ABSTRACT
The etymology of the modern English noun “practice” derives from the slightly older verb (to practice) which itself comes from the Middle French practique , sometime in the fifteenth century. The sense of practice as an acquired, disciplined skill that has taken place over time—something that takes planning, dedication, consistency, experience, focus, craft—makes it somewhat akin to an art. It is certainly the case that not every use of the term “religious practice” today presupposes such a nuanced theory of agency/structure. However, it should be clear that the category may indeed signal a very specific scholarly tradition and thus theory of the human that takes the non-intentional mechanisms of governance into account. In so doing, the differences in historical usage of a single word offer but one example of just how dynamic human practice can be.
