Hygiene in Christianity

In certain denominations of Christianity, hygiene in Christianity includes a number of regulations involving cleanliness before prayer,[1] observing days of ritual purification,[2] as well as those concerning diet and apparel. The Bible has many rituals of purification in areas ranging from the mundane private rituals of personal hygiene and toilet etiquette to the complex public rituals of social etiquette.[3]

Bishop Sebouh Chouldjian of the Armenian Apostolic Church washing the feet of children.

Certain Christian rules of purity have implications for bodily hygiene and observing cleanliness,[4] including sexual hygiene,[5] menstruation and toilet etiquette.[6] In the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church male circumcision is an established practice.[7] Around the time of Tertullian, an early Church Father, it was customary for Christians to wash their hands (manulavium), face (capitilavium) and feet (pedilavium) before prayer, as well as before receiving Holy Communion.[8] The rite of footwashing employed a basin of water and linen towels, done in the imitation of Christ.[9]

Christianity has always placed a strong emphasis on hygiene,[10] and water plays a role in the Christian rituals.[1] The Church also built public bathing facilities that were separate for both sexes near monasteries and pilgrimage sites; also, the Catholic popes situated baths within church basilicas and monasteries since the Early Middle Ages.[11] Public bathhouse were common in medieval Christendom larger towns and cities such as Constantinople, Rome, Paris, Regensburg and Naples.[12][13]

Many Christian monastic communities throughout history have emphasized cleanliness and hygiene as part of their spiritual practice.[14] Protestant Christianity also played a prominent role in the development of the spas in Northern Europe.[15] A major contribution of the Christian missionaries in Africa,[16] Asia and other places was better health care of the people through hygiene and introducing and distributing the soaps.[17][18]

Bible

The Bible has many rituals of purification in areas ranging from the mundane private rituals of personal hygiene and toilet etiquette to the complex public rituals of social etiquette.[19] The Bible also has many rituals of purification relating to menstruation, childbirth, sexual relations, nocturnal emission, unusual bodily fluids, skin disease, death, and animal sacrifices. In the Old Testament, ablution was considered a prerequisite to approaching God, whether by means of sacrifice, prayer, or entering a holy place.[20]

Old Testament
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The Old Testament requires immersion of the body in water as a means of purification in several circumstances, for example:

And when the zav is cleansed of his issue, then he shall number to himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes; and he shall bathe his flesh in running water, and shall be clean.[21]

There are also references to hand-washing:

And whoever the zav touches, without having rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.[22]
I will wash my hands in innocency; so will I compass Thine altar, O LORD.[23]

Priests were required to wash their hands and feet before service in the Temple:

Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and the base thereof of brass, whereat to wash; and thou shalt put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein. And Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat; when they go into the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to cause an offering made by fire to smoke unto the LORD.[24]

Book of Leviticus
See also: Law of Moses
A silver cup and vessels used for hand-washing during the Mass.

With sacrifice and priesthood established, chapters 11–15 in the book of Leviticus instruct the lay people on purity (or cleanliness). Eating certain animals produces uncleanliness, as does giving birth; certain skin diseases (but not all) are unclean, as are certain conditions affecting walls and clothing (mildew and similar conditions); and genital discharges, including female menses and male gonorrhea, are unclean. The reasoning behind the food rules are obscure; for the rest the guiding principle seems to be that all these conditions involve a loss of "life force", usually but not always blood.[25]

Ritual purity is essential for an Israelite to be able to approach Yahweh and remain part of the community.[26] Uncleanliness threatens holiness;[27] Chapters 11–15 review the various causes of uncleanliness and describe the rituals which will restore cleanliness;[28] one is to maintain cleanliness through observation of the rules on sexual behaviour, family relations, land ownership, worship, sacrifice, and observance of holy days.[29]

Yahweh dwells with Israel in the holy of holies. All of the priestly ritual focuses on Yahweh and the construction and maintenance of a holy space, but sin generates impurity, as do everyday events such as childbirth and menstruation; impurity pollutes the holy dwelling place. Failure to purify the sacred space ritually could result in God's leaving, which would be disastrous.[30]

New Testament
Christ washing the Disciples' feet, by Benvenuto Tisi.

In the New Testament, washing also occurs in reference to rites of Judaism[31] part of the action of a healing by Jesus,[32] the preparation of a body for burial,[33] the washing of nets by fishermen,[34] a person's personal washing of the face to appear in public,[35] the cleansing of an injured person's wounds,[36] Pontius Pilate's washing of his hands as a symbolic claim of innocence[37] and foot washing,[38] which is a rite within the Christian Churches.[39][40] According to the Gospel of Matthew, Pontius Pilate declared himself innocent of the blood of Jesus by washing his hands.[41] This act of Pilate may not, however, have been borrowed from the custom of the Jews. The same practice was common among the Greeks and Romans.

According to Christian tradition, the Pharisees carried the practice of ablution to great excess.[42] The Gospel of Mark refers to their ceremonial ablutions: "For the Pharisees…wash their hands 'oft'"[43] or, more accurately, "with the fist" (R.V., "diligently"); or, as Theophylact of Bulgaria explains it, "up to the elbow," referring to the actual word used in the Greek New Testament, πυγμή pygmē, which refers to the arm from the elbow to the tips of the fingers.[44][45] In the Book of Acts, Paul and other men performed ablution before entering the Temple in Jerusalem: "Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them."[46]

History

Early Christianity
Agkistro Byzantine bath.

Christianity has always placed a strong emphasis on hygiene,[10] and water plays a role in the Christian rituals.[1] Early Christian clergy condemned the practice of mixed bathing as practiced by the Romans, such as the pagan custom of women naked bathing in front of men; as such, the Didascalia Apostolorum, an early Christian manual, enjoined Christians to bathe themselves in those facilities that were separated by sex, which contributed to hygiene and good health according to the Church Fathers, such as Clement of Alexandria and Tertullian.[47][48]

The Church also built public bathing facilities that were separate for both sexes near monasteries and pilgrimage sites; also, the popes situated baths within church basilicas and monasteries since the Early Middle Ages.[11] Pope Gregory the Great urged his followers on the value of bathing as a bodily need.[14] Around the time of Tertullian, an early Church Father, it was customary for Christians to wash their hands (manulavium), face (capitilavium) and feet (pedilavium) before prayer, as well as before receiving Holy Communion.[8] The rite of footwashing employed a basin of water and linen towels, done in the imitation of Christ.[9]

Eastern Christendom
Byzantine Bath in Thessaloniki.

Great bathhouses were built in Byzantine centers such as Constantinople and Antioch.[49] Constantinople offered numerous bathhouses to its citizens, but the Baths of Zeuxippus were particularly popular,[50] even monks and members of the clergy could be seen there. For a relatively small fee, any member of the public could gain admission to the bath complex. The Baths of Zeuxippus were also close (most probably adjacent) to the Great Palace grounds. This suggests their great popularity, since such a significant location would have attracted many people.[51] The Baths were also close to the square of the Augustaeum and the basilica of Hagia Sophia.

Although Byzantine bathhouses were primarily used for public bathing, people could also exercise and enjoy a variety of recreational activities there. Attendants were paid to oversee the activities, enforcing opening and closing times and the rules of conduct. Men and women were not allowed to bathe together; they would either use separate baths, or bathe at different times of day.[52]

The Byzantine Bath of the Upper Town was one of several in Thessaloniki —the 14th-century writer Nikephoros Choumnos claims that Thessaloniki had more baths than inhabitants[53]—but is the only surviving in Thessaloniki and the largest and most complete of the Byzantine baths surviving elsewhere in Greece: one in Agkistro, five ruined public baths—two in Corinth, one in Sparta, one in Paramythia, one in Ioannina Castle—and one each in the monasteries of Kaisariani and Zoodochos Pigi.[54]

Believing that on Epiphany day water becomes holy and is imbued with special powers, Eastern Orthodox cut holes in the ice of lakes and rivers, often in the shape of the cross, to bathe in the freezing water.[55] Christianity strongly affected the development of holy wells in Europe and the Middle East, and its water are known for its healing properties.[56]

Western Christendom
Bagno del Papa in Viterbo.

The popes allocated to the Romans bathing through diaconia, or private Lateran baths, or even a myriad of monastic bath houses functioning in eighth and ninth centuries.[14] The popes maintained their baths in their residences which described by scholar Paolo Squatriti as "luxurious baths", and bath houses including hot baths incorporated into Christian church buildings or those of monasteries, which known as "charity baths" because they served both the clerics and needy poor people.[57]

Public bathhouses were common in medieval Christendom larger towns and cities such as Paris, Regensburg and Naples.[58][59] There were about twenty-six public baths in Paris in 1272.[60] Many Christian monastic communities throughout history have emphasized cleanliness and hygiene as part of their spiritual practice.[14] Catholic religious orders of the Augustinians' and Benedictines' rules contained ritual purification,[61] and inspired by Benedict of Nursia encouragement for the practice of therapeutic bathing; Benedictine monks played a role in the development and promotion of spas.[15] Protestant Christianity also played a prominent role in the development of the British spas.[15]

In c. 1454 Pope Nicholas V commissioned building a bath palace in Viterbo, and the construction at the Bagno del Papa was continued on through the reigns of several popes after Nicholas V. The Vatican accounts mention payments "for building done at the bath palace of Viterbo" during the reigns of Calixtus III, Paul II, and Sixtus IV. There also is evidence Pope Pius II was responsible for the addition of a western wing to the building.[62]

Contrary to popular belief[63] bathing and sanitation were not lost in Europe with the collapse of the Roman Empire.[64][65] Soapmaking first became an established trade during the so-called "Dark Ages". The Romans used scented oils (mostly from Egypt), among other alternatives. By the 15th century, the manufacture of soap in Christendom had become virtually industrialized, with sources in Antwerp, Castile, Marseille, Naples and Venice.[66] In the 17th century the Spanish Catholic manufacturers purchased the monopoly on Castile soap from the cash-strapped Carolinian government.[67]

Modern period
Collection of the Salvation Army personal hygiene kits.

By the mid-19th century, the English urbanised middle classes had formed an ideology of cleanliness that ranked alongside typical Victorian concepts of moralism, such as Christianity, respectability and social progress.[68] The Salvation Army has adopted the deployment of personal hygiene,[69][70] and by providing personal hygiene products, such as a toothbrush, toothpaste, and soap.[71][72][73]

The Seventh-day Adventist Church teach its adherents the importance of personal hygiene and sanitation, and emphasize the importance of drinking clean water, bathing and clean clothes. They were also encouraged to eat clean food.[74] The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Africa and the rest of the world promoting male infant circumcision.[75]

A major contribution of the Christian missionaries in Africa,[76] China,[77] Guatemala,[78] India,[79][80] Indonesia,[81] Korea,[82] and other places was better health care of the people through hygiene and introducing and distributing the soaps, tooth–powder and brushes.[83] According to scholar John Thomas "cleanliness and hygiene became an important marker of being identified as a Christian".[84]

The use of water in many Christian countries is due in part to the biblical toilet etiquette which encourages washing after all instances of defecation.[85] The bidet is common in predominantly Catholic countries where water is considered essential for anal cleansing,[6][86] and in some traditionally Orthodox and Lutheran countries such as Greece and Finland respectively, where bidet showers are common.[87]

Washing before Christian prayer and worship
Further information: Ablution in Christianity and Cantharus (Christianity)
Cantharus of Pamplona Cathedral in Spain

Around the time of Tertullian, an early Church Father, it was customary for Christians to wash their hands (manulavium), face (capitilavium) and feet (pedilavium) before prayer, as well as before receiving Holy Communion.[8][88] Churches from the time of Constantine the Great were thus built with an esonarthex that included a fountain known as a cantharus, where Christians would wash their hands, face and feet before entering the worship space (cf. Exodus 30:17–21); they continue to be used in Orthodox Christian churches.[88][89][8][90] The practice of ablutions before prayer and worship in Christianity symbolizes "separation from sins of the spirit and surrender to the Lord."[8]

As early as the 2nd century, Christians hung a cross on the east wall of their houses, to which they prostrated in front of, as they prayed at seven fixed prayer times (cf. Psalm 119:164);[91][92] Apostolic Tradition enjoined washing before these supplications to God.[93] Before praying these canonical hours at seven fixed prayer times in the eastward direction of prayer, Christians belonging to the Mar Thoma Syrian Church, an Oriental Protestant denomination, as well as the Oriental Orthodox Churches such as the Coptic Orthodox Church, Indian Orthodox Church and Ethiopian Orthodox Church, wash their hands, face and feet (cf. Shehimo and Agpeya).[94][95][96][97]

Oriental Orthodox Churches such as the Coptic Orthodox, Ethiopian Orthodox, Eritrean Orthodox, places a heavier emphasis on Old Testament teachings, and its followers adhere to certain practices such as observeing days of ritual purification.[98][99]

In Oriental Orthodox Christianity, as with some Western Orthodox Christian traditions, shoes are removed in order to acknowledge that one is offering prayer before a holy God.[100][101]

Among Old Ritualists in the Russian Christian tradition, a prayer rug known as a Podruchnik is used to keep one's face and hands clean during prostrations, as these parts of the body are used to make the sign of the cross.[102]

Christian denominations of the Schwarzenau Brethren tradition practice footwashing in their regular celebrations of the Lovefeast, prior to receiving Holy Communion and eating.[103]

Sex and menstruation

In Oriental Orthodox Christianity, the "holiness of the Church is traditionally tied scripturally with the Jerusalem Temple".[104] As such, believers fast after midnight and "sexual intercourse is prohibited the night before communion" (cf. Eucharistic discipline).[104]

In the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, an Oriental Orthodox Christian denomination, men are not permitted to enter a church the day after they have had sexual intercourse with their wives.[105] People who are ritually unclean may approach the church but are not permitted to enter it; they instead stand near the church door and pray during the liturgy.[106] The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church prescribes several kinds of hand washing for example after leaving the latrine, lavatory or bathhouse, or before prayer, or after eating a meal.[107]

Pope Dionysius of Alexandria taught that with regard to menstruating women that "not even they themselves, being faithful and pious, would dare when in this state either to approach the Holy Table or to touch the body and blood of Christ."[104] As such, Oriental Orthodox Christian women, such as those belonging to the Coptic Orthodox Church, are not permitted to receive Holy Communion while they are menstruating.[104]

Covenant theology largely views the Christian sacrament of baptism as fulfilling the Israelite practice of circumcision, both being signs and seals of the covenant of grace (cf. Circumcision controversy in early Christianity).[108][109] Since the Council of Florence, the Roman Catholic Church forbade the practice of circumcision among Christians, a position also taught by the Lutheran Church; Roman Catholic scholars, including John J. Dietzen, David Lang, and Edwin F. Healy, teach that "elective male infant circumcision not only violates the proper application of the time-honored principle of totality, but even fits the ethical definition of mutilation, which is gravely sinful."[110][111] Roman Catholicism generally is silent today with respect to its permissibility, though elective circumcision continues to be debated amongst theologians.[112] On the other hand, circumcision is an established practice and customary in Coptic Christianity, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the Eritrean Orthodox Church, all of which observe it as a rite of passage, and males are generally required to be circumcised shortly after birth.[113][114][115] Even though mainstream Christian denominations do not require the practice and maintain a neutral position on it, circumcision is widely practiced in many Christian countries and communities.[116][117][118][119][120]

Christian dietary laws and fasting
Main articles: Christian dietary laws and Fasting § Christianity
Further information: Christian vegetarianism

In the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, an Oriental Orthodox Christian denomination, washing one's hands is required before and after consuming food.[105][97] This is followed by prayer, in which Christians often pray to ask God to thank Him for and bless their food before consuming it at the time of eating meals, such as breakfast.[97][121] The wording of these mealtime prayers vary per Christian denomination, e.g. the common table prayer is used by communicants of the Lutheran Churches and the Moravian Church.

Vegetarianism was widespread in the early Church, among both the clergy and laity.[122] Since eating meat was traditionally viewed as a luxury, many Christians may choose to practice vegetarianism as their Lenten sacrifice during the penetential season of Lent in the Christian calendar.[123]

With respect to meat consumption, in Oriental Orthodox Christianity, in denominations such as the Armenian Apostolic Church and Ethiopian Orthodox Church, slaughtering animals for food is done with one strike in the name of the trinitarian formula (cf. Jhatka).[124][125][126]

Meat consumed by Christians should not retain any blood.[127][128]

The Friday Fast from meat is observed by Christians of the Catholic, Methodist and Anglican traditions, especially during the season of Lent in the Christian calendar.[129][130][131][132]

The Baptist, Methodist and Pentecostal traditions of Christianity prohibit the consumption of alcohol (cf. teetotalism).[133] On the other hand other Christian denominations condone moderate drinking of alcohol, including the Catholic, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox traditions.[134] However, all Christian Churches, in view of the biblical teaching on drunkenness, universally condemn drunkenness as sinful.[135][136]

External apparel
In many Christian denominations, women wear headcoverings when praying and worshipping.[137]

In Christianity, communicants of the Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox Churches are expected to wear a cross necklace at all times; these are ordinarily given to believers at their baptism.[138][139] This practice is derived from Canon 73 and Canon 82 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council (Synod) of Constantinople, which declared:[140]

...all the Church (Sunday) School children [must] wear a cross knowing how spiritually beneficial it is for them. By wearing a cross the child is protected from evil forces, it invites the grace of the Holy Cross of Christ, it brings His Divine blessing upon the child, it gives the child a sense that he or she belongs to Christ, that he or she has a special identity, that of a Christian, it is a reminder that Christ is always with him/her, it reminds the child that Jesus died on the Cross to save him/her, that Jesus Christ is our Only Savior and the True God. By wearing a cross the child feels the love of God and gives the child hope and strength to overcome any obstacle in his or her life.[140]

Christian headcovering with a cloth veil was universally taught by the Church Fathers.[141][142][143] As such, in many Christian denominations, such as the Oriental Orthodox Churches and Old Ritualists of the Russian Christian tradition, as well in the Anabaptist Churches, women wear headcoverings when praying and worshipping.[102][144]

In denominations of the conservative holiness movement such as the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection and Evangelical Wesleyan Church, when in public, women are enjoined to wear clothing with sleeves extended past the elbows and "Women's hemlines are to be modestly below the knees" (cf. outward holiness).[145]

See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ablution in Christianity.

References
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  2. H. Bulzacchelli, Richard (2006). Judged by the Law of Freedom: A History of the Faith-works Controversy, and a Resolution in the Thought of St. Thomas Aquinas. University Press of America. p. 19. ISBN 9780761835011. The Ethiopian and Coptic Churches distinguishes between clean and unclean meats, observes days of ritual purification, and keeps a kind of dual Sabbath on both Saturday and Sunday.
  3. Riches, John (2000). The Bible: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. ch. 1. ISBN 978-0192853431.
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  7. DeMello, Margo (2007). Encyclopedia of Body Adornment. ABC-Clio. p. 66. ISBN 9780313336959. Coptic Christians, Ethiopian Orthodox, and Eritrean Orthodox churches on the other hand, do observe the ordainment, and circumcise their sons anywhere from the first week of life to the first few years.
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  21. Leviticus 15:13
  22. Leviticus 15:11
  23. Psalms 26:6
  24. Exodus 30:18–20
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  27. Davies, Rogerson, p. 101
  28. Marx, p. 104
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  34. Lk. 5:2
  35. Matt. 6:17
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  72. Christianity in Action: The History of the International Salvation Army p.16
  73. Greaves, Ian (2017). Oxford Manual of Major Incident Management. Oxford University Press. p. 116. ISBN 9780191503023.
  74. Asafo, Dziedzorm; Berchie, Daniel (2016). The Bible, Cultural Identity, and Missions. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 78–88. ISBN 9781443892896.
  75. Asafo, Dziedzorm; Berchie, Daniel (2016). The Bible, Cultural Identity, and Missions. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 78–88. ISBN 9781443892896.
  76. Newell, Stephanie (2006). International Encyclopaedia of Tribal Religion: Christianity and tribal religions. Ohio University Press. p. 40. ISBN 9780821417096.
  77. Grypma, Sonya (2008). Healing Henan: Canadian Nurses at the North China Mission, 1888–1947. University of British Columbia Press. p. 27. ISBN 9780774858212. the Gospel of Christ was central to the "missionary" aspect of missionary nursing, the gospel of soap and water was central to "nursing" aspect of their works.
  78. Thomas, Kedron (2011). Securing the City: Neoliberalism, Space, and Insecurity in Postwar Guatemala. Duke University Press. p. 180–181. ISBN 9780822349587. Christian hygiene existed (and still exists) as one small but ever important part of this modernization project. Hygiene provides an incredibly mundane, deeply routinized, marker of Christian civility ...Identifying the rural poor as "The Great Unwashed," Haymaker published Christian pamphlets on health and hygiene, ... of personal hygiene" (filled with soap, toothpaste, and floss), attempt to shape Christian Outreach and Ethnicity.
  79. M. Bauman, Chad (2008). Christian Identity and Dalit Religion in Hindu India, 1868–1947. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 160. ISBN 9780802862761. Along with the use of allopathic medicine, greater hygiene was one of the most frequently mobilized markers of the boundary between Christians and other communities of Chhattisgarh ... The missionaries had made no secret of preaching "soap" along with "salvation,"..
  80. Baral, K. C. (2005). Between Ethnography and Fiction: Verrier Elwin and the Tribal Question in India. North Eastern Hill University Press. p. 151. ISBN 9788125028123. where slavery was in vogue Christianity advocated its end and personal hygiene was encouraged
  81. Taylor, J. Gelman (2011). Cleanliness and Culture: Indonesian Histories. Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies. p. 22–23. ISBN 9789004253612. CLEANLINESS AND GODLINESS: These examples indicate that real cleanliness was becoming the preserve of Europeans, and, it has to be added, of Christianity. Soap became an attribute of God – or rather the Protestant
  82. Choi, Hyaeweol (2009). Gender and Mission Encounters in Korea: New Women, Old Ways: Seoul–California Series in Korean Studies, Volume 1. University of California Press. p. 83. ISBN 9780520098695. In this way, Western forms of hygiene, health care and child rearing became an important part of creating the modern Christian in Korea.
  83. Channa, Subhadra (2009). The Forger's Tale: The Search for Odeziaku. Indiana University Press. p. 284. ISBN 9788177550504. A major contribution of the Christian missionaries was better health care of the people through hygiene. Soap, tooth–powder and brushes came to be used increasingly in urban areas.
  84. Thomas, John (2015). Evangelising the Nation: Religion and the Formation of Naga Political Identity. Routledge. p. 284. ISBN 9781317413981. cleanliness and hygiene became an important marker of being identified as a Christian
  85. E. Clark, Mary (2006). Contemporary Biology: Concepts and Implications. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 9780721625973.
  86. Made in Naples. Come Napoli ha civilizzato l'Europa (e come continua a farlo) [Made in Naples. How Naples civilised Europe (And still does it)] (in Italian). Addictions-Magenes Editoriale. 2013. ISBN 978-8866490395.
  87. "Bidets in Finland"
  88. Ian Bradley (2012). Water: A Spiritual History. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4411-6767-5. It was probably out of the Jewish rite that the practice developed among early Christians, especially in the east, of washing their hands and feet before going into church. Early Christian basilicas had a fountain for ablutions, known as cantharus or phiala, and usually placed in the centre of the atrium. They are still found in some Eastern Orthodox churches, notably at the monastery of Laura at Mount Athos, where the phiala is an imposing structure in front of the entrance covered by a dome resting on eight pillars. In several Orthodox churches today worshippers take off heir shoes and wash their feet before entering the church just as Muslims do before going into a mosque.
  89. Soloviĭ, Meletiĭ M. (1970). Eastern Liturgical Theology: General Introduction. Ukrainian Catholic Religion and Culture Society of Etobicoke (Toronto) and Ukrainian Catholic Youth of Canada. p. 68. In the Book of Exodus (30, 18–20) Aaron and his sons were required to wash before approaching the altar. Here water is used as a symbol of purification and expiation. But water is also the most common and most indispensable drink. ... So much was the practice a part of the life of the early Church, that in the period after Constantine the "cantharus", or water fountain, became a standard fixture in the courtyard before the basilica to permit the faithful to purify themselves before entering the presence of God.
  90. A History of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. Pont. Institutum Studiorum Orientalium. 1978. p. 164. In more recent times, both the Bernini fountains that grace St. Peter's Square and the holy water stoups of Roman rite churches are relics of the same phenomenon: they trace their origin to the fountains that were placed in the esonarthex of early Christian houses of worship so that the faithful could wash before entering church.
  91. Danielou, Jean (2016). Origen. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 29. ISBN 978-1-4982-9023-4. Peterson quotes a passage from the Acts of Hipparchus and Philotheus: "In Hipparchus's house there was a specially decorated room and a cross was painted on the east wall of it. There before the image of the cross, they used to pray seven times a day ... with their faces turned to the east." It is easy to see the importance of this passage when you compare it with what Origen says. The custom of turning towards the rising sun when praying had been replaced by the habit of turning towards the east wall. This we find in Origen. From the other passage we see that a cross had been painted on the wall to show which was the east. Hence the origin of the practice of hanging crucifixes on the walls of the private rooms in Christian houses. We know too that signs were put up in the Jewish synagogues to show the direction of Jerusalem, because the Jews turned that way when they said their prayers. The question of the proper way to face for prayer has always been of great importance in the East. It is worth remembering that Mohammedans pray with their faces turned towards Mecca and that one reason for the condemnation of Al Hallaj, the Mohammedan martyr, was that he refused to conform to this practice.
  92. Kalleeny, Tony. "Why We Face the EAST". Orlando: St Mary and Archangel Michael Church. Retrieved 6 August 2020. Christians in Syria as well, in the second century, would place the cross in the direction of the East towards which people in their homes or churches prayed. The direction to which Christians prayed symbolized their souls facing God, talking with him, and sharing their spirituality with the Lord.
  93. Hippolytus of Rome. The Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus of Rome (PDF). St. John's Episcopal Church. p. 15.
  94. Smith, Bertha H. (1909). "The Bath as a Religious Rite among Mohammedans". Modern Sanitation. Standard Sanitary Mfg. Co. 7 (1). The Copts, descendants of these ancient Egyptians, although Christians, have the custom of washing their hands and faces before prayer, and some also wash their feet.
  95. Richards, William Joseph (1908). The Indian Christians of St. Thomas: Otherwise Called the Syrian Christians of Malabar: a Sketch of Their History and an Account of Their Present Condition as Well as a Discussion of the Legend of St. Thomas. Bemrose. p. 98. We are commanded to pray standing, with faces towards the East, for at the last Messiah is manifested in the East. 2. All Christians, on rising from sleep early in the morning, should wash the face and pray. 3. We are commanded to pray seven times, thus...
  96. Mary Cecil, 2nd Baroness Amherst of Hackney (1906). A Sketch of Egyptian History from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. Methuen. p. 399. Prayers 7 times a day are enjoined, and the most strict among the Copts recite one of more of the Psalms of David each time they pray. They always wash their hands and faces before devotions, and turn to the East.
  97. "Prayers of the Church". Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. Retrieved 25 July 2020. All the faithful should strive to pray seven times a day & at the following hours: Upon rising from bed in the morning & before eating & commencing any task. Wash your hands & pray standing.
  98. Ian Bradley (2 November 2012). Water: A Spiritual History. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4411-6767-5.
  99. H. Bulzacchelli, Richard (2006). Judged by the Law of Freedom: A History of the Faith-works Controversy, and a Resolution in the Thought of St. Thomas Aquinas. University Press of America. p. 19. ISBN 9780761835011. The Ethiopian and Coptic Churches distinguishes between clean and unclean meats, observes days of ritual purification, and keeps a kind of dual Sabbath on both Saturday and Sunday.
  100. Kosloski, Philip (16 October 2017). "Did you know Muslims pray in a similar way to some Christians?". Aleteia. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  101. Bishop Brian J Kennedy, OSB. "Importance of the Prayer Rug". St. Finian Orthodox Abbey. Archived from the original on 25 July 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  102. Basenkov, Vladimir (10 June 2017). "Vladimir Basenkov. Getting To Know the Old Believers: How We Pray". Orthodox Christianity. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  103. "Foot washing part of Love Feast". Baltimore Sun. 17 May 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  104. Tadros, Emile (2015). Reconstruction the Origins of the Coptic Church through its Liturgy. McMaster Divinity College. p. 16.
  105. Daoud, Marcos; Hazen, Blatta Marsie (1991). "The Liturgy of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church". Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  106. Pedersen, Kristen Stoffregen (1999). "Is the Church of Ethiopia a Judaic Church?". Warszawskie Studia Teologiczne. XII (2): 205–206.
  107. IS THE CHURCH OF ETHIOPIA A JUDAIC CHURCH ?
  108. Clark, R. Scott (17 September 2012). "Baptism and Circumcision According to Colossians 2:11–12". The Heidelblog. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  109. Crowther, Jonathan (1815). A Portraiture of Methodism. p. 224.
  110. Sicard, Sigvard von (1970). The Lutheran Church on the Coast of Tanzania 1887–1914: With Special Reference to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, Synod of Uzaramo-Uluguru. Gleerup. p. 157.
  111. Marie, André (26 December 2016). "Circumcision: An Acceptable Practice?". The Catholic Thing. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  112. Slosar, J.P.; D. O'Brien (2003). "The Ethics of Neonatal Male Circumcision: A Catholic Perspective". American Journal of Bioethics. 3 (2): 62–64. doi:10.1162/152651603766436306. PMID 12859824. S2CID 38064474. Michael Benatar and David Benatar (2003) identify and insightfully refute two arguments that opponents of neonatal male circumcision use in an attempt to demonstrate the moral illicitness of the practice. The first argument they consider is that circumcision is tantamount to an unjustifiable form of mutilation. The second argument is that, because circumcision is not a strictly therapeutic procedure, parents are not justified in giving consent for it on behalf of their child. As ethicists for a large Catholic health system, we have encountered a third argument opposing the practice, particularly in Catholic hospitals. In short, this argument is that the practice of circumcising male neonates is a violation of the natural law as conceived within the Catholic moral tradition and Church teaching. ... We are unaware of the Catholic Church explicitly addressing the practice of circumcising male infants in any of its official teachings.
  113. N. Stearns, Peter (2008). The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern World. Oxford University Press. p. 179. ISBN 9780195176322. Uniformly practiced by Jews, Muslims, and the members of Coptic, Ethiopian, and Eritrean Orthodox Churches, male circumcision remains prevalent in many regions of the world, particularly Africa, South and East Asia, Oceania, and Anglosphere countries.
  114. Van Doorn-Harder, Nelly (2006). "Christianity: Coptic Christianity". Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices. 1. Archived from the original on 2015-12-22.
  115. "Circumcision". Columbia Encyclopedia. Columbia University Press. 2011.
  116. Gruenbaum, Ellen (2015). The Female Circumcision Controversy: An Anthropological Perspective. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 61. ISBN 9780812292510. Christian theology generally interprets male circumcision to be an Old Testament rule that is no longer an obligation ... though in many countries (especially the United States and Sub-Saharan Africa, but not so much in Europe) it is widely practiced among Christians
  117. Hunting, Katherine (2012). Essential Case Studies in Public Health: Putting Public Health Into Practice. Jones & Bartlett Publishers. p. 23-24. ISBN 9781449648756. Neonatal circumcision is the general practice among Jews, Christians, and many, but not all Muslims.
  118. R. Wylie, Kevan (2015). ABC of Sexual Health. John Wiley & Sons. p. 101. ISBN 9781118665695. Although it is mostly common and required in male newborns with Moslem or Jewish backgrounds, certain Christian-dominant countries such as the United States also practice it commonly.
  119. R. Peteet, John (2017). Spirituality and Religion Within the Culture of Medicine: From Evidence to Practice. Oxford University Press. p. 97-101. ISBN 9780190272432. male circumcision is still observed among Ethiopian and Coptic Christians, and circumcision rates are also high today in the Philippines and the US.
  120. S. Ellwood, Robert (2008). The Encyclopedia of World Religions. Infobase Publishing. p. 95. ISBN 9781438110387. It is obligatory among Jews, Muslims, and Coptic Christians. Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Christians do not require circumcision. Starting in the last half of the 19th century, however, circumcision also became common among Christians in Europe and especially in North America.
  121. Pringle, Phil (2009). Inspired to Pray: The Art of Seeking God. Gospel Light Publications. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-8307-4811-2.
  122. Walters, Kerry S.; Portmess, Lisa (2001). Religious Vegetarianism: From Hesiod to the Dalai Lama. SUNY Press. p. 124. ISBN 9780791490679.
  123. Parker-Pope, Tara (11 March 2011). "Going Vegan for Lent". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  124. Salamon, Hagar (1999). Ethiopian Jews in Christian Ethiopia. University of California Press. p. 101. ISBN 978-0-520-92301-0. The Christians do "Basema ab wawald wamanfas qeeus ahadu amlak" [in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit one God] and then slaughter. The Jews say "Baruch yitharek amlak yisrael" [Blessed is the King (God) of Israel].
  125. Efron, John M. (2008). Medicine and the German Jews: A History. Yale University Press. p. 206. ISBN 978-0-300-13359-2. By contrast, the most common mode of slaughtering four-legged animals among Christians in the nineteenth century was through the deliverance of a stunning blow to the head, usually with a mallet or poleax.
  126. Grumett, David; Muers, Rachel (2010). Theology on the Menu: Asceticism, Meat and Christian Diet. Routledge. p. 121. ISBN 978-1-135-18832-0. The Armenian and other Orthodox rituals of slaughter display obvious links with shechitah, Jewish kosher slaughter.
  127. Masri, Basheer Ahmad (1989). Animals in Islam. Athene Trust. ISBN 9781870603010. Both the Jewish and the Christian methods of slaughter fulfill the Islamic condition of bleeding the animal.
  128. Geisler, Norman L. (1989). Christian Ethics: Contemporary Issues and Options. Baker Books. p. 334. ISBN 9781585580538. The eating of animals is not forbidden. The Scriptures do not forbid the eating and partaking of animals. This does not mean that all animals are to be eaten (Mark 7:19; Acts 11:9; 1 Tim. 4:4). It is clear in the Scriptures that we are not supposed to eat animals that are alive or with blood (Gen. 9:2–4; Deut. 12:16, 23–24).
  129. McKnight, Scot (2010). Fasting: The Ancient Practices. Thomas Nelson. p. 88. ISBN 9781418576134. John Wesley, in his Journal, wrote on Friday, August 17, 1739, that "many of our society met, as we had appointed, at one in the afternoon and agreed that all members of our society should obey the Church to which we belong by observing 'all Fridays in the year' as 'days of fasting and abstinence.'
  130. Synan, Vinson (1997). The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition: Charismatic Movements in the Twentieth Century. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 24. ISBN 9780802841032.
  131. Smith, Larry D. (September 2008). "Progressive Sanctification" (PDF). God's Revivalist and Bible Advocate. God's Bible School and College. 120 (6). Principles which underlie our Wesleyan/holiness heritage include such commitments as unquestioned scriptural authority; classical orthodox theology; identity with the one holy and apostolic church; warmhearted evangelical experience; love perfected in sanctifying grace; careful, disciplined living; structured spiritual formation, fidelity to the means of grace; and responsible witness both in public and in private—all of which converge in holiness of heart and life, which for us Methodists will always be the "central idea of Christianity." These are bedrock essentials, and without them we shall have no heritage at all. Though we may neglect them, these principles never change. But our prudentials often do. Granted, some of these are so basic to our DNA that to give them up would be to alter the character of our movement. John Wesley, for example, believed that the prudentials of early Methodism were so necessary to guard its principles that to lose the first would be also to lose the second. His immediate followers should have listened to his caution, as should we. For throughout our history, foolish men have often imperiled our treasure by their brutal assault against the walls which our founders raised to contain them. Having said this, we must add that we have had many other prudentials less significant to our common life which have come and gone throughout our history. For instance, weekly class meetings, quarterly love feasts, and Friday fast days were once practiced universally among us, as was the appointment of circuit-riding ministers assisted by "exhorters" and "local preachers."
  132. The 1928 Book of Common Prayer. Oxford University Press. 1993. ISBN 978-0-19-979606-9. All the Fridays in the Year, except Christmas Day and the Epiphany, or any Friday which may intervene between these Feasts.
  133. Conlin, Joseph (2008). The American Past: A Survey of American History, Enhanced Edition. Cengage Learning. p. 748. ISBN 978-0-495-56609-0. Protestants who called themselves "fundamentalists" (they believed in the literal truth of the Bible--Baptists, Methodists, Pentecostals) were dry.
  134. Scratchley, David (1996). Alcoholism and Other Drug Problems. Simon and Schuster. p. 298. ISBN 978-0-684-82314-0. Although the Jewish, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Episcopal, and Lutheran traditions generally allow moderate drinking for those who can do so, it is simply incorrect to accuse them of condoning drunkenness.
  135. Domenico, Roy P.; Hanley, Mark Y. (2006). Encyclopedia of Modern Christian Politics. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-313-32362-1. Drunkenness was biblically condemned, and all denominations disciplined drunken members.
  136. Cobb, John B. (2003). Progressive Christians Speak: A Different Voice on Faith and Politics. Westminster John Knox Press. p. 136. ISBN 978-0-664-22589-6. For most of Christian history, as in the Bible, moderate drinking of alcohol was taken for granted while drunkenness was condemned.
  137. Flinn, Isabella (2014). Pinpricks in the Curtain: India Through the Eyes of an Unlikely Missionary. WestBow Press. p. 234. ISBN 9781490834313.
  138. Samaan, Moses (25 August 2010). "Who wears the Cross and when?". Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles, Southern California, and Hawaii. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  139. Konstantopoulos, George D. (18 September 2017). "All Orthodox Christians are Given a Cross Following Their Baptism to Wear for Life". St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church. Archived from the original on 3 October 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  140. Konstantopoulos, George D. (18 September 2017). "All Orthodox Christians are Given a Cross Following Their Baptism to Wear for Life". St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church. Archived from the original on 22 July 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  141. Bercot, David W. (1992). Common Sense: A New Approach to Understanding Scripture. Scroll Publishing Co. p. 68. ISBN 978-0-924722-06-6. Hippolytus, a leader in the church in Rome around the year 200, compiled a record of the various customs and practices in that church from the generations that preceded him. His Apostolic Tradition contains this statement: "And let all the women have their heads covered with an opaque cloth, not with a veil of thin linen, for this is not a true covering." This written evidence of the course of performance of the early Christians is corroborated by the archaeological record. The pictures we have from the second and third centuries from the catacombs and other places depict Christian women praying with a cloth veil on their heads. So the historical record is crystal clear. It reveals that the early generation of believers understood the head covering to be a cloth veil—not long hair.
  142. "Veil". Early Christian Dictionary. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  143. Earle, Alice Morse (1903). Two Centuries of Costume in America, Vol. 2 (1620–1820). The Macmillan Company. p. 582. One singular thing may be noted in this history, – that with all the vagaries of fashion, woman has never violated the Biblical law that bade her cover her head. She has never gone to church services bareheaded.
  144. Russell, Thomas Arthur (2010). Comparative Christianity: A Student's Guide to a Religion and Its Diverse Traditions. Universal-Publishers. p. 42. ISBN 978-1-59942-877-2.
  145. The Discipline of the Evangelical Wesleyan Church. Evangelical Wesleyan Church. 2015. pp. 41, 57–58.
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