I'll Meet You Half Way

So I got some of the questions e-mailed to me. ( I had to dig them out of junk mail which explains why I didn't see the e-mail the first time.)

Here they are:

Christians use a cross as a religious symbol, but as far as I know, only Catholics use a crucifix. Why don’t other religions use a crucifix versus just a cross?

On the same thinking, as far as I know, Catholics are the only Christian religion to kneel routinely during church service. Why?

In this post, I'll answer one of the questions, and leave the other for tomorrow.

So here we go....

Genuflecting (literally, knee-bending) is a gesture of honor to Jesus and to His Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament reserved within the tabernacle in all Catholic Churches. It is a traditional Catholic tradition that stems from many scriptures. I'll give two examples.

Psalm 95 says "Let us kneel before the Lord, Our Maker".
Paul's Letter to the Philippians (2:10, 11) says "...at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Because of these scriptures (and many more like them) Orthodox Catholics began kneeling at many occasions. Originally, and occasionally still today, Catholics would bow their head every time the name of Jesus was mentioned (as per Phil 2:10). Genuflecting (actually bending the knees with bowing) was done in the presence of Jesus, and during certain creeds.

Now let me expand on the "in the presence of Jesus" statement. This statement is to be taken only in its literal sense. Understanding that God is everywhere is true, but does not therefore require bowing at all times. In Catholic tradition, the sacraments (bread and wine) are considered the actual transfigured body and blood of Christ. In most Christian traditions, these sacraments are seen as symbols, but not as actually becoming the body and blood when "blessed" by the pastor/priest. Therefore, Catholics (and maybe others, but not mainline denominations i know of) believe that Christ is also physically present whenever the sacrament is present, not just spiritually present. At this occasion, Catholics bow in the presence of Jesus.

For this reason (traditionally trained Priests) will instruct a couple of key things. One does not genuflect when re-entering the pew immediately after receiving Holy Communion, because the Body of Christ is now actually contained within the person who has just received Him. Also, Good Friday would be a time (again this would be in traditionally orthodox trained Catholic Priests) where no communion would be served, and thus no bowing to honor the physical presence of Christ.

I can't confidently speak, as I haven't visited many Catholic services, but these would be the traditional roots of bowing during the service. It is an act based on biblical passages. Many churches today chose to "honor Christ's presence" in other ways besides bowing, while some do also bow (though not necessarily regularly). The difference in views of the sacrament may explain why the Catholic church does this much more regularly than other mainline traditions.

I'd love for follow up questions to be asked, or peoples personal examples to be explained. Feel free to comment.

Tomorrow I'll start on the crucifix vs. the cross question.