Purity and holiness : : the heritage of Leviticus / / edited by M. J. H. M. Poorthuis and J. Schwartz.

• Superior document: Jewish and Christian perspectives series ; Volume 2
• TeilnehmendeR: Poorthuis, Marcel, 1955-; Schwartz, Joshua,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden ;, Boston ;, Köln : : Brill,, 2000.
• Year of Publication: 2000
• Language: English
• Series: Jewish and Christian perspectives series ; Volume 2.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource
• Notes: Includes indexes.

Purity has long been recognized as one of the essential drives which determines humankind's relationship with the holy. Codes of purity and impurity, dealing with such far-ranging topics as 'external stains' and 'inner remorse', represent the physical and 'bodily' side of religious experience and provide the key to the understanding of human orientation to nature, and the structure of society, including even relationships between the sexes. Starting with the Hebrew Bible, a number of articles study some rather neglected passages from both exegetical and cultural-anthropological standpoints. Next, it is shown that the concept of purity is far more central to the New Testament than previously thought. Luke is portrayed as a Jewish-oriented writer. The discussion of purity in Mark is compared with Rabbinical and Qumranic material. Patristic discussions of purity reflect both allegorical and literal interpretations, while rabbinical rulings display a fine sense for detail and realia. Biblical references to illness are interpreted both in Christian and Jewish traditions as a metaphor for immoral behavior. The present collection of studies proceeds far beyond other collections on purity, studying both the medieval and modern periods. Purity rules, in both Christian and Jewish society, do not disappear in the Middle Ages, but become increasingly stronger. Sometimes there appear unexpected and surprising similarities between both societies. Modern society sees a decline in the importance of purity, reflecting a growing ambiguous attitude to the relationship between the body and the holy. A feminist perspective is also provided, examining the intertwined relationship between religion, gender and power. Exegesis, archaeology, liturgy, anthropology and even architecture are all used to study the complex phenomena of purity in their religious and social dimensions from both Christian and Jewish perspectives.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material / M.J.H.M. Poorthuis and J. Schwartz -- Purity and Holiness: an Introductory Survey / Marcel Poorthuis and Joshua Schwartz -- The Dynamics of Purity in the Priestly System / Jacob Milgrom -- Impurity of Land Animals / Mary Douglas -- Israel’s Holiness: The Torah Traditions / Baruch J. Schwartz -- “They saw that his forehead was leprous” (2 Chr 26:20) / Pancratius C. Beentjes -- Jewish Purity Laws as Viewed by the Church Fathers and by the Early Followers of Jesus / Peter J. Tomson -- Purity and Impurity of the Body in Luke-Acts / Bart J. Koet -- Rudolph Otto Revisited: Numinosity Vis-à-Vis Rabbinic, Patristic and Gnostic Interpretations of Scripture / Marcel Poorthuis -- Impurity between Intention and Deed: Purity Disputes in First Century Judaism and in the New Testament / Eric Ottenheijm -- Reflections on Hand-Washing, Hand-Purity and Holy Scripture in Rabbinical Literature / Chaim Milikowsky -- The Concept of Holiness and the Requirements of Purity in Second Temple and Tannaic Literature / Cana Werman -- Leviticus 12–15 in Early Christianity / Gerard Rouwhorst -- Sin and Illness in the Targum of the Prophets / Alberdina Houtman -- On Birds, Rabbis and Skin Disease / Joshua Schwartz -- Non-Priestly Purity and its Religious Aspects according to Historical Sources and Archaeological Findings / Eyal Regev -- ‘Contagium’ and Images of Self in Late Sixth-Century Gaul / Giselle de Nie -- Medieval Models of Purity and Sanctity: Ashkenazic Women in the Synagogue / Jeffrey Robert Woolf -- “A Relic of Superstition”: Bodily Impurity and the Church from Gregory the Great to the Twelfth-Century Decretists / Rob Meens -- Leviticus 12, Mary and Wax: Purification and Churching in Late Medieval Christianity / Charles Caspers -- Reclaiming Ritual: A Gendered Approach to (Im)Purity / Anne-Marie Korte -- The Pure Life of Grietje Schouten ( 1915–1947): Rereading Mary Douglas’s Natural Symbols / Paul Post -- Index of Names and Subjects / M.J.H.M. Poorthuis and J. Schwartz -- Index of Ancient Sources / M.J.H.M. Poorthuis and J. Schwartz.