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

Moshe Blidstein

doi:10.1177/1468795X18789015

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

Moshe Blidstein

University of Haifa

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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.

Original language	American English
Pages (from-to)	338-347
Number of pages	10
Journal	Journal of Classical Sociology
Volume	18
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/1468795X18789015
State	Published - 1 Nov 2018

Keywords

Arthur Van Gennep
defilement
process
purity
ritual
transformation

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Sociology and Political Science

Access to Document

10.1177/1468795X18789015

Cite this

@article{17f861ab367041568a89cc01c20eefea,

title = "The ambivalence of purification and the challenge of transformation in The Rites of Passage and in early Christian texts",

abstract = "In this article I analyze Van Gennep{\textquoteright}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.",

keywords = "Arthur Van Gennep, defilement, process, purity, ritual, transformation",

author = "Moshe Blidstein",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2018.",

year = "2018",

month = nov,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1177/1468795X18789015",

language = "American English",

volume = "18",

pages = "338--347",

journal = "Journal of Classical Sociology",

issn = "1468-795X",

publisher = "SAGE Publications Ltd",

number = "4",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - The ambivalence of purification and the challenge of transformation in The Rites of Passage and in early Christian texts

AU - Blidstein, Moshe

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2018.

PY - 2018/11/1

Y1 - 2018/11/1

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - Arthur Van Gennep

KW - defilement

KW - process

KW - purity

KW - ritual

KW - transformation

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85056646577&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1177/1468795X18789015

DO - 10.1177/1468795X18789015

M3 - Article

SN - 1468-795X

VL - 18

SP - 338

EP - 347

JO - Journal of Classical Sociology

JF - Journal of Classical Sociology

IS - 4

ER -

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

Abstract

Keywords

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Access to Document

Other files and links

Cite this