Holiness as separation; Love as inclusion

[lovemuffin]

I'm framing this in a Christian way, since I experience it mostly as a Christian issue, but other perspectives are welcome.

The idea of "holiness" as separation from sinful people or from sin in some way owes mainly to Leviticus: "You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine." (20:26). Whatever "separation" is taken to mean, it seems that in Judeo-Christian thought, "holiness" requires that what is holy remain "pure" and "untainted" by contact with the profane.

On the other hand, Jesus was criticized for eating with "tax collectors and sinners", answered the question "who is my neighbor?" by implying the need to break down social barriers, or who said to love our enemies. Or Peter's vision about clean and unclean things, prior to the visiting the house of Cornelius, the gentile whose family received the Holy Spirit, something unexpected by the Jewish Christians. Psychologically, love always wants to reach out towards the other in forgiveness, to "make it rain upon the just as well as the unjust".

There's plenty that's been written on this topic and plenty of exegesis done to harmonize the two impulses, and it's such a broad topic I gave up trying to engage in such an exegesis myself, but the topic interests me in terms of Christian psychology and way of life.

Do you feel a tension between these two ideas about religious life? Do you prioritize one over the other? How do you attempt to harmonize them?

 

[Tumah]

First of all, I would advise against the phrase "Judeo-Christian" as its generally not an accurate phrase.

I think holiness is not just about separation, but about divesting the low in order to come closer to the high.

 

[lovemuffin]

Fair enough. All I intend to say with the phrase is the variety of traditions which value the Tanakh as sacred scripture, understanding of course the very real differences between them.

 

[Sultan Of Swing]

I'm framing this in a Christian way, since I experience it mostly as a Christian issue, but other perspectives are welcome.

The idea of "holiness" as separation from sinful people or from sin in some way owes mainly to Leviticus: "You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine." (20:26). Whatever "separation" is taken to mean, it seems that in Judeo-Christian thought, "holiness" requires that what is holy remain "pure" and "untainted" by contact with the profane.

On the other hand, Jesus was criticized for eating with "tax collectors and sinners", answered the question "who is my neighbor?" by implying the need to break down social barriers, or who said to love our enemies. Or Peter's vision about clean and unclean things, prior to the visiting the house of Cornelius, the gentile whose family received the Holy Spirit, something unexpected by the Jewish Christians. Psychologically, love always wants to reach out towards the other in forgiveness, to "make it rain upon the just as well as the unjust".

There's plenty that's been written on this topic and plenty of exegesis done to harmonize the two impulses, and it's such a broad topic I gave up trying to engage in such an exegesis myself, but the topic interests me in terms of Christian psychology and way of life.

Do you feel a tension between these two ideas about religious life? Do you prioritize one over the other? How do you attempt to harmonize them?

Holiness and love come together most gloriously at the foot of the cross, where the temple veil was torn, God could call His enemies His own children by nailing their debt to the cross and dying for the world.

 

[Abu-Faris]

In the Islamic understanding of the teachings of the Prophets we are a taught that separating from sinful people depends on the situation, the time and place.

For example, if a particular community has strong moral values then it may be more beneficial to separate from and even boycott sinners. This is so that the sinners may themselves realise the severity of their actions and repent from their actions. However if society at large has strayed from guidance then it may be more beneficial to reach out to individuals who might be sinning because they're just following the norm of society.