Pauline Christ-Groups and Private Dionysian Associations : Mythical Narratives and Communal Rituals as Building Blocks of Social Identity

This doctoral dissertation examines the roles of mythical narratives and religious rituals in the identity formation process of Pauline Christ-groups and Greco-Roman private religious associations. The main sources used in this work are Paul’s letters and inscriptions that refer to private religious associations. Of Paul’s letters, I use his letters to Corinth, Philippi, Galatia, and his first letter to Thessalonica. These letters were chosen because they are considered to be some of Paul’s authentic letters. Moreover, Paul likely founded the Christ-groups, to which these letters were addressed, or he was actively influential during their formative years. Paul, most likely, held a position of authority within these Christ-groups, or at the least, he wrote these letters from a perspective of power. Of the vast amount of inscriptional material, I focus on inscriptions that mention private Dionysian associations. Dionysian associations were because he was a popular deity throughout the eastern Mediterranean, and Dionysian associations were common and widespread. Therefore, we have enough inscriptional evidence to attain a general picture of Dionysian associations despite their diversity. The theoretical framework of this study is based on the social identity approach (SIA) and selected theories of rituals studies, which have both been successfully applied in biblical studies but rarely in the field of association studies. The main theories of social psychology used in this work fall under the SIA umbrella (SIT, SCT, narrative identity, narrative identity model and social memory). The theoretical approach to rituals is applied in order to better understand the connection between rituals and social identity. The chosen ritual theories (signalling approach, modes of religiosity and ritual competence theory) are applied to the source materials. This doctoral dissertation has a tripartite structure. In the first part, I focus on Paul’s letters and address the mythical narratives and then the two main rituals (initiation and communal meal rituals) of the Pauline Christ-groups. In the second part, I analyze the Dionysian association inscriptions and focus on the narratives and rituals referred to in them. In the third part, I compare the findings of the two previous sections, and I highlight the key similarities and differences between the use of mythical narratives and communal rituals in Pauline Christ-groups and Dionysian associations.

Grantor dc:publisher

Helsingin yliopisto

Year dc:date.issued

2023

Author dc:creator

• Lapinoja-Pitkänen, Elina

• teologia

Statement dc:rights

• Julkaisu on tekijänoikeussäännösten alainen. Teosta voi lukea ja tulostaa henkilökohtaista käyttöä varten. Käyttö kaupallisiin tarkoituksiin on kielletty.
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Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10138/354764

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:helda.helsinki.fi:10138/354764