A Theology of Holiness: Historical, Exegetical, and Philosophical Perspectives

Is holiness a synonym for Godliness, one of God’s attributes, or does it have independent existence? What does it mean to say that both God and man are holy? What is the proper understanding of Be holy, because I the Lord your God am holy ? In Judaism, the word kodesh, the Hebrew word for holy, appears hundreds of times in the Bible (Tanakh) and the Talmud. It appears in ancient Near Eastern contexts, is used throughout the Middle Ages. It has been analyzed by non-Jewish figures like Plato, Immanuel Kant, and Rudolf Otto, as well as Jewish authorities like Rashi, Maimonides (Rambam), Nachmanides (Ramban), Samuel David Luzzatto, Eliezer Berkovits, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, and Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik.

This work traces how the idea of holiness has been applied throughout the ages, and what spiritual messages can be harvested from the centuries about how to interpret this word. A Theology of Holiness utilizes historical, linguistic, literary, anthropological, and philosophical tools in an interdisciplinary analysis. Ultimately, it is a work of theology, and helps the reader achieve a deeper understanding of holiness-arguably the most important religious term of them all.