Protestant faiths have tried their best to do away with all the symbolic trappings of Catholicism -- the chanting, the incense, the robes, the beautiful colors and images. The view of the Protestant reformers has been that all this is unnecessary, that all a Christian needs is the Bible.
I would like to point out a couple of things that most Protestant Christians probably have never considered.
The first point is that, when the glorious symbolism of the Roman Catholic Church first evolved, most people could not read. The Bible was not available to them, so they did not have the Word of God. They didn't own Bibles, and in any case the Bible was in Latin or Greek, which over the centuries most Christians did not have as their native language.
Second point, Protestantism evolved after the invention of printing in Europe. Reading, printing and Protestantism went hand in hand. More and more common people were being educated and learning to read from the 15th to the 20th centuries, when Protestant denominations flourished. People read for entertainment during these centuries. Most people came to own Bibles, which were in their native languages. Reading was second nature to them. It became possible for the Protestants to do away with religious ritual and symbolism, and to put all of Christian faith in the Bible, the world of God.
Third point, in the 21st century an increasing number of people are not reading for entertainment. Reading skills are dropping across the board. The books that are being read are becoming simplistic in their word choices and sentence construction. They are being dumbed down to suit a dumbed down audience. Outright illiteracy is on the rise. Many people don't even know how to write these days -- they print with block letters, like small children.
A consideration of these three points should lead to the conclusion that a need exists today for more ritual and symbolism in the churches. The word of God alone is no longer enough, because fewer and fewer Christians are reading. When reading was at its height of popularity, the Bible alone might have been enough, but today it is no longer enough, because people will not, or will not be able, to read it.
As the power of the Word declines, the need for symbolism increases. This is why so many Protestants are converting to the Roman-Catholic faith. They seek ritual, they seek beauty, they seek symbolism in their worship. A decline in reading skills and recreational reading makes this inevitable.
To remain popular, the Baptists and other Protestant faiths must begin to incorporate ritual and symbolism into their worship. If they do not, they will soon cease to exist.
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