The Influence of Liturgy on Human Memory: From the Perspective of Neuroscience

Abstract

Generally, there has been a lack of understanding about liturgy and ritual among reformed tradition. The Reformed and Presbyterian church has had a tendency to look down on the formative power of Christian liturgy while emphasizing cognitive knowledge and catechism education. However, liturgy is not just the repetition of a meaningless act. Liturgy has a formative power in the process of faith formation through its practice and repetition. This article studies how liturgy impacts human memory and faith formation based on several brain studies. First, while examining split-brain studies, it is argued that there is the possibility of ritual knowledge while participating in Christian worship. Second, through the discoveries made in mirror neuron studies, the way human learning is a result of not only interacting with objects, but also the observation of objects, is examined. Third, based on Eric Kandel’s habituation and sensitization experiment, it is claimed that even though liturgical worship can suffer the pitfalls of habituation, a well-balanced liturgical worship can aid sensitization. Lastly, while examining various sorts of memory, various ordo and elements of Christian worship are revealed; in combination these can create a Gestalt perception, and greatly impact human memory and the formation of Christian faith.