Bread And Religion Essay

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When Bread is old, moldy and smelly, society tends to throw it out or feed it to the birds. If we ponder a little bit, the idea of bread is really old. From a religious point of view to modern times, food is in every culture and social circle. Bread varies from shape and usage all over the world. A loaf is considered a myth, included in folklore, a symbol in many religions and is otherness to another social status. These keywords all have a similar sense of (old age) mystical/importance feeling. For something so simple, it has great significance to every soul on this earth. In connection to bread, we shall connect the keywords with religion, cultural/customs and the historical value of bread.

To begin, we shall look into spiritual connections with bread. In Exodus 12: 15-20 God states; “ seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the First day until the Seventh day, that person shall be cut from Israel." This passage uses bread as a symbol of the body of Christ. In the old testament, wheat and bread are symbols of the
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To narrow down the context even further, bread is the one unifying factor for all the cultures everywhere regardless of geography. The custom of bread breaking is a lifeline throughout cultures which are interpreted differently depending on background and context. In the antiquity period, the production of bread associates itself with the force of life. Some favorite expressions are “ Borrowed a loaf from the batch’ (France when a woman is pregnant before marriage ) and “ A bun in the oven” ( England). A ritual in Poland includes bread for welcoming guests in a bread and salt ceremony. Moreover, if the first bread of the day is cut with a knife, it’s a symbol of bad luck because it will “ cut off” the good fortune of the baking family. (website

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