six dimensions of world views

The Six Dimensions of World Views Name University The Power of Ritual in Christian Worship I’ve always wondered how a Catholic faithful feels after partaking in the Holy Communion. Does it make him or her feel holier and more at peace with God than before? After all, it is just a morsel of bread….well, unleavened bread made of ordinary wheat. Then there is something else. What will happen if the Pope conducted mass in a suit? Will the mass fail to achieve the same effect on the audience as when he is adorned in the flowing priestly garb? Human beings, I think, search for meaning in symbols and rituals more than they do in reason and logic. In Beliefs and Believers, Gsu Simmons discusses the six dimensions of worldviews upon which the world’s great religions are founded. Myths, experiences, doctrines, rituals, ethics, and social relationships shape the way individuals and groups relate with the supernatural realm (Simmons, 1999, p. 12). Of all these dimensions, I find rituals to be particularly interesting due to one major reason; they exemplify faith in practice. Rituals, and the symbols associated with them, must have some religious meaning, a meaning so significant to a believer’s life, to have the kind of effect they usually have on participants. The connection with the myth of Jesus’ Last Supper must be so strong to make present-day rituals like the Holy Communion an important aspect of Christian worship. Jesus’ words concerning the Last Supper as written in the gospels, that “This is my body” that is laid down for the forgiveness of sin, rings through each time Holy Communion is celebrated. It defeats logic that an event that took place more than 2,000 years ago at night in a dark room somewhere in present day Palestine (a predominantly Islamic nation!), and whose only account is the mythical narrative of the Holy Bible, should have a profound influence on the religious beliefs of millions of people around the world. What if Jesus never said these words or the Last Supper actually never happened? Will Eucharist suddenly lose its religious significance, and holy mass lack the magic that ushers in a sense of sacredness every time a priest raises the cup o...