Anathema

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Anathema

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Anathema in Greek

Anathema (Greek Word -Ανάθεμα-: meaning originally something lifted up as an offering to the gods; later, with evolving meanings, it came to mean:

to be formally set apart,
banished, exiled, excommunicated or
denounced, often misinterpreted to mean accursed.

There is some difficulty translating this word, especially since it has now become commonly associated with the term accursed. The original meaning of the Greek word, as used in non-Biblical Greek literature, was an offering to a god. When the word was used in the Septuagint (Greek translation of Hebrew scripture) it was used to translate the Hebrew word 'herem' with which it therefore became associated. 'Herem' meant something 'forbidden' or 'off limits.' The Hebrew word was used in verses such as Leviticus 27:28 to refer to things offered to God, and hence 'off limits' to common (non-religious) use. Because the Greek word 'anathema' meant things offered to God, it was used to translate the Hebrew word 'herem' in such contexts. Thus the meaning of the Greek word 'anathema,' under the influence of its association with the Hebrew word 'herem,' was eventually taken as meaning 'set apart,' (like 'herem') rather than 'an offering to god,' as it had meant in Greek, and eventually the word came to be seen as meaning 'banished' and to be considered beyond the judgment and help of the community. Unfortunately within the English language one does not find such a term. To use the term curse alone suggests dark powers and magical arts, which are forbidden in the Judeo-Christian societies in which the word was used.

In Greek usage, an anathema was anything laid up or suspended; hence anything laid up in a temple or set apart as sacred. In this sense the form of the word was once (in plural) used in the Greek New Testament, in Luke 21:5, where it is rendered "gifts". It is used similarly in the Book of Judith, where it is translated as "gift to the Lord." In the Septuagint the form anathema is generally used as the rendering of the Hebrew word herem, derived from a verb which means (1) to consecrate or devote; and (2) to exterminate. Any object so sacrificed or devoted to the Lord could not be redeemed (Num. 18:14; Lev. 27:28, 29); and hence the idea of exterminating was connected with the word. The Hebrew verb (haram) is frequently used of the extermination of idolatrous nations. It had a wide range of application. The anathema or herem was a person or thing irrevocably devoted to God (Lev. 27:21, 28); and "none devoted shall be ransomed. He shall surely be put to death" (27:29). The Hebrew word therefore carried the idea of devoted to destruction (Num. 21:2, 3; Josh. 6:17); and hence a majority of scholars have treated the word anathema similarly, generally as meaning a thing accursed. For example, in Deut. 7:26 an idol is called a herem = anathema, understood to mean a thing accursed. There is, however, an alternative view that the Greek word 'anathema,' in these pasages, was used by the Greek Septuagint translators to mean "offered up to God."

Anathema in the New Testament

The traditional view is that in the New Testament the word anathema always implies denouncement and banishment. In some cases an individual pronounces an anathema on himself if certain conditions are not fulfilled (Acts 23:12, 14, 21). "To call Jesus denounced" ^* (1 Cor. 12:3) is to pronounce him execrated or accursed. If any one preached another gospel, the apostle says, "let him be denounced" (Gal. 1:8, 9); i.e., let his conduct in so doing be accounted banished.

Under an alternative view, however, the word anathema in the New Testament was used in accordance with its original Greek meaning, "offered up to God."

In Rom. 9:3, the expression "anathema from Christ," i.e., excluded from fellowship or alliance with Christ, has occasioned much difficulty. The traditional view is that the apostle here does not speak of his wish as a possible thing. It is simply a vehement expression of feeling, showing how strong was his desire for the salvation of his people. In the alternate view, Paul is expressing the wish that he be 'offered up to God,' from (by) Christ.

The traditional view is that the word anathema in 1 Cor. 16:22 denotes that they who love not the Lord are objects of loathing and execration to all holy beings; they are guilty of a crime that merits the severest condemnation; they are exposed to the sentence of "everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord". The alternative view is that Paul is saying that those who do not love the Lord should be offered up to God.

Anathema in the Catholic Church

After the time of the apostolic church, the term anathema has come to mean a form of extreme religious sanction beyond excommunication. The earliest recorded instance of the form is in the Council of Elvira (c. 306), and thereafter it became the common method of cutting off heretics. Cyril of Alexandria issued twelve anathemas against Nestorius in 431. In the fifth century, a formal distinction between anathema and excommunication evolved, where excommunication entailed cutting off a person or group from the rite of eucharist and attendance at worship, while anathema meant a complete separation of the subject from the Body of Christ. While excommunication can be announced by a simple edict or papal bull, the Roman Catholic Church has a particular ceremony necessary for anathema, where a bishop clad in purple (the liturgical color of penitence) is required, and he is surrounded by twelve priests with lighted candles. As the sentence is uttered, the priests cast their lighted candles on the ground, to symbolize the exclusion of the anathematized group from the house of Israel.

Although anathema is the highest sanction of the church, it is usually pronounced in the form, "If anyone holds that..., anathema sit". (Let him be anathema.) Thus, the person as a person is rarely given to anathema, and a person can renounce the anathematized beliefs and be reconciled to the church.

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Anathema in Greek

Anathema in the New Testament

Anathema in the Catholic Church

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