RT Article
T1 Habitus and Hope: The Function of Early Christian Ritual Practice
JF Biblical interpretation
VO 33
IS 2
SP 173
OP 192
A1 Lorencin, Igor
LA English
YR 2025
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1923090445
AB This contribution starts with the controversy regarding the problem of the delay of the Parousia in early Christianity and asks which processes have continually renewed and strengthened hope of Christ-followers for the future. In the early Christian ritual participation, the habitus of those involved was shaped. An identity is embodied though mimesis, which contributes toward forming values and norms of a group. In the main part of this investigation, with the help of a socio-cognitive approach, the ritual of the Eucharist is explored within early Christian literature from the New Testament times for the purpose of investigating the embodiment of eschatological hope. In the ritual process, hope about the future is ritualized through repetition, embodiment, and experienced emotions. Continual ritual participation strengthens future hope, so an active Parousia expectation is regularly confirmed and can in such a way be transmitted from one generation to the next.
K1 socio-cognitive
K1 Ritual
K1 Parousia
K1 Hope
K1 Habitus
K1 Emotions
K1 Embodiment
K1 Eucharist
DO 10.1163/15685152-20251898