Rome, Italy

Our trip to Rome was an incredible experience for me especially from a Christian stand point. A lot of the buildings and structures were from the times of ancient Christianity. The churches were incredible from an architectural and ornamental stand point. It took incredible wealth to build those buildings.

I was astounded by the Pantheon but it barely prepared me for Saint Peter’s Cathedral. I had no idea that something so magnificent existed. I recalled that Saint Peter’s was funded at least partially by the sale of indulgences which was one of the stimuli for Martin Luther’s rejection of some of the catholic doctrines. You might say that the building of Saint Peter’s, as magnificent as it is, led at least partially to the Protestant reformation.

Still, for me as I observed the paintings and sculptures of biblical scenes, it was a moving experience. The tour guide said that in the early church, since so many people couldn’t read, the paintings and sculptures were used to reinforce biblical teachings.

In that great building I was surprised to hear the acapela singing of “Alleluia” and I followed the sound to one of the anterooms where about 20 people were singing with voices unadulterated by mechanical instrumentation.

Outside of some of the great cathedrals were buildings that formerly contained great pools of water for the baptism (immersion) of believers. Of course with the advent of sprinkling those buildings are no longer used. One dome shaped building had an open top. They said that was for the collection of rain water, which they preferred, so that people could be baptized with pure water “from heaven”.

A great trip for us. Our goal at Parkway is to build glorious and magnificent people… there is nothing more wonderful than that.