"It hath been enjoined upon you to pare your nails, to bathe yourselves each week in water that covereth your bodies, and to clean yourselves with whatsoever ye have formerly employed."
Dear David, It's fairly obvious why it is advisable to pare our nails. The fingers of the hands are employed in innumerable task throughout each day and the longer the nails the greater possibility of harboring infectious microbes which can then be transferred to other parts of our own bodies, or people we come in contact with. As for bathing, it appears to me that Baha'u'llah is actually endorsing what we now call a "shower". The (nearly) bottom line of this passage is: "If the bather, instead of entering the water, wash himself by *pouring it upon his body*, it shall be better for him and shall *absolve* him of the need for bodily *immersion*." Additionally, I feel that to bathe means to wash, or cleanse. Not necessarily to immerse ones self. Whichever, we are explicitly directed to bathe the entire body not just "parts"... The asterisks are mine. Lovingly, Sandra ---------- You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Baha'i Studies is available through the following: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://list.jccc.net/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=bahai-st news://list.jccc.net/bahai-st http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist (public) http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] (public)
