Worship in Christianity
Worship and Ritual in Christianity Christianity is among the ancient religions that still exist in the world. The diverse Christian groups that exist have various ways of worship. It is seen as a means to praise and glorify the Supreme Being. There is the belief that human beings were created in the image and likeness of the Supreme Being. The Bible is the Holy Book Christians use to worship and has been used as the guide to everyday life. There are rituals and festivals that mark the manner in which Christians praise God (Pecklers 65). These rituals trade back to the festivities that are seen in the Bible, and to this day, many individuals still uphold the practices. However, not many people view these rituals as a way of worship. They see it is primitive and empty. Some go as far as suggesting that there is no Supreme Being to worship. This paper, however, will examine worship and rituals that mark the Christian faith, and why it is vital to live believing in something. Empty ritualism is the process of undergoing, or performing a ritual while there is the absence of sincerity or genuine meaning. A lot of this happens in many areas as individuals believe that they are doing this to fall in God’s favour. This, to a large number of people, is what is called ritualism (White 61). It is usually done to recover some sense of religious feeling that was once lost. This is not condoned in modern Christian settings as it gives off a feeling of worship being violated. Whenever the pattern of worship is violated, people know that the design meant for ritual is not being followed. This gives the religion a terrible reputation among other religions that exist. Christians pride themselves with the thought of their religion being superior to other existent religions. They, therefore, follow most of the rituals in the Bible strictly so as to abide by the ways of truth. In the Holy Book, the New Testament ways are chosen over the Old Testament ways. This shows that some of
Cited: Anderson, Byron E., and Saliers E. Don. Worship and Christian Identity: Practicing Ourselves. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. Print. Pecklers, Keith. Worship. London: Macmillan Publishers, 2003. Print. White, Susan J. Foundations of Christian Worship. New York: Prentice Hall, 2006. Print.