Sunday, June 2, 2019

June 12, 2019 - Ascension Day, Jerusalem Day, and the Rite of Ascent


In honor of Ascension Day, which is celebrated today in the Western Church, and Jerusalem Day, which is celebrated today in Israel, I wanted to post something on the "rite of ascent."  What follows is a development of the work on the “Eucharist as Offering of Firstfruits,” which was a three-year research project presented in three sections to the Ecumenical Studies Group of the Society for Pentecostal Studies from 2015-2017.[1]  As I was working through the material for the project, I quickly discovered that there is a lost and forgotten dimension of sacrifice that I needed to explored having to do with lifting up, ascent, mount, arise.  When using the language of sacrifice, we hear of the “rite of blood” or the “rite of meal.”  However, there is a forgotten dimension—that is, the “rite of ascent.”  

By way of analogy, this rite of ascent is like the things we experience on a daily basis.  We who live on earth experience a wonder of creation every day.  The rising of the morning sun!  We often take it for granted without giving it much thought, but to a certain degree, the sun draws everything to itself.  As the earth moves yearly around its center of the solar system, it is the sun that supplies it with energy and pulls the earth to itself.  The sun draws air toward itself and produces the trade winds, Hadley cells, the Ferrel cells, and Polar cells that circle both above and around the earth.  The sun draws moisture into the air that moves around in cloud formations that in turn water the earth.  It is from the sun that leaves[2] lift the water that ascends through plants, shrubs, and trees, providing us with flowers, vegetables, and abundant fruits.

There also is something like a rite of ascent in Sacred Scripture, human imagination, music, and literature.  In the Hebrew Scriptures, this begins with Enoch whom God lifted up from the earth (Gen 5:24; Sir 44:16; 49:14; Heb 11:5).  Elsewhere, there are the Coronation Psalms that prefigure the ascension of the chosen one (Pss 24, 47, 68, 110, 118),[3] and the Ascent Psalms (Pss 120-134).  There is also the story of the prophet Elijah and his ascension into heaven (2 Kgs 2:1-12).  In the Prophet Jeremiah, there is the call to ascend to Zion and to the LORD (Jer 31:6), which is reminiscent of Psalm 24.[4]  In the Book of Daniel, there is one like a human being who was presented before the Ancient of Days (Dan 7:13-14).  In the New Testament, Jesus ascends to heaven (Mk 16:19; Acts 1:2, 9, 22; 1 Tim 3:16).  In the Gospel of John, Jesus identifies himself with the Son of Man who ascends to heaven (Jn 6: 61-63), and who shares with others his flesh and blood (vv. 53-56).[5] 

Evidence is also found outside the Sacred Scriptures. The earliest texts that discuss a kind of rite of ascent are found in the Pyramid Texts from the 3rd millennium B.C.E.  The accounts have come to be known as the “Ascension-Myth” that contain the myth of the ascension of the king.[6]  The theme of ascent to heaven also appears in early Jewish and Christian Apocalypses,[7] and Islamic and Jewish mysticism.[8]  Robert Bellarmine wrote a famous work entitled, The Mind’s Ascent to God by a Ladder of Created Things.[9]  Kerry Livgren wrote the famous song Carry on Wayward Son that cries out, “carry on my wayward son … surely heaven waits for you.”[10]  

All the above examples express a desire of the human person to rise above the noise and confusion of earthly and mundane life.  This is central to the Christian faith, which confesses that Christ “arose from the dead, and ascended into heaven.”  What follows are examples from the Sacred Scriptures in which there is something sacred, ethereal, spiritual, and heavenly to our encounter with the Divine.  We begin, though, with a discussion of sacrifice. 

Defining Sacrifice


Secular Meaning of Sacrifice


How do we define the term sacrifice?  One possibility is from a merely secular point of view.  Someone gives something up in order to get something else.  For example, on the one hand a bicycle designer might sacrifice quality, lightness, and speed in order to build an inexpensive bike.  On the other, the designer might sacrifice affordability in order to build one of the lightest, fastest, and most comfortable bikes, but this comes at a higher cost.  Another example is a student might sacrifice his social time with friends in order to study and achieve the best grade possible on an upcoming exam.  Another student might prefer spending time with friends into the wee hours of the night without preparing for the same exam the next day.  In each of these examples, a person gives something up, but what is sacrificed is not given to anyone.[11]  Other examples are a baseball player who sacrifices themselves to the opposing team so that their teammate will make it home, or a chess player who sacrifices their queen to the opponent so as to gain an advantage.  

None of these examples captures the sacred essence of the word sacrifice, which is from the Latin sacrificium, from sacer + facere ­to “make sacred” or “to do [something] sacred.”  Two other important terms are offering and oblation, both of which are from the Latin offerre, “to offer” or “to present.” 

Religious Meaning of Sacrifice


The religious origins, development, and meaning of sacrifice have been studied from various perspectives such as anthropology,[12] sociology,[13] primitive religion of the Semites,[14] phenomenology,[15] its nature and function,[16] structuralism,[17] the scapegoat mechanism,[18] and Judaism and Christianity.[19]  I will be following to a large degree the work of Robert Daly, whose research and writing has focused on uncovering the meaning of sacrifice with a focus on ancient Hebrew, Jewish, and Christian sources.[20] 

Following Robert Daly, “the general religious meaning” of sacrifice is the “offering of something valuable to God.  It can be defined as a gift presented to God,” through a rite, ritual, or ceremony in which the sacrifice is destroyed or consumed; the primary objective is for the offerer to acknowledge the supremacy, dominion, and kingdom of God, but also to restore relationship with God, to give thanks for benefits received, and to pray for further blessings; the offering, “symbolizes the internal offering of commitment and surrender to God.”[21]

Hebrew Scriptures


The origin, types, rites, and meanings of the various sacrifices described in the Hebrew Scriptures is quite complex.   According to John Drane, the different types of sacrifice, “defy comprehensive analysis.”[22]  No claim is made to be exhaustive with what follows.  However, there are several examples from the Hebrew Scriptures we will examine.  In the Book of Genesis, there is a breath of simplicity with the sacrifices of Abel, Noah, Melchizedek, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  In the Book of Exodus, the description to sacrifice (זבח) is at first straightforward (3:18; 5:3, 8, 17; 8:8, 25).  This is also true of the description of the Passover sacrifice (זֶֽבַח־פֶּ֨סַח) with the eating of unleavened bread (12:1-28; esp. 27), and the sacrifice of the firstborn (13:15).  While en route to Mount Sinai, the father-in-law of Moses, Jethro, blesses the Lord, then brings both a burnt offering (עֹלָה) and a communion offering (זֶ֫בַח) to God, after which Aaron and the elders of Israel eat bread with Jethro in the presence of God (18:12).   Even Israel’s entry into the covenant at Mount Sinai is based around a simple “rite of blood” and “meal rite” as we shall see below.  However, beginning with the description of the pattern of the tabernacle (chaps. 25-31), the various types and complexities of the sacrifices emerge.  This is also true for the books of Leviticus and Numbers.  A simple approach will be given below.  We will look at examples of sacrifice among 1) Cain and Abel; 2) Noah; 3) Abraham and Isaac; 4) Moses and Israel; 5) Israel and the Tabernacle; 6) Manoah and his wife; 7) David and Israel; 8) Elijah and Israel; 9) Ezekiel and the Holy Mountain; and 10) Daniel, the Son of Man, and Israel.  

In the following days I hope to post more on the "rite of ascent." 



[1] Lawrence Francis Ligocki, A Catholic-Pentecostal Perspective on the Eucharist: The Eucharist as Offering of Firstfruits (Society for Pentecostal Studies, 2015)., presented to the 44th Annual Meeting held March 12-14 at Southeastern University, Lakeland, Florida; * A Catholic-Pentecostal Perspective on the Eucharist: The Eucharist as Offering of Firstfruits and The Zebach Tôdâ (Society for Pentecostal Studies, 2016), presented to the 45th Annual Meeting of the Society for Pentecostal Studies held March 10-12, 2016 at Life Pacific College, San Dimas, California; *    A Catholic-Pentecostal Perspective on The Eucharist: The Eucharist as Sacrifice (Society for Pentecostal Studies, 2017), presented to the 46th Annual Meeting of the Society for Pentecostal Studies held March 9-11 at Saint Louis Airport Marriott Hotel, Florissant, Missouri. *  A compiled version with addition information and appendix can be found at SCRIBD, and under a slightly different title, The Eucharist as Offering of Firstfruits: A Catholic-Pentecostal Perspective at Google Books.   

[2] The Hebrew word עָלָה (ʿalah) means to “go up,” “climb,” “ascend” (BDB 748.1). A number of other terms are derived from עָלָה (ʿalah) including עָלֶה (ʿāleh) leaf, leafage, עֹלָה (ʿō), whole burnt offering, and מַעֲלֶה (maʿăleh) ascent (TWOT 1623).  The term עָלֶה (ʿāleh) is even used in context of the Tree of Life (Ezk 47:12; Ps 1:3; Pr 11:28; Isa 1:30; Jer 17:8). 

[3] Norman R. Gulley, “Ascension of Christ,” ed. David Noel Freedman, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 472.
[4] Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
                  Those who have clean hands and pure hearts,
who do not lift up their souls to what is false,
and do not swear deceitfully (Ps 24:3-4).
[6] Whitney M. Davis, “The Ascension-Myth in the Pyramid Texts,” JNES 36.3 (1977), 161-179.  See also James P. Allen, The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts (2nd ed; Writings from the Ancient World: Atlanta, SBL Press, 2015).
[7] Martha Himmelfarb, Ascent to Heaven in Jewish and Christian Apocalypses (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993).
[8] Algis Uždavinys, Ascent to Heaven in Islamic and Jewish Mysticism (London: Matheson Trust, 2011).
[9] Roberto Bellarmino, De ascensione mentis in deum per scalas rerum creatarum opusculum (Lyon: Horace Cardon, 1617).
[10] The song was written in 1977 by Kerry A. Livgren from Kansas.  It was a song that expressed Kerry’s religious and spiritual quest, which ultimately led him to the Christian faith; example from the song:
Carry on my wayward son,
For there’ll be peace when you are done,
Lay your weary head to rest,
Don’t you cry no more.
Carry on, you will always remember,
Carry on, nothing equals the splendor,
Now your life’s no longer empty,
Surely heaven waits for you.
[11] Robert Daly, Sacrifice Unveiled: The True Meaning of Christian Sacrifice (London: T&T Clark, 2009), 2.
[12] Edward Burnett Tylor, Primitive Culture: Researches into the Development of Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Art, and Custom (vols. 1 & 2; 6th ed.; London: John Murry, 1920 [1871]).  Tylor understands primitive sacrifice as a gift to the deity.  He also points out the importance of prayer (vol.  2.375-376, 364).  Tylor also thought that the deities for the primitive mind were the spirits of their ancestors.  * $   
      According to Tylor, “prayer, ‘the soul’s sincere desire, uttered or unexpressed, is the address of personal spirit to personal spirit. So far as it is actually addressed to disembodied or deified human souls, it is simply an extension of the daily intercourse between man and man, while the worshiper who looks up to other divine beings, spiritual after the nature of his own spirit, though of place and power in the universe far beyond his own, still has his mind in a state where prayer is a reasonable and practical act. So simple and familiar indeed is the nature of prayer, that its study does not demand that detail of fact and argument which must be given to rites in comparison practically insignificant” (vol. 2.364).
[13] Herbert Spencer, The Principles of Sociology (New York: Appleton and Company, 1898 [1876]). *   This work went through a number of editions.  Spencer was an empiricist, positivist, and proponent of “Social Darwinism,” and is attributed with the phrase, “survival of the fittest.”  Spencer thought that he had traced the origins of religious sacrifice to rites of offerings and sacrifices, which individuals presented to their ancestors who sometimes appeared as spirits (277).  $ %
[14]William Robertson Smith, Religion of the Semites (London: Adam and Charles Black, 1894).  For Smith, the origin of sacrifice was based on the notion of communion with the deity.  He says, “the one point that comes out clear and strong is that the fundamental idea of ancient sacrifice is sacramental communion, and that all atoning rites are ultimately to be regarded as owing their efficacy to a communication of divine life to the worshippers, and to the establishment or confirmation of a living bond between them and their god” (439). 
[15] Gerardus van der Leeuw, Religion in Essence and Manifestation: A Study in Phenomenology (trans. J.E. Turner; 2nd ed.; Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986 [org. Ger. 1933]), 350-360. * $
[16] Henri Hubert and Marcel Mauss, Sacrifice: Its Nature and Function (trans. W. D. Halls; Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1964).  According to Hubert and Mauss, in every sacrifice the object that is offered passes from the common to the religious domain, or in other words it becomes consecrated (9).  They continue, “but not all consecrations are of the same kind. In some the effects are limited to the consecrated object, be it a man or a thing. This is, for example, the case with unction. When a king is consecrated, his religious personality alone is rnodified; apart from this, nothing is changed. In sacrifice, on the other hand, the consecration extends beyond the thing consecrated; among other objects, it touches the moral person who bears the expenses of the ceremony. The devotee who provides the victim which is the object of the consecration is not, at the completion of the operation, the same as he was at the beginning.  He has acquired a religious character which he did not have before, or has rid himself of an unfavourable character with which he was affected; he has raised himself to a state of grace or has emerged from a state of sin.  In either case he has been religiously transformed” (9-10). *
[17] Luc de Heusch, Sacrifice in Africa: A Structuralist Approach (trans. L. O’Brien and A. Morton; Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1985). * %
[18] René Girard, Violence and the Sacred (trans. P. Gregory; London; New York: Continuum, 2005 [org. Fr. 1972]). *
[19] Robert Daly, “The Power of Sacrifice in Ancient Judaism and Christianity,” Journal of Ritual Studies 4.2 (1990): 181-198; Ann W. Astell and S. Goodhart eds., Sacrifice, Scripture, and Substitution: readings in Ancient Judaism and Christianity (vol. 18 of Christianity and Judaism in Antiquity; Notre Dame: University of Notre Dave Press, 2011). *
[20] Daly, Sacrifice Unveiled, 2-5.
[21] Daly, Sacrifice Unveiled, 2.
[22] John William Drane, Introducing the Old Testament (Completely rev. and updated; Oxford: Lion Publishing plc, 2000), 323.  Following anthropologists, Drane presents three classes of sacrifices and offerings: 1) gift sacrifices, which are given to God in thanksgiving for something and were often wholly consumed with fire as whole burnt offerings; 2) fellowship offerings where a portion of the offering was burned with fire and a portion was eaten in a fellowship meal; and 3) sacrifices for forgiveness of sins, which were primarily the “sin offering” and “guilt offering” that also included the yearly day of atonement (324-328).

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