Durham E-Theses Baptism in ritual perspective: myth, symbol and metaphor as anthropological foundations for a baptismal theology Robinson, Peter J.A. How to cite: Robinson, Peter J.A. (1997) Baptism in ritual perspective: myth, symbol and metaphor as anthropological foundations for a baptismal theology, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/5060/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 PETER J A ROBINSON BAPTISM IN RITUAL PERSPECTIVE Myth, Symbol and Metaphor as Anthropological Foiindations for a Baptismal Theology Abstract This thesis argues that Christian baptism is most profitably understood from the perspective of anthropological studies of ritual. A dialogue with its categories establishes that baptismal theology has often implicitly assumed social anthropology's findings on ritual in general. It also suggests that the primary ritual categories of myth, symbol and metaphor are foundational to baptism's theological development. The anthropology of myth is deployed to locate the narrative basis for baptism. The proposal is made that the story of Jesus' Baptism, which is understood as the revelation of the eschatological new creation, provides baptismal ritual with its imitative source and legitimates its symbols and metaphors. An analysis of iconography is an important part of this justification. This proposal is developed by exploring the properties of baptismal symbols. The concepts of symbolic elusiveness, deep structure and natural symbolism are exploited to give an account of symbols based on water and oil. The sensual experience of olfaction and the flow of human blood are found to be important interpretative concepts which lead naturally to a consideration of the corporeality of baptismal symbolism. Recognising that symbols promote a shared ritual experience, the properties of ritual metaphors are then considered as the primary means for facilitating a baptismal identity. Criteria for an evaluation of the three major metaphors - birth, death and washing - are derived from anthropology and applied. It is concluded that the metaphor of childbirth has a strong claim to be regarded as the appropriate primary metaphor for organising baptism's ritual context. Baptism thus understood offers fresh contours for baptismal theology today and overcomes some of the difficulties presented by more traditional methodologies. Especially, it allows contemporary concerns about baptism to be effectively addressed. Among these are questions about the intelligibility of its liturgical symbols and the relationships between its key metaphors. BAPTISM IN RITUAL PERSPECTIVE Myth, Symbol and Metaphor as Anthropological Foundations for a Baptismal Theology The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without the written consent of the author and information derived from it should be acknowledged. PETER JOHN ALAN ROBINSON Submitted for the Degree of PhD UNIVERSITY OF DURHAM THEOLOGY DEPARTMENT 1997 0 NOV 1997 CONTENTS Abbreviations iv Declarations vi One Introduction 1 Endnotes to Chapter One 11 Two The Social Anthropology of Ritual and Baptismal Theology 13 1 Ritual, Human Nature and Theology: Anticipation of a New Direction in Sacramental Theology 13 2 Ritual from the Perspective of Social Anthropology 18 2.1 Ritual as 'Purposive' 18 2.1.1 Ontological Change 18 2.1.2 Classification of Ritual 20 2.1.3 Control through Ritual 25 2.1.4 Efficacy through 'Communitas' 28 2.2 Ritual as 'Assertive' 32 2.2.1 Communication and Expression 32 2.2.2 The Effect of Contestability 36 2.2.3 Bodily Assertion 37 3 Baptism as Ritual: A Preliminary Theological Reading 41 3.1 Efficacy: The Personal Dimension 42 3.2 Efficacy: The Social Dimension 45 3.3 Transmission and Survival of the Faith 47 3.4 Relation to the Human Life-Cycle 48 Endnotes to Chapter Two 53 Contents Three Myth. Ritual and the Story of Jesus' Baptism 58 1 Anthropological Perspectives on Myth and its Relationship with Ritual 58 1.1 Two Perspectives on Myth 59 1.2 Myth and its Relationship with Ritual 67 2 A Theological Appropriation of the Relation between Myth and Ritual 76 2.1 Coordinating Myth with Narrative in Theology 77 2.2 The Provenance of Christian Baptism 84 3 Recent Theological Deployment of Jesus' Baptism 93 3.1 Suffering Servant Christology: G W H Lampe 93 3.2 The Unique Sacramentality of Jesus Christ: K Barth 96 3.3 The Primordial Sacramentality of Jesus: K B Osborne 99 4 The Story of Jesus' Baptism as the Charter for Christian Baptism 104 4.1 The Archetypal Event which is Narrated 105 4.2 The Narration of the Archetypal Event 108 5 The Imitative-Repetition of Jesus' Baptism in Christian Baptism 114 5.1 Ritual Imitation in Patristic and Medieval Baptism 116 5.2 Ritual Imitation in Contemporary Sacramental Theology 125 6 Jesus' Baptism as the Legitimation of the Symbols and Metaphors of Christian Baptism 130 6.1 The Image of Salvation 130 6.2 Aqueous and Oleaginous Symbols of Baptism 137 6.3 Birth, Death and Cleansing as Metaphors of Baptism 139 Endnotes to Chapter Three 146 Four Ritual Symbols, their Elusive Structure and the Bodiliness of Baptism 158 1 Characteristics of Ritual Symbols 158 1.1 Symbolic Identification, Interpretation and Effectiveness 159 1.2 Elusiveness of Symbols 164 1.3 Searching for Deep Structure 171 2 Dominant and Dependent Symbols in Christian Baptism 176 2.1 Aqueous Symbolism 177 2.2 Oleaginous Symbolism 185 2.3 Elusiveness of Aqueous and Oleaginous Symbolism 192 11 Contents 3 Baptismal Symbols, Sanguineity and Deep Structure 198 3.1 Blood and Baptismal Symbols 199 3.2 Sanguineous Symbols 204 3.3 Salvific Blood and the 'Fruitful Cut' 208 4 Baptismal Bodies 216 4.1 Symbolism of Bodily Appearance: Nakedness and Clothing 218 4.2 Symbolism of Gesture: Offering and Receiving of Infants by Godparents 230 Endnotes to Chapter Four 237 Five Ritual Metaphors and the Organising Potential of Baptismal Birth 250 1 Metaphor and Ritual 250 1.1 Human Identity and Social Movement through Metaphor 251 1.2 Cultural Understanding and its Organising Metaphors 254 1.3 Evaluation of Metaphors and Implications for Baptism 257 2 The Metaphor of Death 262 2.1 The Dominance of Baptismal Death 263 2.2 Human Death as the Source Domain for Baptismal Death 265 2.3 Critique of Baptismal Death 269 3 The Metaphor of Birth 278 3.1 Reluctant Development of Baptismal Birth 278 3.2 Human Birth as a Source Domain for Baptismal Birth 282 3.3 Critique of Baptismal Birth 285 4 The Metaphor of Washing 294 4.1 Baptism, Human Sinfulness and the Washing away of Sins 295 4.2 Human Cleanliness as a Model for Baptismal Washing 304 4.3 A Critique of Baptismal Washing 307 5 The Organising Potential of Baptismal Birth 317 5.1 Comparison Between the Metaphors of Death, Birth and Washing 317 5.2 Metaphors of Death, Birth and Washing in Relationship 321 5.3 Denial of Childbirth through the Supremacy of Culture 327 5.4 Baptismal Godparents and the Historicity of Human Birth 330 Endnotes to Chapter Five 339 Six Baptism in Ritual Perspective 351 Bibliography 363 111 Abbreviations ABBREVIATIONS AIRI Yarnold, Edward SJ. The Awe-inspiring Rites of Initiation: The Origins of the RCIA. Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press. 1994 (Second Edition) [1971] AT Hippolytus. Apostolic Tradition. In Cumming, Geoffrey J (ed.). Hippolvtus: A Text For Students. Grove Liturgical Study No. 8. Bramcote, Nottingham: Grove Books Ltd. 1987 (Second Edition) [1976] Bapt. Evans, Ernest (ed.). Tertullian's Homily on Baptism. The Text edited with an Introduction, Translation and Commentary. London: SPCK. 1964 BCP The Book of Common Prayer. 1662 CD Barth, Karl. Church Dogmatics. Volumes I-IV. Translated by Bromiley, Geoffrey W. Edinburgh: T & T Clark. 1936-75 CI Riley, Hugh M. Christian Initiation: A Comparative Study of the Interpretation of the Baptismal Liturgy in the Mystagoqical Writings of Cyril of Jerusalem. John Chrysostom, Theodore of Mopsuestia and Ambrose of Milan. Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press. 1974 CIRP Fisher, John D C. Christian Initiation: The Reformation Period. Some Early Reformed Rites of Baptism and Confirmation and other Contemporary Documents. Alcuin Club Collections No. 51. London: SPCK. 1970 DACL Cabrol, F (ed.). Dictionnaire D'Archeologie Chretienne et de Liturgie. Paris: 1907 DBL E C Whitaker. The Documents of the Baptismal Liturgy. London: SPCK. 1970 (Second Edition) [1960] ECBC Finn, Thomas M (ed.) Early Christian Baptism and the Catechumenate. Message of the Fathers of the Church, Volumes 5 and 6. Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press. 1992 ER Eliade, Mircea (editor-in-chief). Encylopedia of Religion. 16 Volumes. New York/London: Macmillan. 1987 ERE Hastings, James (ed.). Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics. 13 Volumes. Edinburgh; T & T Clark. 1908 ESS Seligman, Edwin R A (ed.). Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences, 15 Volumes. New York: Macmillan. 1930 IV Abbreviations lESS Sills, David L (ed.). International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. 18 Volumes. Macmillan Co. & The Free Press. 1968 Inst. J Calvin. Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1559 Edition in Two Volumes.