The ambivalence of purification and the challenge of transformation in The Rites of Passage and in early Christian texts

Citation:

Moshe Blidstein. 2018. “The Ambivalence Of Purification And The Challenge Of Transformation In The Rites Of Passage And In Early Christian Texts”. Journal Of Classical Sociology, 18, 4, Pp. 338-347. doi:10.1177/1468795X18789015.

Abstract:

In this article I analyze Van Gennep’s understanding of purity, impurity, and purification and its relationship with ancient Christian texts discussing these subjects. Through this comparison, I show how modern and ancient theories of ritual can illuminate each other, and more specifically, how purification was a problematic and ambivalent concept for both ancient Christian writers and for Van Gennep, making it a fruitful one for investigating the thought of both.