How Can Anthropology Help Us To Understand The Laws In Leviticus?

Introduction

The term anthropology refers to the study of change and flux which takes place in definitions of identity and human communities, reflecting the integral role of modernist evolution of meaning. Being an academic discipline, it requires the realization of interconnectedness between heightened and keen abstraction of vocabulary, human groups and the tools which are used to articulate the self reflexive sensitivity and connections in the history. In today's society, there has been a tremendous shift in the discipline of anthropology, as practices employed years ago reflect a prominent change. It has been argued on many occasions that the book of Leviticus is the toughest part of the Torah, as the laws mentioned in the book lack its purpose. Many often find it difficult to understand the purpose of the book.

Discussion

There are four integral fields of anthropology and all are very useful for example cultural anthropology, biological anthropology, archaeology and linguistic anthropology. Each field of anthropology has different sets of research interests and utilizes different research techniques. The type of methods used in the principle ranges from the techniques commonly used by humanities and social sciences to those of geology and biology. Archaeology and biological anthropology are generally considered to be the closest to the physical and biological sciences in approach and methods to learn and study about the experience of humanity. Another important sect of anthropology is the anthropology of religion. It includes the study of other social institutions in relation to religious institutions. It also includes the comparison of religious practices and beliefs across cultures. It is generally assumed by modern anthropology that complete unity exists between religion and magical thinking. Another popular assumption of the modern anthropologists is that every religion is a product of different culture that is created by the humans (Rendsburg, pp.181).

It has been suggested that the laws of Leviticus, specifically applied to the children of Israel and that the children of Israel were deemed to follow and abide by those laws. It is quite certain to say that many people argue that the biblical instructions regarding childbirth are extremely biased against women. In earlier days according to the laws in Leviticus women were considered unclean for a period of 7 days, if she gave birth to a son and the state of purification lasted for 33 days, similarly if she gave birth to a daughter, then she would be considered unclean for 14 days the purification period lasted for 66 days (www.collegepress.com). These laws were argued vastly and were considered as an encouragement for biasness and discrimination. On the contrary, modern scientific discoveries regarding childbirth state these laws as valid. As the mankind developed and became advanced, biblical laws that required people who touched the women that just went through childbirth, to wash their hands immediately in order to prevent themselves from any disease. Later on proved this was also proved scientifically in the mid-1800s, as physicians recognized the importance of washing hands, ...