Anathema

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other uses, see Anathema (disambiguation).

The word anathema has two main meanings. One is to describe something or someone that is hated or avoided. The other is to refer to a formal excommunication by a church.[1][2][3] These meanings come from the New Testament,[4] where an anathema was a person or thing cursed or condemned by God.[5] In the Old Testament, an anathema was something or someone dedicated to God as a sacrifice,[6] or cursed and separated from God because of sin.[7] These represent two types of setting apart, one for devotion, the other for destruction.[8]

Etymology

Anathema (in the sense of a curse) attributed to Pope Gregory XI

Anathema derives from Ancient Greek: ἀνάθεμα,[9] anáthema, meaning "an offering" or "anything dedicated",[3] itself derived from the verb ἀνατίθημι, anatíthēmi, meaning "to offer up". In the Old Testament, חֵרֶם (chērem) referred to both objects consecrated to divine use and those dedicated to destruction in the Lord's name, such as enemies and their weapons during religious wars. Since weapons of the enemy were considered unholy, the meaning became "anything dedicated to evil" or "a curse".

In New Testament usage a different meaning developed.

Latin: anathema sit ("let him be anathema"), echoing Galatians 1:8–9,[12] was thus used in decrees of councils defining Christian faith.[13]

Examples include:

A mention of anathema in the Southwick Codex, a medieval text in Old English

In 1526, the word anathema appeared in modern English for the first time and was used in the sense of "something accursed". The "consecrated object" meaning was also adopted a short time later, but is no longer widely used.[3] Its most common modern usage is in secular contexts[1] where it is used to mean something or someone that is detested or shunned.[2]

Examples include:

  • "Racial hatred was anathema to her."[2]
  • "The idea that one would voluntarily inject poison into one's body was anathema to me."[2]
  • "This notion was anathema to most of his countrymen."[3]

Religious usage

The Old Testament applied the word to anything set aside for sacrifice, and thus banned from profane use and dedicated to destruction—as, in the case of religious wars, the enemy and their cities and possessions. The New Testament uses the word to mean a curse and forced expulsion of someone from the Christian community.[11]

Judaism

The

Jewish Encyclopedia (1901–1906), with the rise of the synagogue as the organizing principle of Jewish life circa the Maccabean period, the sense of the word herem changed from "an instrument of communal purification" to "an instrument for the promotion of personal conduct as well as the enforcement of public morality [...] an instrument of ecclesiastical discipline"; see Herem (censure).[15]

New Testament

The noun ἀνάθεμα (anathema) occurs in the Greek New Testament six times,

Acts 23:14, and to the object of God's disfavour, as in the other cited places.[17]

Early Church

See also: Early Christianity

Since the time of the apostles, the term 'anathema' has come to mean a form of extreme religious sanction, known as

Manicheanism was anathema. Cyril of Alexandria issued twelve anathemas against Nestorius in 431. In the fifth century, a formal distinction between anathema and "minor" excommunication evolved, where "minor" 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 Church.

Eastern Orthodoxy

The

schism
. Anathematization is only a last resort, and must always be preceded by pastoral attempts to reason with the offender and bring about their restoration.

For the Orthodox, anathema is not final damnation. God alone is the judge of the living and the dead, and up until the moment of death repentance is always possible. The purpose of public anathema is twofold: to warn the one condemned and bring about his repentance, and to warn others away from his error. Everything is done for the purpose of the salvation of souls.

On the First Sunday of

Good Shepherd
, and provides the procedure to follow in dealing with those who err:

"… if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he shall neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican. Verily I say unto you, whatever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

After an

Holy Tradition
of the Church.

Catholicism

Anathema or curse in a 12th-13th century manuscript of the abbey Ter Doest
Anathema or curse in a 12th-13th century manuscript of the Ter Doest abbey

In the dogmatic canons of all the ecumenical councils recognized by the Catholic Church, the word "anathema" signifies exclusion from the society of the faithful because of heresy.[22][23] Documents of the 9th and 12th centuries distinguish anathema from excommunication, a distinction later clarified by using the term "major excommunication" for exclusion from the society of the faithful, and "minor excommunication" for ordinary excommunication or exclusion from reception of the sacraments.[22]

Although in the canons of ecumenical councils the word "anathema" continued to be used to mean exclusion for heresy from the society of the faithful, the word was also used to signify a major excommunication inflicted with particular solemnity. Anathema, in this sense, was a major excommunication pronounced with the ceremonies described in the article bell, book, and candle, which were reserved for the gravest crimes.[22]

The 1917

Pontificale Romanum."[26]

The 1983 Code of Canon Law, which is now in force, does not contain the word "anathema",[27] and the Pontificale Romanum, as revised after the Second Vatican Council, no longer mentions any particular solemnities associated with the infliction of excommunication.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Anathema", Grammarist, 15 June 2011, retrieved September 22, 2016, The main definitions of the noun anathema are (1) a detested person or thing, and (2) a formal ecclesiastical ban.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Anathema", English Oxford Living Dictionaries, Oxford University Press, archived from the original on September 23, 2016, retrieved September 22, 2016
  3. ^ a b c d e "Anathema", Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary, retrieved September 22, 2016
  4. ^ "Bible Gateway passage: 1 Corinthians 16:22 - Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition". Bible Gateway. Retrieved 2023-06-15.
  5. ^ "Anathema", New Testament Greek Lexicon - KJV, retrieved 15 June 2023, Its meaning in the New Testament is "disfavour of God", and is used both of the sentence of disfavour, as in Acts 23:14, and to the object of God's disfavour, as in the other cited places.
  6. ^ "Bible Gateway passage: Leviticus 27:28 - English Standard Version". Bible Gateway. Retrieved 2023-06-15.
  7. ^ "Bible Gateway passage: Deuteronomy 7:26 - Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition". Bible Gateway. Retrieved 2023-06-15.
  8. ^ "The Word "Anathema" and it's [sic] meaning - by Saint John Maximovitch". www.orthodox.net. Retrieved 2023-06-15.
  9. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Robert, Scott. "ἀνάθεμα". A Greek-English Lexicon. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
  10. ^ "Anathema | religion | Britannica".
  11. ^ a b c Encyclopædia Britannica: "anathema (religion)"
  12. ^ Galatians 1:8–9
  13. ^ John A. Hardon, Modern Catholic Dictionary
  14. ^ Kaufmann Kohler (ed.). "Ban". Jewish Encyclopedia.
  15. ^ Jacob Voorsanger; Kaufmann Kohler (eds.). "Anathema (Greek 'Aνάθημα; Hebrew חרם; Aramaic חרמא)". Jewish Encyclopedia.
  16. ^ in 1 Cor 12:3; 16:22; Gal 1:8,9; Rom 9:3; Acts 23:14
  17. ^ Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, p. 702/1602
  18. St. John Maximovitch, "The Word 'Anathema' and its Meaning"
    , Orthodox Life, vol 27, Mar-April 1977, pp. 18–19
  19. ^ Cf. Matthew 13:5, etc.
  20. ^ Cf. Matthew 13:7, etc.
  21. ^ Cf. Matthew 13:25–40
  22. ^ a b c Joseph Gignac, "Anathema" in Catholic Encyclopedia (New York 1907)
  23. ^ Jimmy Akin, "Anathema Sit"
  24. ^ Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, canons 1431, 1434
  25. ^ 1917 Code of Canon Law, canon 6, 5°
  26. ^ 1917 Code of Canon Law, canon 2257
  27. ^ Code of Canon Law alphabetical index

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Anathema.
Look up anathema in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Anathema" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

Wikisource This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Easton, Matthew George (1897). "Anathema". Easton's Bible Dictionary (New and revised ed.). T. Nelson and Sons.

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