This book introduces readers, with little or no background in Christianity, to the theology and history of Christian rituals. It opens with a brief explanation of the role of symbols in human life based on recent anthropological studies. A short introduction to key Christian concepts follows, explaining the role that rituals perform in the Christian worldview. The authors are careful to translate concepts, such as salvation, grace, and sacrament, for those unaccustomed to Christianity. Five areas in which ritual activity central to Christianity are then investigated: friendship, initiation, pr ... More

This book introduces readers, with little or no background in Christianity, to the theology and history of Christian rituals. It opens with a brief explanation of the role of symbols in human life based on recent anthropological studies. A short introduction to key Christian concepts follows, explaining the role that rituals perform in the Christian worldview. The authors are careful to translate concepts, such as salvation, grace, and sacrament, for those unaccustomed to Christianity. Five areas in which ritual activity central to Christianity are then investigated: friendship, initiation, prayer, ministry or service, and suffering and death. The book is written from an explicitly nondenominational point of view, and offers an explanation of those areas where Christian groups understand or practice rituals differently. The final chapter investigates symbols and rituals that are important to Christianity, but not usually included in lists of Christian “sacraments”.