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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 September 2014
Both anthropologists and theologians, each in their separate ways, are interested in rituals and their symbol-units. Victor Turner, from extensive fieldwork, has evolved a definition of ritual as “prescribed formal behavior for occasions not given over to technological routine, having reference to beliefs in mystical beings or powers.” Monica Wilson has insisted that “it is the values of the group that are revealed” in rituals and their symbol-units. The present essay is located at the interface of anthropology and theology. It surveys pertinent anthropological information and then analyzes the Christian rituals of baptism, confirmation and eucharist, and their symbol-units, to clarify and focus their meanings and the values and ontology of the Christian group which are revealed in them.
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2 Ibid., p. 24. Emphasis in original.
3 See “Symbols in African Ritual,” in Doglin, Janet L.et alii (eds.), Symbolic Anthropology (New York: Columbia, 1977), pp. 183–94Google Scholar; Turner, Victor, The Drums of Affliction: A Study of Religious Processes among the Ndembu of Zambia (Oxford: Clarendon, 1968)Google Scholar; Turner, Victor, The Forest of Symbols: Aspects of Ndembu Ritual (Ithaca: Cornell, 1967)Google Scholar; Turner, Victor, The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure (Chicago: Adline Publishing, 1969).Google Scholar
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6 Cassirer, Ernst, The Philosophy of Symbolic Forms, Vol. 3 (New Haven: Yale, 1953–1957), p. 93.Google Scholar
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33 Winkler's judgment, in “The Original Meaning,” that the Syrian church emphasized the rebirth meaning of baptism while Paul and the Palestinian church emphasized its meaning as assimilation to Christ's death allows her to draw too sharp a distinction between the ritual emphases of the two churches. In support of her position she cites a segment of that part of Cyril's catechesis that I have fully cited in the text. My judgment is that both Paul and Cyril's witness emphasize the meaning of baptism as assimilation to Christ's death and resurrection, which is clear from a reading of both Romans 6 and the citation from Cyril given in the text. My further judgment is that the connection between a God-achieved rebirth and a God-achieved resurrection from the dead, as they were ritually symbolized, is much more evident than any distinction one might draw between them.
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35 This statement is not meant to prejudge the scholarly issue of whether the presbyteros of the time was a priest as that term is now understood. It is simply a statement of the common opinion that the prebyteros of that time originated the ordained priesthood of our time.
36 Denzinger-Schönmetzer, 215.
37 Rite of Confirmation (Washington: NCCB, 1977), pp. 25, 27, 28.Google Scholar
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45 Cf., The Epistle of Barnabas 15, in Lightfoot, J. B., The Apostolic Fathers (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1974Google Scholar; reprinted from the edition of 1891), p. 52; Justin, Apologia I pro Christianis 67, in PG VI, 430.
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49 The Greek verbs which have been translated historically “hallowed be,” “be done,” and “come” are all in imperative forms. They are commands to God, “our Father,” to bless his name, do his will and establish his kingdom. So I have translated them. More trouble-some is the translation of artos epiousios. Traditional versions vary. Jerome has “super-substantial.” Itala has “daily,” which Martin Luther and subsequent translations followed. However, for a number of reasons, many modern scholars translate epiousios as “pertaining to tomorrow,” and hence artos epiousios as “tomorrow's bread.” The RSV offers “our bread for the morrow” as an alternative reading in both the Matthean (6: 9-13) and Lucan (11: 2-4) versions. See also Jeremias, Joachim, The Prayers of Jesus (London: SCM, 1967), pp. 82–107Google Scholar; and Vögtle, Anton, “The Lord's Prayer: A Prayer for Jews and Christians,” in Petuchowski, Jakob J. and Brocke, Michael (eds.), The Lord's Prayer and Jewish Liturgy (New York: Seabury, 1978), pp. 93–117.Google Scholar What then is “tomorrow's bread”? It is an image standing for the fulfillment of the age of salvation. It is, in short, another way of speaking of the kingdom or rule of God, which is so often described in banquet (bread) terms.
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