Dear List,
When I wrote my Ph.D. thesis in archaeology a couple of years ago, I read
some accounts of how pagan beliefs and ritual structures survived into
Christian times in my native Norway, especially in common rituals associated
with life transitions, such as births, marriages, burials etc.
One of these accounts also stressed the lack of early church involvement in
carrying out these rituals, partly because of the lack of clergy in many
rural parts, and partly because they would have to be paid if people wanted
to use them. The result, as far as I understood it, was that people were
largely left to organize and carry out for instance burials, just as they
had in pagan times, without the church getting involved for more than a
short blessing, if that.
Since reading this, I have been curious as to how actively the early church
was involved in the sort of rituals and ceremonies that marked ordinary
people's lives. Somehow, I had always thought that one of the main
differences between paganism and Christianity was the appropriation of
ritual in the Christian church, but perhaps this wasn't so?
If anyone out there has any thoughts on this, I would be very interested to
hear them.
Happy New Year to all,
Ingegerd H.
Dr. Ingegerd Holand
140 Castelnau
London SW13 9ET
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
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