My focus is not on settling that debate, but on examining what the text reveals and what I understand to be true.

During the patriarchal period, worship was simple. They built altars to remember what God had done and to offer sacrifices, and God spoke to them through visions and dreams, guiding them and reaffirming his promises.

Obedience defined this relationship. In short, Abraham left his homeland. He was willing to sacrifice Isaac, and he established circumcision as a covenant sign, each act demonstrating trust in God’s voice and his promises.

And this honestly is what’s often considered, even at the college level, blind faith, at least to my understanding.

Their worship wasn’t about location or liturgy, it was about trust, faith, and relationship through answered prayers, fulfilled promises, and personal encounters, they grew closer to the God who called them.

And slowly, in a world filled with idols, the Israelites came to know the one true God, not just as El Shaddai, but as Yahweh, the eternal covenant keeping Lord.

Now, earlier I mentioned liturgy. Simply put, it’s the structure or pattern of a worship service, things like prayer, scripture, songs, communion, and teachings.

Some traditions like Catholic or Orthodox churches follow a more formal order, while many Protestant churches take a more, I would say, flexible approach.

Protestantism emphasizes the authority of Scripture and the belief that every person has direct access to God, what’s called the priesthood of all believers, meaning the role once limited to a priest now belongs to every believer.