Liturgy in Religion and Theology - Essay Example

LITURGY Module Module ID: Introduction: It has frequently been witnessed that every existing culture of the world has adopted the religious traits attributed to the Christian faith. Hence, liturgy has obtained an influential status in all societies of the globe without discrimination, and feasts and festivals associated to Christianity have been being celebrated with great religious fervour and enthusiasm for the last many centuries in all parts of the globe at large. The term Liturgy simply refers to the religious performances made by the Christian community publically; it also includes prayers and worshipping, feasts and communion, i.e. Sacrament of the Eucharist. The feast is attributed to the Last Supper taken by Holy Jesus Christ in the Upper portion of Zion, where he declared bread as his body, and wine (or water) as his blood (Anderson, 2005, pp. 302-303). It is therefore, every newly baptised, newly married and recently repentant receives Communion from the Church minister as a holy feast associated with Christ. According to the Coptic Orthodox Church, “the Sacrament of Communion is a Holy Sacrament by which the believer eats the Holy Body and Precious Blood of Jesus Christ, presented by the Bread and Wine. This Sacrament has the greatest importance among the Seven Church Sacraments.” Since the Communion maintains imperative significance, as Christ has declared that “He who eats My Flesh, and drinks My Blood abides in Me, and I in him” (John 6:56), it is revered and observed by the Christians en masse wherever they work, reside and migrate.  Liturgy seeks its roots in earliest Christian era; the apostles, saints and true followers of earliest centuries A.D. celebrated the same in the light of the Biblical teachings and the noble sayings of Jesus Christ. As a result, the worshipping rites are accepted and embraced by the future generations without violating any aspect related to its fundamental principles. Kavanagh notices that “the apostles did it, and so did the Fathers of the Church and her pastors far into the Middle Ages” (1982, p.3). However, some of the critics are of the opinion that liturgy is actually adapted to culture, and seeks inspiration from the state or country in which the Christians reside and practise the same. It is partially because of the diversity in worship methodology as well as multiplicity of the style adopted by the Christian community. Hence, culture is more dominant feature than religion in their eyes. Famous sociologist Robert Wuthnow has shown that although the Christian teachings lay stress upon ethno-racial equality as a religious value, yet that value was not transmitted into actual behaviour (Hall, 2007, p.2). Actually by critically examining the history of the civilisations at large, it becomes crystal clear that cultural traits leave their indelible impact upon the individual and collective life of the people belonging to one specific social establishment or the other. The same tradition is not confined to one specific area or region only; rather, it is a universally accepted fact that the norms, mores and customs, prevailing in a culture, can sometimes affect the religious cult and worship practices of the followers of divergent spiritual faiths. Macionis (2008, p. 68) rightly states that cultural traits are so influential that they aptly prevail over the family traditions, religious conventions and statutes of the existing laws even. It is because of the very reality that they are being observed collectively in one region for the last several centuries, and do not allow an easy intrusion of social change being introduced in the physical and social environment. It is therefore, the Christians and Muslims adopted several features of Hinduism while their interaction with the Hindu community of Indian culture (Latourette, 1975, pp. 79-80). Consequently, the activities related to Communion are differently performed in Asian, European and African countries. Somehow, it does not mean that culture is absolutely unable to adapt itself according to the changes brought about through different factors. On the contrary, it has been recurrently witnessed that several dynamic factors including wars and battles, religion and preaching, trade and commerce, political and economic reforms, and scientific inventions and technological advancements etc have brought about revolutionary alterations within a cultural establishment. The same is the case with the Christian faith, which, instead of getting influenced by the prevailing culture, has reversed the cultural traits with its noble teachings. It is therefore, the fundamental features of liturgy are one and the same in all areas where there are being practised. Canale (2009, p.89) is of the view that liturgical practices are performed in a similar and universal way in divergent regions of the world, which is actually the outcome of the prayers personally made by Jesus Christ to the Lord that we should “become perfectly one” (John 17:23). Nevertheless, Canale admits the mordant legitimacy that there could be traced out differences in worship rites and religious rituals because of the existing cultural verity in different regions of the globe. However, he reiterates upon the need of reflecting into the explicit and implicit reasons behind the conflict-ridden modes of worship services (pp. 90-91). Kavanagh refutes the false notion that variation in the liturgy and rites associated to it are contradictory to the basic Christian teachings. On the contrary, he submits to state that “adaptation of the liturgy to various native genius and tradition is not a novelty but fidelity to tradition” (pp. 3-4). Consequently, adaptation of the liturgy is mere a reflection of the indigenous cultural expressions that could not be negated altogether. For instance, every culture follows its own symbols and language, costume and dresses, food and cuisine, sports and games, trade and commerce, and socio-political system, which is not only the outcome of the long and continuous transmission of traditions and conventions prevailing in it, but also serves as an essential and exceptional feature of that particular culture, violating from which is undoubtedly a hard nut to crack for the future generations even. The history is replete with the evidences that the Old Testament was revealed in Hebrew language, and the first version of the Holy Bible appeared in Aramaic language, as it was the native language of the people of Nazareth during the life of Christ. However, Christianity is far more popular in European, American and Australian countries than in Asia and Africa these days, a large majority of the population of which has adopted English as its major mode of communication. It is therefore, the English, French, German, Urdu and Arabic versions of the bible have been in vogue in the world for the last many decades. The same is applied to worship methods and dresses during worship. It has often been found that the Christian women living in the African and Asian states cover their entire body from head to foot during worship and prayers. They also cover their heads with scarf or head-rag as a gesture of reverence while standing before the Lord. However, the European women feel no hesitation in attending the church in skirts. Hence, it does not mean that the Christian females belonging to the modern countries have set aside the commandments of their faith. On the other hand, they just make their presentation in the dresses generally adopted and worn by an overwhelming majority of the indigenous population. It is therefore Kavanagh is justified in stating that “the liturgy does indeed make use of forms and symbols it finds in culture. Pagan elements exist in the blessing of the font and the new fire ceremonies of Easter; the feast of Christmas was partly influenced by the Roman cult of the Unconquered Sun at the winter solstice” (1982, p. 55). Yet neither Gospel nor Church nor liturgy became adaptively indentified with any of the cultural elements. Bibliography Anderson, Leith (2005) Jesus: An Intimate Portrait Bethany House pp. 302-304 Canale, Fernando (2009) Principles of Worship and Liturgy Journal of the Adventist Theological Society Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary Andrews University pp. 89-111 Hall, Rev. Caroline J. Addington (2007) Cultural Influences on American Episcopalians St Benedict’s Episcopal Church Los Osos, CA pp. 1-7 Retrieved from http://www.anglicancommunion.org/listening/book_resources/docs/Caroline%20Hall%20-%20Cultural%20Influences%20on%20American%20Episcopalians.pdf Kavanagh, Rev. Fr Aidan (1982) Elements of Rite: A Handbook of Liturgical Style Pueblo Publication Company pp. 51-123 Latourette, Kenneth Scott (1975) A History of Christianity Beginnings to 1500 Volume I Harper San Francisco pp. 79-80 Macionis, John J. (2008) Sociology 6th Edition Pearson prentice Hall p. 68 Coptic Orthodox Church Network (2005) Sacrament of the Eucharist St. Mark Coptic Church, Jersey City, NJ Retrieved from http://www.copticchurch.net/topics/thecopticchurch/sacraments/4_eucharist.html Accessed on 07-13-2012 The Gospel of John Read More