Biblical Theology Bulletin: A Journal of Bible

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Social Identity, Boundary Breaking, and Ritual: Saul's Recruitment on the Road to Damascus
Jason T. Lamoreaux
Biblical Theology Bulletin: A Journal of Bible and Theology 2008; 38; 122
DOI: 10.1177/01461079080380030401

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 Social Identity, Boundary Breaking, and Ritual:
Saul’s Recruitment on the Road to Damascus

Jason T. Lamoreaux

Abstract

Within the context of collectivist cultures, moving from one group to another, or changing identities, is an ardu-
ous and sometimes violent task. Saul’s move from zealous Judean to follower of Jesus is depicted as a violent time of
separation and aggregation. In this study, I use the anthropology of Ritual and Social Identity to construct a model of
Social Identity and Boundary Breaking Ritual so that modern interpreters can better understand what is happening
to Saul on the road to Damascus. Furthermore, utilizing terminology from the study of New Religious Movements,
I argue that “recruitment” be used as a more accurate term than “conversion” in this context. I also compare the pas-
sage to other similar passages found in the literature of the Greco-Roman world. The models and comparisons pro-
vide a methodological framework to help modern interpreters better avoid anachronistic readings of Acts 9:1-19a.

T he recruitment of Saul in Acts 9:1–19a is both intriguing

and complex. Only Jesus’ Baptism in the Gospels rivals this
story of Altered States of Consciousness and Ritual bound-
ary breaking. The recruitment is like no other in the canoni-
cal New Testament and, in terms of length, the amount of
space spent by Luke on the story places emphasis on this
moment in what will become Luke’s Paul. The question
arises, why is this particular man’s recruitment so powerful
and so long in the telling?
What is more shocking is his situation. He is portrayed as
a Judean traveling north to Damascus in order to persecute
Judean heretics. In the midst of this journey, he experiences
an altered state of consciousness that is both violent and life
changing. How are we to understand what is happening in
terms of Luke’s motivation in including this story? Social-
science criticism, more specifically Social Identity Theory
and Ritual Theory, will provide a framework for analyzing
and supplying a provocative interpretation of Saul’s recruit-
ment (Duling: 132–75). This model will provide a heuristic
tool that will allow modern readers to understand better how
an ancient, Greco-Roman reader would have understood
this pericope. Once a model is delineated, other examples
from textual evidence within the Mediterranean cultural mi-
lieu will be presented. This will help to both hone the model
and bring to the fore concrete examples from the circum-
Mediterranean. Finally, the model will be applied to the
story of Saul’s recruitment in Acts 9.
Boundary Breaking and Community Jump-
ing: Social Identity Theory and Ritual
Social Identity Theory: The In-Group and Out-Group
Acts 9:1–19a presents a rare insight into how the au-
thor of Acts understood Saul’s recruitment. Whether this
should be viewed as a historical event or the author of Acts’
construction or adoption of a myth is beyond the scope of
Jason T. Lamoreaux is a doctoral student at Brite Divinity
School, 2116 Pacino Drive, Fort Worth TX 76134 (e-mail: Ja-
son@jtlamoreaux.com). A member of the Context Group, which
studies the Scriptures in their social and cultural context, he is
currently working on a BTB Readers Guide on Ritual Studies.

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 B I B L I C A L T H E O LO GY B U L L E T I N • VO LU M E 3 8
this paper. Therefore, this text will be looked at within its
literary context and how its intended readers may have un-
derstood what is happening in the story.
In terms of Social Identity Theory (SIT), Mcfarland
and Pals describe what might motivate someone to change
his/her identity.
SIT describes categories as contexts and suggests that category
traits can influence actors’ personal motives and identity selec-
tions over time. Through in- and out-category comparisons,
actors learn which categories are more or less desirable. The
actors’ desire for positive affiliation and self-efficacy motivates
them to exit unfulfilling memberships for more desired ones.
Once a person is attached to a category, however, he or she
tends to view that category as better than the alternatives. Thus,
category comparisons and in-group biases give rise to personal
motives for identity change [Mcfarland & Pals: 290].
In defining insiders and outsiders, Waldren has a brief
but helpful definition. “Insider-Outsider is a binary opposi-
tion which allows a group to define itself, establish an image,
an identity, or community in contrast to another with whom
it shares physical space” (Waldren: 139).
Since the majority of Mediterranean peoples were col-
lectivists in their self-understanding, group formation and
boundary maintenance were central concerns. In order to un-
derstand ideas of collectivism in social-psychological terms,
we will first juxtapose the term “collectivism” with the defini-
tion of “individuality” and “individualism” in order to note
the contrasts that exist on both ends of the sliding scale.
Individualism pertains to a particular historico-cultural concep-
tualization of the person or self. Included within this concep-
tualization would be notions of the ultimate value and dignity
of the human individual, his [or her] moral and intellectual
autonomy, his [or her] rationality and self-knowledge, spiri-
tuality, right to privacy, self-sovereignty and self-development,
and his [or her] voluntary contracting into a society, market
and polity. Individuality, by contrast, refers to the universal
nature of human existence whereby it is individuals who pos-
sess agency. Moreover, since individuals engage with others by
virtue of discrete sense-making apparatuses (nervous systems
and brains)—discrete centres of consciousness in discrete bod-
ies—their agency necessarily accords with distinct perspectives
on the world. . . . Finally, this individuality of consciousness and
agency is current whatever the acceptance of individualism as a
cultural norm [Rappaport & Overing: 178–79].
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Physical bodies and minds, therefore, bind “individuals,”
while “individuality” is a social concept. This collectivist
understanding of Mediterranean persons during the time of
Christ has been acknowledged by biblical scholars such as
Hanson (167–91), Osiek (27–30), Malina (1996: 35–69)
and, more recently, Esler (19–76) and Crook (47–52). Al-
though this is so, one must be careful not to take the categories
too far in every case. This is to be a flexible and sliding scale,
where some groups, like some schools of philosophy (i.e. the
Stoics), were more individualistic, while other groups, like the
sect at Qumran, were more overtly collectivists.
Within the sphere of social identity, there are two major
conceptions of identity. First the cognitive individual “refers
to a human being’s consciousness of the continuity of her
existence over time and of a certain coherence of her per-
son” (Wagner: 35). Second, there is the collective identity of
the individual or how that individual understands herself in
terms of the group or groups. “‘Identity’ then means ‘identi-
fication’ of oneself with others” (35).
In breaking the boundaries of a group, an individual par-
ticipates in a process that integrates her into another group.
For this boundary breaking moment, this study uses the
term “recruitment” rather than “conversion.” Using Garma
Navarro and Leatham’s (147–48) understanding of New
Religious Movements, we see that recruitment happens
when one enters a group, whereas conversion occurs as one
spends time and is enculturated while in the group (more on
the use of “recruitment” below). This means that the out-
group individual must permeate managed boundary controls
of the in-group, while the in-group facilitates the transition,
helping the recruited individual through the conversion pro-
cess. Levine, Moreland, and Houseman describe entry into
a group as a role transition.
Entry marks the role transition from prospective member [out-
sider] to new member. The ceremonies that accompany entry
are designed both to test and increase new members’ commit-
ment to the group. Such commitment is important because new
members can threaten the group and hence may not be trusted
by oldtimers [149].
In terms of ceremony itself, there are a number that in-
volve negative and positive actions toward the new member.
For our purposes, it is enough to describe one form of nega-
tive initiation. “Such ceremonies communicate to new mem-
bers how far they must go to win oldtimers’ confidence and
respect. The realization that they have low status and power
in the group should increase their motivation to work hard
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 Lamoreaux, “Social Identity, Boundary Breaking, and Ritual”
during socialization” (Levine et al.: 151). Therefore, enter-
ing into the group and establishing oneself can be a rigorous
process for both the in-group and the new member.
On a larger, more abstract scale, two groups can under-
stand themselves to be integrated into an overarching group
simultaneously.
Thus, as depicted by the “subgroups within one group” (i.e., a
same team or dual identity) representation, we believe that it is
possible for members to conceive of two groups as distinct units
within the context of a superordinate identity. When group
identities are highly salient or are central to members’ function-
ing, it may be undesirable or impossible for people to relinquish
these group identities or, as perceivers, to become “colorblind”
and truly ignore inter-group distinctions [Dovidio et al.: 251].
This multiple personality can work on many levels as
far as occupations, ethnic groups, status in society, etc. For
example, a Judean in the first century may see himself or
herself as part of the larger category of “Judean” and then
he or she may have an embedded identity in the sub-group
“Sadducee” or “Christ Follower.” This embeddedness can
create two reactions on the part of groups. First, two groups
that are embedded in a larger category or group may find
this similarity strong enough to maintain salience. The
groups may remain distinct, but their boundaries overlap in
that they are willing to interact or even share members. The
second is that the groups build stronger boundaries between
one another and exaggerate each other’s identities in order
to vilify the other (Dovidio et al.: 247).
Tajfel discusses the vilifying of out-groups by in-group
members. He notes the causes of inter-group conflict in four
classes:
A) Social differentials in status, power, rank, privilege, access
to resources, etc., when the group boundaries are firmly drawn
and/or perceived as such and when the social organization on
which these differentials are based loses its perceived legiti-
macy and/or stability.
B) Intergroup conflict or competition, not necessarily related to
previously existing status differences.
C) Movements for change initiated by social groups which, as
distinct from case A above, are not always related to imperme-
able boundaries between groups.
D) Individually determined patterns of prejudice which have
tended for a long time to occupy the center of the stage in much
of the traditional research on the subject [14].
Ng observes that when there are multiple sub-groups
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embedded in an overarching macro-group, an “exit” by one
of the groups is extremely difficult or impossible (765–78).
The farther away status-wise a group is from the super-ordi-
nate group, the more difficult it is to overpower it. In terms
of the Sanhedrin in Acts and the Christ followers, this in-
consistency in power is obvious.
Two groups in particular are juxtaposed in Acts 6–9.
The first group includes those that belong to the Jesus fol-
lowers, represented by Stephen (6–7) and Philip (8:4–40),
and the second includes those willing to persecute the Christ
followers for “blasphemy” (6:11), the aristocratic ruling class
of the Judeans represented by Saul (7:58–8:3; 9:1–2). In
Luke–Acts, Saul is angered by the Christ followers’ claims
to legitimacy through the Mosaic Law (Balch: 139–41, 174,
180). This lines up with Tajfel’s group “A” of conflict moti-
vators between in-groups and out-groups (Tajfel: 14). The
group that Luke’s Saul represents is claiming that Stephen’s
proclamation concerning the Jesus followers is illegitimate.
On the other hand, Stephen’s speech, from inside the Jesus
group, apologetically places the followers of Christ directly
in the line of the legitimate continuation of the tradition
(Tannehill: 92). This is made concrete when Jesus appears
only to Stephen (Weiser: 192). Likewise, Philip presents to
the Ethiopian Eunuch an interpretation of Isaiah that places
Jesus squarely in the fulfillment of the prophet’s prophecies
(Acts 8:29–35). Clare K. Rothschild comments on Luke’s
use of predictive elements within his text.
While prediction in Luke–Acts is diverse, in its capacity as an
element of historiography it is singular in its aim—through fa-
miliarity, clarification and the fact that events were foreseen—
to commend and sanction the truth of the author’s version of
what took place. Foretelling of events in anticipation of their
actually taking place in a historical narrative is a subtle form of
persuasion, that is particularly useful for preparing audiences
to embrace bizarre [inclusion of Gentiles into a Judean com-
munity] or extraordinary narrative outcomes [182–83].
Luke shows the legitimacy of this interpretation by hav-
ing Philip immediately baptize the Eunuch (Acts 9:36–39).
Acceptance from a marginal member of the Judean commu-
nity is thus contrasted with those who stoned Stephen.
The story of Saul is sandwiched by the stories of Stephen
and Philip (Acts 7:58–8:3). This narrative places Saul
within a powerful group that is dishonoring the followers of
“the Way” (Acts 9:3), and he is depicted as deeply embed-
ded in his social group. In terms of honor and shame, Saul
has affronted the honor of the Christ followers and, as will
 B I B L I C A L T H E O LO GY B U L L E T I N • VO LU M E 3 8
be demonstrated later in the narrative of Acts, the honor
of God (9:4). Balch understands this claim to legitimacy
through the changing of the Judean “constitution” to be em-
bedded in this very sort of conflict found in Acts.
The question whether to admit foreigners to the house
churches . . . generates stasis in the church in Antioch (Acts
15:2). . . . One key charge against Paul before the Roman gov-
ernor Felix is that he generates stasis among Jews [Judeans]
throughout the world (Acts 24:5). However  . . . Paul purifies
himself and performs rituals so that “all will know that there
is nothing in what they have been told about you but that you
yourself observe and guard the law” (Acts 21:24b). Paul
claims simply to be practicing and believing Mosaic Torah,
doing nothing that should offend traditional Jews [Judeans]
and cause riots. In this Lukan depiction, Paul has not changed
Moses’ constitution [Balch: 160].
Acts 9 is therefore the beginning of Luke’s use of the char-
acter Saul (like Jesus, Stephen, Philip, and later Peter) to
legitimize the mission that will bring foreigners into the
circle of Christ followers. This apologetic thread is laced
throughout the Gospel of Luke (4:19) and is brought all the
way through to the end of Acts, with the progression of the
Gospel moving outward from Jerusalem and finally reach-
ing Rome (Acts 28) (Schwarts: 5).
Before we can attempt an analysis of Acts 9:1–19a, we
must complete the second half of the anthropological model.
Since groups form boundaries around them, many tend to
have rituals that allow new members into the group. Some
groups are more permeable than others, and those that are
less permeable are both difficult to break out of and difficult
to enter. This will help us better to define what happens to
Saul on his way to Damascus.
Ritual as Boundary Breaking
In his text on human institutions, Jonathan Turner de-
scribes two sorts of broad definitions for the term “ritual.”
His first definition begins to define, in broad strokes, a set
of rituals that are practiced regularly.
Calendrical Rituals are enacted on a regular schedule—whether
at the day or night, at the waxing and waning of the moon, at the
beginning or ending of seasons, at eclipses and positions of plan-
ets and stars, or on the birthdays of supernatural beings [70].
The other types of rituals that Turner wishes to define
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are those that break into our existence and are not necessar-
ily predictable.
Noncalendrical rituals are performed sporadically, on special
occasions, or in times of crisis. Some noncalendrical rituals
such as puberty rites or rites de passage of many societies follow
somewhat of a cycle and occur at certain more or less deter-
mined times in the life of an individual, but the time, place, and
period of the ritual are not precisely set by the calendar [70].
As a type of rite of passage, initiation rites can be non-
calendrical in nature. Rites of passage change status, taking
individuals across social boundaries (outsider to insider, single
to married, layperson to priest) (Bowie: 147). These rites
place a permanently influential mark on a person’s life. For ex-
ample, a married person never goes back to being just “single,”
but is considered “divorced” after the marriage is ruptured.
These transitional rites are patterns that have been ap-
propriated by many cultures throughout the centuries. Van
Gennep comments on the all-inclusive nature of rites in the
lives of normal individuals (1). Furthermore, this commonal-
ity among rites of passage can also be seen in the ancient
literature during and prior to the time of Luke’s writing.
Strecker states that rites of passage can demonstrate and
facilitate movement of a person from one group into another
(42). In our case, baptism will mark the culmination of the
rite in our analysis and, therefore initiation rites, or what
we are calling a boundary-breaking rite, will be the central
focus of this part of the model.
Victor Turner, improving van Gennep’s model, expands
on the ideas surrounding initiation rites and how they occur.
He describes the movement through the rite in three stages:
separation, margin and aggregation. These involve a remov-
al from one’s core group and everyday activities that leads
to an ambiguous state or liminal period and finally ends in
a reintegration of the person into a new status (1967: 94).
Turner goes on to clarify that rites of passage involve, not
only transitions between ascribed statuses like birth, death,
marriage, and puberty rites, but also achieved status (95).
Rites of passage can thus work within the model of Social
Identity Theory to explain how one might remove oneself
from a group and join, or break the boundaries of, another
group.
The first phase of initiation rites, or separation, brings
a person onto the edge of symbolic death. The individual
is removed from society and moves toward a transitional or
liminal phase. This phase is the initiation of “violence,” ei-
ther physical or symbolic (Bloch: 181). Neophytes are thus
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 Lamoreaux, “Social Identity, Boundary Breaking, and Ritual”
separated from the normal rhythms of life. They are seclud-
ed from their former group, either kin or fictive kin, and be-
come prepared to accept their new status. It is also important
to separate the neophyte from the central places of life, i.e.
home, temple, etc. Furthermore, time begins to be disrupted
(i.e. there are long times of no eating or sleeping or forced
activity), and violence enters the neophyte’s existence (V. W.
Turner 1967: 223–26).
Before turning to ancient texts, the second phase of initia-
tion, or liminal stage, needs further definition. The stripping
of prior statuses and being of no status at all usually identify
this period in the initiation rite. At this stage in the ritual,
the neophyte is now under the complete authority of any
instructors there might be in the ritual (V. W. Turner 1987:
9). The neophyte is viewed as possessing nothing, with no
status, property, insignia, or position in a kinship system.
The initiate is normally passive and must obey the instruc-
tors without hesitation. The liminal state is there to strip the
person of all former, personal markers so that she can be
integrated into a group anew. This period of the rite binds
the initiate to others who have been and are being initiated
into a status or the community. Turner describes this liminal
period as building communitas, which he describes in the
following way: “Liminality implies that the high [in status]
could not be high unless the low existed, and he who is high
must experience what it is like to be low” (V. W. Turner
1977: 97). The humility that accompanies being stripped of
Figure 1: Generic Diagram for Ritual Boundary Breaking
one’s station in life and identity allows that person to experi-
ence what everyone has experienced in the confines of her
new communitas.
This liminal state is also understood to represent a sort of
death and the stage of aggregation at rebirth. Bell notes the
126
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symbols of death and rebirth in community identity.
Ritual as the expression of paradigmatic values of death and
rebirth; ritual as a mechanism for bringing the individual into
the community and establishing a social entity; or ritual as a
process for social transformation, for catharsis, for embodying
symbolic values, for defining the nature of the real, or for strug-
gling over control of the sign—the formulations are all tools
that help us to analyze what may be going on in any particular
set of activities [89].
Like SIT, the process of becoming a part of a group and
attaining a new status or identity can be painful or traumatic
at many levels. Death, a natural part of every human’s life, is
a universal symbol that becomes ported into transitional rites.
In his analysis of symbols of death in rituals, Turner
states that death symbolism is almost always paralleled or
overlapped with symbolisms of birth. The broad number of
different symbols is striking and worth noting.
It is interesting to note how, by the principle of economy (or
parsimony) of symbolic reference, logically antithetical processes
of death and growth may be represented by the same tokens, for
example, by huts and tunnels that are at once tombs and wombs,
by lunar symbolism (for the same moon waxes and wanes), by
snake symbolism (for the snake appears to die, but only to shed
its old skin and appear in a new one), by bear symbolism (for the
bear “dies” in autumn and is “reborn” in spring), by nakedness
(which is at once the mark of a newborn infant and a corpse pre-
pared for burial), and by innumerable other symbolic formations
and actions [V. W. Turner 1967: 99].
Since these symbols are so universal in rites of passage, it is
not at all odd that the early Christians would adapt similar im-
ages for their “recruitment speak.” In the Letter of James, the
author uses birth imagery to denote entrance into the commu-
nity. “In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the
word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits
of his creatures” (Jas 1:18). Also, Paul speaks about entrance
into the community using death as symbol: “Therefore, we
have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just
as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father,
so we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom 6:4). So, one
might add to Turner’s symbols the rite of baptism.
In terms of boundary breaking, Social Identity Theory
and Rites of Passage are helpful, heuristic models that com-
plement each other. The universal nature of the symbols and
ritual for community integration has been delineated. Before
 B I B L I C A L T H E O LO GY B U L L E T I N • VO LU M E 3 8
we can analyze Acts 9:1–19, we must look at other rites of
passage or initiation rituals found in the ancient literature of
the cirum-Mediterranean.
Texts and Recruitment in the Ancient World
Rites of passage have been utilized to analyze many an-
cient works in order to understand the process that many cul-
tures in the ancient Mediterranean used to initiate and change
people’s status. For our purposes, some texts will be too un-
wieldy to include entirely, but an outline will be given with
the salient points of separation, liminality, and aggregation.
This is not a comprehensive list of rituals in Mediterranean
religion, but both Judean and Greco-Roman literature will be
given as examples. Figure 1 on the preceding page provides
a visual diagram of the boundary breaking ritual described in
these texts (Carney: 168). Because rites of passage appear to
be universal, it is important at this stage to show that people
in the ancient world did use these rituals to bring people out
of one and into another community and status.
In Joseph and Aseneth (8.1–7), Aseneth’s father gives her
to be married to Joseph, and he refuses since she is an idol
worshipper (Gallagher: 7–11). She is struck by the rejection
and is “cut to the heart” (8.8). This leads Joseph to pray for her
recruitment and conversion. The imagery in this prayer is strik-
ing and falls in line with our understandings of initiation rites.
Lord God of my father Israel,
Highest, powerful,
The one who gives all things life,
and called them from darkness to light,
and from error to truth,
and from death to life,
you, Lord, bring [this one] to life
and bless this virgin.
And renew her by your spirit,
and form her with your hidden hand,
and make her alive again by your life,
and let her eat your bread of life,
and drink your blessed cup,
which you chose before it was brought into being,
and let her enter into your rest,
which you have made ready for your chosen ones [8.10–11].
Following the prayer, Aseneth runs up to her chambers
and weeps, trembling and sweating over what she heard in
the prayer (9). This prompts her to strip herself of all status
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symbols. Here we see the separation from normal rhythms
of life and a move into her liminal state. Verses 10.9–17 are
worth noting here.
Aseneth stood up and quietly opened the door and went into
her second bedchamber, where the chest for her ornaments
was, and she opened her chest and she took out her black and
gloomy shawl. And this was the shawl of her mourning, which
she put on and mourned when her first-born brother died. And
Aseneth took off her queenly robe and put on the dark stole
and she took off her golden girdle and tied a rope around her-
self and took her tiara from her head and the banded bracelets
from her hands. And she took her chosen robe and everything
and threw them through the window to the poor. And she took
all of her gods, both the gold and the silver, which were with-
out number and she ground them into dust and threw them
to the beggars and to the needy. And Aseneth took her royal
dinner and provisions and fish and meat and every sacrifice of
her gods and their vessels of wine for the drink offering and
she threw everything out the window to the north. And after
this, she took ash and threw it upon the floor. And she took
sackcloth and she girded her loins with it and she loosed the
clasp of the hair of her head and she scattered the ashes and
fell upon ashes. And she beat her breast repeatedly with both
hands and she fell upon the ash and wept bitterly all night until
dawn with wailing [10.9–17].
The separation phase ends with a stripping of all status
indicators, and the imagery of death and burial is very strong.
This imagery of dying in order to live is also found in Philo,
On Flight and Finding, 59. Mourning clothes, her brother’s
death, putting her trinkets in a chest/coffin are images that
drive home the move toward a recruitment. In fact, she ejects
many of the symbols of her status out the window for the
poor. Furthermore, Aseneth’s disorientation is coupled with
fasting from food and water for seven days (10.20).
This period of seven days becomes Aseneth’s liminal pe-
riod. Separated from all people and no longer active outside
her quarters, Aseneth is now humble and ready to be taught.
This is apparent from her long soliloquies that last from 11.1
to 13.15 in which she confesses her condition as idolater. God
answers her prayers, and an angel, “similar to Joseph,” ap-
pears as the instructor in the ritual (14.8–9). He instructs
her to clean herself and put on a simple, new garment and
afterwards to come and listen to his instructions (14.13–14).
Aseneth proceeds to take the new garment from her
chest/coffin (haithekai). Her untouched and blank linen
robe signifies her rebirth. She even covers her head with a
127
 Lamoreaux, “Social Identity, Boundary Breaking, and Ritual”
simple veil that further hides any part of her appearance in
this liminal state (14.14–15). Now that she is “invisible,” the
angel begins to teach her what she needs to know for reag-
gregation. In his speech to Aseneth, the angel inaugurates
her new life.
Behold! From this day forward, you will be renewed and be
reformed and made alive again and you will eat the bread of
life and drink the cup of immortality and be anointed with the
anointing of incorruption [15.4].
Aggregation, or boundary breaking, is symbolized as a
renewal, a “being made alive again.” She is being prepared
to enter into the group of which Joseph is a part. Further-
more, she is even given a new name and identity (15.7).
With her appearance now transformed and her identity fully
changed, she is promised communion with her new com-
Figure 2: Recruitment of Aseneth
munity through food: bread of life (honeycomb) and wine.
These things were out of her reach in her prior identity (R.
C. Douglas: 31–42).
At Qumran, entrance into the community takes a much
longer period in which the neophyte remains in a liminal state
before being allowed into the community. In the Damascus
Document (DS 4Q266 8 I.7b–17), those who come to the
community and have seen the light are then introduced to
the “Inspector of the Many” and begin their initiation.
On the day when he [the neophyte] talks to the Inspector of
the Many, they shall enroll him with the oath of the covenant
which Moses established with Israel, the covenant to rev[ert to]
the law of Moses with the whole heart and [with] the who[le]
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soul, to what is found (therein) to do during the com[plete]
period of his app[roach]. But no-one should make him known
the precepts before he stands in front of the Inspector: when he
stands he should be persuaded by him when he tests him. But
when he has imposed upon himself to return to the law of Mo-
ses with all his heart and all his soul they will [exact re]venge
from him if he should become unfaithful. All that has been re-
vealed for the multitude of the camp—if he inadvertently fails,
the Inspector should tea[ch h]im and give orders concerning
him and he should le[arn] for a full year. And in accordance
with (his) knowledge [he will approach. And no-one] who is
stupid or deranged [should enter]; and anyone feeble [-minded
and insane,] those with eyes too weak t[o see,] the lame [or]
one who stumbles, o[r a deaf person,] or an un[der-a]ge boy,
none of these should one allow to enter [the congregation, since
the holy angels—CD-A 4Q266 8 I.7b–17].
The neophyte comes to the community having the shock-
ing revelation that things are not right in his former life or
community. Once his separation is complete, he is instructed
for a year under the guide of an official from the community
and remains in a liminal state, neither here nor there, be-
twixt and between statuses and identities.
In Greek literature, there are signs of initiation into the
mystery cults and other more general transformative rites.
First, a brief passage from Demosthenes will introduce some
of the vague although interesting details of the mystery rites.
And when you become a man, you, in assisting your mother,
read the books and organize the rest [perhaps this refers to
instruments or objects for the ritual], during the night, clothing
the initiands with fawn skins and drenching them in wine, both
cleansing and wiping them down with clay and corn husks,
also making them rise and commanding each to speak the
charm: I flee from evil! I found a better (way)! [Demosthenes,
On the Crown: 18.259].
This formulaic speech was borrowed from initiations and
other ceremonies of a higher character, meaning that a new
life was opened as the result of the ceremony just ended.
Having been drenched in wine, perhaps symbolizing blood,
and covered in clay, perhaps symbolizing burial, the neo-
phytes come out of their ceremony with new life from death
(Burkert: 259–75).
The last piece of ancient literature that we will exam-
ine is Apuleius’ Metamorphoses (Gallagher: 11–13). Apu-
leius’ text is a complex mixture of journeys and recruitments
throughout, and Lucius, the main character, moves through
 B I B L I C A L T H E O LO GY B U L L E T I N • VO LU M E 3 8

adventures searching for magic. In Books 1–3, Lucius goes

to the city of Hypata and sleeps with his patron’s serving girl
in order to get her to tell him where he can find magic, and he
ends up transformed into an ass. In Books 8–10, his life as
an ass is told as he lives under the ownership of four different
people. Book 11 leads the reader into a different world, that
of the mysteries. Here, the long separation of Lucius comes
to a head as he proceeds to enter a new community and gain
a new status. To begin his move into liminality, Isis shows
up to tell Lucius the ass what to do and how to become
transformed into a human again. Isis also states that she has
gone to the priest and given him instructions concerning his
recruitment and initiation into the mysteries (Met.: 11.4–6).
This instruction and subsequent recruitment come with the
price of loyalty to Isis for the rest of his life.
Moreover, think not that among such just and joyful ceremo-
nies, and in such good company, any person shall abhor your
ill-favored and deformed figure, or that any man will be so
stubborn as to blame and reprove your sudden restoration to
human shape. So that they should gather or conceive any sin-
ister opinion of you; and know this for sure, that the residue of
your life until the hour of death will be bound and subject to
me; and do not think it an injury to be always serviceable to-
wards me at the same time, you will live, since as by my desire
and benefit you will live, since as by my desire and benefit you
will return again to be a man [Metamorphosis 11.6].
With the priest of Isis having been told about Lucius’ situa-
tion and what he ought to do for him, he approaches the ass,
Lucius, and gives him the roses he must eat in order to morph
back into a human (Met.: 11.12–14). This begins Lucius’
move from one community, that of “fools” or asses and toward
an initiation into the mysteries of Isis (Harrison, 1996).
When asked by Lucius to initiate him into the mysteries,
the priest tells Lucius that the goddess will tell him when
it is time, and he makes comments concerning men on the
edge of death and returning to health, as if reconstituted
(Met.: 11.21). Furthermore, the priest instructs Lucius to
fast, abstaining from forbidden foods (11.21) and Lucius is
depicted as humble and obedient (11.22). Soon after that a
priest, Mithras, is appointed as the official overseer of Lu-
cius’ status transformation. This leads to Lucius’ entrance
into the temple (his liminal state) (11.22–23), and the fol-
lowing sequence of events occurs.
• Lucius enters the gate of the temple (11.22).
• He is told the secrets of the books written in a strange
Figure 3: Recruitment of Lucius
language (11.22).
• He is brought to the baths and washed and purified
by the priest in the waters, “invoking the pardon of the
gods” (11.23).
• Lucius fasts for 10 days after receiving more instruc-
tion (11.23).
• He is dressed in a new linen robe before entering the
inmost part of the temple (11.23).
• He is sequestered in this part of the temple, and he
describes it as entering the underworld, where he en-
counters many and various gods (11.23).
• The next day, Lucius emerges “from Hades” and is then
vested as a priest of Isis. This is coupled with a three-day
celebration that institutes his reaggregation (11.24).
• Having gone through his liminal state and changed
identities from ass to priest, Isis instructs him to leave
to visit his family who thought him long dead before
his transformation. This completes his aggregation
and his ritual transformation (11.25–26).
Lucius’ recruitment and boundary breaking reflect the gen-
eral pattern of Social Identity Theory and change through a
rite of passage or status transformation ritual.
Acts 9:1–19a: Social Identity, Boundary
Breaking, and Ritual in Saul’s Recruitment
Having delineated a model of Social Identity Theory
and Boundary Breaking, we will now turn to the primary
purpose of this investigation: an analysis of Acts 9:1–19a.
Prior to Acts 9, the reader has encountered occasions in

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 Lamoreaux, “Social Identity, Boundary Breaking, and Ritual”
which non–Judeans have entered the community called “the
Way” (8:4–25; 8:26–40). These accounts are sandwiched
between the threads of a story line concerning Saul the per-
secutor. After scattering the Jerusalem church, Saul, on the
heels of Stephen’s execution, continues his persecution. This
sets the stage for Luke’s apologetic concerns surrounding the
inclusion of Gentiles into the church.
Before analyzing the specifics of the text, it is prudent
that we revisit and examine influential notions of what hap-
pens to Saul in Acts 9, since the concept of “conversion” has
been the modus operandi for most of biblical scholarship. It
is my intent, not to give an exhaustive list of studies that ad-
dress this issue, but rather, to point out a few trends within
scholarship that may shed light on the difficulties of defin-
ing the word “conversion” in reference to Saul and Acts
9. Many scholars understand Saul’s conversion through the
lens of William James’ definition. James understands conver-
sion to be centered in or a product of the psychology of guilt
and inferiority (186–253).
Even more influential is A. D. Nock’s work on conver-
sion. His model centers on a turning from one religion to
another (7). As Stendahl has pointed out, this is certainly
not what has happened to Paul (13). Demonstrating that
what happens to Saul cannot be part of guilt like Luther’s
conversion experience, Stendahl points out the important
fact that this model of understanding what happens to Saul
is anachronistic.
In an attempt to remedy the confusion posed by the word
“conversion,” Gaventa provides three categories of “conver-
sion” that she labels Alternation, Conversion, and Transfor-
mation. The common denominator between all three catego-
ries is change, but each is far too vague, and they overlap,
leaving the interpreter with less precision or clarity (5–12).
Crook offers a prescient discussion of Gaventa’s work, as well
as the contributions of Segal to the discussion of conversion in
New Testament scholarship (28–31).
In more current analyses of Saul’s recruitment, there have
been some noticeable changes in the language and descrip-
tion of what is happening to the character of Saul in Acts 9.
Spencer has skillfully used van Gennep’s and Turner’s work
on status transformations to describe Saul’s recruitment,
but he does not go far enough since he still chooses to use
the word “conversion,” which, in the anthropological litera-
ture, is not exactly what is happening to Saul in this context
(106–09). While this gets closer to the issue at hand, the
terminology used over and over again confuses the discus-
sion of what exactly happened to Saul. Johnson even goes so
far as to deny that this is a status transformation or ritual at
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all, relying on previously outdated and anachronistic models
of western psychology (169). “Conversion,” in western par-
lance, is psychologically based and, at its core, introspective.
In a discussion of those who have made this point, Crook has
demonstrated thoroughly and concisely that western psycho-
logical models of conversion lack cross-cultural sophistica-
tion and precision (151–55).
Rather than use the word “conversion” in this study, I have
adopted the the anthropological term “recruitment” to bet-
ter clarify the discussion. Pilch brings precision and cultural
sensitivity to the discussion in adopting this term based on the
work of Duling (2004: 69). Unfortunately, space does not
allow a comprehensive discussion of the anthropological work
on recruitment or a comprehensive analysis of works on con-
version in biblical studies. We turn, then, to Acts 9:1–19a.
Acts 9:1–2
Luke begins Acts 9 with a claim about Saul’s status.
Immediately on reintroducing Saul, Luke has him threaten-
ing the Christ Followers and having access to the high priest
to gain blessing for his persecutions (Lüdemann: 106–07).
Supposedly given by the Romans, this authority for the high
priest to apprehend people under the law is recounted in 1
Maccabees 15:16–21 (Fitzmyer: 423). Saul gains permission
from the ruling class in Jerusalem to persecute those he finds
to be deviant Judeans (Dupont: 185). A movement for change
in the contexts of Judean groups by Jesus followers causes the
dominant, ruling group, represented by Saul, to react in a vio-
lent way in order to purge the non-conformist Jesus followers
from the over-arching identity of the Judean community.
Luke, then, portrays Paul as a retainer of the governing
class in Jerusalem, who acts as their agent, with their au-
thority, and with official documents from them to legitimate
his activities and to support his claims (Neyrey 1996: 261).
This places Saul within a certain group opposing another.
In terms of SIT, Saul is toward the center of his in-group,
being close enough to the leaders to obtain their blessing for
his activities (Talbert: 98).
Saul begins his journeys toward the boundaries of Israel
(Neyrey 1990: 49–54). In traveling to Damascus, Saul
moves toward what the author of Ezekiel considers the
northernmost part of Israel (47:17). Travel to these outer
reaches of the sacred, promised land represents, for Saul,
a journey toward a liminal state, a rite of passage and a
change of identity and status. This movement away from
the center of Judean purity (Jerusalem) takes Saul a step
closer to his journey toward his new status as apostle to the
 B I B L I C A L T H E O LO GY B U L L E T I N • VO LU M E 3 8
Gentiles (Acts 9:15).
Acts 9:3–9
After Luke gives descriptors concerning Saul’s motiva-
tion and status, he recounts Saul’s encounter with Jesus
and his Altered State of Consciousness (ASC). Pilch has
pointed out that this behavior, that of ASC, is culturally nor-
mative for both ancient and modern Mediterranean cultures.
In other words, they experience(d) ASC’s and would have
seen this as normal when contacted by someone from the
divine realm (2004: 68–81). The white light Saul sees is a
good indicator that he has entered a trance-like state (Pilch
2003: 377–81; 2004: 71). Neuroscientists and anthropolo-
gists have pointed out that intense concentration and travel
can induce a person into a trance (Clottes & Lewis-Wil-
liams: 19–20). This experience is not unlike the experience
of Lucius in Apuleius (Metamorphosis: 11.4–6), Jesus’ ex-
perience at his baptism in the Synoptics (Luke 3:21–22;
Matt 3:13–17; Mark 1:9–11), or Scipio’s dream in Cicero,
(De Re Publica, VI.10–29—McVann: 333–60).
Saul, in his confrontation with the deity, falls to the ground
(9:4). This violent beginning furthers Saul’s separation from
the familiar and begins the ritual boundary breaking. Here,
in terms of honor challenges, Jesus confronts the one who has
been attacking him via “the Way” and thrusts Saul into a
ritual that will help him to see that he is the one mistaken, not
the Christ followers (9:5) (Fitzmyer: 425). The repetition of
Saul’s name acts as an overcode that reminds the reader of
the theophanies in the Hebrew scriptures (Gen. 46:23–34;
Exod. 3:2–6; 1 Sam. 3:2–10, 10:2; Isa. 6:1–3; Esdr. 14:1—
Barrett: 131–32; Kee: 117).
Saul is now in a fallen and submissive position, beginning
his experience of liminality. This is evident in his disoriented
state beginning with the question, “Who are you Lord?”
(9:5—Spencer: 151). Saul is then instructed by Jesus to go
into the city with no indication of what will happen when
he gets there (9:6). This is coupled with the fact that Saul
is blinded, compounding his disoriented state, causing him
to be led by his companions to the city (9:8–9). This yields
problems for Saul’s prior embedded social identity. For a
devout and zealous Judean, wholeness of body is crucial in
order to be considered within the social group of loyal devo-
tees. Mary Douglas, in terms of Israelite purity, makes the
following observations.
We can conclude that holiness is exemplified by completeness.
Holiness requires that individuals shall conform to the class to
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which they belong. And holiness requires that different classes
of things shall not be confused [M. Douglas: 54].
For Saul, a person who has contact with central authorities
in Jerusalem, blindness would bring into question his social
identity within his community. This reflects the negative ini-
tiation rites described by Levine, et. al. above (149). Lastly,
in Acts 9:9, Saul foregoes food for three days while he is se-
questered. Like Aseneth (Joseph and Aseneth, 20.10), Saul
is separated from his normal rhythm by fasting.
Acts 9:10–16
Here, Luke introduces the professional that will help
Saul complete his transition. Ananias also experiences an
ASC and receives a message from God, not unlike the
message received by the priest of Isis to initiate Lucius into
the mysteries (Apuleius, Met. 11.6—Pilch 2004: 79).
Ananias’ recognition of God indicates his true discipleship
and membership in the community of Jesus’ followers (Acts
9:10) as well as contrasts with Saul’s ignorance (Acts 9:5).
Furthermore, this twofold vision in Acts 9 confirms God’s
orchestration of the activities at hand and also is used as
an apologetic toward Saul’s true integration into the com-
munity (Johnson: 167, 169). Two witnesses were needed for
proof in ancient forensic procedure; fulfilling that require-
ment provides evidence of Saul’s sincerity later in Acts 22
and 26 (Demosthenes, Against Eubulides 4; Philo, Spec.
Leg. 4.59; Conf. 141) (Lundgren: 121; Malina & Neyrey:
86–89). Therefore, Ananias acts as God’s broker in the
ritual, representing the whole community into which Saul
will now enter (Fitzmyer: 421; Muir: 9–10).
Subsequently, Ananias learns of God’s plans for Saul
and is instructed to heal his blindness. This enhances the fact
that Saul needs Ananias’ help to attain inclusion into the Je-
sus followers’ community (9:11–12—Spencer: 99). Ananias
then protests since Saul’s reputation is terrifying (9:13–14).
Luke is masterful here since God rebuts Ananias’ statement
and further proclaims that Saul will be the instrument he
uses to reach the Gentiles. Once again, this acts as an apolo-
getic for the Jesus followers to accept non-Judeans into the
community, which will be further substantiated in Acts 10. In
Acts 9, the inevitability of the Gentile acceptance is brought
to light on the very lips of God (Acts 9:15). Saul, formerly a
zealous persecutor of “the Way,” will reach beyond the purity
boundaries of his former community to help Gentiles break
the boundary of the Jesus community.
It is evident that Saul is forced into service by the De-
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 Lamoreaux, “Social Identity, Boundary Breaking, and Ritual”

ity. Saul has two options. First, he could remain an outcast inclusion.
among his former fictive kin group. Impure and powerless,
he would be stripped of his status, never to be restored: his Conclusion
destiny would be to remain in that “dead” state that rites
of passage cause in liminal states and remain blind. Sec- Within the context of collectivist cultures, moving from
ond, he could obey the Deity and accept aggregation into
a new community with a new status (Euripides, Bacchae,
467–470; Asclepius, Met., 11).

Acts 9:17–19a

In verse 17, Saul’s stage of aggregation begins and moves

him closer to puncturing the boundaries of what will become
his new group. At this stage, the action is written out in
rapid sequence. Ananias enters the house and lays his hands
on Saul. This action places Saul in close proximity to his
instructor and represents the transfer of healing power from
God to Saul since Ananias is God’s broker. Ananias ad-
dresses Saul as “brother” (9:17). This is fictive kinship lan-
guage that expresses Saul’s breaking the boundary into the
community. His social identity is now morphing into that of
a Christ follower and, consequently, new stereotypes of the
group. Luke has taken a villain and, masterfully, legitimated
his aggregation into the community, and, by extension, the
mission to the Gentiles.
Finally, Saul is healed and “sees” (Acts 9:18). Here,
metaphorical as well as physical sight might be intended,
connecting his new status with understanding and with re-
stored wholeness. His new identity is then solidified through
the rite of baptism. This seems to take the position of punc-
tuating the entire process (Muir: 9). Although this is so,
there is no mention of death or rising in this context. Rather,
it is either implied in the ritual generally, or it is already an
established idea within the theology of the church, or, for
Luke, it is simply a means by which Saul is recruited and,
therefore, connected with those who were baptized before:
Jesus in Luke 3:21–22 (where there is another ASC on Je-
sus’ part) and Acts 2 (here, the baptism of the Holy Spirit,
which Ananias mentions in 9:17). This places Saul in conti-
nuity with the Christ followers’ beginnings and will act as an
apologetic thread for the inclusion of Gentiles into the ma-
jority Judean community. For Luke, “long ago God revealed
this coming event through the prophets, and in the present
the Spirit legitimates the fulfillment of this prophecy” (Acts
2:17, citing Joel 2:28–29 [LXX 3:1–2]; Acts 10:44–48;
11:12, 16–18; 15:8–9, 17, citing Amos 9:12—Balch: 187).
Within Luke’s apologetic discourse in Acts 9, Saul serves
as a figure that will link tradition with the coming Gentile
Figure 4: Recruitment of Saul
one group to another or changing identities is an arduous
and sometimes violent task. In moving from an embedded
identity of Judean zealot to becoming a part of the Jesus
group, Saul experienced a violent time of separation and ag-
gregation. Both the anthropology of Ritual and Social Iden-
tity Theory give modern readers heuristic tools by which
they can better understand what is happening to Saul on
the road to Damascus. Here, Luke utilizes common ritual
structures and altered states of consciousness to legitimate
Gentile inclusion through the character of Saul. Saul’s re-
cruitment to the Jesus group is punctuated by baptism, a rite
that signals the breaking into a new community (aggrega-
tion) and the change of personal as well as social identity.
For Luke and his readers, this story must have powerfully
connected Saul’s recruitment and baptism to those leaders
that had gone before him, legitimating his mission to the
Gentiles and their subsequent recruitment into the broader
community of Jesus followers.
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