BOWER
8G5
BOWL
with a view to promote the interests of the Church. After his return his duties were fully discharged, as far as failing health would allow, until his death, Aug. 25, 1839. He published Christian Consolation (1831); Private Prayers (Charleston, 1837), and several occa- sional sermons and addresses. After his death a se- lection from his Sermons appeared (N. Y., 2 vols 8vo). — Sprague, Annals, v, 471.
Bower, Archibald, was born at Dundee 1G86, and educated at Douay. In early life he went to Rome and became a Jesuit; came to England 17-6, and soon after joined the Established Church ; became a Jesuit again in 1744, and again turned Protestant. He died in 176(5. He wrote the most copious History of the Popes that has ever appeared in English, but, unfortunately, his vacillating character has deprived it of even its just reputation (Lond. 1750, 7 vols.4to). Bishop Douglas, of Salisbury, wrote a very severe re- view of Bower, showing that he had borrowed largely from Tillemont without acknowledgment (Boner and Tillemont compared, Lond. 1757, 8vo).
Bowing (some form of the verb ttiTd, skachah', 7rpoaicvviio). This was a very ancient mode of show- ing respect. " Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth" (Gen. xxiii, 7). So also Jacob, when he came to meet his brother Esau, "bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother" (Gen. xxxiii, 3) ; and the brethren of Joseph bowed themselves be- fore him as the governor of the land (Gen. xliii, 28). The attitude of bowing is frequently represented in the paintings on the tombs of Egypt, particularly of captives brought before a king or conqueror. The gestures and inflections of the body used in salutation differed at different times, varying with the dignity
Oriental Bowing: 1. Bending; '-'. Kneeling; 3. Prostrate.
and station of the person who was saluted, as is the case among the Orientals to this da}'. In the pres- ence of the great and noble the Orientals incline themselves almost to the earth, kiss their knees, or the hems of their garments, and place them upon their forehead. When in the presence of kings and princes more particularly, they even prostrate themselves at full length upon the ground : sometimes, with their knees bent, they bring their forehead to the earth, and, before resuming an erect position, either kiss the earth, or the feet of the king or prince in whose pres- ence they are permitted to appear. These customs prevailed among the ancient Hebrews (Exod. iv, 31 ; 1 Kings i, 53; "ii, 19; 1 Sam. xxiv, 8). Besides its use as a courteous demeanor, bowing is frequently mentioned in the Scriptures as an act of adoration to idols (Josh, xxiii, 7 ; 2 Kings v, 18 ; Judg. ii, 19 ; Isa. xliv, 15, 17, 19 ; xlvi, 6) ; and also to the supreme God In
(Josh, v, 14; Psa. xxii, 29; lxxii, 9; Mic. vi, 6; Psa. xcv, 6 ; Eph. iii, 14). See Attitudes.
BOWING AT THE NAME OF JESUS, a prac- tice derived from the Romish, and still remaining in the English Church. It is practised in the repetition of those parts of the creeds in which the name of Jesus Christ occurs, though the 18th canon of the rubrics allows the more general use of the practice. The practice is sometimes made to rest upon scriptural au- thority, but erroneously, the expression (Phil, ii, 10) " that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow" being purely figurative; enjoining, therefore, inward submission to Christ's authority, not any outward to- ken of such a feeling. — Eden, Theol. Diet. s. v.
BOWING TOWARD THE EAST, a practice in the early Christian churches. "Its origin is thus stated : The sun being a symbol of Christ, the place of its rising was a fitting though imaginary representa- tion of heaven, whence Christ descended, and to which he ascended in glory as the mediator between God ami man. The heathens charged the Christians with wor- shipping the rising sun ; but St. Augustine repudiates such an .idea when he says, ' We turn to the east, whence the heavens, or the light of heaven arises, not as if God was only there, and had forsaken all other parts of the world, but to put ourselves in mind of turn- ing to a more excellent nature, that is, to the Lord.' Turning to the east as a symbol of turning to God has reference to some of the ceremonies connected with baptism in ancient times. When the persons to be baptized entered the baptistery, where they were to make their renunciation of Satan and their confessions of faith, they were placed with their faces toward the west, and commanded to renounce Satan with som: gesture or rite ; this they did by striking their hands together as a token of abhorrence, by stretching out their hands against him, by exsufflation, and by spit- ting at him as if he were pre cut. They were then turned round to the east, and desired to lift up their hands and eyes to heaven, and enter into covenant with Christ, the Sun of Righteousness. 'The west,' says Cyril of Jerusalem, ' is the place of darkness, and Satan is darkness, and his strength is in darkness. For this reason ye symbolically look toward the west when ye renounce that prince of darkness and horror.' To this we add from St. Jerome, ' First we renounce him that is in the west, who dies to us with our sins; and then, turning about to the east, we make a cove- nant with the Sun of Righteousness, and promise to lie his servants.' Bowing toward the east is practised in those churches of the Establishment where the congre- gations are instructed to turn their faces in that direc- tion at the recital of the creed." This custom has been revived of bite by some of the so-called Puseyites in England and America. It is the practice in the Romish Church to bow toward the altar, that is, to- ward the east, in entering or leaving the church. — Chambers, Encyclopedia, s. v. ; Eadie, Eccles, Encyclo- paedia, s. v.