BMCR 2008.10.17, Richard E. DeMaris, The New Testament in its Ritual World

Richard E. DeMaris, The New Testament in its Ritual World.  London/New
York:  Routledge, 2008.  Pp. x, 143.  ISBN 9780415438261.  $34.95 (pb).


Reviewed by V. Henry T. Nguyen, Loyola Marymount University
([email protected])
Word count:  1371 words
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This book tackles a neglected area in the study of the New Testament --
ritual -- by making it the focal point of the work. DeMaris states:
"This study starts from the premise that ritual was central to, and
definitive for, early Christian life (as it is for all social orders),
and it explores the New Testament through ritual lens" (p. 11). In
order to gain new insights into the ritual dimensions of the earliest
Christian communities, he grounds the study in ritual theory,
Greco-Roman ritual life, social history, and the literary and
archeological evidence of the ancient Mediterranean world. In doing so,
he reconsiders longstanding scholarly consensuses and interpretations
of New Testament texts referring to rites practiced in the church
(especially baptism) and surrounding cultural environments.

DeMaris commences with an introductory chapter laying the foundation
and rationale for the book. He describes the slow progression of
studies on the topic of rituals and how some scholars have now
appraised rituals as essential for understanding Mediterranean religion
and culture. He further explains that this neglect of the ancient
ritual world has suffered particularly within the field of New
Testament studies. DeMaris optimistically predicts that with New
Testament scholars' increasing interest in  recovering the community
life of the early church, the neglect of rituals may soon diminish.
After tracing the recent scholarly probes into the ritual dimensions of
the New Testament, DeMaris surmises that scholars of the "ritual
criticism" of the New Testament are probably several years away from
producing a comprehensive and critical study of rituals in the New
Testament. He explains that although the field has a proper
understanding of the nexus between ritual and text (i.e. the New
Testament), there is still no a theoretical framework to conduct a
full-scale study. DeMaris, accordingly, indicates that his study should
be regarded as "introductory and exploratory rather than conclusive and
exhaustive" (p. 6).

Part I ("Entry Rites") begins with a chapter (Ch. 1) entitled "Perilous
Passage," which provides an accessible and non-technical introduction
to ritual theory, and emphasizes the understanding by ritual theorists
that the context and circumstances around a rite's performance
determine and dictate its effect and significance. In particular,
DeMaris focuses on the New Testament rite of baptism and challenges two
longstanding consensuses in New Testament scholarship: 1) since there
are only a few references to baptism in the New Testament writings, it
was firmly established and universal in that era and beyond
controversy; and 2) baptism was a rite of initiation into the Christian
movement. Concerning the first issue, DeMaris highlights a couple of
instances where the rite attracted controversy within the Christian
communities (e.g. 1 Cor 1.10-13, 17). And with the second issue, he
shows evidence revealing how problematic it is merely to regard baptism
as an initiatory rite; instead, he determines baptism and other rites
in the early church to be "boundary-crossing rites" (i.e. "rituals").
DeMaris explains how rites, especially those marking transition (like
baptism), typically occur at times of social crises in the life of an
individual or group. He elucidates that rites, then, cope with the
changes in social status and the threats to the social order as the
individual transitions into a new group.

In Chapter 2, "Contested Waters," DeMaris describes the context for the
ritual practices of baptism within the early church -- in particular
the church at Roman Corinth. For this and the following chapters, he
focuses on the rite of baptism in the apostle Paul's first letter to
the Corinthians, since there are several references to baptism in the
letter; the letter provides the most details in the New Testament of a
particular church; and there is considerable literary and
archaeological evidence describing the Roman colony during the time of
Paul. In this chapter, DeMaris assembles ancient evidence and secondary
literature to describe the use of water in Corinth. From the evidence,
he determines that the Romans used water to accentuate the Romanitas of
Corinth, and also that the Greek indigenous people would have
maintained their Greek understanding of the sacred or cultic use of
water. By positing this dual function of water in Corinth, he intimates
that the Corinthian Christian's sacred water use (baptism) partly
functioned as an expression of resistance to Rome.

Chapter 3, "And the Greatest of These is Death," deals with the
Corinthian Christian's ritual of baptism on behalf of the dead (1 Cor
15.29), which is an obscure practice in the early church, and has
puzzled New Testament scholars for years. DeMaris gathers literary and
archaeological evidence to depict a culture in which the world of the
living could affect the world of the dead. Moreover, he claims that the
rite of baptism was malleable and subject to ritual innovation; and in
the case of baptism on behalf of the dead, the rite transitioned the
deceased individual from the realm of the living to the community of
the dead. DeMaris applies this understanding and contends that Paul
capitalizes on the Corinthian believers' preoccupation with the
underworld with his proclamation of the death of Christ (e.g. 1 Cor
1.21-5; 2.2). Despite trying to show how this practice was not uncommon
in Corinth, DeMaris does not offer much interpretation for Paul's
reference to it.

The focus of the book then shifts to the topic of "Exit Rites" (Part
II) and leads off with Chapter 4, "Paul's Omphalos." DeMaris begins the
chapter by reviewing the various attempts made by New Testament
scholars to locate the "center" of Paul's theology. In particular,
DeMaris argues against reading Paul's letters through the lens of
morality and ethics as they relate to theology; instead, he discerns
that Paul's preoccupation is often with purity and holiness, which
would restore ritual to the central place in the letter and Paul's
thought. DeMaris focuses on 1 Cor 5.1-5, in which Paul commands the
congregation to expel or excommunicate the sexually immoral individual.
By drawing attention to a few pieces of literary evidence, he argues
that Paul here is articulating what he expects the Corinthian believers
to do within a ritual setting, rather than a deliberative or juridical
setting. Thus, Paul's employment of the exit ritual of expulsion --
like other funerary, burial, and mourning rites -- resolves the
disorder in the community and maintains purity.

In the final chapter (Ch. 5), "Jesus Jettisoned," DeMaris considers the
passion narrative in Mark's gospel as an exit ritual. He focuses on the
passion narrative, which is a significant part of Mark's gospel
presentation, as a status degradation ritual of an individual and his
or her associated exit from a community -- a ritual which DeMaris views
as commonly practiced in the ancient Mediterranean world. He
establishes this interpretation of the passion narrative by
considering: Jesus' death as a sacrifice in light of the scape-goat
ritual in Leviticus 16; the Greek curative exit ritual of pharmakos;
and the Roman association of an emissary that diverted evil or averted
disaster with an act of devotio. According to DeMaris, Mark is
depicting Jesus, then, as bearing away the misfortunes of the Jewish
people in Roman Palestine--a ritual act which would benefit many and
ultimately restore purity.

In sum, DeMaris' well-written book is a welcome addition to the study
of rituals in the New Testament. I only have a few points of criticism.
First, the title of his exploratory work is somewhat misleading.
Readers might be disappointed to discover that this brief work,
contrary to its title, is not a comprehensive or in-depth study of
various rituals in the New Testament. Instead the work focuses on a few
specific rites -- especially baptism -- as found in a few New Testament
texts. And given the brevity of the book, DeMaris does not heavily
interact with primary and secondary sources; so at times his
ritual-centered arguments and interpretations are found wanting, since
they lack strong supporting evidence. Consequently, DeMaris could be
criticized for pushing the envelope too far by making ritual the
central focus almost everywhere in the New Testament. This, in turn,
would not easily sway readers to accept his innovative readings of
texts that challenge longstanding scholarly consensuses. Despite these
few quibbles, this valuable work forces New Testament scholars to give
more attention to the neglected ritual world of the New Testament.