Worship and Ritual in Christianity

The JCM reading on worship and ritual in Christianity was interesting. I liked the way it discussed different Christian perspectives, rituals and ideologies based on the history of the New Testament. I also thought the reading did a good job summarizing and examining Christian perspectives and relationships to Judaism and Islam. It seemed to me that most Christian rituals are the ones Jesus and the New Testament scholars considered.

The part I enjoyed most was the part about European missionaries and indigenous Africans. I was born in a region where European missionaries (Catholics and Protestants) competed over indigenous people for conversion. As the reading put it, there were some misunderstandings and differences between the missionaries and indigenous people. The persons the missionaries wanted to convert did like some Christian rituals because they were against their cultures. For example, pouring water over heads for baptism seemed strange to Africans because it was a symbol of action, not a sign of religious identity. “In Christianity, Ritual and prayer is ritual, and ritual is prayer. Ritual and prayer are most often called ‘worship’ by Christians” (JCM 236). I am not sure about the first religions and traditions we studied early, but is Christianity the only religion, which considers prayer and ritual to be the same? I do not see ritual and prayer as different words because they have distinctive meanings.