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FEB 18

As Mary Douglas explains through numerous examples, purity is an encompassing term. In few words, purity is order. Douglas uses the example of “dirt” throughout her piece in speaking of the impurity in the literal and symbolic senses, to be a move away from order. Impurity, this alternate route, is often seen as something to avoid and get rid of.

God requires maintenance of purity because “order” is an essential component of the creation process, and in order for humans to continue creating, as God intended for humans in Genesis, humans must maintain purity. Purity is also, in my estimation, something that requires discipline to maintain. Just as evil exists in our world and tests our faith, and as temptation surrounds us each day and checks our resolve, the challenge of maintaining purity is always present in our lives testing our discipline. To keep purity is to take each step of life with discipline.

In my view, the logic of the laws relating to purity in Leviticus have less to do with the literal foods and such that are deemed “impure,” and more to do with the symbolic relevance of pursuing and maintaining purity. Interpreting the Bible with an understanding that it is not entirely meant to be taken literally, as makes most sense in Genesis, these purity laws begin to make more sense. Certain foods being forbidden strongly calls the Garden of Eden to mind, and makes this parallel even clearer to see. Being limited in our choices and having to choose good from bad is essential in a fair decision-making process, especially one that determines the character of us all.