In 1 Cor. 10:1–20), St. Paul was fearful of compromising the body of Christ. This fear is rooted in the admonitions of Ezekiel (44:7), who declared that only the pure might partake of the bread of God that was the fat and the blood. During the Hittite rule in the second millennium bce, dogs and pigs were not allowed to enter and pollute temples. This prohibition evolved into Christian discourse and took on the specific guise of distancing the filthy, promiscuous “Jewish dog” or the clerical lapsus from the (sacrificial) Eucharistic “bread.” Moreover, Jews were advised to avoid excessive contact with Christians. Thus, the competition between Jews and Christians is between two mutually exclusive systems, both of which advocated bodily purity and avoidance of pollution. Jews accused Christians of the same kind of impurity that Christians said was a characteristic of the Jews. This chapter also examines the views of Rigord and Angelo di Castro regarding purity in relation to the Jews.
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