Mortification of the flesh

[6][7] Although the term mortification of the flesh, which is derived from the King James version of Romans 8:13[8] and Colossians 3:5,[9] is primarily used in a Christian context,[10] other cultures may have analogous concepts of self-denial; secular practices exist as well.

[13] Support for such behavior in the Old Testament is found in some verses such as Proverbs 20:30: "Blows that wound cleanse away evil; strokes make clean the innermost parts.

[2] Through the centuries, some Christians have practiced voluntary penances as a way of imitating Jesus who, according to the New Testament, voluntarily accepted the sufferings of his passion and death on the cross at Calvary in order to redeem humankind.

[17][18] St. Jerome, a Western church father and biblical scholar who translated the Bible into Latin (the Vulgate),[19] was famous for his severe penances in the desert [20] and his propagation of Christian asceticism including from his base in Palestine.

[citation needed] Another way of mortification that developed quickly in the early centuries was celibacy, which the Catholic tradition interprets as renouncing the joy of human marriage for a superior chastity and higher supernatural ends (cf.

[29] The Augsburg Confession of the Lutheran Church supports the practice of mortification of the flesh, stating: For they [our teachers] have always taught concerning the cross that it behooves Christians to bear afflictions.

[30]In the Lutheran tradition, mortification of the flesh is not done in order to earn merit, but instead to "keep the body in a condition such that it does not hinder one from doing what one has been commanded to do, according to one's calling (Latin: juxta vocationem suam).

[36] Methodist circuit riders were known for practicing the spiritual discipline of mortifying the flesh as they "arose well before dawn for solitary prayer; they remained on their knees without food or drink or physical comforts sometimes for hours on end".

[38] The Methodist evangelist John Wesley Childs was known for "limiting what he would eat" and choosing "to walk beside his horse rather than to ride in order to demonstrate his willingness to suffer for his calling and to try[ing] to heighten his religious experience through subjecting himself to trials.

"[39] The Wesleyan Methodist Magazine in 1813 published a statement written by Matthew Henry for Christian believers:[40] By using yourselves to consideration, you will come to be aware of the snares that your spiritual enemies lay for you, of the snake under the green grass, and will not be imposed upon so easily as many are by the wiles of Satan; and by habituating yourselves to self-denial and mortification of the flesh, and a holy contempt of this world, you will wrest the most dangerous weapons of the hand of the strong man armed, and will take from him that part of his armour most trusted, for it is by the world and the flesh that he mostly fights against us: nay, and this sober-mindedness will put you the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand in the evil day; and so to resist the devil, that he may flee from you.

[40]The Antiochian Western Rite Vicariate states that "mortification of the flesh, or the putting to death of the passions which hinder attainment of the kingdom of heaven, is practiced with three disciplines of self-denial".

[41] These spiritual disciplines include "unostentatious fasting or self-denial; increased prayer, by attending to worship and various devotions; and the sacrificial giving of alms (charitable donations).

[22] Congregationalist writer and leader within the evangelical Christian movement, Sarah Osborn, practiced self-flagellation in order "to remind her of her continued sin, depravity, and vileness in the eyes of God".

In chapter 9, "Paul compares the evangelistic lifestyle of believers to athletes who sacrifice normal pursuits for the sake of strict training and a competitive edge".

In Africa and Australia, indigenous people sometimes use genital mutilation on boys and girls that is intentionally painful, including circumcision, subincision, clitoridectomy, piercing, or infibulation.

Human rights organizations in several areas of the world have protested some of these methods, which can be forced upon the participants, although some are voluntary and are a source of pride and status.