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Mission, Liturgy, and the Transformation of Identity

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Abstract

This article considers the significance of liturgical worship for the purpose of overcoming the problem of intellectualism and rationalism that have been prevalent in the modern Christian missions since the 19th century. Despite its centrality in Christian life, worship has been given a marginal place in the discussions of Christian mission. The author, however, maintains that it should play a crucial and powerful role in mission at the age when human identity is increasingly becoming fluid and problematic, as it is capable of producing profound spiritual transformation among worshippers and thus establishing in them a new identity centered on Christ without eradicating “primordial attachments.” This is because liturgy has a holistic nature with its rich symbolism and is able to reach the non-rational level of personality where the primordial attachments operate. The author, who teaches courses in Christianity at a Christian college in Kobe, Japan, takes as his starting point the apparent impasse of Christian higher education in today’s Japan which still operates on the Enlightenment model of mission with its emphasis on knowledge as the foundation of faith. He takes advantage of some insights of recent Ritual Studies to illuminate the identity-forming character of liturgical rituals.

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Article
This article focuses on the importance, and also on the possible value of the concepts of cognition and recognition for reflection on what should actually happen during celebration of Holy Communion. The vantage-point in this approach is that celebration has in its essence that it should be a meaningful experience. The meaningfulness consists of the intriguing fact that participants are participating in Christ’s body and in his blood while celebrating Holy Communion. In celebrating Holy Communion, people are engaging in a ritual that involves interaction with a variety of symbols. The methodological insights of Browning (1996) that described the lapse of a research activity ranging from description, to systemizing (exploring practical wisdom and understanding), to strategizing (practicing strategic practical theology) will be adhered to. The research problem for this research could be formulated in the following manner, namely: “Could the cognizance of the lenses of cognition and recognition of the deeper message of Holy Communion enrich the conscious appropriation of salvation while celebrating the sacrament of Holy Communion?” The research problem is addressed from the vantage-point of understanding sacraments from a Reformed paradigm. The concepts of cognition and recognition are highlighted from a brief historical description of what is a sacrament and also taking into account the insights from social psychology regarding the essence of the concepts of cognition and recognition. The article further elaborates on the functioning of the concepts of cognition (phronesis) and recognition (anamnesis). In the last section, the article utilizes a hermeneutical interaction between descriptive and systemizing perspectives in order to formulate strategizing perspectives on how a problematic praxis could possibly be addressed regarding people’s experiences on participation in Holy Communion through the meaningful lenses of cognition and recognition.
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