A Theology of Clean

Since people pick up dust, dirt and pollution every day, a soluble solution is needed to wash away all this gunk. So the soap industry is one business that is always going to have customers. But what does it take to wash away the stains of sin? 

Soap.

It’s part of our everyday experience, and it’s been around in various forms for centuries. In fact, the earliest evidence of soap production dates to around 2800 B.C. when it was mentioned on Mesopotamian clay tablets. And a formula for soap consisting of water, alkali and cassia oil was written on a Babylonian clay tablet around 2200 B.C. Soap is even mentioned three times in the Old Testament (Job 9:30; Jeremiah 2:22; Malachi 3:2).

Soap, then, has been important to human existence for a long time, and for good reason. William Osler, one of the founding professors of Johns Hopkins Hospital who is sometimes called the “Father of Modern Medicine,” said, “Soap and water and common sense are the best disinfectants.”

But these days, we might ask, “Which soap?”

That’s because when it comes to the soap we use to wash our hands or bodies, we’re faced with many choices. And we’re not talking just about whether to use...