rites of passageMoses. Those not directly receiving the revelation frequently ask for
something to authenticate it, which often takes the form of a miracle.
Moses is able to perform miraculous deeds that slowly convince people,
but Muhammad asserts that his only miracle is the Qur’an and challenges
his listeners to produce another such text (2.23; 10.38).
The ancient Indian religious tradition holds the Vedas to be revealed
(śruti). Some Vedic seers attach their names to poems, but this is not
indicative of a claim of authorship because it is merely an acknowledge-
ment of the identity of the person who receives the revelation. Needless
to say, the divinely revealed origin of the Vedas gives this literature an
unquestionable authenticity and authority over other bodies of literature
that historically follow it.
Further reading: Olson (2007); Peters (2003)RITES OF PASSAGE
These rites mark important periods of human life that are considered
dangerous, such as birth, initiation, marriage, and death. The rites are
performed to ensure safe passage from one mode of life to another. Rites
of passage manifest a threefold pattern: separation (preliminal), transition
(liminal), and incorporation (postliminal).
Rites of separation involve being separated from one’s former condi-
tion, such as parents or society. During birth rites, separation is marked
by cutting the umbilical cord along with other features, such as one’s first
hair cut, shaving of the head, or donning clothes for the first time. In
some religious cultures, a pregnant woman is isolated. During the initia-
tion ceremony of the Bambara of Mali, young boys wear white gowns,
and they are led out of the village single file to the initiation grove, a
journey toward the West, direction of the setting sun, and symbolic death.
A more dramatic scenario is enacted by the Murring of Australia with
women sitting on the ground with their young boys, who are covered
with a blanket in front of their mothers. Running men approach the
women and boys, suddenly seize the boys, and run off with them.
Transition rites represent the movement from one position to another,
such as from infancy to childhood, from adolescence to adulthood, from
unmarried to married, or from alive to dead. During initiation rites, the
young person’s personal and social status are totally changed and he/she
becomes a person with knowledge, equality, and responsibility. Transition
rites include segregation, initiatory ordeals, symbolic death, instruction,