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Article: God's holiness.(God as holy versus God as love)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- The Christian Century
- Article date:
- October 20, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 The Christian Century Foundation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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THE RABBI PUT the question to my friend directly: Do Christians believe that God is holy?" My friend was initially taken aback; she thought of the popularity of the hymn "Holy, Holy, Holy," and of her love of passages in Exodus, Isaiah and Revelation that emphasize the holiness of God. She recalled the passage in the Lord's Prayer where we indicate that God's name is hallowed. "What is the rabbi really asking?" she wondered to herself.
The rabbi continued, "When I ask Jews to identify one word that comes to mind when they think of God, they typically answer `holy.' But when I ask Christians, the consistent answer is `love.' So I began to wonder, what do ...