AFAIK, it has to do with the idea of Christ as the light that guides Christians through perilous waters. There are lots of references to the idea of light, a guiding light, and walking in the light in the bible, so I suspect the lighthouse was adopted later in keeping with this imagry.
I have seen in in Germany in connection with the church in my little part of the North, but we are also perched on a river with no fewer than 3 lighthouses to our name, so it may not be universal.

Also google (Leuchtturm+christlich) spricht dafür, daß das auch im Deutschen so ist. (war mir aber neu).
Warum? Ich kann nur vermuten, daß es um das Wegweisen geht.
Kämpfst Du noch mit dem Leuchtturm in der Geschäftsbroschüre?

I just sent it off with "Guiding project" as a possibility for the lighthouse image, but suggesting they might instead want to find one of a ship :-) I also mentioned that lighthouses are connected with Christianity, as it's quite a common symbol in GB - I couldn't think of the reason why, though.

"LIGHTHOUSE: Guiding ships in the night through perilous waters, the lighthouse has been adopted by christians as a sign that lights a guiding path to Christ."
http://www.lighthouseministry.org/

Die Symbolik finde ich nachvollziehbar. Ansonsten geht es mir wie CJ de: der Leuchtturm scheint auch in D als christliches Symbol verwendet zu werden, was mir aber erst vor wenigen Tagen im Zshg. mit dem evang. Kirchentag erstmakls aufgefallen ist. Ich könnte mir vorstellen, dass das in D. eine geographische, konfessionelle und generationelle Frage ist. Völlig unbelegte These: im katholischen Süddeutschland kann man mit Leuchttürmen nichts anfangen, im protestant. Nordeutschland schon eher. Und für meine süddt.-kath. Sozialisation kann ich sagen, dass der Leuchtturm nicht zum klassischenm Symbolrepertoire gehört. Doch die Jugend übernimmt so viel aus Amerika, wer weiß...;-)

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
John ch.8, v. 12.
That's the bible quotation that sprang to my mind. Always makes me think of that Holman Hunt painting:
http://www.users.totalise.co.uk/~tmd/the-ligh...

Christus lux mundi, genau wie Anne (GB). Das war mein erster Gedanke. Danke Anne (GB) für die Fundstelle.

Thanks for the enlightenment!

Dieses Lied haben wir sehr oft in der Baptistengemeinde gesungen:

Brightly beams our Father’s mercy,
From His lighthouse evermore,
But to us He gives the keeping
Of the lights along the shore.

Refrain:
Let the lower lights be burning!
Send a gleam across the wave!
Some poor fainting, struggling seaman
You may rescue, you may save.

Dark the night of sin has settled,
Loud the angry billows roar;
Eager eyes are watching, longing,
For the lights along the shore.

Trim your feeble lamp, my brother;
Some poor sailor, tempest-tossed,
Trying now to make the harbor,
In the darkness may be lost.

--Philip K. Bliss, 1871

Dieses Lied haben wir sehr oft in der Baptistengemeinde gesungen:

Brightly beams our Father’s mercy,
From His lighthouse evermore,
But to us He gives the keeping
Of the lights along the shore.

Refrain:
Let the lower lights be burning!
Send a gleam across the wave!
Some poor fainting, struggling seaman
You may rescue, you may save.

Dark the night of sin has settled,
Loud the angry billows roar;
Eager eyes are watching, longing,
For the lights along the shore.

Trim your feeble lamp, my brother;
Some poor sailor, tempest-tossed,
Trying now to make the harbor,
In the darkness may be lost.

--Philip K. Bliss, 1871

Ich schließe mich Merls These (#4) an, das ist sicherlich regional und konfessionell unterschiedlich. Aus dem katholischen Alpenraum sind mir Leuchttürme weder als reale Objekte noch als christliches Symbol bekannt.

http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/26739518/
a symbol also used by the terrence higgins trust...

when i hear lighthouse - i also think of people like Sam Lord etc. who misuse the symbol of warning...

@Robert US
Lasst die Küstenfeuer brennen.... ist die deutsche Version dieses Liedes.

Küstenfeuer waren die erste Version von Leuchtfeuern, manchmal auch zur Irreführung von Schiffen von Strandräubern eingesetzt.

Daher wird vielleicht als christliches Symbol der Leuchtturm genommen, weil Leuchttürme im Gegensatz zu Küstenfeuern auf jeden Fall "die richtige Richtung" anzeigen.....

Leuchtend strahlt des Vaters Gnade
aus dem obern Heimatland,
doch uns hat er anvertrauet
Rettungslichter längs dem Strand.

Lasst die Küstenfeuer brennen,
lasst sie leuchten weit hinaus,
denn sie zeigen manchen Schiffer
sicherlich den Weg nach Haus.

Dunkel ist die Nacht der Sünde,
schaurig klingt der Wogen Lied,
manches Auge sucht voll Sehnsucht,
ob's am Strande Lichter sieht.

Jesus hat uns ausgesendet,
wie der Vater ihn gesandt,
dass die Liebe Gottes strahle,
da wo man ihn nicht gekannt.

Lass dein Licht doch nicht verlöschen,
sonst vielleicht zu dieser Stund,
weil es nicht den Hafen findet,
sinkt ein Schifflein auf den Grund.
http://f3.webmart.de/f.cfm?id=592203&r=thread...

Philip Bliss, 1838-1875
http://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/biobl...

_______________

@bel: Thanks for that. It's funny to see familiar songs in translation.


Of course there's a lot of biblical imagery using light as a symbol for God, Christ, truth, etc. The ship has long been a traditional symbol for the church (cf. 'nave' for the central part of a church building), and there are Bible stories about storms at sea, from Noah and Jonah to Jesus and Paul. There are also more general images such as watchtowers and beacons, symbolizing watchfulness, reason, guidance, etc. scattered through the Bible & later Christian history.

But I haven't yet found anything specifically about the lighthouse earlier than the gospel song (which was my own association) either. That 19th-century period of revivalism and an emphasis on personal salvation still strongly influences evangelicals today. From a practical angle, the 19th century was also a major period of travel by ship, especially in the English-speaking world, when the British navy ruled the waves, and sailing ships were succeeded by steamships. So I suspect the 19th and early 20th centuries were, if not the earliest use of the lighthouse image, at least its heyday.

I've seen the lighthouse used as a symbol in other contexts (e.g., a nonprofit group providing services for the blind), so I don't think it's exclusively Christian, but I agree that something like the Salvation Army might well be many people's first association.

Nur nebenbei: There are a lot of Catholic schools in the U.S. called "Lumen Christi", but not necessarily "lighthouse of Christ".

Perhaps this isn't adding much to the discussion, but I think that a lighthouse is not a symbol that is recognized as a primarily Christian symbol (unlike the cross), which does not mean that it isn't used. Another example is the butterfly, which can be used in a Christian context to represent new life or rebirth in Christ. But I don't immediately think of Christianity everytime I see a butterfly somewhere. Who is it that uses a lighthouse to represent his movie production studio? Spielberg? Searchlight Productions? Certainly it's not intended as a Christian symbol there, nor do I think people interpret it that way. If I were to speculate (sorry I'm too lazy to search in the internet), I would say that I think the Jehovah's Witnesses do use the lighthouse regularly in their materials. I had a co-worker who was a Jehovah's Witness and he used to give me stuff to read. One of the publications is called "Watchtower" and it seems to me there were lighthouses there somewhere. But as I said, while Christians might use the lighthouse, I don't think it's the first thing many people think of when they see a lighthouse, especially if they live in a coastal area. There are lots of lighthouses in Michigan and when people see one somewhere on a brochure, they probably think of a tourist appeal.

Das sagt das Herder-Lexikon Symbole (3. Aufl. 1995) dazu:

Ein Leuchtturm ist, vor allem z. Zt. des frühen Christentums, ein Symbol für das ewige Ziel, das das Lebensschiff (siehe Schiff) auf den Wogen des diesseitigen Lebens ansteuert.

Demnach also nicht erst, wie oben vermutet, im 19. Jahrhundert aufgekommen, und weniger mit der Licht- als vielmehr mit der Schiff-Symbolik verwoben.