# Is the Imposition of Ashes Against Christ's Teachings
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-imposition-of-ashes-against-christs-teachings/346597
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [March 1, 2006, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-imposition-of-ashes-against-christs-teachings/346597 "2006-03-01T11:49:39Z")
**Posts on this page:** 19
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2006, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-imposition-of-ashes-against-christs-teachings/346597/1 "2006-03-01T11:49:39Z")
Like a lot of Christians, later today I’ll be sporting a dot made of ashes on my forehead after attending Ash Wednesday services. It occurred to me recently, however, that this may go against Christ’s teachings, specifically those in [Chapter 6 in the Book of Matthew](http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=47&chapter=6&version=31&context=chapter). In that chapter, Christ says, among other things,
> [@](#):
>
> Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
> …
> And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
> … [snippage includes the Lord’s Prayer]
> When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
This isn’t a huge, troubling theological issue, but rather one I’m curious about and one I’d like to read your opinions on. Attending the service and remembering my sins and atoning for them is important and the reason I will go to church later today. At the same time, I’m aware that the black dot on my forehead could also be taken as saying, “See, I _am_ holy. I’ve been to church and everything!”😉
What do you folks think?
CJ
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### Author:  [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2006, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-imposition-of-ashes-against-christs-teachings/346597/2 "2006-03-01T11:55:00Z")
Hmm, I’ve always interpreted it as don’t going around saying, “Ohhh, I had to get up SO early today to go to church…Oh, I’m SOOOO hungry from fasting…Oh, you’re eating today? Don’t you know today is a fast day?”
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### Author:  [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2006, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-imposition-of-ashes-against-christs-teachings/346597/3 "2006-03-01T12:03:56Z")
Christ himself wore the garb/items etc. that marked him as one of Jewish faith, so maybe there is some leeway? I’m not sure what it would be though.
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### Author:  [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2006, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-imposition-of-ashes-against-christs-teachings/346597/4 "2006-03-01T12:10:11Z")
Not a christian, but it does seem to contradict the biblical passage you cited. But then wouldn’t anything symbolic done outside a church (religious holiday displays, cross necklaces, Jesus fish, proselytizing, etc.) sort of fall into the same category?
Most people don’t seem to take much stock in that particular passage. I always thought it was a Bad Thing to wash it off. I don’t recall knowing any practicing christians who have removed the ash before going to work. You learn something new every day!
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### Author:  [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2006, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-imposition-of-ashes-against-christs-teachings/346597/5 "2006-03-01T12:32:15Z")
I’ve gotten some scornful looks from some people by having ashes on my forehead,
and at times wondered if I were inviting them by going to public places while the ashes were so evident.
I don’t care anymore, however, and I stopped wondering about the appropriateness of it all. Jews have their optional skull caps, some African gals develop those swan-like necks, Indians (from India) wear marks of Caste, and I don’t mock any of them.
What Christian denominations, other than Catholics, observe this rite?
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### Author:  [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2006, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-imposition-of-ashes-against-christs-teachings/346597/6 "2006-03-01T12:32:55Z")
I was led to understand that Catholics had the ashes to remind them that they are but dust and to dust they would return,meant to humble them selves; but it seems to me to be a contradiction of going to dust or eternal life; or be in the image of God.
Monavis
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### Author:  [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2006, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-imposition-of-ashes-against-christs-teachings/346597/7 "2006-03-01T13:21:03Z")
> [@](#):
>
> When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.
Well, don’t look somber and you should be in the clear.
Interestingly, the word translated, here, as “disfigure” comes from a word that means “to hide,”\* so it would seem that what Jesus is saying is that one should not mope around or cover one’s head in mourning to demonstrate that one is fasting. For that matter, the discipline of fasting is to be undertaken regardless whether one can get to church and be signed with ashes and I have never made any great association between the two separate actions. I suspect that people who do not engage in the ashes ritual are generally unaware of the fasting, so wearing ashes is hardly a “sign” that one is fasting.
Beyond that, it seems that you are getting hung up on the words in the way that people misread too literally the sentence “Call no man father but your father in heaven.”
- I don’t know whether “disfigure” came from the Vulgate or from an earlier, uncorrected English translation that would have simply passed down through successive translations, but in Spanish it is translated “hidden” and in Dutch “untidy” or “not made up.” Luther translated the passage as “they put on a whiny face” and did not distinguish the words for somber and disfigure.
The JBC notes that there is a pun in the use of “cover (’[symbol]afanizousin[/symbol]) their faces so that they might be seen ([symbol]fanwsin[/symbol])” so I suspect that the translation of “disfigure” is simply a distraction.
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### Author:  [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2006, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-imposition-of-ashes-against-christs-teachings/346597/8 "2006-03-01T13:23:33Z")
> [@monavis](#):
>
> but it seems to me to be a contradiction of going to dust or eternal life; or be in the image of God.
Not for a dualist belief that the perishable body is distinct from the imperishable soul (without getting into the separate issues of the glorified body at the end of time).
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### Author:  [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2006, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-imposition-of-ashes-against-christs-teachings/346597/9 "2006-03-01T13:28:42Z")
I don’t think the intent of the ash is to say “look at me, I’m holy and went to church and got this marker on my forehead.” It’s more like “let’s be reminded that we’re all dust and to dust we will return”. An annual call to reflection about that isn’t in my mind the same thing as the hypocrisy that Jesus spoke of.
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### Author:  [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2006, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-imposition-of-ashes-against-christs-teachings/346597/10 "2006-03-01T13:49:20Z")
I’ve never seen this mark on the forehead and trying to picture what this mark looks like. Furthermore, I suspected that this practice originated long after the early church was corrupted by becoming an official state organ by Constantine.
I was [right](http://www.theholidayspot.com/ash_wednesday/origin.htm)
I think you know exactly how Christ would feel about this practice. Given this conundrum you are now facing it would be interesting to hear how you can justify in your own mind to continue to “disfigure your face to show you are fasting”.
Regardless, I make no judgement as I’m sure to have committed many more sins than you.
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### Author:  [@Tevildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tevildo)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2006, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-imposition-of-ashes-against-christs-teachings/346597/11 "2006-03-01T14:05:24Z")
I personally think the critical word is “hypocrites”. There are plenty of Dominical exortations for us to proclaim our faith - Matthew 5:14-16, for one. The important message from Matthew 6 is that we mustn’t boast about how “holy” and “righteous” we are, that we shouldn’t set ourselves up as being superior to others by showing off proof that we go to church a lot, pray all the time, etc, while knowing that we’re all just as sinful as everyone else - in one word, our religions practices shouldn’t be hypocritical.
Compare Luke 18:10-14. There’s no suggestion that the publican shouldn’t be at the temple - quite the opposite. The point is that the Pharisee was at the temple for the wrong reason, to celebrate his own holiness rather than to humble himself before God.
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### Author:  [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2006, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-imposition-of-ashes-against-christs-teachings/346597/12 "2006-03-01T14:24:03Z")
Considering this tradition comes from a time when there were few, if any, mirrors about it seems unreasonable to consider it a reminder of _your_ mortality and such insomuch as you are unable to see it yourself. More like a sign to others.
If I want to be reminded of something throughout the day I’d put it on the back of my hand or wrist as to see it throughout the day. This would, however, be much less noticeable to passersby.
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### Author:  [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2006, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-imposition-of-ashes-against-christs-teachings/346597/13 "2006-03-01T16:25:15Z")
> [@BarnOwl](#):
>
> What Christian denominations, other than Catholics, observe this rite?
I’ve attended an assortment of (mostly) United Methodist churches, and I’ve sometimes gotten ashes and sometimes not–at least once ostentatiously not gotten ashes. I don’t mean I put up a fuss, I mean the minister in charge made a big deal about how “we don’t do ashes because we aren’t Catholic”. Other times I’ve been in churches where we got ashes “in a manner delibrately imitating the Catholic tradition”.
Only once have I then gone out in public and been questioned. Of course, the fact that the service is usually at 6:30 or 7:30 in the evening, I may have then gone to Choir practice, and then went home reduced the likelihood of being questioned. Once, though, I had to stop for supplies, and was asked by a young cashier who had finally found someone she could question without feeling disrespectful.
Fasting has never been a part of my celebration of Ash Wednesday–nor has it generally been suggested that it should be.
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### Author:  [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2006, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-imposition-of-ashes-against-christs-teachings/346597/14 "2006-03-01T16:33:32Z")
> [@BarnOwl](#):
>
> What Christian denominations, other than Catholics, observe this rite?
Episcopalians do as well.
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### Author:  [@baronsabato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/baronsabato)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2006, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-imposition-of-ashes-against-christs-teachings/346597/15 "2006-03-01T17:28:21Z")
> [@BarnOwl](#):
>
> What Christian denominations, other than Catholics, observe this rite?
My church, a Congregational United Church of Christ, will be holding Ash Wednesday services tonight, and I believe this is pretty common.
Growing up Southern Baptist, I’m pretty sure we never participated in this particular ritual, and I’m pretty excited to see what it’s like.
As far as the OP goes, well, I don’t think the ashes necessarily indicate fasting rather than being a separate ritual entirely, and I do think that Jesus was talking about hypocrisy rather than participating in some kind of ritual activity.
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### Author:  [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2006, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-imposition-of-ashes-against-christs-teachings/346597/16 "2006-03-01T17:50:35Z")
It’s all a question of intention, you could say, and the language of the Gospel is ambiguous enough (at least in translation) to support that. “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them.” In other words, don’t do your acts of righteousness JUST to be seen by others. So you’ll probably be okay with a small smudge on your forehead, as long as you don’t go overboard and wear sackcloth as well.
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### Author:  [@MissMossie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissMossie)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2006, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-imposition-of-ashes-against-christs-teachings/346597/17 "2006-03-01T18:06:07Z")
> [@Sal Ammoniac](#):
>
> It’s all a question of intention, you could say, and the language of the Gospel is ambiguous enough (at least in translation) to support that. “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them.” In other words, don’t do your acts of righteousness JUST to be seen by others. So you’ll probably be okay with a small smudge on your forehead, as long as you don’t go overboard and wear sackcloth as well.
I just got back from Mass where I asked my priest this question with SDMB in mind. **Sal’s** response is pretty much what he said. He spoke of how the pharisee’s back in the day were basically making their religion into a circus act, just there to be a show for others, so in this passage, that is what Jesus was referring to.
-Mosquito
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### Author:  [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2006, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-imposition-of-ashes-against-christs-teachings/346597/18 "2006-03-02T00:48:54Z")
orthodox here, lent starts at sundown on forgivness sunday. during the all night vigil (or vespers) sweet smelling oil (usually rose smelling) is used. brushed on the forehead in a cross shape. no ashes. the use of oil is from the aforementioned mathew chapter.
does wonders for the complexion! most just spread the oil around forehead and face until it soaks in.
yep, lent… healthy eating, aerobics, and a nice glow.
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### Author:  [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2006, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-imposition-of-ashes-against-christs-teachings/346597/19 "2006-03-02T05:36:09Z")
> [@Zabali\_Clawbane](#):
>
> Episcopalians do as well.
My limited experience (one church) with Lutherans says that at least some of them do it as well.