Early Christian Views on Ablution and Washing

Justin Martyr, The First Apology Direct teaching

Then they are brought by us where there is water, and are regenerated in the same manner in which we were ourselves regenerated.

Tertullian, On Baptism Direct teaching

Happy is our sacrament of water, in that, by washing away the sins of our early blindness, we are set free and admitted into eternal life!

Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Direct teaching

...ity. Excellent. Well then, I say, does He become perfect at the same time as His baptism by John? Clearly. Then He did not learn anything more from him? Certainly not. But is He perfected by the washing of baptism alone, and sanctified by the descent of the Spirit? So it is. The same also takes place in our case, and Christ became our example. Being baptized, we are illuminated. Being illuminated, we become sons. Being made sons, we are made perfect. Being made perfect, we are made immortal. "I," He says, "have said that you are gods, and all sons of the Highest." This work is called by various names: grace, illumination, perfection, and washing. It is called washing, because by it we cleanse away our sins. It is called grace, because by it the penalties that come from transgressions are remitted. It is called illumination, because by it that holy light of salvation is seen, that is, by it we see God clearly. Now we call that perfect which lacks nothing. For what is still lacking to the one who knows God? For it would truly be monstrous if that which is not complete should be called a gift, or act, of God's grace. Since He is perfect, He therefore gives perfect gifts. As at His

Origen, Commentary on John Direct teaching

For it is for forgiveness of sins that this washing is given.

Cyprian, Epistles Direct teaching

...to sons for God through Christ? For it is the Church alone which, joined and united with Christ, spiritually bears sons, as the same apostle again says, "Christ loved the Church, and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify it, cleansing it with the washing of water," Ephesians 5:25-26. If, then, she is the beloved and spouse who alone is sanctified by Christ, and alone is cleansed by His washing, it is clear that heresy, which is not the spouse of Christ, and cannot be cleansed or sanctified by His washing, cannot bear sons to God.

Acts 22:16 Background

And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.

1 Peter 3:21 Background

There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Direct teaching

But most of all, it is necessary to wash the soul in the cleansing Word. Sometimes the body also needs washing, because dirt collects and sticks to it. Sometimes it is also washed to relieve tiredness. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" says the Lord. "For you are like whitewashed tombs. On the outside, the tomb appears beautiful, but inside it is full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness." Matthew 23:27 And again He says to the same people, "Woe to you! For you clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of uncleanness. First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean." Matthew 23:25-26 The best bath, then, is what scrubs off the pollution of the soul, and it is spiritual. About this, prophecy speaks plainly: "The Lord will wash away the filth of the sons and daughters of Israel, and will purge the blood from among them" Isaiah 4:4 — meaning the blood of crime and the murders of the prophets. And the Word added the way of cleansing, saying, "by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning." The bodily bath, that is, the washing of the body, is done by water alone, as often happens in the countryside where there is no

Cyprian, Epistles Direct teaching

...washed away in the same way that the dirt of the skin and body is washed away in an ordinary bodily washing, as though there were also need of soap and other materials, and a bath and basin by which this lowly body must be washed and cleaned. The believer's heart is washed in another way. The mind of a man is purified in another way by the merit of faith. In the sacraments of salvation, when necessity forces it and God grants His mercy, the divine means give the whole benefit to believers. Nor should it trouble anyone that sick people seem to be sprinkled or have water poured on them when they receive the Lord's grace, since Holy Scripture speaks through the prophet Ezekiel and says, "Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit will I put within you." Ezekiel 36:25-26 Also in Numbers: "And the man that shall be unclean until the evening shall be purified on the third day, and on the seventh day shall be clean: but if he shall not be purified on the third day, on the seventh day he shall not be clean. And that soul shall be cut off from Isr

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

For in the sacrament of salvation the contagion of sins is not in such wise washed away, as the filth of the skin and of the body is washed away in the carnal and ordinary washing, as that there should be need of saltpetre and other appliances also, and a bath and a basin wherewith this vile body must be washed and purified.

Ephesians 5:26 Background

That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

Acts 1:16 Background

Wash you, be clean; remove your iniquities from your souls before mine eyes; cease from your iniquities;

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Background

...from your former way of life, empty bonds, divisions, observances, distinctions of foods, and daily washings; for the old things have passed away. Look, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Background

...w you to sacrifice irrational creatures for sin offerings, purifications, scapegoats, and continual washings and sprinklings, yet He has nowhere freed you from those offerings that you owe to the priests, nor from doing good to the poor. For the Lord says to you in the Gospel, "Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall by no means enter into the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:20. Now your righteousness will exceed theirs in this: if you take greater care of the priests, the orphans, and the widows, as it is written, "He has scattered abroad; he has given to the poor; his righteousness remains forever." And again, "By acts of righteousness and faith iniquities are purged." Proverbs 16:6. And again, "Every bountiful soul is blessed." Proverbs 11:25. Therefore do as the Lord has appointed, and give to the priest the things due to him: the firstfruits of your threshing floor and of your winepress, and sin offerings, as to the mediator between God and those who need purgation and forgiveness. For it is your duty to give, and his duty to administer, as the administrator and disposer of ecclesiastical affairs. Yet you must not call your bishop to acc

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Background

...is good, because it was made by me. And I appoint for you various separations, purgations, frequent washings and sprinklings, various purifications, and various times of rest. And if you neglect any of them, I decree the punishment proper for the disobedient, so that, being pressed and galled by your collar, you may depart from the error of polytheism. And laying aside the words, "These are your gods, O Israel," you may remember this: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one Lord." And you may run back again to that law placed by me in the nature of all men: that there is only one God in heaven and on earth; that you are to love Him with all your heart and all your might and all your mind; and to fear no one but Him; and not to admit the names of other gods into your mind, nor let your tongue speak them from your mouth. He bound them because of the hardness of their hearts, so that by sacrificing, and resting, and purifying themselves, and by similar observances, they might come to the knowledge of God, who ordained these things for them.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Background

Neither do you seek after Jewish separations, or perpetual washings, or purifications upon the touch of a dead body.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Background

...in this matter you have committed no sin. For neither lawful union, nor childbearing, nor menstrual cleansing, nor a nighttime emission can defile a person's nature or separate the Holy Spirit from him. Nothing can do that except impiety and unlawful conduct. For the Holy Spirit always remains with those who have Him, as long as they are worthy. And when He departs from people, He leaves them deserted and exposed to the wicked spirit. Now every person is filled either with the Holy Spirit or with the unclean spirit, and it is not possible to avoid one or the other, unless they could receive opposite spirits at the same time. For the Comforter hates every lie, and the devil hates all truth. But everyone who is baptized according to the truth is separated from the devilish spirit and is under the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit remains with him as long as he does good, and fills him with wisdom and understanding, and does not allow the wicked spirit to come near him, but watches over his ways. Therefore, woman, if, as you say, in the days of your separation you are without the Holy Spirit, then you are filled with the unclean one. For by neglecting prayer and reading, you will in

Hebrews 9:10 Background

Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.

Numbers 8:7 Background

Thus you shall do to them to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of purification upon them, and let them go with a razor over all their body, and wash their clothes and cleanse themselves.

Numbers 19:21 Background

It shall be a perpetual statute for them. He who sprinkles the water of purification shall wash his clothes; and he who touches the water of purification shall be unclean until evening.

Numbers 19:13 Background

Whoever touches the body of anyone who has died, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of the Lord. That person shall be cut off from Israel. He shall be unclean, because the water of purification was not sprinkled on him; his uncleanness is still on him.

Numbers 8:21 Background

And the Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes; then Aaron presented them like a wave offering before the Lord, and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them.

2 Chronicles 4:6 Background

And he made ten lavers, and set five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them the instruments of the whole burnt offerings, and to rinse the vessels in them; and the sea was for the priests to wash in.

Exodus 29:4 Background

You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water.

Tertullian, On Baptism Direct teaching

But the nations, who are strangers to all understanding of spiritual powers, give to their idols this same power of filling waters with the same effect. But they deceive themselves with widowed waters. For by washing they are initiated into certain sacred rites of some well-known Isis or Mithras. They also honor the gods themselves by washings. Moreover, by carrying water around and sprinkling it, they everywhere expiate country houses, homes, temples, and whole cities. At any rate, at the Apollinarian and Eleusinian games they are baptized. And they think that the effect of doing this is their regeneration and the remission of the penalties due for their perjuries. Among the ancients too, whoever had defiled himself with murder used to go in search of purifying waters. Therefore, if the mere nature of water, because it is the proper material for washing away, leads men to flatter themselves with a belief in omens of purification, how much more truly will waters render that service through the authority of God, by whom all their nature has been established! If men think that water is endowed with a healing power by religion, what religion is more effective than that of the living G

Tertullian, On Baptism Supporting witness

For washing is the channel through which they are initiated into some sacred rites— of some notorious Isis or Mithras.

Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies Direct teaching

But after they have performed this operation, immediately they undergo ablution, as if the excrement pollutes them.

Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies Supporting witness

And if they happen to come in contact with them, they immediately resort to ablution, as if they had touched one belonging to an alien tribe.

Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies Background

...to keep away from intercourse with a woman, as though they were emasculated. As for the rest of the ritual observed in these mysteries, as we have explained at some length, they follow it just as if they were emasculated persons. And they worship nothing other than Naas, and from that they are called Naasseni. But Naas is the serpent, from whom, that is, from the word Naas, the Naassene says that all things under heaven called temples, or Naos, receive their name. And he says that to him alone, that is, to Naas, every shrine, every rite of initiation, and every mystery is dedicated. In general, he says that no religious ceremony can be found under heaven in which a temple, or Naos, does not exist; and in the temple itself is Naas, from whom it has received the name temple, or Naos. And they say that the serpent is a moist substance, just as Thales the Milesian also spoke of water as a first principle, and that nothing that exists, whether immortal or mortal, living or nonliving, could exist at all without him. And they say that all things are subject to him, and that he is good, and that he has all things in himself, as in the horn of the one-horned bull, so that he gives beauty

Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies Background

For the promise of washing is not any other, according to them, than the introduction of him that is washed in, according to them, life-giving water, and anointed with ineffable ointment (than his introduction) into unfading bliss.

Tertullian, On Baptism Background

Therefore, if the mere nature of water, in that it is the appropriate material for washing away, leads men to flatter themselves with a belief in omens of purification, how much more truly will waters render that service through the authority of God, by whom all their nature has been constituted!

Tertullian, On Baptism Supporting witness

The gods themselves likewise they honour by washings.

Justin Martyr, The First Apology Background

and they cause them also to wash themselves entirely, as they depart [from the sacrifice], before they enter into the shrines in which their images are set.