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3 - Worship

from Part II - What Is Worship?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 January 2025

By
Eleonore Stump
Edited by
Aaron Segal  and
Samuel Lebens
Aaron Segal
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Samuel Lebens
Affiliation:
University of Haifa, Israel
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Summary

If there were a God, what would the right human attitude to God be? The unreflective and generally assumed answer is ‘worship’. But what exactly is worship? What attitude is being mandated by the claim that human beings owe the deity worship? Furthermore, both Judaism and Christianity represent the relationship God desires with human persons as intimate and joyful. But worship is often understood as a recognition of God’s transcendent greatness. Could recognition of one’s distance from God be compatible with joyful closeness to God? In this paper, I explore these questions by examining the understanding of worship given by Aquinas and Calvin. I argue that the answers to these questions not only illuminate the nature of worship but also make a difference to our understanding of the notion of the true self.

Keywords

worshipAquinasCalvinunion with Godthe true self
Type
Chapter
Information
The Philosophy of Worship
Divine and Human Aspects
 , pp. 31 - 50
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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References

Aquinas, . Summa theologiae. Translated by Shapecote, L., edited and revised by The Aquinas Institute. https://aquinas.cc/la/en/Google Scholar
Aquinas, . Summa contra gentiles. Translated by Shapecote, L., edited and revised by the Aquinas Institute. https://aquinas.cc/la/en/Google Scholar
Aquinas, . (2010). Commentary on the Gospel of John. Translated by Larcher, F. R. and Weisheipl, J. A.. Lander: Aquinas Institute for the Study of Sacred Doctrine.Google Scholar
Aquinas, . (2012). Commentary on Romans. Translated by Larcher, F. R., edited by Moresten, J. and Alarcon, F., Lander: Aquinas Institute for the Study of Sacred Doctrine. https://aquinas.cc/la/en/Google Scholar
Calvin, J. (1845). Institutes of the Christian Religion. Translated by Beveridge, H.. Grand Rapids: Christian Classics Ethereal Library, www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.html.Google Scholar
Fraser, A. (1973). Cromwell: Lord Protector, New York: Primus, Donald I. Fine.Google Scholar
Stump, E. (2003). Aquinas, London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Stump, E. (2010). Wandering in Darkness: Narrative and the Problem of Suffering, Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stump, E. (2011). The Non-Aristotelian Character of Aquinas’s Ethics: Aquinas on the Passions. Faith and Philosophy, 28(1), 29–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stump, E. (2018). Atonement, Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stump, E. (2022). The Image of God. The Problem of Evil and the Problem of Mourning, Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolterstorff, N. (2018). Acting Liturgically. Philosophical Reflection on Religious Practice, Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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  • Worship
  • Edited by Aaron Segal, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Samuel Lebens, University of Haifa, Israel
  • Book: The Philosophy of Worship
  • Online publication: 09 January 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009460927.005
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  • Worship
  • Edited by Aaron Segal, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Samuel Lebens, University of Haifa, Israel
  • Book: The Philosophy of Worship
  • Online publication: 09 January 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009460927.005
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Worship
  • Edited by Aaron Segal, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Samuel Lebens, University of Haifa, Israel
  • Book: The Philosophy of Worship
  • Online publication: 09 January 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009460927.005
Available formats
×