And developmentally, our orientation to the world is still more fundamentally shaped by embodied liturgical practices than doctrinal disquisitions (which is precisely why secular liturgies often trump our imaginations). The practices of the church as the gathered people of the coming King precede the formulas and codes that would later emerge from their theoretical reflection. Before Christians had systematic theologies and worldviews, they were singing hymns and psalms, saying prayers, celebrating the Eucharist, sharing their property, and becoming a people marked by a desire for God’s coming
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