The Encyclopedia of World Religions

preaching S 349

N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1996); Marcel Mauss, On Prayer, W. S. F. Pickering, ed. (New York: Durkheim Press/Berghahn Books, 2003); Rehras = Evensong: The Sikh Evening Prayer, Reema Anand and Khushwant Singh, trans. (New York: Viking, 2002); Christopher L. Webber, ed., Give Us Grace: An Anthology of Anglican Prayers (Harrisburg, Pa.: Morehouse, 2004). preaching Religious speech-making. Preaching is a way to teach, to convert, to inspire, to exhort, to critique, and probably to do other things as well. Many religions have had preachers. But preaching has been especially important to Prot estant Christianity. At the time of the R EFORMATION , Martin L UTHER raised the pulpit—the stand from which preachers speak—higher than the ALTAR . This act was a powerful sign. For many Protestants preaching is the center of WORSHIP . By contrast, for Catholic and Orthodox Christians worship centers on the celebration of the E UCHARIST . Preaching may take place in many contexts. R ABBIS , ministers, and IMAMS preach during weekly congregational services. On the American fron tier, wandering preachers held meetings known as revivals just for the purpose of preaching. Some have preached, so to speak, on the streetcorners. D OMINICAN friars did this during the Middle Ages; John W ESLEY did it during the 18th century. A much different style of preaching is the sermon that a Zen ( see Z EN B UDDHISM ) master gives to his disciples. He delivers it during prolonged sessions of Zen effort. His manner of delivery is formal and restrained and he often repeats the same sermon verbatim. Many sermons are expository. That is, they comment upon sacred SCRIPTURES . For example, rabbis may expound the Hebrew B IBLE ; Christian preachers may expound the Old and N EW T ESTA MENT ; imams may comment onn the Q UR ’ AN ; a Zen master may comment on Buddhist sutras. Preach ers in liturgical traditions generally comment on assigned passages. Others choose their own top ics. At times they may preach a series of sermons

in J UDAISM is the Kaddish. It is a doxology recited at the conclusion of sets of prayers during worship. Jews recite a special form of the Kaddish at funer als and for mourning. For Christians the most important prayer is the one that Jesus taught, the L ORD ’ S P RAYER . The N EW T ESTAMENT presents two versions of this prayer. Christians generally use the fuller version in the G OSPEL of Matthew. Especially Roman Catholics use another prayer, the Ave Maria: “Hail, Mary [ave Maria], full of grace . . .” Praying can be the central act of worship. This is true of the SYNAGOGUE service in Judaism and salat in I SLAM . It is also true of the many “ways” that the Navajo people in the southwestern United States observe. Many indigenous Americans hold prayers in a special building known as a SWEAT LODGE . In the sweat lodge, sweat-inducing steam and fragrant aromas such as sage combine with praying to pro duce a refreshing and renewing experience. In American public life during the last half of the 20th century prayer, especially prayer in public schools, was one of the most controversial issues. The first amendment to the U.S. Constitu tion prohibits the government from supporting any religious act ( see CHURCH AND STATE ). Several Supreme Court rulings declared widespread prac tices of praying in school unconstitutional. Exam ples include having students recite a prayer in the morning before school, having a religious profes sional—priest, minister, or RABBI —offer a prayer at school ceremonies, and having a student say a prayer that he or she had written at the beginning of a sporting event. In some areas schools violated the law until someone objected. At times conservatives attempted to amend the Constitution to allow school prayer. Many organized religious groups, from Baptists to Buddhists, spoke out against their efforts. The controversy illustrates at least this much: Whatever their preferences, prayer is a religious practice that Americans still take very seriously.

Further reading: Robert S. Alley, Without a Prayer: Religious Expression in Public Schools (Amherst,