True History - Veritas Card #14 (Orange Card) - Cathedrals in Europe

Cathedrals in Europe - beginning c. 1100

    The word 'cathedral' comes from the Greek word meaning 'chair'. A cathedral is the seat of authority for a bishop. A bishop is like a supervisor. A bishop presides over a particular cathedral. The churches that are in his district make up the diocese. A cathedral is usually a large, city church, but it can also be a church of any size or style.
   The style of most buildings up to this time was called 'Romanesque', but now a new style was emerging, one which had pointed instead of rounded arches. It was called 'Gothic' and it appeared to be barbaric to the Italians. Skilled men spent their whole lives working on these buildings. After they died, their sons would continue the work on the building until it was finished.
   Buttresses, tall windows, and floor plans laid out in the shape of a cross were the characteristics of the style of these buildings. The tallest cathedral in the world is in Ulm, Germany. The largest cathedral is in Cologne, Germany. Two examples of this type of architecture are in Westminster in London, and, Notre Dame in Paris. The cathedral in Cologne took about 600 years to finish.
  The sad part of the building of cathedrals was the cost. It was very expensive. So, one way that was worked out to raise money was for the church to make and sell 'indulgences', which were slips of people that promised the person buying it would earn favor with God. The people misunderstood and bought these slips of paper thinking that it would help them earn their way to heaven. If they only knew what the Bible says about how a person is saved. A person can never earn salvation. Only one person was able to purchase salvation for everyone. We get in on His score, not on anything we do. We have to turn from our sin and turn to God. We must trust in what Jesus did on the Cross for our salvation. It was completely paid for. And we can be thankful for that.
   The building of St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome is most famous instance of the false promise of indulgences. It is a very elaborate, I'm sure, but it was paid for by people who falsely believed that they could enter heaven because of their investment in indulgences. We know better today.