|
Hi Ashley,
Thanks for the question.
Indeed, I believe I can show a Biblical basis for employing ritual in
our worship, and to worshipping in a liturgical manner, that is, employing
sacred vestments and vessels, using lamps, gold, incense, and so
forth.
The first thing I would point out is that when God specified in the Old
Testament in meticulous detail how the Jews were to worship Him, He described
a religion rich in ritual. There were special vestments, gold vessels,
incense, lamps, the whole nine yards and God got really angry when the
Jews did not follow procedures exactly (for example, he struck Uzziah dead
when he touched the Ark of the Covenant when he wasn't supposed to). So
I would contend that absent strong proof to the contrary, the Old Testament
indicates that worshipping through ritual is the natural and
God-ordained
way to worship Him.
One might make the counter argument that since the New Covenant makes
obsolete all of the
Old Testament sacrifices, that worshipping through
ritual was wiped away too. I don't think this follows however.
The reason
that the Old Testament sacrifices are no longer celebrated is specifically
because they foreshadowed Christ's sacrifice and existed only to point
to Him — this is the thrust of the whole book of Hebrews (and parts of Romans). The sacrifices weren't wrong; they just served a limited purpose.
They were weak and useless (Hebrews 7:18) Nowhere does St.
Paul suggest that rituals were in any way abolished or that they became
an improper way in which to worship God. In fact, a careful study of the
New Testament will show continued parallels to the Old Testament way of
worshipping. In Hebrews 8:5, it says that when God gave Moses the details
of Jewish worship, God was instructing him to copy the image of the Heavenly
tabernacle He had shown him on the mountain. In other words, God had shown
Moses the true tabernacle in Heaven, and instructed him to pattern the
Jewish tabernacle after that one. Hence all of the details in Deuteronomy and Leviticus.
In Hebrews 9, the author recalls some of the details of the pattern Moses
saw: the tabernacle,
a lamp stand, a table with consecrated bread, a golden
altar of incense, and so forth. He then explains that Jesus entered the
true tabernacle in Heaven, not made by human hands
(Hebrews 9:11, 24). Moreover,
he opens the way for us to enter into the Most Holy Place as well (Hebrews 10:19).
Continuing this theme of the Old Testament worship being a pattern of
heavenly worship,
in Hebrews 12:22, the author gives us the first description:
| 22 You have come to Mount Zion
and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. |
— that
is, the Church, the city set on a mountain (Hebrews 11:10, Matthew 5:14) —
22 . . . . . and
to innumerable angels in festal gathering 23 and to the assembly of the first-born
who are enrolled in heaven, and to a judge who is Lord of all, and to the
spirits of just men made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant,
and to the sprinkled blood that speaks more graciously than the blood of
Abel."
Hebrews 12:22-24 |
(That is, the Blood of the Covenant, the Eucharist.) This is
a mystical image of Christian worship, describing the unseen spiritual
reality behind what is seen on earth. This worship, it continues, must
be "acceptable worship, [done] with reverence and awe, for our `God
is a consuming fire'" (Hebrews 12:28). Furthermore, the author goes on to
describe the Christian altar in Hebrews 13:10,
"We have an altar of
which those serving the tabernacle have no right to eat."
(Hebrews 13:10)
- He is specifically
referring here to the Jews but, what altar is he referring to?
Paul is
saying that we eat from an altar.
- Where is the altar?
- What do we eat?
<The
Flesh and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist.>
See verse 12 and following:
". . . Jesus also suffered outside the
city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then go
to him outside the camp . . ."
The author is alluding here to the
Day of Atonement. This was the only sacrifice which was outside the temple
and outside the camp, and the only one which the priest had no right to
eat. But in God's infinite love, He sacrificed His only Son outside the
camp to be our Atonement, but this time to be a sacrifice which we can
eat.
The second description of Christian worship is in Revelation. Turn to Revelation 4-5. Here we see an image of the Heavenly Liturgy: the worship
going on in Heaven right now, which we enter into ourselves when we celebrate
the divine and sacred Liturgy, patterned after Revelation 5. Here we have
the awesome Seraphim always praising and worshipping the enthroned Father
and the Lamb (singing the liturgical refrain, Holy, holy, holy is
the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.) The Lamb
Himself is looking as if he had been slain — which means that
in the Holy Liturgy of the Eucharist, we are making present the one Sacrifice
of Calvary, that is, the Flesh of the sacrificed Paschal Lamb. The fact
that this is The Sacrifice is clear since there is an altar
(cf. Revelation 6:9), under
which are the martyrs — this is why it is a Catholic and Orthodox custom
to put the bones of martyrs under our earthly altars, as a pattern of the
Heavenly Altar.
In the mystical imagery of Revelation, the Lamb's sacrifice, like the Jewish conception of the Passover is an eternal reality, not a
past event. There are the seven torches of fire, the seven spirits of
God; these are represented by candles in the Holy Liturgy.
Finally, there
are the twenty four elders — the Twelve Patriarchs and the Twelve Apostles.
These elders, who symbolize all the Saints in glory, are carrying golden
bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
(Revelation 5:8).
If we summarize what Hebrews and Revelation tell us about Christian worship,
we come up with the following:
- A throne.
- A sacrificed Lamb.
- "sprinkled blood that speaks more graciously than the blood of
Abel".
- An altar for the above.
- Martyrs under the altar.
- Seven torches (the seven spirits of God).
- "Innumerable angels in festal gathering".
- the Saints, that is, the "assembly of the first-born enthroned
in Heaven" and
the "spirits of just men made perfect".
- incense.
- Gold and precious stones.
- White robes.
- Reverence and awe.
So while the details of worship have changed some from the Old Testament
to the New,
the symbolism is very similar, and there is no reason to believe
that the style has changed.
Related to the Eucharist, the central theme of the two descriptions of
worship, the Last Supper, in the minds of most
scholars (Protestant and Catholic), was a Jewish Passover Seder ritual. The Mass, for Catholics, our central act of worship, is a re-enactment of
the Last Supper, and so it would make sense that, like the Passover Seder,
it would be a ritual.
The early testimony of Christians also suggests that they worshipped in
a liturgical manner, just as the Jews had.
St. Clement, the bishop of Rome, wrote in 80 A.D. to the Corinthians
(chapter 40), in rebuking the Corinthians who had overthrown their presbyters:
"Since then these things are manifest to us, and we have looked
into the depths of the divine knowledge. We ought to do in order all
things which the Master commanded us to perform at appointed times. He
commanded us to celebrate sacrifices and services, and that it should
not be thoughtlessly or disorderly, but at fixed times and hours. He
has Himself fixed by His supreme will the places and persons whom He
desires for these celebrations, in order that all things may be done
piously according to His good pleasure, and be acceptable to His will.
So then those who offer their oblations at the appointed seasons are
acceptable and blessed, but they follow the laws of the Master and do
not sin. For to the high priest his proper ministrations are allotted,
and to the priests the proper place has been appointed, and on Levites
their proper services have been imposed. The layman is bound by the ordinances
for the laity." |
St. Justin Martyr, Apology I. Chapters 66-67, 2nd century:
Communion in the Body and Blood of Christ.
It is allowed to no one else to participate in that food which we call
Eucharist except the one who believes that the things taught by us are
true, who has been cleansed in the washing unto rebirth and the forgiveness
of sins and who is living according to the way Christ handed on to us.
For we do not take these things as ordinary bread or ordinary drink.
Just as our Savior Jesus Christ was made flesh by the Word of God and
took on flesh and blood for our salvation, so also were we taught that
the food, for which thanksgiving has been made through the word of prayer
instituted by Him, and from which our blood and flesh are nourished after
the change, is the flesh of that Jesus who was made flesh. Indeed, the
Apostles, in the records left by them which are called gospels, handed
on that it was commanded to them in this manner:
Jesus, having taken
bread and given thanks said, "Do this in memory of me, this is my body.''
Likewise, having taken the cup and given thanks, he said, "This is my
blood''.
and he gave it to them alone.
The Sunday Assembly.
Furthermore, after this we always remind one another of these things.
Those who have the means aid those who are needy, and we are always united.
Over everything which we take to ourselves we bless the Creator of the
universe through His Son Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit.
On the day called after the sun [Sunday] there is a meeting for which
all those dwelling in the cities or in the countryside come together.
The records of the Apostles or the writings of the prophets are read
as long as time allows. When the reader has stopped, the one who is presiding
admonishes and encourages us by a sermon to the imitation of those good
examples.
Then we all stand up together and lift up our prayers and, as I said
previously, when we have finished our prayer, bread is brought forth
and wine and water. The one who is presiding offers up prayers and thanksgiving
according to his ability and the people acclaim their assent with "Amen."'
There is the distribution of, and participation on, the part of each one
in the gifts for which thanks has been offered, and they are sent to
those who are not present through the deacons.
We all come together on the day of the sun since it is the first day,
on which God changed darkness and matter and made the world. On that
day, Jesus Christ our Savior arose from the dead. They crucified him
on the day preceding that of Saturn, and on the day of the sun he appeared
to his Apostles and disciples and taught them these things which we have
presented also to you for inspection. |
One final point pertains to the sometimes-quoted objection that Jesus
said true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth:
19 "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place
where we must worship is in Jerusalem." 21 Jesus declared, "Believe
me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither
on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do
not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship
the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the
Father seeks.
John 4:19-23 |
The implication of this objection is that worshipping God in ritual and
liturgy is somehow contradicting the principle of worshipping Him in
spirit and in truth.
I'd submit that the point Jesus was making here,
when the Samaritan woman brought up the question of worshipping in Jerusalem,
was that Jesus was soon to reveal the fulfillment of Old Testament worship (worshipping in truth), which would be centered not on earthly animal sacrifices,
but on the Heavenly Sacrifice of Jesus entering the true
tabernacle in Heaven (worshipping in spirit). (Hebrews 9:11, 24)
There is no reason to believe
that worshipping in spirit means worshipping without ritual
or liturgy. If anything, such an assertion smacks of the Gnostic heresy,
which taught that:
- the material was opposed to the spiritual
- the
material world was evil, and so
- everything material must be rejected.
I hope this helps illuminate the Biblical basis for Catholic worship.
As I've said, God instructed the Jews very carefully in the rituals He
wished them to use in worship.
There is no suggestion in the New Testament
that God has changed His mind, or that we are no longer to worship using
ritual. In fact, Hebrews and Revelation suggest that Christian worship
is based on the same symbolism (but glorified in the light of the Resurrection) on which God based the Jewish liturgy.
Yours in Christ,
Eric Ewanco
|
