Disagreement with our religion teacher. Please help us!

[Ogbebu Increase]

We are having a heated discussion about whether a professor can be seen as holy or not compared to priests. Our teacher blindly denies this opinion because she says that humans cannot be holy because it diminishes the faith in God. What is your opinion on this topic?

We appreciate any opinions on this thread.

 

[Enoch07]

We are having a heated discussion about whether a professor can be seen as holy or not compared to priests. Our teacher blindly denies this opinion because she says that humans cannot be holy because it diminishes the faith in God. What is your opinion on this topic?

We appreciate any opinions on this thread.

No man is holy.

Unless he/she is made of swiss cheese. >drum roll <

Isaiah 64:6 kjv
6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

I am in agreement with your professor. A man claiming to be holy or closer to God than any other, with the exception of Jesus, is false. This is polluting the alter. It is mans tradition not Gods. This is mans lust for power over other men.

 

[SalixIncendium]

We are having a heated discussion about whether a professor can be seen as holy or not compared to priests. Our teacher blindly denies this opinion because she says that humans cannot be holy because it diminishes the faith in God. What is your opinion on this topic?

We appreciate any opinions on this thread.

Are you looking for personal opinion or an opinion within a specific religion's context? If the latter, which?

You are speaking to people here who have a broad range of beliefs.

 

[shunyadragon]

We are having a heated discussion about whether a professor can be seen as holy or not compared to priests. Our teacher blindly denies this opinion because she says that humans cannot be holy because it diminishes the faith in God. What is your opinion on this topic?

We appreciate any opinions on this thread.

I probably agree with the professor, but it depends on how you define 'holy.' Need more information, and I do not believe you can judge that he does so blindly.

I doubt that priest 'can' claim to be 'holy.' It is like claiming to be enlightened. If you make the claim it is likely not true.

 

[Ogbebu Increase]

Are you looking for personal opinion or an opinion within a specific religion's context? If the latter, which?

You are speaking to people here who have a broad range of beliefs.

Are you looking for personal opinion or an opinion within a specific religion's context? If the latter, which?

You are speaking to people here who have a broad range of beliefs.

We are looking for personal opinions.

 

[DavidFirth]

We are looking for personal opinions.

If your teacher is speaking from a Biblical point of view then Enoch07's post above is correct. The answer is that no human being is holy, nor can they be according to St. Paul.

 

[SalixIncendium]

We are looking for personal opinions.

The dictionary defines 'holy' as "dedicated or consecrated to God or a religious purpose; sacred."

Using that definition, any person can dedicate themselves to God and view themselves as holy. In some more liberal less dogmatic religions, others may consider that person holy as well.

Regarding consecration: Rites of passage are typically considered forms of consecration. For example, in a Catholic context, the Seven Sacraments, starting with Baptism, would be considered consecration to God. However, in Catholicism, those that have undergone the Sacrament of Holy Orders would likely be considered "more holy" by followers of the faith. Likewise, in Wiccan context, an initiation is considered consecrating oneself to the Goddess and God. An initiate is considered a priest or priestess. Anyone who follows the path that is not initiated would not be considered as holy, nor would one be considered a priest or priestess without having been initiated.

So in my opinion, highly dogmatic religions would require one to go through specific rites of passage to be considered holy. The less dogmatic religions would consider one to by holy by merely dedicating oneself to God.

Hope this helps, and welcome to the forum. Hope to see you stick around.



ETA: There are also those that will consider committal of sin to as a disqualification from holiness, thereby rendering none holy other besides God Himself.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

We are having a heated discussion about whether a professor can be seen as holy or not compared to priests. Our teacher blindly denies this opinion because she says that humans cannot be holy because it diminishes the faith in God. What is your opinion on this topic?

We appreciate any opinions on this thread.

What religion and denomination are you approaching the question from?

Personally, as an atheist, I have no problem with faith in God being diminished, so my response to your teacher's reply would be "if it does diminish faith in God, so what?" I imagine that this response probably doesn't work in your perspective.

 

[columbus]

We are having a heated discussion about whether a professor can be seen as holy or not compared to priests. Our teacher blindly denies this opinion because she says that humans cannot be holy because it diminishes the faith in God. What is your opinion on this topic?

We appreciate any opinions on this thread.

This looks like a common problem for these kinds of discussions. Y'all are using subtly different meanings for the word. Yours is broader and more inclusive, teacher's is more narrowly defined. That doesn't make either one the only correct meaning.
Maybe a more fruitful discussion would be "What different meanings do people have for the word 'holy'?" and "In what context is one or another more useful? " and "Is holy an absolute thing or a relative thing?".
That's my first thought.
Tom

 

[Grandliseur]

We are having a heated discussion about whether a professor can be seen as holy or not compared to priests. Our teacher blindly denies this opinion because she says that humans cannot be holy because it diminishes the faith in God. What is your opinion on this topic?

We appreciate any opinions on this thread.

Sorry to say this, but your teacher doesn't know his or her scripture.
In some Bible translations, the phrase holy ones is used; in others, the word saint is used. Both indicate the same thing, that these ones are holy in a sense.

In the following search of the KJV, the word searched for is saint. This search also gives the plural of the word. As the list shows, it is very long.
The question that needs answering then is how can a sinful man or woman be a saint, or a holy one. That of course is the conundrum.
Priests in the Christian system do not exist yet within the churches. Christ is our high priest (Heb 3:1). Other priests beside him have not been appointed yet, but will be by Christ and God.

There are Elders, apostles, ministerial servants and if you like to use the Greek for the terms you can see that in some churches a few of these are used. In other churches, Latin words are used. Please check yourself where these words come from.

Due to the length of the list, I couldn't post it. I have therefore made a link for you with the list:
Link: >saints list<

The translation used is the KJV.

 

[PureX]

We are having a heated discussion about whether a professor can be seen as holy or not compared to priests. Our teacher blindly denies this opinion because she says that humans cannot be holy because it diminishes the faith in God. What is your opinion on this topic?

We appreciate any opinions on this thread.

What does "being holy" even mean? I have no idea.

We are 'divine beings' in that we are reflections of, as we are the creations of, The Divine Being. And this would remain so as long as we believe in the reality of a Divine Being as the creator and sustainer of all that is.

Your teacher is wrong in that regard.

 

[sun rise]

"Holy" to me means near to God. Anyone can be near to God - it's not a matter of priest or guru. The common laborer can be more holy than any minister or priest.
...

 

[Akivah]

We are having a heated discussion about whether a professor can be seen as holy or not compared to priests. Our teacher denies this opinion because she says that humans cannot be holy because it diminishes the faith in God. What is your opinion on this topic?

We appreciate any opinions on this thread.

G-d describes several people as righteous in the Tanakh. So we know that people can be holy and it doesn't detract from G-d. For example, holy people aren't worshiped. A righteous person can still make mistakes. Being holy doesn't stop a person from being human.

The status of being righteous isn't dependent on profession. Meaning that a priest is not automatically more righteous than a professor or anyone else. The state of righteousness depends on a person's choices.

 

[Akivah]

This looks like a common problem for these kinds of discussions. Y'all are using subtly different meanings for the word. Yours is broader and more inclusive, teacher's is more narrowly defined. That doesn't make either one the only correct meaning.

Good analysis

Maybe a more fruitful discussion would be "What different meanings do people have for the word 'holy'?" and "In what context is one or another more useful? " and "Is holy an absolute thing or a relative thing?".

The Tanakh teaches us that the state of righteousness is a relative thing. There are no specific standards listed in the Tanakh as being deserving of that label. There were some people labeled as righteous despite making some horrible mistakes. For example, Noah was described as righteous, despite committing incest. In our writings, Noah is described as being the most righteous man in his generation. So we know that Noah wasn't all that good of a guy, but for his generation he was the best.

 

[sayak83]

We are having a heated discussion about whether a professor can be seen as holy or not compared to priests. Our teacher blindly denies this opinion because she says that humans cannot be holy because it diminishes the faith in God. What is your opinion on this topic?

We appreciate any opinions on this thread.

Nah, only cows are holy.

 

[LuisDantas]

Hi, @Ogbebu Increase ! Welcome to RF.

In the future you may want to create your threads in more specific areas. This one is meant for introductions from people who have just arrived.

As for your questions in the OP, I must agree with most people here: it is dangerous to assume that the meanings of holiness and God are consistent among various people, so the answers are basically dependent on who gives them.

 

[metis]

The dictionary defines 'holy' as "dedicated or consecrated to God or a religious purpose; sacred."

Using that definition, any person can dedicate themselves to God and view themselves as holy. In some more liberal less dogmatic religions, others may consider that person holy as well.

Bingo! It does not mean or even imply that it deals with being without sin. One can usually substitute the word "special" for it. .