PURITY AND HOLINESS IN THE PRIESTLY THEOLOGY 9/18/17 Professor Tate

Vocabulary Red Sea Myth “Abominations of Leviticus” Mary Douglas Clean/unclean/pure/impure Holy Levites Mitzvah/Mitzvot

How do we need to think about Dietary laws? “Defilement is never an isolated event. It cannot occur except in view of a systematic ordering of ideas. Hence any piecemeal interpretation of the pollution rules of another culture is bound to fail. For the only way in which pollution ideas make sense is in reference to a total structure of thought whose keystone, boundaries, margins, and internal lines are held in relation by rituals of separation” (Douglas, 119).

Old ways of thinking about the dietary laws Completely arbitrary Meant to be disciplinary rather than meaningful

Old ways of thinking about the dietary laws Religious If other heathens are eating these animals, then Israel can’t.

Old ways of thinking about the dietary laws Allegory Animals are metaphors for virtues and vices E.g., divided hooves signify knowing the difference between good and evil, and chewing the cud signifies meditating on the God's teachings.

Old ways of thinking about the dietary laws Hygiene and health Certain animals carry diseases or are too fatty, like pigs.

“The systematic ordering of ideas” “Be holy, therefore, as I am holy.” Separateness Completeness

What does it mean to say something is “pure” or “impure”

“Holiness as order, not confusion” No mixing or confusion between classes of animals Keeping distinct categories Preserving the order of creation “To be holy is to be whole, to be one; holiness is unity, integrity, perfection of the individual and of the kind. The dietary rules merely develop the metaphor of holiness in the same lines” (Douglas, 130). No sea animals that don’t swim, land animals that don’t walk, etc.

What does it mean to say something is “clean” or “unclean”?

Animal order and social order Wild animals prohibited for consumption, because they have not been incorporated into human society through breeding and shepherding. Animals such as cows, and those that share similar characteristics with cows, are fair game because their class is incorporated into human society.

“If the proposed interpretation of the forbidden animals is correct, the dietary laws would have been like signs which at every turn inspired meditation on the oneness, purity, and completeness of God. By rules of avoidance, holiness was given a physical expression in every encounter with the animal kingdom and at every meal.” –Mary Douglas, 133

Vocabulary Red Sea Myth “Abominations of Leviticus” Mary Douglas Clean/unclean/pure/impure Holy Levites Mitzvah/Mitzvot