect managed to produce a cathedral such as these, it would make him world famous. At the time these cathedrals were constructed I do not belive that the concept of zero was fully understood, meaning that complex architectural calculations were not possible.

So, how did the Middle Ages manage to produce cathedrals such as these? Could the answer be that extensive prayers would certainly have been offered for God to guide those who were building such a building dedicated to God? These cathedrals far exceed any other structures raised during this time.

God knew that far in the future, secularism would come to Europe. Perhaps God gave guidance to the builders of the cathedrals as they would have requested to make future generations wonder how such a primitive era had created such a building. I realize that this is not something that is provable but it does give us something to ponder.