Rituals and Sectarian Knowledge: Methods of Constructing Social Identity in the Community Rule (1QS)

Abstract

This study deals with identity construction in the Community Rule (1QS). Examples of rituals and sectarian doctrines (knowledge) dictated in 1QS will be discussed along with a look into how these rituals and knowledge might have affected and constructed communal identity. The rituals that will be discussed are the communal meals, the admission process, and the nightly study sessions. Along with a discussion of these rituals and their effects, the doctrines that reinforce these rituals will be discussed, along with how that knowledge might have also shaped social identity. All of this builds up to the final section where the doctrine of determinism, as taught in 1QS, is discussed. To gain a better understanding of how this doctrine might have affected identity within the Qumran community, Calvinism is used as constructive comparative data.