Filth as Holiness — The Christian Tradition of Rejecting Cleanliness and Its Contrast with Islamic Purity
In the Christian patristic and medieval tradition, bodily filth was not merely tolerated — it was actively celebrated as a mark of holiness, chastity, and closeness to God. This stands in direct contrast to the Islamic requirement of ritual purity before prayer and the comprehensive Islamic framework of personal hygiene. What follows is a compiled historical record drawn from Church authorities, saints’ biographies, encyclopedias, and Western historians.
Saint Athanasius and the Rejection of Bathing
The following image presents source material on Athanasius’s position on bathing and the monastic culture of filth that followed from it.
Saint Athanasius used to say that bathing is an ugly, reprehensible habit that does not align with good manners. Therefore, the bodies of monks became steeped in filth and dirt, and they considered this filth a sign of holiness and piety. This extended to the impurity of minds as well, by prohibiting reading and studying.
Egyptian Monks, the Virgin Sylvia, and Pope Alexander
The following image presents source material on Egyptian monks, the virgin Sylvia, the monastery of 130 unbathed nuns, and Pope Alexander’s mockery of water use.
Many Egyptian monks despised worldly sciences and believed that cleanliness was incompatible with faith. The virgin Sylvia refused to wash any part of her body. In one of the women’s monasteries, there were 130 nuns, not one of whom had ever bathed or washed her feet. Pope Alexander mocked those who used water, considering it a sign of sin.
Orthodox Christianity’s Teaching on the Body
The following image presents source material on Orthodox Christianity’s theological position on the body and the disappearance of toilets and pipes from homes.
Orthodox Christianity taught and preached that all aspects of the body should be cursed, and therefore it encouraged not bathing as much as possible. Toilets and pipes disappeared from homes, and diseases became common and ever-present.
Saint Jacob the Syrian
The following image presents source material on Saint Jacob the Syrian and his celebrated abstention from bathing.
Saint Jacob the Syrian was mentioned for his virtues and merits — that he never entered a bathhouse in his entire life.
Father Tadros Yacoub Malaty on Marital Relations and Bathing
The following image presents the relevant passage from Father Tadros Yacoub Malaty’s interpretation of Leviticus on bathing after marital relations.
In the interpretation of Leviticus by Father Tadros Yacoub Malaty: marital relations do not require bathing. There is no washing in Christianity — neither for ritual impurity nor for anything else — because Christ abolished the ritual washing that symbolized sin.
Filth as the Hallmark of Holiness
The following image presents source material summarizing the overall Christian position on filth and holiness.
The gist is that filth in Christianity was considered a hallmark of holiness and chastity, at a time when cleanliness, bathing, and purification were deemed pagan, sinful, hostile to God, and a rejection of His salvation — which cleansed souls from sin, rendering any further purification unnecessary.
Medieval Christian Europe — Bathing Once or Twice a Year
The following image presents source material on bathing practices in Christian-ruled medieval Europe.
When Christianity ruled Europe, people did not clean themselves or bathe except once or twice a year, nor did they wash their clothes until they became tattered rags. Christianity viewed the naked body as a germ of evil, temptation, and vice. Bathing came to carry the stigma of sin, while chastity and holiness were measured by the degree of filthiness.
Anba Arsenius — Water Changed Once a Year
The following image presents the relevant passage from the biography of Anba Arsenius on his practice with water.
It is mentioned in the biography of Anba Arsenius that he would not change the water except once a year, keeping it until it became foul and developed a bad odor.
Anba Bamo — Never Laughed in His Entire Life
The following image presents the relevant passage from the biography of Anba Bamo.
Among the glories of Anba Bamo recorded in his biography: that he never laughed throughout his entire life.
Augustine’s Order to Nuns Regarding Water
The following image presents the relevant passage on Augustine’s instruction to nuns restricting their use of water.
The Church saint Augustine ordered the nuns not to use water except once a month, and none of them was allowed to use water except in cases of extreme necessity.
Medieval Christians and the Nun Who Went Sixty Years Without Bathing
The following image presents source material on medieval Christian monks and nuns taking pride in their filth.
Medieval Christians forbade cleanliness and considered it a practice of pagans. Monks and nuns took pride in their filth to the extent that a nun recorded in some of her memoirs with arrogance and pride: that until the age of sixty, water had not touched anything of her except her fingertips. Cleanliness was one of the hallmarks of sanctity.
A Large Number of Holy Men Considered Filth a Sign of Holiness
The following image presents source material on Church role models treating filth as a spiritual virtue.
A large number of holy men — who were role models for society and the Church — considered filth a sign of holiness.
Friedrich Nietzsche on the Church and Cleanliness
The following image presents the relevant passage from Friedrich Nietzsche on the Church’s opposition to cleanliness and the closure of the bathhouses of Cordoba.
“The Church resists even cleanliness, the first standard of Christianity. After the expulsion of the Muslims, the closure of public baths followed, of which Cordoba alone had 220. Christianity is an enmity unto death; it abandons the body and desires only the soul.”
Queen Isabella of Spain — Bathed Twice in Her Life
The following image presents source material on Isabella of Spain boasting of having bathed only twice in her life.
Isabella, the Christian Queen of Spain, boasted that she had only bathed twice in her life — once on the day of her birth and once on her wedding day.
Saint Anthony — Never Bathed Throughout His Monastic Life
The following image presents source material on Saint Anthony’s biography and his complete abstention from bathing.
Saint Anthony, one of the greatest saints among the Orthodox Fathers, is mentioned in his biography as never having bathed throughout his entire monastic life.
The Encyclopedia of the Fathers and Apostles — Didascalia
The following image presents the relevant passage from the Didascalia on bathing after marital relations.
“If a man lies with his wife, they should not be eager to bathe, but let them pray without bathing, for they are pure.”
Saint Jerome on Purification in Christ
The following image presents the relevant passage from Saint Jerome on why Christians need no further purification.
The Christians suffered greatly from diseases and plagues, as public hygiene was not part of their doctrine. As Saint Jerome says: “He who is purified in Christ needs no further purification.”
The Contrast with Islam
The following image presents source material contrasting Christian saints’ pride in avoiding water with the Islamic requirement of ablution.
Christian saints took pride in avoiding the use of water, while Muslims were required to perform wudu — ablution — and purify themselves before entering the mosque or performing prayer.
Peter the Hermit — Smelling Worse Than His Donkey
The following image presents source material on Peter the Hermit and his celebrated filth as a mark of sainthood.
One of the most important figures in Christian history is the French saint Peter the Hermit. Among the traits of saints was that they did not bathe, even on joyous occasions — because “caring for the body is enmity against God,” as stated in the Gospel. One of his contemporaries describes him as having a smell worse than that of the donkey he rode. This was counted among the price of sainthood in Christianity.
The Garden of the Monks — Commanding Bodily Torture
The following image presents the relevant passage from the Garden of the Monks commanding starvation, thirst, and bodily neglect.
Christianity demanded the torture and cursing of the body and isolation from life in order to achieve salvation. It was said in the Garden of the Monks: “Starve, thirst, stay awake, lament, weep, sigh, and grieve in your hearts. Are you worthy of God? Neglect the body so that your souls may live.”
Post-Reconquista Spain — Muslims Legally Prohibited from Bathing
The following image presents source material on the law issued after the Christian occupation of Muslim Spain prohibiting Muslims from bathing.
After the Christians occupied Muslim Spain, they prohibited Muslims from bathing and maintaining hygiene, issuing a law that stated: “They are absolutely not allowed — nor their women, nor any other individual — to wash or bathe in their homes or any other place, and all their bathhouses must be destroyed and demolished.”
Saint Simeon the Stylite — Returning Worms to His Wounds
The following image presents source material on Saint Simeon the Stylite and his practice of bodily mortification.
Saint Simeon the Stylite bound himself with a rope that cut into his body, causing it to fester and stink, and worms multiplied in it. He would pick up the worms that fell from his wounds and return them to the wounds, saying: “Eat from what God has given you.”
Thomas Arnold on Filth as the Characteristic of Monastic Purity
The following image presents the relevant passage from Thomas Arnold on filth and monasticism.
“Filth is a characteristic of the purity of monasticism, and people were in fact polytheists, worshiping a group of martyrs, saints, and angels.”
Will Durant on the Church’s Condemnation of Bathhouses
The following image presents the relevant passage from Will Durant on Christianity condemning bathhouses and the introduction of steam baths to Europe via the Crusades.
“Christianity condemned bathhouses, claiming they were dens of corruption and debauchery, and its general disdain for the body led it to neglect the principles of hygiene. One of the outcomes of the Crusades was the introduction of public steam baths from Islamic lands to Europe, and the Church opposed the existence of bathhouses on the grounds of moral corruption.”
The Insects in Monks’ Robes
The following image presents the account from the monk Caesarius of Heisterbach on insects harbored in monks’ clothing.
The monk Caesarius of Heisterbach recounts that a knight among the knights withdrew from the monastery due to his fear of the insects in the monks’ robes, as the monks’ clothing harbored many insects.
The Christian patristic and medieval tradition documented here presents a consistent pattern: bathing was condemned as pagan and sinful, filth was celebrated as a mark of holiness, and Church authorities from Athanasius and Augustine to Jerome instructed monks, nuns, and the laity to avoid water. Saints’ biographies recorded never bathing as a virtue. Queens boasted of bathing twice in a lifetime. Laws in post-Reconquista Spain legally prohibited the Muslim population from maintaining the hygiene they had practiced under Islamic civilization. Western historians — Will Durant, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Thomas Arnold — all independently document this Christian hostility to cleanliness. This stands in direct contrast to the Islamic framework in which purification is a prerequisite for prayer, ablution is an act of worship, and cleanliness is described by the Prophet as half of faith.
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