RS Religious and Spiritual Experience

EFG

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  • Created by: Phoebe
  • Created on: 13-05-12 15:01

Private worship

Types of private worship:

  • Prayer
  • Meditate
  • House groups
  • Bible studying

Rudolph Otto: "the numinous" a mysterious power which suggests the presence of God

Some people think that private worship gives them a closer relationship with God

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Communal Worship

  • The Eucharist is a Xian sacrament that commemorates the Last Supper
  • It involves Xians eating bread and drinking wine that represents Jesus' body and blood
  • Transubstantiation is the teaching of RC and Orthodox chruches that the bread and wine of the Eucharist become, in substance not appearance, the body and blood of JC at the consecration
  • Charismatic worship is where people try to open themselves up to and be inspired by the holy spirit
  • Glossolalia is common in charismatic worship
  • Worship may also include charity work and pilgrimages
  • Liturgical: a formal arrangement of worship/set pattern
  • Non-liturgical: Informal, Society of Friends etc
  • Protestants believe bread REPRESENTS JC body
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Worship

Sacraments

  • First communion/conformation
  • Marriage ceremony
  • Baptism

to worship: to offer praise to God who is worthy

why worship? sign of devotion, love God, love thy neighbour etc

Every actions should be a form of worship

God is WORTH worship, as he is the creator - worthy of praise/HOLY

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Prayer and Meditation

ACTS (4 main types of prayer:

  • A=Adoration  (worshipping God for who he is and what he has done)
  • C=Confession (saying sorry for wrongdoings and asking God to forgive)
  • T=Thanksgiving (giving thanks to God)
  • S=Supplication (asking God for own needs and needs of others)

RC - Rosary beads - reflection on mysteries

Each set of 10 beads is called a decade - during the recitation of the rosary people reflect on one of the four sets of mysteries:

  • Joyful Mysteries
  • Sorrowful Mysteries
  • Glorious Mysteries
  • Luminious Mysteries
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Art and Music in Worship

  • When people could not read, or church services and Bible readings were in Latin, the message of God was conveyed in a visual means e.g. stained glass windows
  • Icons of the saints and Jesus seek to evoke an experience of stillness
  • Stations of the Cross - Recall the events of Jesus' final days - reminds us of his sacrifice
  • Singing expresses feelings, helps them feel closer to God
  • Hymns are often derived from passages of scripture
  • Reflection
  • Praise
  • Pentecostal worship may include modern music, to help the young feel involved
  • Protestants do not use icons or images : Exodus: "do not make graven images"
  • Dancing is common in Charismatic Churches - seen as a sign of the Holy Spirit's presence
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In the Church

  • Altar: preparing and blessed the Eucharist (bread and wine)
  • Pulpit: raised platform from which the service is read
  • Font: where people are baptised (near the door to the church, symbolizing entrance to Xianity)
  • Reredos: painted or sculpted screen behind the altar, often with pictures of saints
  • Confession box: where confession is made
  • Pews: where congregation sit
  • Lectern: where the readings are made and the word of god is interpreted by the preacher
  • Candles: lit  so smoke carries prayers to heaven/Jesus is light of world
  • Fourth Commandment: "Keep the Sabbath Day Holy"
  • Grace: private worship, thanking God
  • Psalms: words taken from the Bible to be sung/said
  • Nave: where the congregation sits
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Symbolism in Worship

  • Alpha and Omega: first and last letters of Greek alphabet, meaning Jesus is the beginning and end of all things
  • A fish: the initial letters from the Greek phrase meaning "Jesus" Christ, Son of God, Saviour" make up the Greek word for fish
  • A dove: symbol of peace/Holy Spirit
  • Chi-rho: the first two letters of JC name is Greek
  • Cross: common Xian symbol
  • Crucifix: cross with JC on it
  • Candles: JC light of world
  • Stoup: Contains blessed water
  • Vestment: special dress worn by priests
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Food and Fasting

  • No meat on a Friday (JC crucifixion)
  • Hot cross buns 4 Easter
  • Pancakes 4 Shrove Tuesday
  • Symbolic food: Easter eggs: New life
  • Harvest Festival: thanking God for successful harvest, give food to poor

Fasting:

  • Fasting is when people go without food or drink for a period of time
  • Lent - Luke: Jesus' temptation is desert - 40 days and nights
  • "For forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry"
  • RCs fast for one hour before communion
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