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Charles Sprague Pearce: Religion
Charles Sprague Pearce: Religion Detail of Religion, mural in lunette from the Family and Education series by Charles Sprague Pearce, 1897; in the Library of Congress, Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.

worship

religion
Written by
Walter Harrelson
Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Hebrew Bible, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee. Author of From Fertility Cult to Worship and others.
Walter Harrelson
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
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•History

worship, broadly defined, the response, often associated with religious behaviour and a general feature of almost all religions, to the appearance of that which is accepted as holy—that is, to a sacred power or being. Characteristic modes of response to the holy include cultic acts of all kinds: ritual drama, prayers of many sorts, dancing, ecstatic speech, veneration of various persons and objects, sermons, silent meditation, and sacred music and song. Also included in worship...

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