Religous & Spiritual Experience

OCR philosophy Christianity

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  • Created by: popwizzy
  • Created on: 06-05-11 20:38

What is Worship?

Worship: a way of expressing honour, respect and devotion to God.

Worship means getting closer to God.

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Private Worship and Reasons for Prayer

Christians may...

  • Read the Bible
  • Meditate (emptying your mind of distracting thoughts so you can focus on one thing, they feel calmer and can listen to God)
  • Read formal prayers
  • Make prayers of their own
  • Do the Rosary
  • Have statues or icons

When they pray it might be for...

  • concerns in the world
  • needs of others (intercessions)
  • own needs as well as others (petition)
  • thanksgiving
  • saying sorry (confession)
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Services

Catholics and C of E have liturgical (set pattern). This includes...

  • Readings with a Sermon (a talk by priest to help congregation understand the readings)
  • Communion- Catholics believe in transubstantiation (believing bread and wine literally turn in to body and blood) C of E just believe Christ is present 
  • Hymns(Prayer of religious poetry set to music)

Quakers have non liturgical

  • More spontaneous- people talk when they feel moved

"Where two or three gather in my name, I am in the midst of them"

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Symbolism

Symbol: something visible used to represent something invisible or spiritual

they convey a message

  • In Baptism, there is water(cleansing sin), candle (light of Christ), white garment (new life) oil of chrism (sign of the cross)

Other examples of symbols:

  • Communion(for some, others believe its more than symbol)
  • Holy Water
  • Incense
  • Liturgical colours
  • Dove
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Music and Art

Music

  • Communal singing- worship as one body
  • Hymns- praise, thanks, communicate with God

Art

  • Sets the mood
  • reminds congregation of the beauty of God
  • gives them a focus
  • helps to visualise God
  • important in Latin masses when people didn't understand the words
  • Catholics- stained glass windows (explains God, light reminds of divinity) and kneelers
  • Orthodox- lots of icons (holy picture of spiritual figure)
  • Non Conformist- no art
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Art continued

Why no art?

  • distraction
  • people idolise the image rather than what it represents

In the 10 Commandments "You shall not make any image of likeness of anything in Heaven"

Stations of the Cross: 14 pictures showing the events in the last days in the life of Jesus usually found on the walls of churches.

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Prayer

Prayer: communicating with God, often using words.

  • Jointly (in liturgical mass)
  • Responses (bidding prayers)
  • As they choose (Quakers, private worship)

Jesus prayed in the Bible...

  • Bringing Lazarus back to life
  • On the cross
  • In the garden of Gethsemane
  • taught disciples to (the our father)  

"when you pray, go to your room, close the door and pray to your father who is unseen. [He] will reward you"

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Food and Fasting

Fasting: abstaining from food for religious reasons

why fast...

  • to put God first
  • Jesus did when he fasted for 40 days and nights in the desert, also to remember his suffering
  • to remind themselves to rely on God
  • teaches self control which can be used in following commandments for example

Some prefer to do positive actions rather than give something up( focus normal life)

As Stewards (someone who looks after something for someone else- Christians look after God's creation), Christians should not eat food produced with chemicals/cruelty

 "All the animals, birds & fish...I give them all to you for food...must not eat meat with blood still in it...the life is in the blood"

Jesus created food- feeding of five thousand, fishing with disciples, wedding at Cana

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