Christian Symbol and Ritual This Page Intentionally Left Blank Christian Symbol and Ritual

Christian Symbol and Ritual This page intentionally left blank Christian Symbol and Ritual An Introduction bernard cooke gary macy 1 2005 1 Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright ᭧ 2005 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Cooke, Bernard J. Christian symbol and ritual: an introduction / Bernard Cooke and Gary Macy. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13 978-0-19-515411-5; 978-0-19-515412-2 (pbk.) ISBN 0-19-515411-8; 0-19-515412-6 (pbk.) 1. Liturgics. 2. Ritual. 3. Christian art and symbolism. 4. Theology, doctrinal. I. Macy, Gary. II. Title. BV178.C66 2005 264—dc22 2004029400 987654321 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper To Pauline Turner and Saralynn Ferrara This page intentionally left blank Preface This is a book born directly from the classroom. We were both teaching courses on the sacraments at the University of San Diego a few years back (in one case together), and both came to similar con- clusions. First, the student body had changed dramatically over the last few decades. More and more students were coming from families that had little or no regular religious practice. While the students might consider themselves to be generically Christian or even specif- ically Lutheran Christians, Roman Catholic Christians, and so on, they had little or no understanding of their own traditions. One such student, when she was assigned to read the Gospels, was shocked to find out Jesus died. A teacher simply could not take any Christian background for granted. Many students were un- churched in any sense. They and their families practiced and pro- fessed no religion at all. The books we used to teach our courses, while excellent in themselves, simply assumed too much on the part of the students. They used words like “sacrament” or “grace” or “salvation” as if the student already knew what these words meant. Quite likely at the time when the texts were written, this was a fair assumption. Times, however, had changed, and so had the students. Second, most of the books on Christian rituals were books written from a Roman Catholic perspective deliberately for Roman Cath- viii preface olics. There were few, if any, books written to introduce Christian rituals in general, at least not books for undergraduate students. We decided to do our best, therefore, to write a book that had two aims: first, to write an introduction to Christian ritual that assumed the reader had little or no background in Christianity; second, to write a book that attempted to introduce the reader to Christian ritual in general. During the process of writing, different sections were used in class and tested and refined, as it were, under fire. Insofar as this small sample of students is useful, the method seemed to work. When a writer attempts to take nothing for granted, and when a text is tempered by the questions of the classroom, the text tends to be written with a kind of anticipation. Most chapters include not only a description of a par- ticular Christian ritual but also a theology to explain that ritual, as well as the historical background to explicate the debates that still roil Christians concern- ing those rituals. We are attempting to answer the readers’ inevitable “but” questions: “But then why do some Christians baptize children, while others don’t?” “But why then is Sunday service different at my church?” “But why do some Christians have priests and some ministers?” This means the chapters may well seem to drift away from a discussion of ritual per se. We can also beg for your patience. We may be answering someone else’s “but” question rather than yours at the moment. Another ultimate and practical purpose also motivated composition of the book. In recent decades there has been a noticeable movement toward people’s increased activity in worship services. Pentecostal services have proved attrac- tive to thousands. In Roman Catholicism, the Second Vatican Council made a historic and revolutionary shift in its explanation of desirable Eucharistic celebration, a shift from people “attending” Mass that is celebrated by an ordained liturgical “specialist” to people’s active participation in the celebration: a shift from spectacle to ritual. However—and the council’s document on the liturgy states this emphatically—people can share consciously, intelligently, and effec- tively in ritual only if they know what ritual is and what their function in the Eucharistic ritual is. We hope this book can help create such an understanding of ritual. While clearly written by Roman Catholics, and while using Roman Ca- tholicism as the main examples, we hope that this will be a book that would be accessible to all Christians. With over 130 years of Catholic life and expe- rience between us, our biases cannot help but show. We trust that these inevitable predispositions will not alienate or offend. A book such as this owes so much to so many that it would hard to mention all the influences that have shaped our thought over many years. We should preface ix at least like to mention, however, Orlando Espıń, Michael Lawler, Susan Ross, Kenan Osborne, Geoffrey Wainwright, Catherine Bell, Bruce Morrill, Joseph Powers, Raul Go´mez, Dennis Krause, and Phyllis Zagano. Finally, we thank Cynthia Read from Oxford University Press who encouraged us throughout the process and waited patiently for the final product. This page intentionally left blank Contents Introduction: Symbolism, Root of Ritual, 3 1. Characteristics and Functions of Rituals, 19 2. Rituals in the Christian Context, 35 3. Rituals of Friendship, 55 4. Rituals of Christian Initiation, 69 5. Rituals of Prayer, Worship, and the Eucharist, 87 6. Rituals of Reconciliation, 109 7. Rituals of Service and Ministry, 119 8. Rituals for Healing, Suffering, Death, 147 Conclusion: Christian Life as Ritual, 161 Suggestions for Further Reading, 171 Index, 175 This page intentionally left blank Christian Symbol and Ritual This page intentionally left blank Introduction Symbolism, Root of Ritual When you first opened this book, how did you do it? Just open it up to this page and start reading? Did you carefully open it in the mid- dle first so as not to break the binding? Did you check the notes and bibliography first to get a better idea of what sources the authors used? Did you lick your finger in anticipation of page turning? Did you quickly flip through the chapter headings to get an overall idea of the book? Maybe you did all or some of the above actions without really thinking about them. It’s just a habit after years of reading. You may even have a favorite place and time for reading; the evenings, perhaps, are reserved for novels while you snuggle deep into a favorite chair. Or maybe you have to read this book for a course; then you might be chained to the desk, sitting straight up with pen poised for notes and dread in your heart, faced with another dreary textbook. Chances are that you have some ritual habits with which you approach a new book. Whether you are aware of it or not, even little actions like picking up a new book usually involve rituals. We hope that this book will make you more aware of how much of life is made up of rituals, and how much those rituals do not just enrich your life but even shape your identity. 4 introduction Pervasiveness of Symbols For now, however, it might be valuable just to take a moment and think of the many areas where rituals and symbols help structure one’s day and ease one through everyday life. Many people, especially in Western cultures, think of themselves as eminently practical. The actions that make up the bulk of their lives are pragmatic, practical, functional. They are not wrong to think so, but certainly they make a mistake if they think that ritual actions are not pragmatic, practical, and functional. Take these letters as they march across the page: P–A–G–E. Every single one is a symbol. Every word is a symbol; every sentence structures those symbols and is, in this sense, a ritual. Language itself, so basic to human communication and knowledge, is both symbol and ritual. Clearly, language is both symbolic and ritualistic, but at the same time it is eminently practical and functional. Rituals aid human interaction in other less obvious, but equally important, ways. Quite likely, as you move through your day, you encounter many people that you know and you address them with “Hi, how are you?” or “How’s it going?” or “What’s up?” or some equivalent. The person so addressed is likely to respond something like, “Great! And how are you?” or perhaps, “Hanging in there” or even “So, so.” Now, you probably don’t really want to sit down and hear all about that person’s present life, although this is actually what you are asking.

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