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2 - INVESTIGATION OF LITERATURE and DEVELOPMENT OF APPROACH
This Section explains the main types of literature
found to have a bearing on the matter being investigated, and shows how
the developing understanding of the literature influenced the form in
which the detailed work would be presented
2.1
Literature
This review of the literature is presented in three parts, the first
relating to Building and Professional Practice, the second to Scripture,
and the third to the making of connections between Scripture and areas
of contemporary life such as Building.
Building
and Professional Practice
This dissertation is concerned with Building as it occurs in the
UK
in
the late twentieth century. Therefore the relevant literature has to be
mainly contemporary. The primary forms of contemporary literature are
journals, recently published books, current legislation, reports of
recent research and the guides, reports and `official' documents by
which the industry orders its life. The issues of interest were topical
and central. Much that was necessary was available either in the
Anglia
Polytechnic
University
library or through the information services of professional institutions
or on visits, as will be explained, to
Windsor
Castle
.
The present cannot be understood without some knowledge of the past by
which the present has been in part determined. Therefore older and
background material has also been consulted.
Professional
Practice is also a current matter. The essential characteristics of it
are set out in the various codes of professional practice and those
parts of the journals of professional bodies concerned with their
institutional affairs (as opposed to the subjects, such as Building,
which their members profess). The phenomenon of professionalism has a
sociological face, and professional ethics and responsibility, a
philosophical face. The literature of these is relevant to this
dissertation. Concurrently with research for this dissertation, the
author was preparing and teaching a Master's module on Professionalism.
It was judged that the literature base for that was sufficient for this
dissertation.
Taking
Building
and Professional Practice together, the policy has been to use mainly
literature which is reasonably to hand for learning and teaching at
Master's level.
Scripture
and its interpretation
Scripture is not a contemporary physical and social phenomenon in the way
that Building is. As has been explained, its nature is that of faith
informed by scholarship. For research of this kind, one has to establish
a threshold of understanding appropriate to work at Master's level, but
bearing in mind that the purpose of the research is not to enhance base
knowledge of Scripture but to make cross-discipline connections with
Building.
The
literature used has therefore consisted of a base of general works on
the Old and New Testaments. These have been supplemented by a range of
texts on particular scriptural books and themes written by scholars for
serious non-specialist students working with the biblical texts in
English, thereby avoiding, in the main, the perils of the highly
specialist work on one hand and the dangerously uncritical on the other.
However, where specialist articles closely related to the specific
matters under consideration have been identified, use has been made of
them to the extent that the non-specialist in language and history can
do so. Complementary to literature focused on texts has been that
relating to history, geography and archaeology. This literature as a
whole creates the world of Scripture comparable to the contemporary
world of Building.
Above
the base of Scripture itself is the matter of how it can be interpreted
and used in the late twentieth century. Historico-critical, literary and
'reader-response' approaches have been appraised. The response taken in
this dissertation to the matter of interpretation is a pragmatic one. It
is foolish not to avail oneself of the fruits of historico-critical
scholarship at a non- or semi-specialist level but one cannot stay with
that. If Scripture is living Word it must be given the space to speak
for itself directly to the contemporary world.
As with Building, the approach has been to work with materials reasonably
readily available in the libraries of the Cambridge Theological
Federation and Chelmsford Cathedral. These libraries serve work at
Master's level and the use of them has therefore been appropriate.
Making
connections
In the course of the work it was found beneficial
to read Kreitzer's The Old
Testament in Fiction and Film (1994). He is concerned with the
interaction between the Old Testament and the making of films closely
related to it. This turned out to be a different kind of connection from
that sought in this dissertation but reading about it was liberating and
helped to build confidence. A similar benefit accrued from Kuhl's
doctoral dissertation (1993). Christian ministry in the mid-West
heartland of
America
,
where the agricultural industry was in major crisis and needing
fundamental change, led him to see the situation in terms of Lutheran
understandings of, principally, Pauline New Testament doctrine. His
conclusion was that that particular industry must `learn to farm
repentantly'.
Literature
that relates Scripture to Building is, not surprisingly, most readily
apparent in relation to church building. The record of the Durham
Cathedral 900th anniversary (eds Brown and Loades, 1995 and 1996) brings
into the present discussions on sacred space, sacred art, sacred music
and sacred time, and on Christ as sacramental Word. It is interesting
that no connection is made between these volumes and
Jackson
's
symposium (1993) of papers on the Engineering of the cathedral. Giles
(1997), who is both town planner and priest, fuses Scriptural
understandings of worship places with the practicalities of contemporary
building design and technology. However, this dissertation is not
specifically concerned with building for worship; it is concerned with
Building as a whole. Two books by Harries, Art
and the Beauty of God (1993) and Is
there a gospel for the rich?: The Christian in a Capitalist World (1992),
taken together cover matters of architecture, social issues such as
housing, and economics and business. It is that combination of disparate
things that constitutes Building and which will be reflected in the
detailed work of this dissertation. Harries' work did not provide the
agenda but it verified it.
All
these helped to provide background and build up confidence but none of
them quite showed how Building, as a large area of secular life, as
professions and industry, could relate on an equal basis with Scripture
which is believed to be a marker, not so much a static point in a
dynamic world, but a current in the dynamic world which flows in a
direction that turns out to be good and wise. A clue came from a small
book by Polkinghorne (1996), scientist and priest, in which he uses the
form of simple dialogue between science and faith to move both towards
common understandings.
2.2
Development of Approach
The development of the approach used in this dissertation and the
resulting structure has been iterative. Each iteration has been informed
by the literature and is the outcome of reflection and discussion with
the research supervisors and others.
First
iteration: title and first view of content
The first task was to decide on a title. While it was intended that the
work would be inter-disciplinary. the proposal was to be put forward to
the University through the then Faculty of Built Environment, Science
and Technology. Building, therefore, had to be the substantive subject,
with Scripture as the perspective from which it was to be approached.
Building is a vast subject. There had to be a selection within it. This
was effected by applying three constraints. The first would be that of
`issues'; the whole need not be considered, just selected issues.
Second, the issues would be ones in which there was a recognizable
axiological, or values-related, aspect. Thirdly, they would be issues
which could be regarded as reasonable concerns of responsible
professional people. At first, `Making connections......' seemed
somewhat mechanistic but that seemed better than something more
esoteric, such as 'inter-illumination', although that becomes one of the
outcomes of the work. It was
thought correct to speak of the Christian
Scriptures, as there are others. It was decided not to try to make
complicated references to 'Word and Sacraments', even though that was
envisaged..
Consideration
of the title did not take place in the abstract. Two possible issues
were already in mind and it was thinking about them which finally
clarified the title. At that time (1996) `Building' brought two ideas
immediately to mind. The first was that of particular buildings, the
design, the technology and the bricks and mortar. The second was the
building process as carried out by the building industry. The
restoration of
Windsor
Castle
was at the time - and throughout the research - a high profile project.
The recent Review by Sir Michael Latham of the procurement and
contractual practices and attitudes of the industry was the most
significant current procedural issue. It was inevitable that Windsor and
Latham should be included.
Second
iteration: developing the content
The question then arose as to how Windsor and Latham could be connected
with Scripture. It seemed obvious to try to relate royal and prestigious
Windsor
to
Solomon's great development of temple, palace and garrison structures at
Jerusalem
.
Latham is about the ethos of the industry, the development of trust and
long-term relationships, and about integrity with money and promptness
in the making of payments, not least to small sub-contractors who come
at the end of a contractual chain. Resonance with Moses and the Law, the
torah, became powerful.
It
became clear that it would be impossible to deal credibly with Scripture
without giving strong consideration to prophecy. A little research
showed that the prophets were sometimes critical of both kings and
extravagant building, while at the same time drawing attention to the
plight of the powerless and poor. In doing this, they used strong images
relating to houses. The current problem of homelessness was seen to have
links with prophecy. Thus a third area for investigation had been
identified.
At
this point it was unclear as to how the New Testament and the sacraments
would fit in. One wondered whether there should be other Building issues
that related specifically to them. Although the imagery of Building is
strong in the New Testament, no practical issue came to mind.
Third
iteration: finalizing the content
Connections were being made between Building and with narratives
concerning Solomon, the Mosaic law and the prophets. If a Building issue
could be found to relate to the Wisdom material. there would be four
strong connections with the Old Testament. It was decided to take
professionalism itself as that issue, as it is about making sound
judgments and acting wisely.
Scripture
was beginning to reveal its own logic and dynamic. Concrete real-life
issues such as building royal complexes, establishing the way a people
or an industry lives, facing problems of social injustice and nurturing
people destined to carry responsibility in ways of sense and wisdom,
begin in the Old Testament. Such matters do not begin in the New
Testament. What does happen in the New Testament is that temple (Mt
12:6), a new Kingdom based on justice (Mk 1:15), the Mosaic law (2 Cor
3:7) and the phenomenon of Wisdom (Col 2:3) become associated with, and
fulfilled in, the person of Christ. The decision was therefore made to
create a fifth Section dedicated to demonstrating the way the four
issues now connected to the Old Testament were taken forward in the New.
That Section would need a Building component, not necessarily an issue
in the sense that the others were, but something to balance the
scriptural content. That was elusive. Eventually it was realized that
`Building' is made up of many individual human beings who can be
signified by the figure of the man Adam (Gen 2:7) and stand as a
counterpart to Christ, the new Adam (Rom 5:14-5). The literature on
Christ as sacrament suggested that consideration of Scripture as enacted
Word should appear in the New Testament section as an integral part of
it.
This
completed the identification of Building and scriptural material to form
the materials to be examined in what have become Sections 3-7.
Formulating
the dialogue between Building and Scripture
At the same time as the consideration of the subjects of these Sections
was going on, their internal structure was evolving. It was felt
strongly that Building and Scripture should be seen as equals.
Polkinghorne had given the idea of dialogue, of one speaking first and
then the other, with discussion ensuing. A sequence of dialogue began to
emerge.
Windsor
as
the most specific and concrete of the four Old Testament-based issues
seemed the best place to start. In its Section, it would `speak' first
and Solomon's
Jerusalem
scenario would follow. There was a natural step from Solomon the king to
the prophets who criticised kings and the wealthy. Therefore the second
issue would be prophecy, responded to with matters such as homelessness
and the housing needs of the ageing population. Housing, while a big
issue in itself, is only a facet of Building. Latham relates to another
facet, the contractual area. Therefore in the third Section. Latham
would be first and Moses and the Law would be the response. Wisdom is
partly about living the kind of life that the Law requires. Thus in the
fourth Section it would appear first and professional practice would be
the response. This would lead on to the New Testament section beginning
with the individual in Building, adam,
and the response being Christ, the new Adam.
These parallel opening statements, one from Scripture and one from
Building, were different in kind; one a perspective from a scriptural
text and the other a perspective from contemporary life and industry. It
became evident that there had to be mechanism for saying what each was
and for relating it to what the other was. A first consideration
suggested that there would be, on one hand.similarities and tendencies
to converge, and, on the other, dissimilarities and tendencies to
diverge. It was therefore decided that, following the opening
statements, there would be a section entitled Comparison, in which the
different natures of the Scripture and Building material would be set
out.
Drawing
out the connectedness
A first examination of the four dyads Windsor/Solomon, Prophecy/Housing,
Latham/Law and Wisdom/Professional Practice suggested that there might
be connections within them of different types. In some there was a
discernible historical continuity, through, for example, a medieval
stepping stone. In others there was a very clear common area in relation
to ethical issues. The historical and the ethical are relatively `hard'
types of connection. Both are important but they are not all there is.
Both Scripture and Building are richer and more subtle than that.
At
this point, there was critical discussion with the supervisors and
others. Something was emerging which was asking whether Scripture and
Building were kinds of metaphor for each other, each depicting the other
in terms of its own frameworks of language, ideas and thought. It is
important to emphasize the two-way nature of the metaphor. It is not
being argued that Building is the reality and Scripture a metaphor or resemblance of it; neither
is it being argued that Scripture is the
reality and Building merely metaphor or resemblance. Both are equal
realities, expressing truths about themselves and about each other.
The
idea of inter-illumination has already been mentioned. Scripture and
Building illuminate each other. Each is the light that reveals what the
other truly is. We are concerned here with something more dynamic than a
spotlight shining on a static wall. Thompson writes of `.....a sea of
inter-penetrating concepts.... showing us different aspects, different
ways of seeing. The whole develops organically somewhat like the way in
which genes may meet and "inter-illuminate": finding their
pattern mirrored in the other, entering into creative fusion........'
(Thompson. 1990. p53). Thompson is concerned with the spirituality of
matter, which may or may not be `Scripture and Building' viewed at a
deeper level. This is not the place to explore that but it is
justifiable to adopt the assertion that, when things inter-illuminate
each other, it is possible for some kind of fusion to occur and for some
kind of creativity to result.
In
carrying out the detailed work, it was found possible to indicate
historical, ethical and metaphorical types of connection in each
Section, the four relating to the Old Testament and the one relating to
the New. These came to be designated `historical continuities', `ethical
discussion' and `metaphorical interplay'.
In this structure, the sacraments found a lodging place. Baptism was made
the ethical connection and the Lord's Supper/Eucharist the metaphorical
connection in the New Testament-based Section.
Emergent axiology
The domain of the dissertation is axiological or values-related issues. A
value judgment had to be made in the selection of the Building issues to
form the subjects of the Sections. In the course of the development of
the Section the values embedded in it emerge. Each Section therefore
concludes with a sub-section on the emergent axiology.
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