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Ritual is often considered too mystical for secular organizations and too empty and formulaic for Protestant Christians. This research begins the work of changing those attitudes by showing the importance of ritual for follower development. An overview of American Protestant discipleship literature confirmed a lack of use of ritual for follower development. This study begins bridging that gap by examining the extent of importation of Jewish festival ritual into the New Testament narrative to increase follower development. However, the outcome of the study was also relevant to secular organizations who seek to strengthen organizational identity and effectively communicate and instill core purpose and values in organizational followers. The study identified the use of ritualization in one of history's largest follower organizations—the church. The research was framed through the question: In what ways does the Pauline corpus use narrative ritual from the Jewish festivals of Leviticus 23 in the development of Christian followers? A review of ritual theory and followership theory and surveys of Leviticus and the Pauline corpus plotted the intersection of these various avenues of research. Rituals embody truth that nurture development of meaning, purpose, and values for followers as well as strengthen social identity. Priestly rituals, like those included in Leviticus, were given by God to develop in His followers the type of behavior, thinking, and beliefs consistent with His righteousness and to create a social identity. The goal of this work was to show that at least a portion of those rituals were not abandoned with the advent of Christ but remained a useful tool for first-century discipleship. Specifically, this research used sociorhetorical critical analysis (Robbins, 1996) to perform an inner texture examination of Leviticus 23 using the parameters of Klingbeil (2007). Additionally, an intertexture analysis of the Pauline corpus using select echo parameters of Hays (1989) was employed. Recommendations for application of this research include the development of biblical ritual for ecclesial contexts and the purposeful use of ritual within organizational leadership.
Advisor: | Bekker, Corne J. |
Commitee: | |
School: | Regent University |
School Location: | United States -- Virginia |
Source: | DAI-A 74/10(E), Dissertation Abstracts International |
Source Type: | DISSERTATION |
Subjects: | Biblical studies, Management, Organizational behavior, Judaic studies |
Keywords: | Festival rituals, Leviticus 23, Pauline corpus, Protestant Christians, Rituals |
Publication Number: | 3570908 |
ISBN: | 978-1-303-17743-9 |