Gargoyles in the Old Testament

Photo: A gargoyle adorning Dornoch Cathedral in Dornoch, Scotland

The BBC is reporting that “new gargoyles were being lifted into place at Gloucester Cathedral as part of a revamp of the building.”

According to the news report, “the gargoyles put in place in Tuesday depicted characters from Psalm 148.”

I had forgotten about the gargoyles of the Old Testament, those grotesque figures generally used as ornaments in pagan temples and in churches whose function was to scare off evil spirits and protect holy places.

So, I reread Psalm 148, the biblical text used to depict those gargoyles. And sure enough, just as I suspected, the gargoyles of Psalm 148 are just the creation of a very fertile imagination.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Architecture, Art, Gargoyles, Psalm 148