On the Holiness of God

 Another word which is often misunderstood and even abused by theologians is the word "holiness," in Greek, "hagiosune," and it's cognate "holy," in Greek, "hagios;" and in particular when this word is applied to God.

     The root word itself, like it's Hebrew equivalent, "qadosh," means "set apart for sacred use." The lexical definition for the Greek first lists the word as meaning, "devoted to the gods," and thus "sacred, holy," in a positive sense, and "accursed, execrable" in a negative sense. This is what the word means when applied to objects, animals, and people.

     But then, if this is the meaning of the word, how does it apply when God says, "be holy, because I am holy"?

     A common refrain among theologians and pastors is that the holiness of God means that God either can't be in the presence of "sin," or must destroy it where He finds it. It means that God is intolerant of anything which doesn't meet His standards. They use it as the reason why God needs blood in order to forgive wrongdoing and "sin." Except God Himself never says this in the Scriptures, no matter how they are twisted.

     God is holy, but what does that mean? It means that God is different, set apart from us in who He is. But why is He set apart? If He were the vengeful, "holy" tribal deity that many make Him out to be, how would He really be any different or set apart than any other conqueror or warlord throughout history? Or how would He be set apart from the tribal gods which our ancestors worshipped once upon a time like Zeus, Thor, Ba'al, or any other of the "hero" gods of the pagan pantheons? By attributing to Him this kind of "holiness" which many do, we don't set Him apart, we create an idol and slap His name on it, something which He expressly forbade.

     So, God is not like these other, very human false gods. So how is He set apart from them, and from us?

     First, God is not subject to the same malfunction we are. Fear isn't a thing for Him. As the Scripture says, "God is love." Fear and love cannot coexist. If God is love, then He cannot be triggered by fear, and because God the Father is not human or anything like human, He has no survival responses to be triggered. He loves. He seeks the right balance for His creation. Holding grudges or holding one's wrongs against another is a foreign concept to who He is. Where human justice is about retribution, His justice is about restoration and reconciliation, recovering the malfunctioning and erring person and restoring them to a right state of being. Nothing threatens Him, because nothing can threaten Him and this is alien and set apart from the human experience.

     Second, God as He is, is not confined to limitations. He is set apart just by virtue of what He is. He exists at every point of space and time, and outside of them stretching into infinity. Space and time move through Him, not vice versa. He exists in every dimension which exists, and every universe within the multiverse. He is the foundation of all creation, and all creation is like code written using His own Being as a medium of execution. He is set apart because everything each one of us individually experiences, He experiences with us, right there in that moment. He laughs with us, rejoices with us, mourns with us, cries with us, hears what we hear, sees what we see, and feels what we feel. There isn't a sub-atomic particle out of place and He doesn't know about it, because that particle is merely a vibrating dimensional string written into His "surface" and shaped entirely of His own Being. God is both completely other, and completely and intimately right here with us.

     God is holy, because His character, His Being, is entirely founded on love for others, for His creation. He is set apart and holy, because we don't understand that. Our brains can't process that. When He acts, it is because He is love, not because He is angry, vengeful, or dictatorial. Our problem is that we, being malfunctioning, can't fathom what that means, because our brains can't actually fathom what that love is, looks like, or even means, because in their malfunction, they only really understand attachment, aversion, and the fear and anger which result from them.

     We need to take a hard look at how we are portraying this Being that we so inadequately call "God," and stop blaspheming His holiness by portraying His holiness as though He weren't set apart, but just like us.