Abstract

Smart divides his study into two parts. The first is a phenomenologically-oriented investigation of worshipping. He maintains that ritual and convention are at the core of worship, but that what worship tries to express is quite the opposite of convention, that is, the numinous. The focus of worship is also treated as a combination of opposites: it is a superior Power that inspires awe, but at the same time it is personal, addressable, receptive of men’s praise. Smart holds that there is an internal relation between the concepts of God and of worship, and sets the relation up in such a way that worship is construed as a response to what the worshipper sees or perceives. The possible import of reflection regarding an object’s worthiness of worship is not emphasized, nor is the suggestion entertained that there might be a radical distinction between responding to the Numen and worshipping.