THE FOUNDATION OF THE EARLIEST BAPTISM

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Description of “ritual”

In the course of the history of humankind, a number of different adaptations to the habit have manifested themselves. Although the border between them is fluid, anthropologists have been able to recognize the following principal adaptations: hunting and gathering societies, simple horticultural societies, advanced horticultural societies, simple agrarian societies, advanced agrarian societies, and industrial societies. Each of these adaptations correlates with a different religious behavior (Goodman 1988a:17; see Goodman 1988b:25-27; Lenski et al 1991:71). The people of the first-century Mediterranean world lived in an advanced agrarian society (cf Lenski et al 1991:169-201; Malina 1993a:90-94; Van Aarde 1994b:96-99). They believed that major changes in people’s lives took place by means of rituals.
Goodman (1988a:20) explains: Seeds, after all, become plants, only to yield seeds once more. The plant is merely another aspect of the seed. For the seeds to reveal their alternate aspect, they need to undergo the ritual of being planted in the ground. All other objects of ordinary reality have alternate aspects also, insects, stones, mountains, the wind, the heavenly bodies, and of course also humans, and in the ritual of metamorphosis, alternate between these aspects.
Rituals accompany people throughout their lives. They mark situations of crisis, such as birth, puberty, marriage, and death, with proper solemnity, functioning to facilitate the passage from one social condition to the next (Goodman 1988a:31; see Förster 2003:704-709). Turner (1973:1100) defines ritual as “a stereotyped sequence of activities, involving gestures, words, and objects, performed in a sequestered place, and designed to influence preternatural entities or forces on behalf of the actors’ goals and interests” (cf Turner 1967:19; see Förster 2003:711). Accordingly, Goodman (1988a:31) remarks: “A ritual is a social encounter in which each participant has a well-rehearsed role to act out. It takes place within a set time span and in a limited space, and involves a predetermined set of events. Once initiated, it has to run its course to completion” (see Zuesse 1987:405; Meeks 1993:92-93; Collins 1996:218). Arnold van Gennep ([1909] 1960) coined the term rites de passage.15 According to him it describes two types of rituals: rituals that accompany the passage of a person from one social status to another in the course of life, like birth and marriage; and rituals that mark recognized points in the passage of time, like the new year and the new moon (Turner 1987:386; cf Girard 1972:425; see Myerhoff, Camino & Turner 1987:380-383; McVann 1991b:335-336; Gehlen 1998:58-63). Baptism is likewise an initiation rite16 or rite de passage. Since baptism is the ritual that will receive special attention in this study, the remainder of this sectionwill focus on rites de passage. In a symbolic fashion rituals like these represent the legitimate crossing of a boundary, which brings along a new identity with new rights and responsibilities. Boundaries can be understood as fences around what is holy, protecting and guarding what is enclosed. But with all boundaries, there must be gates to permit legitimate entrance – so there are rituals that carefully define the process of who may enter and who may legitimately cross the boundaries (Neyrey 1990:87). These rituals assign people a location in cultural space and accord them a status that the other members of society recognize as proper17 (Van Staden 2001:583; cf Eliade 1965:ix-x; McVann 1991b:333). Baptism can be seen as such an entrance ritual, whereby outsiders legitimately enter the realm of God.18 Certain elements allow this transition to a new status to take place effectively, namely the initiands, who undergo the change of role or status; the ritual elders, who preside over the ritual; and the symbols of the new world, which the initiands learn during the ritual (Van Gennep 1960:21, 65-115; McVann 1988:97; 1991a:152-153; 1991b:336; cf Winkelman 2000:234-235; see Turner 1967:94- 108, 235-236).

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Liminality-Communitas

Turner (1967:99-102) describes the process of demarcation against the society as liminality communitas.19 Liminality,20 the negative side of the ritual process, describes the state into which the initiands are brought by virtue of their separation from their everyday, familiar world. During this period initiands become disoriented, having been cut off from the persons, points of reference and activities which shaped their previous way of living. In a sense they “disappear” from view, or “die”. They are required to abandon their previoushabits, ideas and understandings of their personal  identity, as well as their social relations. Their previous identities are no longer operative, but they have not yet acquired new roles and statuses. Therefore, they are “in between” and perceived to be dangerous (McVann 1991b:339; cf d’Aquili and Newberg 1993:3; see Turner 1977:95; Wedderburn 1987:367-368). The liminal stage is the heart of the process, the time of transformation, when the initiands shed an old identity and gain a new one (see Esler 2003:211). Communitas,21 the positive side of the ritual process, refers to the initiands’ recognition of their fundamental relation to the institution into which they are being initiated. All the distinctions between the initiands disappear and equality and unity are emphasized (McVann 1991a:153;1991b:340; cf Winkelman 2000: 265; Turner 1967:99-101; 1974:46). d’Aquili and Newberg (1993:3) state that it is especially during the liminalitycommunitas phase that alternate states of consciousness are experienced. In fact, according to them, the states that can be produced during rituals (as well as ceremonies) seem to  overlap with some of the alternate states of consciousness generated by various meditativepractices. In their opinion it is “probably not too strong a statement to make that human ceremonial ritual provides the ordinary person access to mystical experience” (d’Aquili & Newberg 1993:4; see Laughlin, McManus & d’Aquili 1992:142). In other words, the liminality-communitas component of ritual can be described as a portal between the sacred and the profane (see Laughlin, McManus & d’Aquili 1992:213-214). In the words of Winkelman (2000:97): Rituals connect previously developed (socialized) intentionalities with symbols, eliciting conditioned responses that can transform structures of consciousness. Ritually induced states of consciousness contrast with the normally static and stable social life by providing a period of fluidity for transformation of social status and self-experience through liminal or transitional stages. The ritual then resolves status ambiguity by marking the social transition and by producing feelings of unity or community with the social group.

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 PROBLEM STATEMENT
1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1.3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
1.4 FRAME OF REFERENCE
1.5 IDENTIFYING A RESEARCH GAP
1.6 RELEVANCE AND METHODOLOGY
1.7 RESEARCH PLAN
Chapter 2 ALTERNATE STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS
2.1 INTRODUCTION
2.2 CONSCIOUSNESS
2.3 ALTERNATE STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS
2.4 ALTERNATE STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND MYTH
2.5 THE CONTEXT OF ALTERNATE STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS
2.6 SHAMANISM
2.7 THE FUNCTION OF ALTERNATE STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS
2.8 CONCLUDING REMARKS
Chapter 3 SYMBOLS, RITES AND GROUP FORMATION
3.1 INTRODUCTION
3.2 SYMBOLS
3.4 RITUAL
3.5 CEREMONY
3.6 THE FORMATION OF A NEW GROUP
3.7 CONCLUDING REMARKS
Chapter 4 BAPTISM
4.1 INTRODUCTION
4.2 REASON: THE FOUNDATION OF THE EARLIEST BAPTISM
4.3 VALUE: BAPTISMAL FORMULAE AS ANTI-LANGUAGE
4.4 MEANING: BAPTISM AS A CULTURAL RITUAL INITIATION SYMBOL OF AN ALTERNATIVE LIFESTYLE
4.5 CONCLUDING REMARKS
Chapter 5 THE EUCHARIST
5.1. INTRODUCTION
5.2 REASON: FOUNDATION OF THE EARLIEST EUCHARIST
5.3 VALUE: EUCHARISTIC FORMULAE AS ANTI-LANGUAGE
5.4 MEANING: HOLY MEALS AS A CULTURAL CEREMONIAL SYMBOL OF INTEGRATION INTO AN ALTERNATIVE SOCIETY
5.5. CONCLUDING REMARKS
Chapter 6 RESUMÉ
6.1 THE PROBLEM ADDRESSED
6.2 THE PAY-OFF
6.3 IN CONCLUSION
Works consulted 
Summary

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