The Faith of Bathe

There are Glad tidings for those looking for a common denominator in Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, but this time it is neither in theology nor in jurisprudence, it is simply in water. The practice of washing (Ablution), either for the whole body or certain parts of it, has a pervasive presence in the lives of Jews, Muslims, and Christians. The Biblical and Koranic similarities between the concepts and methods of washing can be surprising to many 
  
The astonishing similarity in ablution is mainly between Judaism and Islam. Adherents of both religions are commanded to wash their bodies before approaching prayer, and it is a prerequisite for Jews to do it before entering holy places. The two religions refer to the purification of body using water by the same name (Tahara). In both religions there are 2 types of wash, one which involves full body immersion and the second is for certain body parts. The full immersion is usually headlining a new beginning or a marking point, as the first full body wash is for the new born and the very last is for the deceased before burial. The other types of full immersion wash are post child delivery for women, post menstruation, proselytizing, and after sex for men and women alike. 

The minor ritual washing named Wudu; which Muslims perform before prayer, requires a 3 times wash of the forearm, face, head, and feet. Jews also wash their hands for the same number of times after visiting the toilet. The staggering similarity appears the Gospel of Mark which shows how the Pharisees carried the practice of ablution to great excess in their ceremonial preparations.The exact word that is used in the Greek New Testament refers to the arm from the elbow to the tips of the fingers, exactly how Muslims wash according to Quran 5:6 " O you who have believed, when you rise to [perform] prayer, wash your faces and your forearms to the elbows and wipe over your heads and wash your feet to the ankles." The Old Testament also states how ablution should precede performing ritualistic prayers, and more specifically the wash of hands and feet. In Exodus 30:21 the bible reads, " So they shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they will not die; and it shall be a perpetual statute for them, for Aaron and his descendants throughout their generations,” and in Samuel 12:20 it is a prerequisite to enter the house of God to pray, "Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate."


Although ablution is less frequently performed in Christianity compared with Judaism and Islam, water is a major motif in the Christian faith through baptism. Like the Old testament and Quran dictates the full immersion of body after conversion and birth, Christianity holds the two ideas but in a rather fused manner due to the theological conceptions of the residence of the Holy Spirit in believers. The biblical figure which introduced baptism is John the Baptist, a man recognized as a prophet by Muslims and Mandaeans who recognize a number of Qur'anic and Biblical figures to be prophets of which the very last is John the Baptist. Mandaeans are more commonly known as the Subba and the term Subba is derived from the Aramaic root related to baptism, and they build their house of worship, manda beside a river in order to perform masbattah (baptism) as water is an essential element in the Mandaeic faith. Modern mandas sometimes have a bath inside a building like Jewish Mikveh inside synagogues.

The second account of ablution in Christianity is the wash of feet performed by Jesus on his last meeting with his disciples and his last famous prayer. When Jesus insisted on washing Simon Peter's feet, Simon asked why just the feet and not the head and the hands too . Jesus replied saying, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean." This way Jesus showed a distinction of two types of wash, a major full immersion one, and another minor one for certain body parts. 

The ritualistic features of belief systems has a great effect of drawing their adherents apart. The similarity in the essence of these rituals can explain a lot about the course of revelation from God to humanity and why things look the way they are. The major headlining ideas of a belief system is usually cognitively walled and secured by ritualistic familiarity and the sanctification of these rituals would be mistaken for reverence for the off the beaten tracks, theological questions.

Papa don't preach.

Coming soon.

I feel there is something.

Do faith demographics show the real condition of belief in Europe ?. That was my response after reading the most recent poll concerning atheism and agnosticism in Europe, as the figures of Believers, Atheists, and Agnostics did not meet my expectations after living for two years in the continent. My expectations regarding this matter are based on the accumulated responses to my straightforward question "Do you believe in God ?". The response I am likely to receive from 90 % of those I met in major cities is one of two answers, with no third outside Churches and retirement homes. It is either "No,but i'm baptized", or "Yes, but not really". Both answers mellow down after a series of follow up questions. The answer that you I overwhelmingly reach eventually is " I don't know, but I feel there is something ", with an adamant refusal to assign a name, attributions, or any form of definition to that thing felt. That does not impugn the figures of registered members of various congregations, but the question is, Does the impression resulting from these statistics depict the reality of spirituality in the old continent ? Should not Agnosticism receive more attention and study as a Tsunami cultural phenomena ?

According to a 2005 Euro-stat Euro-barometer poll, 52% of EU citizens said that "they believe there is a God", whereas 27% stated that "they believe there is a kind of spirit or life force" and 18% that "they do not believe there is a spirit, God, nor life force". The percentages varied widely from one country to another, with Turkey, Romania, Greece, and Cyprus on the top of the list of faith with 90% of population believing in God compared with almost half the percentage in Hungary 44%, Germany 47%, and even less in Sweden, Czech Republic and Estonia with percentages below 20 %.

The reason why these statistics are not reflecting a true image of the spiritual status of the continent is that these numbers do not represent the state of effective religiosity in European societies. The population of people above 70 and below 20 is included, while the real figures should be mirroring only the age group between 20 and 50. These three decades are the decades in which one's contribution to society is actualized in a substantial degree of relevance and individuality, unlike the preceding and following decades when institutionalized prompting influence overpowers any form of effective participation or self realization.

In most of the patron saint states mentioned in the statistics (those of higher than 50% believing populations), the mainstream Dynamic cultural conglomerations such as Government , Media, higher education, and the art industry are utterly atheistic and anti religious. The other Static institutions such as preparatory education, Church, and organizations of political dissidence have substantial Christian elements in their rhetoric. What is meant by Dynamic is the institutions and individuals that shape the influential tone of the public. The Static institutions are the ones that is at the flanks of culture manufacturing of society, lacking any essential political weight or influence.

Statistics should be more narrowed down to the scope of effective cultural representation and not to include what counter/obsolete cultures stand for. These statistics depict a misleading impression due to the high believing and Atheist rates in comparison with Agnostic ones. Agnosticism should be more present in future statistics as it is the most prevalent belief within the religious texture of Europe.