Ritual dimension Flashcards
Concept of ritual purity
Distinction between clean/unclean states affecting temple access
Not equivalent to moral purity but related to cultic fitness
Restored through specific purification rituals and time periods
Basis of un/cleanness in animals
Taxonomic anomalies (animals that cross categories)
Physical characteristics (split hooves, scales, fins)
Feeding habits and environment (carrion-eaters, ground-dwellers)
Types of uncleanness in humans
Contact with death (corpses, carcasses)
Bodily emissions (blood, semen, discharge)
Skin conditions (various forms of “leprosy”)
Hebrew rites of sacrifice-purpose & motives
Maintaining proper relationship with God
Addressing sin and impurity that threaten the community
Expressing gratitude and securing divine blessing
Propitiation
Appeasement of divine anger or wrath
Averting punishment through offering
Focus on changing God’s disposition toward humans
Expiation
Removal or cleansing of sin/impurity
Focus on effect on the sinner rather than on God
Purification that allows restoration to community
Yom Kippur/Day of Atonement
Annual ritual for cleansing sanctuary and community
Two goats: one sacrificed, one bearing sins into wilderness
High priest enters Most Holy Place with blood
Purpose of Yom Kippur
Communal purification from all sins of the past year
Renewal of covenant relationship with God
Restoration of sacred space contaminated by sin
Christian rites of sacrifice-atonement
Christ as perfect sacrifice replacing temple system
Once-for-all offering versus repeated animal sacrifices
Emphasis on voluntary self-giving versus animal victims
Platonic dualism
Separation between material (inferior) and spiritual (superior) realms
Body seen as prison or tomb of the soul
Influenced later religious thought, especially Gnosticism
Cult of Mithras-origin & rituals
Persian deity adapted into Roman mystery religion
Initiation through seven grades with corresponding trials
Central myth of bull-slaying (tauroctony) enacted in underground temples
Hebrew rites of myth-purpose
Actualization of foundational events in present time
Communal participation in sacred history
Transmission of identity through ritual remembrance
Seder/Passover
Ritual meal commemorating Exodus from Egypt
Family-centered celebration with prescribed foods and liturgy
Includes narrative retelling (Haggadah) of liberation story
Purpose & symbols of Seder
Matzah (unleavened bread): hasty departure from Egypt
Bitter herbs: bitterness of slavery
Lamb: Passover sacrifice that protected Israelite firstborn
Four cups of wine: stages of redemption promised by God
