Digital Commons @ George Fox University Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations 2-2021 Signs of Atonement: Eucharist and Mimetism in the Brazilian Church Guilherme Ribeiro De Paula Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/dmin GEORGE FOX UNIVERSITY SIGNS OF ATONEMENT: EUCHARIST AND MIMETISM IN THE BRAZILIAN CHURCH A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF PORTLAND SEMINARY IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF MINISTRY BY GUILHERME RIBEIRO DE PAULA PORTLAND, OREGON FEBRUARY 2021 Portland Seminary George Fox University Portland, Oregon CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL ________________________________ DMin Dissertation ________________________________ This is to certify that the DMin Dissertation of Guilherme Ribeiro DePaula has been approved by the Dissertation Committee on February 16, 2021 for the degree of Doctor of Ministry in Semiotics & Future Studies Dissertation Committee: Primary Advisor: Ron Clark, DMin Secondary Advisor: Ekaterina Lomperis, PhD Lead Mentor: Leonard I. Sweet, PhD Copyright © 2021 by Guilherme Ribeiro de Paula All rights reserved ii Table of Contents ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ V CHAPTER 1: AWFULLY EVANGELICAL ....................................................................1 A Crusader’s Inheritance ...............................................................................................1 Is Jesus the New Saint George? .....................................................................................3 Cultural Hegemony v. Cultural Diaconate .....................................................................8 A Brief History of the Protestant Church in BraZil ......................................................16 All Shall Be Thine .......................................................................................................20 CHAPTER 2: THE AUTHORITY OF SUFFERING COMPASSION ............................26 The Beginning ..............................................................................................................26 After the Fall ................................................................................................................31 Covenantal Relationship ..............................................................................................37 “Pseudocovenantal” Relationship – False Atonement .................................................41 Fire from Heaven .........................................................................................................45 The Two Swords ..........................................................................................................51 Ancient Christian Views ............................................................................................53 Two Realms of Authority Subjected to One Church .................................................54 An Alert for Imminent Persecution ............................................................................54 A Spiritual Weapon ....................................................................................................55 How To Use A Sword For Peace? .............................................................................56 Armed Healers .............................................................................................................59 CHAPTER 3: IMAGES OF ATONEMENT AND COMMUNION IN CHURCH HISTORY ..........................................................................................................................61 Conflict, Victory, War, Conquest, Slaves, Bondage ....................................................64 Deification, Cosmological Unity, Incarnation .............................................................69 Honor, Offense, Satisfaction, Payment, Debt, Example ..............................................71 Law, Justice, Penalty, Economy, Exchange ................................................................76 Modern Approaches .....................................................................................................87 CHAPTER 4 MIMETISM AND THE ORIGIN OF CULTURE ......................................90 A Brief Biographical Background ...............................................................................91 Mimetic Desire .............................................................................................................95 Rivalry and Escalating Violence ..................................................................................96 The Scapegoat Mechanism ..........................................................................................98 The Origins of Culture and Its Rituals .......................................................................101 The Christian DemythologiZing Narrative .................................................................104 Scapegoat Mechanism and Epistemology .................................................................107 Pharmacological or Therapeutical Sword ..................................................................111 CHAPTER 5: REMEMBER THE EARTH THAT NOURISHES .................................114 Cannibal Hospitality ..................................................................................................114 “Hangry” People ........................................................................................................118 The Power of a Ritual ................................................................................................122 The Crowd is Untruth ................................................................................................126 CHAPTER 6: THE MEAL IS THE MESSAGE ............................................................131 Food Patterns .............................................................................................................131 Fast Food with Safety Demonstration ........................................................................134 iii Therapeutic Eucharist ................................................................................................138 Signs of Reconciliation – Signs of Atonement ..........................................................143 Conclusion .................................................................................................................147 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................155 iv ABSTRACT The Evangelical Church in BraZil has grown in power in the last two decades. This new situation has revealed a church that seeks to change culture through power, resulting in violence and a dispute for cultural hegemony. This dissertation asserts that a contemplative practice of the Eucharist can produce renewed understandings of the atonement and can reorient the church toward a culture of reconciliation. Following the theoretical framework of René Girard, this thesis claims that we are the ones who need violence and sacrifice, not God. If we are not satisfied with the Eucharist, we will search for false atonements and scapegoating. The first chapter presents a brief overview of how Protestantism in BraZil is revealing a theology of dominion. The following chapter casts the biblical foundations for a covenantal view of the doctrine of atonement and the progressive shift from Abel’s sacrifice to Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice. In the third chapter, I attempt to offer an overview of the main theories of atonement throughout church history and their semiotic relationship to their cultural context. Followin this chapter, I present the mimetic theory of René Girard and his view of sacrifice as the origin of culture. The fifth chapter presents scapegoating rituals as forms of a false atonement and demonstrates how the Eucharist can transform a crowd into an atoned community. The final chapter demonstrates how a food pattern shapes a community, the therapeutical potential of the Eucharist, and the contemplative example of the monastic community of TaiZé. The way a church approaches the table shapes the way that church will relate to culture. If a church is not atoned in the Eucharist, that church will seek out false atonements. The BraZilian Evangelical Church has a great opportunity to learn the authority of suffering compassion with Jesus at his table. v 1 CHAPTER 1: AWFULLY EVANGELICAL The state is secular, but we are Christians… We are awfully Christians. This spirit will be in every sphere of power; this is my commitment. I will be indicating two judges for the Supreme Court, one of which will be awfully evangelical. ¾ Jair Messias Bolsonaro, President of BraZil elected in 20181 A Crusader’s Inheritance Narraphors (Leonard Sweet’s neologism for narrative + metaphor) holds a culture together. The intertwining of images and stories make sense of reality. BraZilian culture has a set of narraphors that have been shaping its paradigms, and so has the Evangelical Church in the country. To introduce a foreign reader to BraZilian culture, I will summariZe what I consider to be the most important characteristics of BraZilian culture in four key symbols. Then, I will illustrate with my own family history how the Church deals with each one. Here are the four elements: • Samba (carnival, beer, rhythmic music, sexuality, and suspension of the hierarchy); • Soccer (playing, watching and supporting, engaging in a team, debating over technical decisions, violence sublimated); • Sacred (Catholicism,