The Symbolism of Holiness

The Symbolism of Holiness explores how Judeo-Christian holiness emerges in both being and doing in the lives of human persons in a postmodern world. Both the Old and New Testament testify that God requires holiness, yet the topic remains elusive in both understanding and actuality. Paul Ricoeur's hermeneutics provide a solution to this dilemma. Ricoeur believed that experiences of evil and the sacred cannot be communicated directly, but only through symbols and myth. In the same way that Ricoeur interpreted the human experience of evil in relation to the Fall story in Genesis, this book interprets holiness through the symbolism communicated in the Genesis Creation narrative. The symbols of holiness in that story provide a way to understand how to be holy and live a holy life when interpreted through Ricoeur's hermeneutics. What results is holiness as holy being, holy doing, and holy being-in-the-world in front of the biblical texts. Holiness emerges "like God," a holy identity, ethic, and lifestyle in human beings that reflects the trifold holiness of the Triune God.