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Religious Symbolism of Spirit

symbol, unlike other symbols, such as the flag, is peculiarly concerned with the realm which human beings cannot directly perceive with their sense in an objective way. It is the transcendent which is the realm of religious symbolism. Human beings attempt to describe their experience of the transcendent through metaphors, analogies, and symbols. According to Livingston (1993), we can really only speak of the transcendent by analogy or symbolically. There is no other option.

Religious symbols serve several important functions. First, as noted above, they serve to bridge the gap between the great mystery or transcendence and ordinary reality. Second, they serve as focal points of communities. Third, they can serve to distinguish communities and peoples from each other, expressing their basic values and meaning. It can establish the deep structure of a community that is not immediately apparent.

Livingston (1993) used as an example of all three functions the ichthos in Christianity. That simple line drawing of a fish made use of the Greek acrostic of the letters for fish which were then considered to represent the terms Jesus, Christ, of God, the Son, and Savior. Thus, drawing the image provided a means of identification for early Christians, while at the same time reminding them of the central beliefs of the religion.

First of all, it is important to distinguish the term "spirit" from the term "spirits," although spirits may be part of the larger category of spirit. Spirits can be many things. They may be considered to be the ancestors of a community. They may also be the animating principles of such things as trees, rocks, and rivers. Spirits play an important role in religion. For example, many Asian religions incorporate some form of ancestor worship into their rituals. In Vedic ritual, offerings are made both to spirits who recently departed and to more distant or mythical ancestors. In Chinese religion, th...

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Religious Symbolism of Spirit. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 08:38, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1691859.html