Phrases 6: "Cleanliness is next to godliness." in the Bible?

[GoldenEagle]

Why do we think these phrases are passages in the Bible? One reason is people haven’t read or don’t actually know what is in the Bible. Another reason is sometimes we use what we perceive as Biblical truth to reinforce own pre-existing beliefs or what has been taught to us. Yet some of these phrases do at times reflect Biblical truth or concepts. Sometimes, however the phrases are a result of folk wisdom or cultural use of the terms.
 

 

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#6. Is "Cleanliness is next to godliness." in the Bible?

If so, what is the passage or similar phrases used in the Bible? If not, where does it originate from?

[Guest]

Why do we think these phrases are passages in the Bible? One reason is people haven’t read or don’t actually know what is in the Bible. Another reason is sometimes we use what we perceive as Biblical truth to reinforce own per-existing beliefs or what has been taught to us. Yet some of these phrases do at times reflect Biblical truth or concepts. Sometimes, however the phrases are a result of folk wisdom or cultural use of the terms.

 

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#6. Is "Cleanliness is next to godliness." in the Bible?

If so, what is the passage or similar phrases used in the Bible? If not, where does it originate from?

 

~

 

Our Cleanliness

 

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Isaiah 64:6

 

Christ's Cleanliness

 

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 1 Peter 1:18-19

 

And Thoughts Of Origins And Such

 

CLEANLINESS IS NEXT TO GODLINESS - "This ancient proverb is said by some to have come from ancient Hebrew writings. However, its first appearance in English - though in slightly altered form - seems to be in the writings of Francis Bacon. In his 'Advancement of Learning' (1605) he wrote: 'Cleanness of body was ever deemed to proceed from a due reverence to God.' Near two centuries later John Wesley in one of his sermons (1791) indicated that the proverb was already well known in the form we use today. Wrote Wesley: 'Slovenliness is no part of religion.'Cleanliness is indeed next to Godliness.'" From "Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins" by William and Mary Morris (HarperCollins, New York, 1977, 1988). There are a couple more details in "Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings" (1996) by Gregory Y. Titelman (Random House, New York, 1996): ". According to the fourteenth edition of 'Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable,' it is an old Hebrew proverb used in the late 2nd century by Rabbi Phinehas ben-Yair. First attested in the United States in the 'Monthly Anthology and Boston Review' (1806). The proverb is found in varying forms." http://askville.amazon.com/%C2%93Cleanliness-Godliness%C2%94/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=594818

 

Who Knew?

[S. Carpenter]

On 7/17/2013 at 6:27 AM, GoldenEagle said:

Why do we think these phrases are passages in the Bible? One reason is people haven’t read or don’t actually know what is in the Bible. Another reason is sometimes we use what we perceive as Biblical truth to reinforce own pre-existing beliefs or what has been taught to us. Yet some of these phrases do at times reflect Biblical truth or concepts. Sometimes, however the phrases are a result of folk wisdom or cultural use of the terms.
 

 

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#6. Is "Cleanliness is next to godliness." in the Bible?

If so, what is the passage or similar phrases used in the Bible? If not, where does it originate from?

This quote is not in the Bible in any way. I've read the Bible cover to cover 23 times and am on my 24th. (That's in addition to reading for Bible study, an extra "Read through the Bible in a year" plan using a daily Bible right now, and reading simply from looking up passages to answer other's questions.) It is nowhere found in the Bible. Being able to definitively say it is not in the Bible is to me, quite a simpler thing than knowing the origins of the saying. Obviously, I'm not one of the "people" described above who have not read the Bible.

However, an interesting way to study this is to see Jesus' condemnation of something that looks very much like this belief.

 

Quote

 

Matthew 23:25-28 New American Standard Bible 1995

²⁵ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. ²⁶ You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.

²⁷ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. ²⁸ So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

 

The idea that cleanliness is next to godliness goes back [at least] to the Pharisee's teaching in Jesus' day and before it, that their original Levitical duties (that of priests in the Temple) should somehow now be expected of every Jewish person or they were not "holy". The fact that Rabbi's of today continue this false teaching is not surprising. It is far easier to wash the outside of a person, that to wash their heart and soul. In fact, only God can do that.

Every religion of the world other than Biblical Christianity believes that one must "do" certain things to gain God's approval or heaven or both. Or at least, hope to. There are no guarantees. So it's not surprising to find it in those who were raised as orthodox Jews. Please correct that statement from the side of one who is a Messianic Jew. I realize I have limited understanding on that part of whether it is only in orthodox Judaism or if it is also present in other forms of Judaism.
 

I think that Jesus (Yeshua's) testimony quoted above says far more than I could say, so I will leave it in His words from a different book in the Bible:

 

 

Quote

 

Luke 11:37-54

New American Standard Bible 1995

³⁷ Now when He had spoken, a Pharisee *asked Him to have lunch with him; and He went in, and reclined at the table. ³⁸ When the Pharisee saw it, he was surprised that He had not first ceremonially washed before the meal. ³⁹ But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness. ⁴⁰ You foolish ones, did not He who made the outside make the inside also? ⁴¹ But give that which is within as charity, and then all things are clean for you.

⁴² “But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. ⁴³ Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the chief seats in the synagogues and the respectful greetings in the market places. ⁴⁴ Woe to you! For you are like concealed tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it.”

⁴⁵ One of the lawyers *said to Him in reply, “Teacher, when You say this, You insult us too.” ⁴⁶ But He said, “Woe to you lawyers as well! For you weigh men down with burdens hard to bear, while you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers. ⁴⁷ Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them. ⁴⁸ So you are witnesses and approve the deeds of your fathers; because it was they who killed them, and you build their tombs. ⁴⁹ For this reason also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and some they will persecute, ⁵⁰ so that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, ⁵¹ from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation.’ ⁵² Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering.”

⁵³ When He left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile and to question Him closely on many subjects, ⁵⁴ plotting against Him to catch Him in something He might say.