Great Stairs: Wentworth Woodhouse

The grand staircase at Wentworth Woodhouse, a gigantic Yorkshire mansion about which I have previously offered comment, suits the house in terms of taste and scale. Matching its classical frontage, busts and statues of emperors and Greco-Roman divinities peer out from alcoves and niches. The ancients preferred good-looking gods, and these handsome men and women would grace any palatial pile. Such statuary makes this English country house appear cultured and in keeping with the owners’ aristocratic pedigree.

The ancient Jews were ridiculed for having no image of their God. Yet how could they? What sculptor, painter or silversmith could do Him justice or capture His dazzling, eternal beauty? The invisible God is beautiful beyond description; manmade gods are only as good as the hands that crafted them. The Triune God's splendour fascinates and mesmerises even cherubim and seraphim, so what paltry statue or painting could we hang on our staircase in His honour?

Beware of idols. Beware of human interpretations of God which are just as inaccurate, misleading, underwhelming and dangerous. 

One thing I have desired of the Lord,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord,
And to inquire in His temple. Ps 27:4