Quick link for you here: Michael Spencer recently toured through a collection of items from the Vatican treasury and has some insightful reflections on the experience. He hits on a lot of good points, but one of the main ones is a combined appreciation for and frustration with the massive, ornate church buildings constructed by the church throughout the years:

Certainly, there is much pride and reverence for Catholic Christians in what is to be seen in the greatest church in “Christendom.” For a “new covenant” believing Christian, there was considerable irony in much of what I saw. Neither Jesus nor the Apostles would have built such an edifice. While it’s artistic achievements are magnificent, this is a church built in the name of the one who said… [read I Peter 2:5-9]

Jesus has definitively and permanently replaced the earthly, old covenant shaped temple, and the beauty of gold, silver and precious stones is now associated with the beauty of Jesus himself in the lives of those who are living stones in the house of God Jesus himself is building- the church, the ecclesia of God.

He goes on to caution Protestants to be careful, however, before condemning their Catholic brothers and sisters for material excess in the name of Christ.

Church architecture, and the moral aspects thereof, is a bit of a pet topic here at ThinkChristian; see these past posts and the discussions that ensued if you want to read more.