LITURGY AND LIFE? ON THE IMPORTANCE OF WORSIDP FOR CHRISTIAN ETHICS

Abstract

In a first section the author argues that 'seeing' is offundamental importance for ethics. In a second section he concludes that Christian worship is therefore important for Christian ethics, since Christian worship is one of the social locations where Christian believers learn to see, 'to look in the right direction '. In a third section, he provides a brief answer to the question why this is the case, making comments on the nature of Christian worship, in particular the experience of time and history during worship. In a fourth section, he draws on recent studies on the public role of Christian liturgy to argue that Christians learn to see 'the world' in a specific way during Christian worship. In a concluding section he reminds readers that Christian worship often fails this calling. He continuously refers to South African examples.