The recent statement from a local bishop identifying the stamping of Malay bibles with the authorization mark by the country's home security ministry as as an of desecration to a holy object has got me thinking about the question of holiness and how it is tied to an object, person or place. Due to the emotions this statement has stirred up among believers in this country and the social and political consequences that follow it, I think it is wise to think through the issue in a more biblical way. By biblical, I am trying to find out from the bible how early believers understood the meaning of holiness. This is important because we can easily transfer what we understand about holiness in our current culture to the scriptures as if what we perceive now is what the early Christians understood in the first century as recorded in the New Testament. Our first principle is try to understand what it means to be holy as how it was perceived by the brethren in the first century. This is what it means to be biblical.
A quick survey of the New Testament shows that believers viewed several categories of items with the potential to be considered holy. These included both tangible items such as objects, places, persons, physical bodies, actions and intangible items like thoughts in our hearts or minds. The next question to be asked is why did they consider some of these items to be holy? How did they demarcate items as holy or unholy? What is the criterion used?
The answer is not that the items could be holy on it's own as if they are somehow holy in their very nature and character, and that they function as a holy item on their own without any relationship to a source that made them holy. The reason why these items are deemed holy is because they have been associated with God through His commands, and the obedience of believers in performing these commandments allowed the items acted upon, while the commands are being carried out, to be considered holy (Lev. 11:44-45; 1 Pet. 1:14-16). The moment the commandments are no longer followed or disobeyed, then the items lose their holy status. That is why the temple can be deemed holy as a house of prayer by the Lord, and at the same time, He would condone its desecration by its utter destruction (Mark 13:1-2).
Therefore, objects, places, persons, bodies, actions and thoughts were viewed as holy by the early believers not because of the nature of these items, but they were deemed holy because of the relationship to God, which was established by the action of following His commands, which subsequently gave the temporal status of holiness to the items, in which the commandments were associated with.
Thus, we could also conclude that the status of holiness is a temporal state as long as the commandments are followed and the status would be withdrawn when disobedience arises. The act of disobedience will be considered as an act of defiling the holy status of the items. Actually, in most English translations of the New Testament, the word defile is more frequently use than the word desecrate although their meanings are closely associated. In more literal translations, there is only one or two instances (Dan. 11:31; Acts 24:6), if my memory does not fail me, of the word desecrate being used by non-believers to describe the act of, again, disobeying God command by bringing now-Jews into the Jerusalem temple ground. The holiness of the temple is again associated with a command from God rather than the temple itself containing it's own holy nature. As long as the commandments of God concerning the temple is kept, it is deemed holy. When they are not, even the temple can be defiled by total destruction as prophesied by the Lord (Matt. 21:1-2; Luke 21:5-6).
Now, with this being the biblical understanding of the word 'holy', how should be consider the action of the home ministry? Is it an act of desecration as pronounced by the bishop or otherwise? Using what has been established earlier, we can say that the bible on its own is just a physical print of papers. But it is holy because it is related to God as the commandments of God are found in it (Rom. 7:12). Nevertheless, the commandments found in the bible are not for the bible itself, it is for us as believers to follow. Thus, obeying the commandments of God in the bible would deem us holy in the sight of God, a temporal status of holiness bestowed on us by God when we keep His commandments. The bible cannot act out these commandments on its own, it is a container and it points us towards Jesus and His commands (John 5:39-40), beseeching us to obey. Unlike the temple of God or its utensils, the bible does not have a set of commands given by God on what can be done to the book itself and what can't be done.
So while the temple can be defiled or desecrated by disobeying God's commandment concerning it, the bible has no such command. God did not order the bible to be compiled just as He ordered the Israelites to build the temple, or the ark or the tabernacle. While there are commandments which can be broken concerning the the latter objects or places, there is no such command for the bible as an object. The bible is a collection of texts compiled by the early Christians to remember all God inspired scriptures or writings in order that none of them be lost or forgotten as more and more apostles and leaders die due to old age or persecution. The bible contains the commandments of God for us to follow in order that we may be holy rather than making the bible itself holy. Therefore, the bible is holy not because it can be defiled by some action upon it, rather it is holy because it contains the inspired word of God (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
Thus, while the action of the home ministry is insensitive to the rights of minority groups to practice their faith and beliefs, it is only in such legal and political sense that it is considered deplorable and a violation of basic human rights. It is in this sense that it should be contested and challenged, and as Christians, in a way that would reflect the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. But it should not be considered as an act of desecration or defilement equivalent to the destruction of the temple of God or the worst act of desecration in human history, the crucifixion of out Lord Jesus Christ. "Forgive them for they know not what they are doing." May God grant us the love to endure and show His glory. Amen.
A quick survey of the New Testament shows that believers viewed several categories of items with the potential to be considered holy. These included both tangible items such as objects, places, persons, physical bodies, actions and intangible items like thoughts in our hearts or minds. The next question to be asked is why did they consider some of these items to be holy? How did they demarcate items as holy or unholy? What is the criterion used?
The answer is not that the items could be holy on it's own as if they are somehow holy in their very nature and character, and that they function as a holy item on their own without any relationship to a source that made them holy. The reason why these items are deemed holy is because they have been associated with God through His commands, and the obedience of believers in performing these commandments allowed the items acted upon, while the commands are being carried out, to be considered holy (Lev. 11:44-45; 1 Pet. 1:14-16). The moment the commandments are no longer followed or disobeyed, then the items lose their holy status. That is why the temple can be deemed holy as a house of prayer by the Lord, and at the same time, He would condone its desecration by its utter destruction (Mark 13:1-2).
Therefore, objects, places, persons, bodies, actions and thoughts were viewed as holy by the early believers not because of the nature of these items, but they were deemed holy because of the relationship to God, which was established by the action of following His commands, which subsequently gave the temporal status of holiness to the items, in which the commandments were associated with.
Thus, we could also conclude that the status of holiness is a temporal state as long as the commandments are followed and the status would be withdrawn when disobedience arises. The act of disobedience will be considered as an act of defiling the holy status of the items. Actually, in most English translations of the New Testament, the word defile is more frequently use than the word desecrate although their meanings are closely associated. In more literal translations, there is only one or two instances (Dan. 11:31; Acts 24:6), if my memory does not fail me, of the word desecrate being used by non-believers to describe the act of, again, disobeying God command by bringing now-Jews into the Jerusalem temple ground. The holiness of the temple is again associated with a command from God rather than the temple itself containing it's own holy nature. As long as the commandments of God concerning the temple is kept, it is deemed holy. When they are not, even the temple can be defiled by total destruction as prophesied by the Lord (Matt. 21:1-2; Luke 21:5-6).
Now, with this being the biblical understanding of the word 'holy', how should be consider the action of the home ministry? Is it an act of desecration as pronounced by the bishop or otherwise? Using what has been established earlier, we can say that the bible on its own is just a physical print of papers. But it is holy because it is related to God as the commandments of God are found in it (Rom. 7:12). Nevertheless, the commandments found in the bible are not for the bible itself, it is for us as believers to follow. Thus, obeying the commandments of God in the bible would deem us holy in the sight of God, a temporal status of holiness bestowed on us by God when we keep His commandments. The bible cannot act out these commandments on its own, it is a container and it points us towards Jesus and His commands (John 5:39-40), beseeching us to obey. Unlike the temple of God or its utensils, the bible does not have a set of commands given by God on what can be done to the book itself and what can't be done.
So while the temple can be defiled or desecrated by disobeying God's commandment concerning it, the bible has no such command. God did not order the bible to be compiled just as He ordered the Israelites to build the temple, or the ark or the tabernacle. While there are commandments which can be broken concerning the the latter objects or places, there is no such command for the bible as an object. The bible is a collection of texts compiled by the early Christians to remember all God inspired scriptures or writings in order that none of them be lost or forgotten as more and more apostles and leaders die due to old age or persecution. The bible contains the commandments of God for us to follow in order that we may be holy rather than making the bible itself holy. Therefore, the bible is holy not because it can be defiled by some action upon it, rather it is holy because it contains the inspired word of God (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
Thus, while the action of the home ministry is insensitive to the rights of minority groups to practice their faith and beliefs, it is only in such legal and political sense that it is considered deplorable and a violation of basic human rights. It is in this sense that it should be contested and challenged, and as Christians, in a way that would reflect the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. But it should not be considered as an act of desecration or defilement equivalent to the destruction of the temple of God or the worst act of desecration in human history, the crucifixion of out Lord Jesus Christ. "Forgive them for they know not what they are doing." May God grant us the love to endure and show His glory. Amen.
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