There are two main groups of words translated 'holy' in the NT: (1) the iiyios group (ayid^u, ayiacr/x6t, ayi&rris, ayioiffiivr}) ; (2) the ocrtos group (b(n6T-q's, oaiwi [1 Th 2"^]). iepds is also twice em- l.loyed (e.g. 2 Ti 3'^ 1 Co 9'3), but it need not be specially distinguished.
In the NT the terms 'holiness' and 'holy 'are applied (1) to God; (2) to Jesus; (3) to the Spirit of God ; (4) to things and places ; (5) to men.
( 1 ) 'The holiness of God. — That ' holiness ' and 'holy' are comparatively infrequent in this con- nexion in the NT need occasion no surprise. The Apostolic Church in the name ' Father ' found a term that included and transcended the holiness of God. Jesus' own description of God is the ' ])erfect' One (Mt 5^«), the 'good' One (Mt 19'^ Mk 10").
HOLINESS, PURITY
HOLINESS, PURITY
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As we shall see later, however, the judgment of Kitschl (Rechtfertigung unci Versohnung, Bonn, 1870-74, ii. 89, 101 ; Eng. tr. of vol. iii., Edinburgh, 1900, p. 274) that the Divine holiness, ' in its Old Testament sense, is for various reasons not valid in Christianity, while its use in the New Testament is obscure,' cannot be upheld. Kather there are Avhole tracts of the NT literature that would re- main a sealed book were it not for the guidance of this OT conception. Hyios is applied to God, or to the 'name' of God (Lk 1^", Rev 4S). In both these usages the significance is the same, and re- calls the original meaning. The conception of the majesty of God is most prominent. In Rev 4" it is the fya who ofler the ascription of praise in the form of the Trisagion. If they are taken as repre- senting Nature, and tlie forces of the natural world, a-yios here no doubt emphasizes the sense of 'absolute life and majestic power' (J. Moffatt, EOT V. [1910] 381). There is a reminiscence of Is 6', but with a remarkable absence of the over- whelming impression of moral purity in the prophet's vision. The ethical content of the OT conception is apparent, however, in Rev 6'". There the thought has affinity with Is 5^^, where God is said to 'sanctify' Himself, by inflicting i-ighteous punishment on the sinners of Israel. The blood of the martyrs cries for the Divine vengeance, and tlie holiness of God must always express itself in the form of intense antagonism to the sutt'ering of the innocent and the sin of the oppressor. Probably another side of the same idea is present in Jn 17'\ where the Saviour appeals to the holiness of the Father that, in view of the trials and persecutions likely to come upon them, the disciples who are 'in the world' may be protected and vindicated (cf. vv. "• ^). The Father, as holy, transcends and is separate from the world, but condescends to tiie needs of the disciples — in other words, ' saves ' them (H. J. Holtzmann). The usage in 1 P P"- is interesting ; Hyios ought to be translated as predi- cate. The exhortation is based on Lv U*^'-, and has no direct connexion with the more profound thought of Mt 5'*'*. The 'holiness' inculcated in tlie Leviticus passage involves the disuse as food of certain 'creeping things' regarded as repugnant and an 'abomination' to God. As often, holiness and physical purity tend to coalesce. God has called Israel out of Egypt to be a ' separate ' nation, and He is ' holy ' or ' apart from ' the impure usages of heathen nations (cf. Skinner, HDB ii. 397'' ; E. Kautzsch, ib. v. 682). The idea in Leviticus does not go beyond ceremonial purity (see Tinder II.). Similarly in 1 P 1'^'-, wiiile the idea of God has of course become moralized, and He is spoken of as ' Father,' the exhortation is essentially to abandon the ' former lusts,' on the ground that they too are repugnant to the nature of God and unfit men for tlie service of the ' living God.' The stress is still on the outward behaviour. As regards the expression ayiaaOriTdj rb ovo/xd aov in the Lord's Prayer (Mt 6^ Lk 11-), 'name' is of course used in the ordinary biblical sense, and is equivalent to the revealed nature of God, especially as revealed in Jesus — His Fatherhood. There is an implied contrast with a pagan type of prayer (v.'''*), which consists in formal and ceremonial repetitions of the same words. Jesus here applies the same revolu- tionary principle to prayer, in so far as it implies a conception of the character of God, as when He abrogates the ceremonial in conduct as a term of fellowship with God (Mt 15", JNlk 7'*). God is • the Holy One of Israel,' and His name is hallowed or sanctified, or ' counted as lioly,' when men revere His majesty (Is 29'^), by recognizing, in willing and trustful submission, His Providence (]Mt 6*^). The whole context in Mt 6'"*^ is useful as determin- ing the sense in which holiness is here ascribed to
God by Jesus. The ' hallowing ' of the name is opposed to ostentatious worship, which profanes it. The ethical content given to the word (v.^) by our Lord is profound and far-reaching. The God, and Father, of Jesus is indeed ' exalted above ' men in the perfection of His 'goodness' (Mk 10^^ Mt 19") ; but He is also infinitely accessible to all those wlio seek Him. Universalism is therefore latent in this opening petition.