ALTAR OR TABLE

The early Christians celebrated their services in the homes. Central to this assembly was a common meal, the Eucharist. The meal was always indoors, and the natural place, while the Eucharist was part of a regular meal, the dining room. Jesus was with his disciples in a room upstairs with benches and cushions. It was common in this area that the dining room was on the first floor. Here they lay at the table on three sides. The word for the Roman dining room was triclinium, which means 3 divans / benches. When the congregation became large, they divided and used several houses. Between 70 AD and 150 AD there was a large change. The communion action was separated from the regular meal. The reason may be that it was virtually impossible to prepare the meal for so many. Another reason could be that the heathen Christians had no knowledge about the Jewish meal and therefore did not find it significant. The liturgy space changed thus character. The many tables and benches were taken away, and only one table remained standing. This was the position for the leader of the church. The congregation gathered standing around the table during the Eucharist. With this radical change the house church could receive more people. On Maundy Thursday, however, they contained the old dining tradition for a long time, and gathered in the evening, as Jesus and the disciples had done.

Since the first church was a dining room, it was customary to transfer, more or less, sacred meals into the church. The love meal, agape, became a charity meal where rich Christians invited the needy widows and orphans. During the meal, scriptures were read. They prayed and sung. In Egypt there was more emphasis on the social life, on the feast, with good food and plenty of drinking. With increasing participation the agape meal became a problem and in many places prohibited because of disturbance and inappropriate behaviour.

Another kind of agape meal was a memorial meal for the deceased. It was a pagan custom to keep the meal at the grave of the deceased several days after death, the deceased's birthday or anniversary of death. As many Christians in the first centuries were martyred, the church took over this custom. Gradually the Memorial Celebration of the martyrs received a great participation, and one had to build large halls where the event occurred. But churches were also built, of which St. Peter in Rome (330 AD) was one of the biggest. This church was in 397 AD used

for a funeral feast where the city's poor filled all the five naves.

The Church Father Augustine, was among the many who

spoke against the use of the churches of these memory meals where there were signs of excesses. Memory Meals turned,

after this, back to its private character.

The furniture of the house churches had primarily been mobile objects in wood. The transition from house church to the magnificent building for the public religion brought rituals and customs which belonged to the public culture into the church. Similarly for the interior which become a more resistant and expensive design. One thing that kept its basic character from the house church was the communion table. In the basilicas of the fourth century a wooden table was set up before each event. Gradually the table was made of stone, but with wooden character. In some denominations the table remained in wood until the present day.

Inside the large churches which Constantine started building, the little communion table looked weak and small. On his throne, the bishop represented Christ. But the communion table with the memory meal was also a celebration of Christ's presence. By placing the imperial baldachin over the communion table, the importance of this site was highlighted. But the baldachin also gave a greater separation between the bishop and the congregation.

The holy men and women were given much attention. There were memorial meals, and churches were built on burial sites. Then it is no wonder that the design of the communion table is affected by the sarcophagus. It changes the table shape into a coffin, as we can see it in Santa Maria in Cosmedin in Rome. The communion table is on the way to change character from table to altar in the sense "lifting up a part of the earth”.

Once the coffin shape is given, other stories can also be linked to the communion table. It can resemble Jesus' tomb, where the liner is Jesus' shroud. At a time when sacrifice to the gods was a matter of course, it was natural to say that Jesus was sacrificed. But this was the last victim, who opened the way for all to God. Now it was done once and for all.

The idea is that the innocent dies so the guilty could live. In the temple in Jerusalem innocent and blemish-free animals were sacrificed instead of human beings. The word

"scapegoat" comes of the

ritual which the Jews had

once a year when a goat

was chased into the desert

to die. Thus the people

were purged of sin.

Today such sacrificial

actions seem meaning-

less. But "scapegoats" we

can find also in our days!

The service in the early Christian church was a common action where the congregation and its leaders had different roles. In particular from 600 to 1200's AD the Mass extended strongly when the priest weaves his private, read "everyday mass" into the church's "Sunday Mass" which was sung. At the same time the priests reinforced their position as all worship books were collected in the priest's book, where earlier there were different books for different services. The congregation was pacified into a receptive audience. The liturgy emphasized what was heard. The congregation's participation in the sacrament was reduced to a minimum (once a year).

In High and Late Middle Ages this trend continued. But now the emphasis was placed more on the visual and ceremonial items such as making the sign of the cross, the elevation (the priest raised the bread so the congregation could see it), kneeling, candles on the altar, altar cabinets, etc. Until the Reformation the Mass had changed character from doing to hearing and further to seeing. Little by little so many tall objects were placed on the altar table that the priest could not stand behind the table any more. The actions are changing character. The communion table becomes an altar at the end of the room.

The Sacrament House, the Tabernacle, is containing the consecrated bread. The Body of Christ must of course have a well designed "house". Along with memorial plaques for the saints one gradually develops triptychs

and altar-

pieces.

In addition to the fine altarpiece, the priests also become more visible with chasubles in costly fabrics. Around the year 1200 AD, the four liturgical colours were introduced. It underlined the church year's content and celebrations. Glass paintings and decorations on walls and ceilings further enriched the i

Building the altar and the altarpiece together continued until the mid 1900's. In many designs the altar is more a base for the altarpiece than an altar table. The design of the altarpiece has varied according to different views on art and motifs. Catechism boards were made, or just a big cross.

It was important for the church to mark a "border" from the pagan religions, but it was also important to reinterpret old beliefs and rites and put them in a Christian context. Old temples were converted into churches and sacrifice altars could be allowed if the altar disc did not have a drainage for blood or depictions of offering animals. In Ma'alula, Syria, there is an altar with seven cm high edges and with a groove. It is apparently taken from a temple, perhaps from what was torn down on this site. One suggests that the altar is placed here before the Council of Nicea. The fact that it has been standing with its distinct connection to the old sacrificial practices, means that Jesus who was sacrificed is more emphasized at the expense of the community around the dining table. Ma'alula was not a secluded outpost at that time. The bishop of the site participated in all five first ecumenical church meetings. The language they use in this city tells that they adhere to the old tradition. They still speak Aramaic, the language of Jesus. The picture of communion above shows a half round table, like the one in Ma'alula. This is from the 1600's AD, but the same motif is found in older editions. Jesus has been given a special position. He is not sitting in the middle, but beside on the servant's place. At the same time he is elevated by the fact that he sits on a throne.

Both in the Syrian-Orthodox and the Armenian Church the altar area is more open than in the Greek / Russian Orthodox Church, or so the former was in the Roman Catholic Church. Curtains are used instead of walls. The curtains are drawn primarily in preparation for the Eucharist. Then the great wonder happens that Jesus embodies the bread and wine.

With the main altar reserved for the clergy, it was even more important for the laity to be able to express their worship and faith at other altars in the main room, or in the side chapel.

Usually, Virgin Maria had her place on the left side of the chancel screen, while the saint to whom the church was dedicated, had his place on the right side. Through the saints the people got proximity to the faith to God. Every saint had their “field of responsibility" so that faith was more concrete.

To obtain parts of the bodies or

objects from the dead holy women and men was big business,

and this gave the church

some great prestige. Many

churches had collections in

a separate room, a martyr-

ion. These bones and objects

were considered to have heal-

ing powers. It all seems

pretty macabre.

One important concern of the Reformation was to say that the Eucharist was not a sacrifice. Making the communion table to an altar was a pagan element. The character of the communion was a

community around the table. It was a gift of God in the

midst of the people. In his proposal for Deutsche

Messe (1526) Martin Luther suggested that the

priest would stand behind the table, facing the

congregation when he officiated Comm-

union, - as a house father in the

church family. The worship space

could not be divided into nave and

chancel. Through the common

priesthood the whole church had,

in principle, been transformed

into a chancel. Moreover, it was

important to allow the sermon to

have a permanent place in the liturgy

and in the space. These principles

were largely completed in the

Reformed churches , but in our own

Lutheran church in Norway they

had little impact, except for the

expansion of the chancel open-

ing, larger windows and a

prominent pulpit. During the

Reformation implementation

in Norway in 1537, we had enough

churches, but we had little resources

to rebuild them. But for new constructions

in the 1700´s, in connection with mining or

urbanization, we got churches which were affected

by the Reformed Church. With a better economy

this church plan was spread across the country in the first

part of the 1800´s. It was an octagonal church, often stretched out with the altar and pulpit located on the long side. It was the room where the pulpit had a central place at the expense of the altar, as we see in the picture at the bottom right and on the next page.

The altar table on the left is from Kvernes Church after its renovation in the early 1600's. It bears the sign of the Renaissance style. The altar is the foundation for an altarpiece.

The picture on bottom left is from a Protestant church in Hungary. Also here the altar is the foundation for the altarpiece, while the altarpiece is in front of the pulpit.

On the right we also see a pulpit altar. It´s from the Bardu Church, 1829. The altar here is completely subject to the

The Pulpit Altar obtained a breakthrough. With the connection between the altar and the pulpit the chancel and nave become one room. We got the space of unity. With activity on the pulpit as the most important element in the worship, it was natural that the pulpit dominated. In the middle of the 1800´s, however our previous history was rediscovered and again it was important to clarify the altar and its position. The altar was placed in a niche or in a secluded room. It was also important for the church to ensure their dignity by associating themselves to a well-developed style. The Roman and the Gothic style were primarily chosen to do so. Since this ideal coincided with the largest church building period in Norway, 1850-1900, and in some cases lasted 50 more years, the Gothic Revival church became a great influence in our country.

A high-church movement in the 1930´s had a desire to make the altar room even more closed and managed to get introduced  into some churches some lattice work or other forms for separating the chancel from the nave. This we can see it in the Børsa Church from 1857, which in 1935 had rebuilt the chancel arch.

New liturgical ideals came also to our country. It is particularly expressed in the Vatican Council II resolutions (1965) to bring back the table and have space for the priest on the other side of the table. See WHAT HAPPENS IN THE “BACK SPACE” 169.

The 1960´s were years of the big changes, not only liturgical, but also regarding church building. The church "does not look like a church" anymore. Modern materials and styles will unfold also in this building type.

In 1965 a Liturgy Commission was appointed with the Oslo Bishop as the chairman. The same year Varden chapel in Stavanger was approved. Approval of the furnishings was left to the Diocese Direction. But here the Direction got a problem. In 1967 the congregation sent their application where it proposed a free-standing altar table and portable elements for kneeling. "The priest is expected to officiate at the Eucharist behind the table facing the communion guests who were kneeling in front of the table. The idea behind it is the Eucharist as a meal around a table. The altar was to have a table function." Several questions were asked regarding the details, including the lack of a support rail for kneeling. This was not according to the Altar Book. The congregation applied for a trial period, but the Oslo Bishop could not recommend this, and the Ministry said that the altar area should be furnished in the usual way! But the development could not stop. In the Mass Book of the Norwegian Church from 1977 we can read: "The altar is table for the Lord's supper, and should therefore carry the cup and the disk and the congregation gathers at the communion meal. By virtue of Jesus Christ's death and resurrection and his promise to be with their friends, the altar also marks the presence of God. The altar should have such a "gravity" and a dignity that it stands out as the unifying center in the worship space. It also applies when the altar has the form of a table altar. ... The altar should be so far out from the back wall so the priest may officiate facing the church, and that the congregation could easily pass by during the time the sacrifice was passing around the altar.”  In new churches it was now a matter of course that the table altar should stand free. But with this, one also had to rethink regarding the décor. An altarpiece could no longer rest on the altar!

The free-standing table altar and other changes it brought about, gradually influenced the new church buildings. New liturgical clothes were also a part of the renewal. Active efforts to renew the older churches were, however, minimal. A task in the new church was to shape a Communion Table which was clearly a table, but still was heavy, so it was perceived as both a table and an altar. On the following pages table altars are depicted by year. Is there a particular trend in the design?

In the Orthodox Church the elevated floor in front of and behind the iconostasis, is called  altar, while the "altar" is called "holy table" or "throne". The original dining table is still present while it is called a table and is usually made of wood with four legs. In addition, the table has a middle bar with space for the relic. The shape is like a cube of about 1x1x1 m. In the design of the holy table are several stories built in. The cube relates equally to all sides, and we find the symbol in the Holy of Holies in the temple of Jerusalem. As an expression of God's glorious throne the table is usually covered with colourful brocade (may vary liturgical) which runs down to the floor. The pictures below show the sides covered with golden metal plates instead of fabric. Under this cover there is a linen that covers the table. It is held in place with straps and is not removed. It is a tablecloth, but at the same time it is the burial clothes of Jesus. With so much to express at the same time, the image becomes slightly blurred!

A The green plants tell us that people are missing some of the rich decoration which the mother church has. The furnishing says that tradition from there is strong. The table has the character of an altar.

B The Marionite Church adhere to the Roman Catholic liturgy.

C Here the central place is neither the altar nor the table. It looks more like an office desk.

D There is a communion table, but the Word is more important