20] In all
these cults there was symbolism, and the moral teaching was of a lofty
character.

+1060+. Christian ritual was at first simple,[1921] but rapidly grew in
elaborateness. The liturgy and the eucharistic ceremonies were expanded
into great proportions, and came to be the essence of worship. This
movement went on throughout Christendom (with variations here and there)
up to the rise of Protestantism, and after that time continued in the
Greek and Roman Churches. Protestantism, in its recoil from certain
doctrines of the Church of Rome, threw off much of its ceremonial, which
in the minds of the people was associated with the rejected dogmas.
Since the separation, however, especially in the last hundred years, the
violent antagonism having largely quieted down, there has been in some
Protestant bodies a slow but steady movement in the direction of
ritualistic expansion; procedures that three centuries ago would have
called forth earnest protest are now accepted and interpreted in
accordance with Protestant ideas. Doubtless the temperament of a people
has something to do with the amount of ceremonial it favors in religious
service.

+1061+. The history of ritual thus shows that it tends to grow in
elaborateness and importance as social forms become more elaborate and
important--the mode of approaching the deity imitates the mode of
approaching human dignitaries, postures are borrowed from current
etiquette.[1922] Form was especially sought after under the old
monarchies, Egyptian and Assyrian.[1923] The exaggerated Oriental court
etiquette, introduced into Roman life as early as the time of
Diocletian, was maintained and developed under the Byzantine
emperors.[1924] These usages may have affected the growth of the Greek
and Roman Church liturgies.[1925] In modern China, under the imperial
government, divine worship was substantially identical in form with the
worship of the emperor. In some cases it may be doubtful in which
direction the borrowing has been.

The expansion of liturgical forms has often been accompanied by the
effort to interpret them symbolically. Intelligent reflection has led to
the conviction that forms without religious meaning are valueless, and
it has been easy, after ceremonies were established, to attach spiritual
definitions to their details. This relieves their materialism, and gives
a certain realness and force to religious feeling.

PRIESTS[1926]

+1062+. A priest is a person c