15
votes
Why do Christians stand when we sing?
Why do Christians stand to sing?
I think the reasons are fundamental to the act, so I do not see biblical instructions or precedents to be relevant.
One may ask, how one should eat a meal: should one ...
- 21.2k
13
votes
Accepted
What are the first references to a tradition of fasting before partaking of the Lord's Supper?
This practice is attested as early as the first half of the third century, by Tertullian and particularly Hippolytus.
Tertullian addresses the topic tangentially while addressing the dangers of women ...
12
votes
Accepted
Who are the hypocrites associated with fasting in the Didache?
It is indeed about the Pharisees. Here's what Shmuel Safrai's paper “Religion in Everyday Life" says:
Mondays and Thursdays, which were synagogue days, when country-folk came to town and the courts ...
11
votes
Accepted
What is the origin of hands lifting in worship?
It goes all the way back to Genesis 29:35 at least with Leah raising her hands in praise to YHWH in naming Judah. As a Biblical Hebrew professor thinking in Hebrew, I find the Old Testament full of ...
- 126
10
votes
Accepted
Do Mormons in European countries also sing patriotic American songs?
Latter-day Saints in other countries do not typically sing United States patriotic songs.
The full LDS hymnbook is currently published in 38 languages. The English hymnbook has 341 hymns, including ...
- 1,765
9
votes
Is it true that early Christians were baptised naked?
A great deal of early Church art showed baptism being done in the nude. This would not have been shocking in the world of the early Church, as many early Christians were slaves. Most slaves in the ...
8
votes
At what age should my daughters start wearing a head covering when they pray?
There is currently no requirement in the Catholic Church that women or girls wear a veil. This has technically only been the case since 1983, when the current code of canon law was promulgated.
The ...
- 18.3k
8
votes
Accepted
When and why did Protestantism begin moving away from liturgy?
The simplifying or outright dismantling of liturgies has been in train since the beginning of the Reformation, particularly as it started to unfold in Switzerland under Huldrych Zwingli. From the ...
- 12.5k
7
votes
Is it appropriate (as a Catholic) to make the sign of the cross when passing an Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox or Church of the East church?
Is it appropriate for a Catholic to make the sign of the cross when passing an Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox or Church of the East church?
Of course it is!
It is also a tradition for some ...
- 59.5k
6
votes
Accepted
Why do Christians in India eat meat in church?
There might be some confusion here, because killing animals in the church would probably not be done by most Christians.
If, however, you mean "why to Christians kill and eat animals, in general?" ...
- 12.9k
6
votes
What is the purpose of attending the mass and going to Confession?
As far as why individual Catholics participate in the various liturgies and sacraments, there can be all sorts of reasons, from the highly religious to the merely social or cultural. The Church does ...
- 18.3k
6
votes
Does any church follow the Apostolic Tradition of Baptism ‘in the nude’, or was that never the tradition?
Baptism in the early church was modeled after the Mikvah immersions of Judaism. The Mikvahs were done in the nude. I believe that the baptism of John the Baptist was very similar to the Mikvah ...
6
votes
Is there, or was there, a Christian denomination that believes, or believed, that Jesus Christ was "just a normal human"?
Historically, there have been a number of sects that denied the divinity of Jesus, claiming that he was a man, and nothing more.*
In the first few centuries of Christianity, most of these groups held ...
- 13.1k
6
votes
When did the Latin Catholic Church begin to generally require fasting only one hour prior to the Eucharist?
I attend the older Latin Rite and we still fast from the midnight before. It should be noted that, as a disciplinary measure, to humble the spirit and body, it does not comprise any intrinsic doctrine ...
- 8,025
6
votes
Why do Christians stand when we sing?
It is common for Christians to stand while singing in church because it is common to sing while standing regardless of context.
Standing allows the singer to make better usage of their diaphragm and ...
- 161
5
votes
When did Jesus preach from inside a building?
It was the custom of Jesus to go to a house of worship each Sabbath Day and in some instances teach. One of these times was recorded in Luke 4:
16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought ...
- 2,856
5
votes
Why did this frustrated person make the sign of the cross in front of me?
The sign of the cross is a sacramental (a sacred sign instituted by the Church, not one of the seven sacraments, but still a way to bring one's focus onto holy things, to become more prayerful in the ...
- 664
5
votes
Why do Christians stand when we sing?
I don't know your denomination, but in roman-catholic church there are times when you are standing and other times when you are sitting.
If a hymn is sung during the time when you are sitting (this is ...
- 774
5
votes
Why do Christians stand when we sing?
As for a Biblical basis, take a look at 2 Chronicles 5:12:
all the Levite singers who belonged to Asaph, to Heman, to Jeduthun, and to their sons and their brothers were clothed in fine fabric, ...
- 1,397
4
votes
Does any church follow the Apostolic Tradition of Baptism ‘in the nude’, or was that never the tradition?
I've noticed that the question was published a lot of years ago, but still wanted to share that there are Orthodox Icons that depict Jesus Christ being Baptised naked.
.
Also in Greece, among some ...
4
votes
What is the Order of Special Full-Time Servants?
The different types of full time servants among Jehovah's Witnesses are:
Regular pioneers usually spend 70 hours a month in the field ministry. Some serve in a congregation where the need is greater.
...
- 6,927
4
votes
Accepted
Did the Christian practice of having a prayer before Bible study evolve during Martin Luther's time?
The Tie Between Luther and Augustine
Luther entered an Augustinian monastery when he became a monk, so it is not surprising that he was heavily influenced by Augustine. An excellent survey of the ...
- 610
4
votes
Nuns wearing wedding bands?
Do all nuns wear these symbolic wedding bands? If not, is this practice limited to certain religious orders?
Rings may be worn by some members of female Catholic religious institutions or Religious ...
- 59.5k
4
votes
How is "abstain from things strangled" not contradictory to "Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man"?
The context of Jesus' words are about ritual purity through obeying the Jewish law. Jesus is saying that there are no kinds of food which are intrinsically sinful, and that focusing on the food misses ...
- 19.2k
4
votes
Accepted
Why do Anglicans kneel when Catholics would stand?
Liturgical practice
As regards the Catholic Church, the Mass that is now in common use—the Mass promulgated in 1970, sometimes referred to as the “Ordinary Form”—prescribes kneeling only during the ...
- 13.1k
4
votes
Accepted
Is there any theological reason that Eastern Orthodox clergy tend to maintain long beards?
It's a tradition derived from two sources: first of all, Jesus had long beard - second, from Leviticus 19:27 "You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard"
However, ...
- 669
4
votes
What is an overview of arguments given by churches that allow women to plait their hair to support that practice? (1 Peter 3:1-6)
3:1 Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives,
This is one of ...
- 918
4
votes
Did John Calvin discourage harmonies in congregational singing?
Did John Calvin discourage harmonies in congregational singing?
He did not discourage congressional singing, but it seems that John Calvin did discourage congressional singing in harmony.
In the ...
- 59.5k
4
votes
Is there, or was there, a Christian denomination that believes, or believed, that Jesus Christ was "just a normal human"?
Yes, there have been several "denominations" that have believed Yeshua was a man. However, because a large majority of the church believes this is a heresy (and that to deny the trinity causes one to ...
- 2,462
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible