The sin of menstruation

[Emil Rez52]

I'm not a woman, but this rule in the Christian Bible has always sounded odd to me and I'd like clarification.

In Leviticus 15:19-30, it states:

19 “When a woman has a discharge, and the discharge in her body is blood, she shall be in her menstrual impurity for seven days, and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening. 20 And everything on which she lies during her menstrual impurity shall be unclean. Everything also on which she sits shall be unclean. 21 And whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. 22 And whoever touches anything on which she sits shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. 23 Whether it is the bed or anything on which she sits, when he touches it he shall be unclean until the evening. 24 And if any man lies with her and her menstrual impurity comes upon him, he shall be unclean seven days, and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.

25 “If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her impurity, all the days of the discharge she shall continue in uncleanness. As in the days of her impurity, she shall be unclean. 26 Every bed on which she lies, all the days of her discharge, shall be to her as the bed of her impurity. And everything on which she sits shall be unclean, as in the uncleanness of her menstrual impurity. 27 And whoever touches these things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. 28 But if she is cleansed of her discharge, she shall count for herself seven days, and after that she shall be clean. 29 And on the eighth day she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons and bring them to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting. 30 And the priest shall use one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her before the Lord for her unclean discharge."
- ESV

Why is menstruation considered a sin, according to God? In verse 30, it plainly calls for a blood sacrifice for a "sin offering" for her "unclean discharge."

Is it Christian belief that because of Eve's sin, that women are punished with sinful menses every month? I'm trying to understand this as it is a big obstacle to me believing in the Bible and Christian faith.

 

[andy b]

ive never really heard of levictus but reading between the lines id say its about not having sex with a women who is on....it was good advice then and its good advice today

 

[Axiom1322]

I already told you what that meant. In Biblical times, there was no way to stop the "flow." (I think, correct me if I'm wrong.) so, anything that they sat or lied on would literally be "unclean." The "flow" contains diseases, so you would need to stay away and not touch it. I would think what the woman is paying for at the end is anyone who had been infected by it.

 

[Emil Rez52]

Medically, there's nothing wrong with menstrual blood, so that is not a valid reason for it either.

 

[Rattus58]

Medically, there's nothing wrong with menstrual blood, so that is not a valid reason for it either.

Hahaha..... and here you propose yourself as a mind of science.... Wrong with it... yes it is natural... but it is not pure blood... you of course know this.... right???

 

[hedrick]

Ritual uncleanness isn't sin. (And if you look further you'll see that it's not just women.) Indeed one theory is that matters of life and death are holy enough that they can't be allowed to mix with normal things.

Christians don't follow the Jewish ritual law, of course.

Note that in one case a person is required to become ritually impure: Burying a dead body is a religious duty. But it also makes one impure.

 

[Faulty]

Is it Christian belief that because of Eve's sin, that women are punished with sinful menses every month? I'm trying to understand this as it is a big obstacle to me believing in the Bible and Christian faith.

If you read it carefully, you'll find that verses 19-24 address the monthly cycle, while 25 through 30 are in reference to an extended or separate discharge. The monthly cycle requires no sin offering. It clearly makes a change in verse 25 where it states " not at the time of her menstrual impurity".

 

[cerette]

This is from the ceremonial law, which had as its purpose to point forward to Christ.

 

[Emil Rez52]

This is from the ceremonial law, which had as its purpose to point forward to Christ.

So menstruating women need to go to Jesus so he won't send them to hell for having their periods? Is that accurate in what you are saying?

 

[Emil Rez52]

If you read it carefully, you'll find that verses 19-24 address the monthly cycle, while 25 through 30 are in reference to an extended or separate discharge. The monthly cycle requires no sin offering. It clearly makes a change in verse 25 where it states " not at the time of her menstrual impurity".

I don't see them as being separate issues. In my bible, it lists it all under ONE main issue, not several.

Women are also "unclean" after childbirth and must make a sin offering after giving birth too. Why is this?

This even bothered me back in my fundie days. Childbirth is a sin? And another question: Why are female children worth only half as much as males? Even back in my bible thumping days, I never felt easy about these passages. Care you explain?

 

[Emil Rez52]

Ritual uncleanness isn't sin. (And if you look further you'll see that it's not just women.) Indeed one theory is that matters of life and death are holy enough that they can't be allowed to mix with normal things.

Christians don't follow the Jewish ritual law, of course.

Note that in one case a person is required to become ritually impure: Burying a dead body is a religious duty. But it also makes one impure.

I know most Christians choose to ignore these passages because they are insane and completely impractical to follow in modern society, I understand that hedrick.

But the text is saying that a woman must make a "sin offering" and "atonement" (implying sin has taken place) for her flow. That is saying it is sinful. The same is true for women giving birth as well.

This is God's "perfect" law we're all to follow, as some say? It sounds like menstrual taboo, which exists in many cultures, including the Islamic culture. What is so "godly" about making ordinary bodily functions sinful?

Also, as I asked Faulty, why are female children valued at half of the amount as males, by God? These things always bothered me as a Christian.

 

[hedrick]

I know most Christians choose to ignore these passages because they are insane and completely impractical to follow in modern society, I understand that hedrick.

No, most Christians don't follow them because we're not Jews. Neither Jews nor Christians have ever believed that the Mosaic Law applies to non-Jews. It was part of the covenant with the Jews, and had the specific purpose of setting them apart from other nations. Jews did not consider these kinds of laws to apply to "righteous Gentiles" (God-fearing non-Jews).

For non-Jews, there are a much smaller set of obligations. The rabbis developed a set of 7 laws, which they believed were established as part of God's covenant with Noah. Unlike the Mosaic Law, which is part of a covenant just with the Jews, Noah's covenant covered all of mankind. The 7 laws are very basic moral principles: don't murder, establish courts of justice, etc.

The early Christian Church faced this issue when Gentiles started being interested. You can see in Romans and Galatians that there were disagreements among early Christians. Some thought that in order to be a Christian you must first become a Jew and accept all the Jewish laws. There was a big meeting in Jerusalem about this. See Acts 15 for an account of it. If you read Acts 15, you'll see that they concluded that you didn't have to become Jewish to be a Christian. So you were committed to only a small set of rules, which seem to be very similar to the 7 laws that the Rabbis considered part of the covenant with Noah.

You will notice that the list of rules in Acts 15 do not include covering the hair and other things you've asked about. In my opinion the things Paul commanded that go beyond the basic moral principles were intended for the particular circumstances of the people he was writing to.

 

[cerette]

So menstruating women need to go to Jesus so he won't send them to hell for having their periods? Is that accurate in what you are saying?

Nope.

All the rules that fall under the category "ceremonial laws" had as their purpose to point forward to the Messiah, to be a "shadow" of what (Who) was to come.