My primary purpose in this blog is to provide direct evidence for meaning of holy. But also, to deal with emotional hang ups that some people have, there are a number of my entries in this blog that indicate the history of the interpretation of the word that is translated as "holy". That is the driving force behind this entry. It is to deal with people's fear.
The history of the interpretation of holy does not prove the meaning of the word, but it does help us overcome fear. There is danger in assuming that the present prevalent view on the meaning of holy as "set apart" has been the only meaning of holy that interpreters have assigned to the word. With that assumption, the problem becomes that people are fearful of any another option. So I hope this entry might help some people to alleviate any fear of other options for the meaning of holy.
But also in some very recent entries, I describe how to handle practically the element of uncertainty for the meaning of holy that might also lead to fear. In this one, I want to quote dirrectly from an important author from the 1800s, who elsewhere I mention as among those, who see holy as moral wholeness or the sum of all God's atributes (character traits). In Baptist circles in the 1800s, he was a significant theologian in the United States.
Quoting directly, J. L. Dagg, he says:
GOD IS IMMACULATELY HOLY.
Goodness, truth and justice, are moral attributes of God. Holiness is not an attribute distinct from these; but a name which includes them all, in view of the opposition to contrary qualities. It implies the perfection of the assemblage; - the absence of every thing that is conrary to the properties included.
Men are unholy. Even the purest of men have their spots. It is useful to contrast the character of God, in this respect, with that of men. It increases our admiration and love, adds fervor to our devotion, incites to worship him in the beauty of holiness, and to imitate him in our character and lives. "Be ye holy, for I am holy."
His footnote of verses dealing with the topic of holy are: Ex. 15:11; Lev. 11:44; 1 Sam. 2:2; Job 4:18; Ps. 5:4,5; 22:3; Isa. 6:3; Hab. 1:13; 1 John 1:5; Rev. 4:8.
This quote comes from the following book:
Dagg, J. L. Manual of theology: A Treatise on Christian Doctrine and A Treatise on Church Order. (New York: Arno Press, 1980), p. 86. [It was originally published in 1857]
The most important words to pay attention to from the quote are these about the meaning of "holy": "a name which includes them all" with the "all" referring to "goodness, truth and justice". (He also could have included love.) The idea that holy inclues them all is an allusion to the idea that holy is the sum of all God''s attributes. For an American and as a Baptist, he may have been familar with the works of Jonathan Edwards, who held this view, and he also may have been familiar with very popular Baptist and contemporary in England, Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892).
The difficulty is that neither of these two people were strictly speaking biblical scholars. One was more of a theologian, the other more of a pastor. What is more interesting is what scholars they were using to get this meaning and what was the argument supporting the meaning? Those questions are a lot harder to answer.
I am in the early stages of trying to uncover that history, but more importantly the basis for the meaning of holy that they proposed. I am particularly interested in the work of Johann Reuchlin at this juncture, because of his influence on Christians in the area of studying Hebrew at the time of the Reformation.
So J.L. Dagg's view is another example that might alleviate a few people's fears about considering another option beyond the one that they are popularly taught. But beyond all this is the desire to then consider the evidence from the biblical text directly. So hopefullly some of you can go from fear to confidence to evidence to boldness regarding the actual meaning of holy in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.
In Christ,
Pastor Jon
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2 comments:
Dear Pastor Jon,
I would like to suggest that J.L. Dagg perhaps was wrong about people and holiness. As followers of Jesus, we are holy. Colossians 3:12, for example, says that we are "God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved" (NIV).
But I would like to encourage you in your study, because understanding precisely what is meant by the word "holy" would be very important for understanding better how we ought to live our lives.
Keep up the good work!
Hi Tim,
I could not agree more with the overall point of your message. I think we do sometimes overstate the fact that God is the Holy One and then hesitate to call ourselves holy ones in Christ. I also think we do need to understand precisely what the word "holy" means, because it is so important in the Bible itself and as a result for our lives. In Christ, Pastor Jon
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