A church is expected to house a great number of people. In this sense, a church building may well resemble a cinema, but other functional needs differ. While dim lighting is perfectly acceptable for a cinema, it is not appropriate for a church. Protestant believers make use of books during meeting times, and both the sitting equipment and lighting must meet this demand. Apart from its impracticality, a gigantic, ill-lit church will also cause people to feel oppressed.
Natural light is of utmost importance for the human psyche, the author points out.
As a general rule, the bigger the church, the bigger the windows need to be, he explains. Big windows also reflect this open-minded Christian attitude, Zhu is convinced. Beauty is the thing all parishioners will find most important when asked about their suggestions for a new church building. Again, the question of proper lighting arises. Therefore, Zhu cautiously reminds his readers that Gothic style went out of fashion in Europe many years ago.