Tuesday, November 25, 2008

The Pews

And assuming they had pews in the 1500s, this would have been where the parishioners listend to all those sermons (hopefully not too many on Nehemiah!).

Cathedral Interior 3

Presumably, from this pulpit, Calvin preached - apparently over 2,000 sermons, according to wikipedia.
During his ministry in Geneva, Calvin preached over two thousand sermons. Initially he preached twice on Sunday and three times during the week. This proved to be too heavy a burden and late in 1542 the council allowed him to preach only once every Sunday. However, in October 1549, he was again required to preach twice on Sundays and in addition every weekday of alternate weeks. His sermons lasted more than a hour and he did not use notes or manuscripts. An occasional secretary tried to take down notes of his sermons, but up to 1549 very little of his preaching has been preserved. However, in that year a professional scribe, Denis Raguenier, who had learnt or developed a system of shorthand, was assigned to record all his sermons. In analysing his sermons, Calvin was a consistent preacher and his style changed very little over the years.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Wonder


Matt asked to see pictures tonight from when he was a baby. It was fun, wonderful, astonishing and moving to look at photos and remember how tiny and helpless he was... He's five now! Wow.

Here's a photo I saw this evening that, for me, captured the wonder in Alex' eyes, at her newborn child. Wonder and adoration. A sense of pride and, perhaps, astonishment at this beautiful little thing she brought into the world. Good job Babe!

Monday, November 10, 2008

Cathedral Interior 1


I have a number of interior shots that I will work on and post. This is the first. My problem with all of these was the long shutter speeds, which, even with an image-stabilized lens, were pushing it for handholding.

The Holy Bible


Could this have been the bible that Calvin preached from? Studied with? Not sure, but it was open in the nave on a stand; open to Psalms.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Pillars of the Reformation


Walking about the old city of Geneva, I came across John Calvin's church the Cathedral of St. Peter. Turns out the Swiss Protestant churches are celebrating the 500th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin, a formative figure in the Reformation.

I took a ton of photos inside as well as outside. This is the pillars from the grand steps at the front of the cathedral.