Introduction
A ritual is a historically formed form of complex symbolic behavior and an ordered system of actions typical of a group with the same identity. The first rituals emerged back in the Stone Age when priests performed various sacrifices and prayers. Centuries after, the lands of Hindustan became the places of alike rites (Newberg et al., 2020). Several centuries later, with the emergence of Christianity and Islam, sacred rites gained utterly new meaning – they became a symbol of worshiping Gods. Since then, many aspects of human life underwent changes, while religious rituals – one of the most permanent phenomena on earth – are still being performed.
Rituals in World Religions
Judaism has developed its own system of rituals: in the believers’ view, the prayer word and songs can reach heaven and impact the graciousness of the celestials. The prayer helps any miracle to come true because its power is immense. The rites of Judaism permeate each aspect of Jews’ life so that their days are filled with mini-rituals. For instance, the rabbis ordered Jews to pray three times daily and it became their daily routine (Newberg et al., 2020). Newberg people were made to perform divine services in the presence of a prayer book, a minyan, and, in addition, to accompany any action by praising the god Yahweh (Newberg et al., 2020). Prayers in Judaism are alien to the masses because the words have sacred power.
The life cycle rituals include the circumcision of the foreskin. It is the initiation and acceptance of a child into the Jewish community and a special sign of belonging to the faith. Among the rituals of Judaism, not the last place is occupied by the practice of ablution (Newberg et al., 2020). Rabbis recommend believers to do ablution, in other words cleansing, in a special pool filled with either rain or spring water.
Christians have a different system of rituals, even though some of them coincide with the Judaism ones. For instance, prayer is considered a preliminary daily practice; an individual may choose to pray either at home or church. The other ritual in Christianity is a festive divine service devoted to Jesus Christ’s resurrection (Newberg et al., 2020). Additionally, in Christianity, there are seven sacraments or sacred rites: baptism, communion (Eucharist), penance (confession), chrismation, marriage, anointing of the sick, and holy orders. They are called sacraments because God grants His grace on human beings.
The sacrament of the marriage presumes family creation by a young man and woman. The pivotal ceremony one of the Orthodox Church is the Eucharist, the rite that was established by Christ himself prior he was crucified (Newberg et al., 2020). As the church’s faith claims, bread and wine observed by believers during their prayer are turned into Christ’s body and blood and then are further consumed by people (Newberg et al., 2020). Confession is granted when a person speaks to a churchman about their wrongdoings. Baptism is another vital sacrament; it is the rite of entering the Christian community. For instance, in the Orthodox Church, the newborn children are baptized several weeks after birth. Anointing of the sick occurs when a priest prayer for the sick people. Finally, holy orders are performed when a person enters the priesthood.
The last sacrament resembles the rite of passage, upon completion of which a person moves to a new stage of life. This rite is vital for the members of a society because it involves the distribution of social status. Even though such practices were widely known among pagans, they are traced in Judaism and Christianity. For example, when Jews circumcise newborns, they want them to have the right to be true Jews. Therefore, the rites of passage are also indispensable for expressing belonging to one group. In addition, these practices provide one with an opportunity to unite with God and prove one’s loyalty to Him.
Meanwhile, the rites of intensification are also crucial for the common good. Such practices are typically conducted collectively, especially at the time of crisis, when everyone, for example, fasts or prays intensively. These rituals are aimed to reaffirm a status in the society such as renewing the marriage vows. They also help unite people in times of troubles and build connection between them. However, there are several implications of perceiving these rites as sacraments because the point of these rituals is to obey God. On the other hand, they cannot be claimed ordinances since these are means of God’s grace. This suggests that by praying together in difficult times, people desire salvation from someone else, thereby placing all responsibility on Almighty God. In general, practice simply benefits itself first of all and highlights a human’s inability to rely on oneself.
Conclusion
In conclusion, rituals were formed thousands of years ago, and they remain the driving force of religious groups. Both Christian and Jewish rites are based on praying, while they differ in other practices. The ancient traditions introduced by pagans are the rite of passage and intensification, which are seen in modern-day religious communities. Neither can be seen as sacraments or ordinances because people performing them do not expect anything from God but rather involve selfish motives.
Reference
Newberg, A., Bryce, D., Kaiping Peng, Y., & Zhao, Y. (Eds.). (2020). Rituals and practices in world religions: Cross-Cultural scholarship to inform research and clinical contexts. Springer International Publishing.