purification

purification in religion, the ceremonial removal of what the religion deems unclean. The usual agents of purification are water (as in baptism ), bodily alteration (as in circumcision ), and fire. The origin of purification rites is a matter of dispute, but frequently the necessity for purification may result from violation of taboo or from defilement incurred while participating in critical events of life, such as childbirth, puberty, marriage, bloodshed or war, and death. The ancient Hebrew rites are described in the Bible, as in chapter 19 of the Book of Numbers. Candlemas commemorates the purification of the Virgin Mary after the birth of Jesus.

purification Rites necessary for Hebrew men and women in the frequent events of their contracting a kind of ritual impurity, as in menstruation or by touching a corpse. It was the duty of a priest to remove the traces of impurity by means of a sacrifice at an altar (Lev. 14: 25). The subject is mentioned by John 2: 6, where it is explained for gentile readers. At John 3: 25 there is a difficulty about the precise Greek reading, and the discussion between John the Baptist's disciples and a Jew over a purification has been thought by some scholars to indicate that the Baptist's disciples sided with other Jews against Jesus in requiring strict adherence to the purificatory laws.