Authors: Paul F. Bradshaw, Lawrence A. Hoffman
ISBN-13: 9780268022181, ISBN-10: 0268022186
Format: Paperback
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press
Date Published: March 2009
Edition: 1st Edition
More than a series of rites of passage through the landmarks of growing up and growing old, Jewish and Christian life-cycle rituals give the members of each religious tradition theological and ritualized definitions of what a life should be. In this volume, the fourth in the acclaimed series "Two Liturgical Traditions," eight scholars explore the models of human life implicit in Judaism and Christianity by unraveling and exploring the evolution and current condition of their life-cycle liturgies. The essays presented here emphasize the wholeness of a life as illustrated by the religious metaphors inherent in life-cycle rites. The contributors examine the history and shape of each life-cycle rite - including the rituals and practices associated with birth, adolescence, marriage, sickness, and death - and analyze the theological message that each rite represents.
Abbreviations | ||
Introduction: Life Cycle as Religious Metaphor | 1 | |
Christian Rites Related to Birth | 13 | |
Rituals of Birth in Judaism | 32 | |
Christian Rites of Adolescence | 55 | |
Jewish Rites of Adolescence | 81 | |
Christian Marriage Rituals | 111 | |
The Jewish Wedding Ceremony | 129 | |
Christian Rituals Surrounding Sickness | 154 | |
"Visiting the Sick" and the Deathbed Confession in Judaism | 173 | |
Christian Rituals Surrounding Death | 196 | |
Rites of Death and Mourning in Judaism | 214 | |
Contemporary Challenges to Christian Life-Cycle Ritual | 240 | |
Contemporary Challenges to Jewish Life-Cycle Ritual | 262 | |
Conclusion: Life Cycle as Theology | 286 | |
Contributors | 295 | |
Index | 297 |