In this article you will find the answer to the question, “Can you read the Bible when you are on your period?” Of course, you’ll also find the reason why. First, the short version:
Every woman is allowed to read the Bible when she has her period. Through Jesus, there is no longer any reason why women should be denied this.
Table of Contents
Is it okay to read the Bible when you’re on your period?
Let’s start from the beginning: Where does the idea come from that you can’t read the Bible when you’re on your period? It can come from two directions: On the one hand, from the idea of the Old Testament that a person must be pure in order to be able to talk to God. On the other hand, the idea may come from the fact that Islam has similar purity rules and the book (the Quran) is considered holy in itself.
In fact, in Islam and Judaism, most of the time you are not allowed to read the Bible (or Torah or Koran) if you are a woman who is having her period. (In highly simplified terms)
In Christianity this is absolutely not the case. Every Christian woman is allowed to pick up the book at any time and read it (and also read it aloud).
Reasons why a woman was not allowed to read the Bible during her period
In the following I will tell you the reasons why women were not allowed to read the Bible during their period. Below you will find the explanation why this is no longer true today.
Reason #1: She was unclean during this time
To understand why a woman should be allowed to read the Bible, one must first understand why she should not. The subject here is “uncleanness.” In Old Testament times (i.e., the time of the Jews), access to God was difficult: Jews had to go to great lengths to even be allowed to talk to God.
Bad behavior – what the Bible calls sin – separated people and God. Only God’s chosen people were allowed to communicate with God under certain conditions. They did this by regularly offering sacrifices and by keeping the purity commandments.
These purity commandments ensured that a person was allowed to appear before God for a short time (provided he or she offered an appropriate sacrifice). It did not matter to the ordinary Jew whether or not he was unclean for most of the year. The important thing was that he or she was “pure” at the time of contact with God. For this, he or she had to perform fixed rituals found in the 5 books of Moses.
But there was always one condition: around the time of the period, a woman was considered unclean and she was not allowed to touch sacred objects (because they themselves would become unclean).
This idea of the Old Testament is still propagated by some Christians today – which is simply wrong!
Reason #2: The Bible is not a Holy Object
Whether Torah or Bible: The Bible is not a holy object. Unlike Islam, for example, the book itself is insignificant. The word in it is relevant. This Word of God can be passed on in many ways: Whether as a speech, as a lecture, or in Braille: The form does not matter.
Therefore, it does not matter what happens to the book itself. A Bible can be treated as it likes without committing a sin. One is at most unkind to the owner.
In Christianity the Bible is just no holy object! It is a means to an end to transmit the word of God. The word is important, not the medium.
Since the Word is from God, it cannot be made impure. So a woman during her period can touch and read the Bible at will.
However, this technical view pales against the real reason why a woman may read the Bible when she is on her period.
Why is a woman allowed to read the Bible when she has her period?
The only reason any Abrahamic religion forbids women to read on their days is the issue of impurity. Unclean persons are not allowed to come before God. This is also the reason why, for example, in Islam, people must pray on a carpet.
But I digress. As indicated above, it is different in Christianity. What if this purity rule were to be dropped or if this rule were automatically fulfilled for all believers? Then the issue of purity and impurity would be off the table and the main reason why women are not allowed to read the Bible during their periods would be removed.
This is exactly what has happened.
The reason why people need to make themselves pure is because of their debt to God;- the Bible speaks of sin there. What if man did not put this sin on “his account” at all, but someone else paid his debt? Then the regulation of impurity and purity would no longer be necessary.
Impurity, the New Testament and Jesus
Now the New Testament comes into play. The New Testament tells about Jesus Christ, his teachings and his resurrection. He preached that the kingdom of God would come and that he himself would die for the sins of all people.
Or in other words, he is the account on which believers may cast their debt to God. Jesus pays for sin for all who believe in Him. This accomplishes one thing: every believer can come before God in the status of a sinless person.
All barriers between man and God are removed. All. Every believer has been given the Holy Spirit, who accomplishes two things: He makes the believer stand before God without sin and thus declares the believer or the believer to be pure.
Therefore, whoever believes in Jesus does not need the circuitous route of personal purity to God. Jesus has taken care of this problem.
Summary: Can I Read Bible During My Periods?
Women are allowed to read the Bible during their periods, even when they have their periods, for two important reasons.
The first reason is: the Bible itself is not a sacred object. Therefore, its holiness cannot be destroyed by menstruation. The Word, God’s message to man, cannot be broken by something as earthly as a period.
The second reason is: all the regulations of the Old Testament regarding “how to talk to God” were completely fulfilled by Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross. These regulations included the purity commandments (which declared women unclean during their periods). Through the Holy Spirit, we have direct access to God, as Jesus’ sacrifice makes us stand before God as sinless… rendering the purity/impurity route obsolete.
This means: All reasons why one would not be allowed to read the Bible during the days are no longer valid. So you can read the Bible when you have your period.
