What is a saint?

By Baldmichael Theresoluteprotector’sson

Or what ain’t a saint! Let’s look at a definition.

Definition

A broad definition is given by Britannia online encyclopaedia.

a holy person who is believed to have a special relationship to the sacred as well as moral perfection or exceptional teaching abilities. The phenomenon is widespread in the religions of the world, both ancient and contemporary.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/saint

A saint from the New Testament perspective in the Bible is set out by biblehub.com. It says

In Christian theology, the term “saints” refers to those who are set apart for God, often understood as believers who have been sanctified through faith in Jesus Christ. The concept of sainthood is rooted in the biblical understanding of holiness and the calling of God’s people to live distinct, consecrated lives.

See

https://biblehub.com/topical/s/saints.htm

Which is fine as far as it goes, but contains other words which not everyone has a handle on. So we need to look at the original Greek to see what was actually meant.

Greek word

The bible.com link indicates that in the gospels the word ‘saints’ is very occasionally used where the original Greek is from ἐκλεκτός, (eklektos) meaning ‘chosen, elect’.

However, the principal word is from ἅγιος (hagios) meaning ‘Holy, sacred, set apart’.

See

https://biblehub.com/greek/40.htm

It seems the actual Greek word translated ‘saints’ rather than ‘holy’ is ἁγίων (hagiōn).

Now I have often wondered how ‘holy’ or ‘saint’ derives from hagios as hag sounds unpleasant. I think of ‘hag’ as a witch or ugly old woman and it can refer to a section of peat bog.

Of course ‘ag’ is the start of the word ‘agriculture, and the letter ‘g’ the start of the word ‘geo’, of the earth.

So there is the sense of soil, something dirty as it were.

And interestingly the biblehub link says the word origin is from hagos “an awful thing” as in something unpleasant.

If we look at anagrams of saint we can reinforce the sense of this.

Saint anagrams

There are three single whole words:

- antis

- satin

- stain

The most obvious is the last as saints are stained people, sinners, containing sin.

Then there is:

- at sin

Reinforcing the above.

- Is tan

People who have been tanned as in beaten in some way.

- Is ant

People who feel small, belittled, in some way.

So we could say saints are people who are soiled or, to be blunt, are shits or feel shit, the lowly, the deplorable or untouchable.

Indeed, in India the Untouchables or Dalit are those who represent the lowest stratum of the castes in the Indian subcontinent. Much of the Untouchables’ occupation has been collection & disposal of faeces from latrines.

And ‘latrines’ includes the word ‘saint’.

So the idea of saints has been distorted by many into ‘extra special righteous people’ rather than the despised, the shitty, who are in need of cleaning up.

As I have mentioned in a post linked at the end, as theists, believers in God, we are ‘ET shits’, shits who come to the ET, the Word of God which is Jesus Christ.

We come to him to be cleaned and thus the apostle Paul writes of the church that Christ is ‘…cleansing her by the washing with water through the word…’

The word ‘saints’ in the New Testament

It is used collectively such as in:

Romans 1 v.7

“To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints…”

1 Corinthians 6 v.1-2

“Dare any of you, having a matter against his neighbour, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? Don’t you know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?”

Ephesians 4 v.11-13

“And it was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for works of ministry and to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, as we mature to the full measure of the stature of Christ.”

Philippians 1 v.1

“Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:”

1 Thessalonians 3 v.13

“to the end he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.”

Hebrews 13 v.24

“Greet all of your leaders and all the saints. The Italians greet you.”

Revelation 14 v.:12

“Here is the patience of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”

So the word saints is used to refer to all those within the churches, not a select few.

Saint as a title

In the western world we are particularly aware of this in such things as Saint Days. This is primarily a Roman Catholic and Orthodox Church belief where a Saint (capital ‘S’) is a special person supposedly beatified/canonised by the church.

That idea was designed to enforce the notion of hierarchy on which the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches is based, and a continuation of the Roman practice of ancestor worship in a different form.

But that is not in accordance with what the New Testament says and Jesus makes clear that we should not ‘entitle’ people or be entitled with such things as ‘Father’, ‘Rabbi’, ‘Teacher’. As is written:

“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers.

And do not call anyone on earth your father, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.

Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Christ.

The greatest among you shall be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

See Matthew 23 v. 8-12

Summary and final thoughts

So a saint is not someone to be put on a pedestal and given a title ‘Saint’ be they dead or alive, but all those in need of their souls, their spirits, being cleansed of guilt and shame.

The word explains its nature in the three one word anagrams.

Antis as in against, we were against God. So it is written in Romans

“For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life!”

Stain as in soiled, spoiled by our thoughts and actions. So it is written in Romans

“There is no one righteous, not even one.”

Satin as in the weave of cloth which is glossy on top and dull underneath. It is more flexible, with better draping characteristics than plain weaves. So it is written in Ephesians

“and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

And in Romans

“…clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.”

Satin is particularly noted for its flexibility and draping abilities. In conjunction with linen, a strong material comfortable to wear in hot weather, it is favoured for bridal gowns. Thus it is written

“Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him the glory. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready.

She was given clothing of fine linen, bright and pure.” For the fine linen she wears is the righteous acts of the saints.”

So we start off as antis and stained and end up satined in linen.

It’s all in the word ‘saint’.

And in the beginning was the Word…

Look out for the sign of Baldmichael, he will be back!

P.S. Here is the post I referred to above.

What is the difference between an atheist and a theist?

And here is one on washing.

Why does Jesus only wash his disciples’ feet?

Baldmichael Theresoluteprotector’sson. When not posting pages or paging posties, trying to be a good husband, and getting over a long term health issue, I am putting the world to rights. I have nothing better to do, so why not? But of course that includes dancing, being funny (in more than one sense), poking fun at life, poking fun at myself, deflating the pompous, reflating the sad. Seeking to heal the whole of the soul (and body where possible). In short making life as good as it possibly can be for others as well as myself. You can’t say fairer than that. But if you can, please say. People need to know.