Search

1. Anthropological Sense Play is a general phenomenon in both individual and social life. Yet no universally accepted definition of the term that would make it scientific has yet been found (H. Scheuerl). From the days of I. Kant (1724–1804; Kantianism), an essential feature of play has been the lack of any goals apart from itself (so W. Dilthey; Hermeneutics 3.1.3.2; Vitalism 2). As involving a freedom from outward pressures (G. W. F. Hegel; Hegelianism) or moral commitment (F. Nietzsche; Nihilism; Religion, Criticism of), thi…

Overview The Eucharist (or Holy Communion or the Lord’s Supper) has had from the very beginning a place of special importance in the life of Christianity. The eating and drinking of bread and wine in obedience to the command of Jesus at his Last Supper with his disciples is a sensory representation of the spiritual reality of the Christ whom Christians believe in and confess. The celebration of the Eucharist shows clearly, and makes known, that which Christian life in praise and thanksgiving atte…

1. Development and Types 1.1. The Bible is the oldest and most basic liturgical book for Christian worship. With the OT the first churches took over from the synagogue the liturgical reading of Scripture, a practice that is inseparably linked to the formation of the NT canon. Just as the Hebrew Scriptures and then the Greek translation of those Scriptures were the primary books to be read in the assembly, so the churches began to assemble lists of books and collections of books, later included in the f…

1. Term As a special form of social action, communication denotes the exchange of signs between a communicator and a recipient. This method of conveying meaning relates to the thinking, feelings, and acts of others. In communication science the term “communication” is normally limited to exchanges between one ¶ person or persons and another or others with the help of spoken language, signs, and symbols, including nonverbal. It is usual to think of the verbal elements as being auditorily perceived and primarily rationally or cognitively process…

1. Religious History The term “rite” (Lat. ritus, orig. “what is correctly reckoned,” then “what is appropriate; usage, custom”) came into use in Roman religion for an ordered and solemn ceremony. The adjective ritualis thus means “that which relates to religious usage.” 1.1. Theology tends to use “rites,” and religious studies and social anthropology prefer “ritual,” for religious ceremonies or for sequences of such ceremonies. Ethnology recognizes that whole groups of human actions and animal modes of behavior have a set and standar…