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ancient sun-worship. However thai may be, it is certain that the 

 early christians accepted the principle of orientation as a matter of 

 course. 



The first mention of the word church, as applied to a place of 

 worship, is s^id to occur in the fourth century; in the "Apostolical 

 Constitutions" of that century it is ordered, "Let the church be 

 oblong, turned towards the east, with lateral chambers on both 

 sides, towards the east, as it is to resemble a ship : let the bishop's 

 throne be in the midst, with the presbytery sitting on either side 

 and the deacons standing by." 



The oblong form, allegorical of a ship, as an emblem of the 

 "Ark of Christ," is said, with great show of reason, to give us tlie 

 origin of our word nave, as applied to the body of a church, the 

 original word in Latin being navis — a ship. A church in Rome 

 built A.D. 630, is said to have had its sides curved like the hull of 

 a ship. 



In A.D. 390 St. Augustine wrote, "When we offer up prayer we 

 turn to the east, whence cometh the light." These words no 

 doubt have primarily christian reference, but they would appear 

 to refer also to the extinct sun-worship of the eastern nations. 

 And here in England it is also believed by many that it is to the 

 sun-worship of our forefathers, whether as Druids, as converts to 

 Roman pantheism, or as Scandinavian pagans, that we owe the 

 deep-rooted veneration for the eastern aspect in church-building 

 and ritual. 



While the pious Hebrew saw in the glorious sun rising "like a 

 giant to run his course," only the most magnificent of God's 

 created agencies, our rude forefathers saw a god himself; and it 

 was but natural that sun-worship should be a leading feature in the 

 religion of the dwellers in the cold north, for to them the sun's 

 genial influence was of the utmost ihiportance ; and no wonder 

 that they should worship the most glorious and beneficent object 

 with which they were acquainted, and we suppose that a special 

 time for their adoration was when after a night of coldness and 

 gloom the bright oib again showed himself upon the horizon. 



It is recorded tljat at the winter solstice, when it appeared as 



