Review article
Christian Holiness as a Revelation of God’s Holiness
Zoran Krstić
orcid.org/0000-0003-3711-8830
; Faculty of Orthodox Theology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
Abstract
Based on 1 Peter that the Christians are a chosen race, a holy nation called to proclaim τας αρετάς – the mighty acts of Him who called us out of darkness, the author discusses certain aspects of holiness or sanctity from the perspective of the tradition of the Orthodox Church. After a brief introduction which reminds that holiness is the final affirmation of the eternal human existence as a unique personality, the paper brings some generalities about holiness as a theocentric concept, but it also asserts a sort of historical development of the concept, as well as adding new content to the concept. During the apostolic and postapostolic period, the concept of holy pertained to each member of the Church, especially each participant in the Eucharistic communion. In the period after the prosecution, the concept was narrowed down from all to some, prominent and outstanding, members of the Church. Moreover, a spatial shifting of sanctity from the parish temple to the monastery and the desert can also be observed, and in particular, what author emphasizes by analyzing the theory of sanctification, the shifting of sanctity from the nave to the altar of the temple, that is to say, from the ‘λαός’ (the people of God) to the clergy. Although the theory of sanctification has never been fully actualized in the Orthodox Church, its consequences can be noticed even today. They are of terminological nature – that, in Slavic Churches, the members of the People of God are called seculars (mirjani), and the laity has been passivized in the life of the church, and especially in the liturgical life. The experience of the Orthodox Church is that ontological difference exists only in the relation baptized – unbaptized, but not within the Body of Christ where all are holy and servants of the Lord their God. By ascertaining this sort of ecclesiastical decadence, the author goes on and debates whether, perhaps, contemporary, postmodern mentality contributes to the reaffirmation of sanctity as a forgotten idea. The results of recent sociological study indicate »the return of the sacred« into the Serbian society. However, the author warns that very often a high degree of self-declared religiosity does not necessarily mean the return to the traditional, Church-based, Christianity. These modern mentalities are examined through two essential characteristics of sanctity: its eschatological character and its communal, ‘koinonian’, character. In the concluding thoughts, the author states that contemporary religious mentalities do not contribute to the reaffirmation of sanctity, and neither do customary beliefs about saints as super-human beings with supernatural powers and impeccable moral purity. Sanctity or holiness in its New Testament sense is revealed as the fulfillment of baptismal covenants through active participation in the Holy Eucharist.
Keywords
sanctity; holiness; eschatology; sanctification; contemporary religiosity; Eucharistic communion
Hrčak ID:
167535
URI
Publication date:
13.10.2016.
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