This seemingly obscure cognate is a reference to the altar as a place of sacrifice, where animals - particularly lambs or the proverbial fatted calf - were slain and offered to the god(s) as a gesture of supplication or appeasement.

These sacrifices were often burned, explaining the reason why pre-Christian altars, were of stone: or wood with stone slabs service as the surface on which the sacrificial animal was offered.

The symbolism of "the sacrificial offering" explains why contemporary altars tend to be made of the same material as their Hebrew prototypes.

For a 1st Century Jews began to convert to Christianity, the symbols of their faith also experienced renewal and transformation.

Hence, the altar, the place where the sacrificial offering was made, became the symbol of Christ himself: the sacrifice who was offered to atone for the sins of all humanity.

As a result, the altar became the most significant living symbol in the early church as the place where Christ's sacrifice was offered and remembered.

This understanding of the Eucharist as primarily an act of "remembering the sacrifice" pervaded for more than 1500 years until Eucharistic theology and piety in the Reformation challenged, or rather sought to expand, the fullness of what it meant to partake in Communion.

Many Protestant reformers eschewed the imagery of the altar as sacrifice, preferring to speak of the "Holy Table" or "the Lord's Table", as the place where, Eucharist (literally "thanksgiving" in Greek) was offered.

Hence, in repudiating the altar's ancient association with sacrifice as a means of placating the god(s), the reformers were trying to make a statement: that Grace, particularly the grace that comes to us in the gift of God's son, is not something that can be bought by sacrifices or earned with thank-offerings.

For the reformers, the grace of Christ's willing sacrifice was sheer gift, and demanded Eucharist (i.e., thanksgiving.)

Interestingly, despite the fact that four centuries has somewhat removed us from the intensity of the debate, what we call the symbol around which we gather is still something of a sore subject among Anglican Christians.

For example, you may note that the Book of Common Prayer avoids the use of the word "altar" at all costs, preferring "the Lord's Table".

Moreover, even the BAS recognising that it is dealing with a touchy subject, is careful not to use the word "altar" before it has spoken first of the "holy table" (see for example, pages 183 and 192).

The history and controversy which surrounds it not withstanding, the altar - the most ancient, and revered, of all the liturgical furnishings we will examine - has always functioned as a concrete sign of the nexus between the worshipping community and their god(s).

For us, as Anglican Christians, the altar stands as a symbol of how we understand Jesus, whose humanity and divinity bind us, inexorably, to the love of the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

What this means is that, as our Eucharistic piety and practice continues to grow and change in response to the whisperings of the Spirit in our midst, the question each generation must answer for itself is this: Is the altar: (a) the rock upon which Christ made his atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world:   (b) the tale around which the faithful gather to partake of God's unbounded grace: or (c) an embodiment of the celestial throne around which we shall be gathered when Christ comes again to effect the consolation of all things?

The answer, of course, is: (d) all of the above... and more!