Tres Linguae Sacrae: Three Sacred Languages--Hebrew, Greek, and Latin
encounter at least some impediment, though it be as thin as a veil, in being ignorant of the Greek and Hebrew of the Scriptures.
Though Latin is not a "scriptural" language in the strictest sense, the Latin Vulgate--the translation of the Bible by St. Jerome from Hebrew and Greek--is given great pride of place in the Roman Catholic Church, being regarded (by the Council of Trent) as "authentic," and of "probative force in questions of faith and morals."
Moreover, Latin is the liturgical language of the Roman rite, the common language of the Church, the inspiration and substance of Gregorian chant, and--along with, though to a lesser extent, Greek--is absolutely central in understanding Roman Catholic doctrine and theology.
How do we know the importance of sentire cum ecclesia (to think with the Church) if we don't know what sentire cum ecclesia means?
In this series entitled Tres Linguae Sacrae, we will explore certain Hebrew, Greek, and Latin words or phrases that are scripturally, liturgically, or theologically important to Catholics.
We will explore virtually untranslatable but frequently-used Hebrew words with a wide variety of subtle meanings--such as the Hebrew word nephesh, commonly translated as "soul"--and words--such as the Hebrew word for "covenant" or "testament," berith--whose whose conceptual depth is such that understanding it is the compass or key needed to understand the Scriptures as Scott Hahn has put it.
There are, of course, Hebrew words that we still use in the Latin liturgy--Amen, Alleluia, Hosanna--or Greek words that remain as vestiges of a liturgy once prayed in Greek--Kyrie and eleison--which warrant exploration.
We will gaze at words that are virtually made up or cobbled together to describe things wholly new--such as the Greek kecharitomene in Luke 1:28--used of Mary and translated as "full of grace," or, controversially, "highly favored," or the mysterious epiousios--supersubstantial--which is found in the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:11 and Luke 11:3, and curiously translated rather mundanely: "Give us this day our daily (epiousion) bread."
We can expect to go over some Latin or Greek terms that are absolutely essential to understanding Catholic doctrine. One thinks of the term transubstantiatio--which we transliterate into English as transubstantiation--or the word trinitas, given to us by the African Church Father Tertullian (which was invented by him) and is central to our faith: Trinity.
What about the Greek word hypostasis equivalent to the Latin word persona, essential for understanding both ourselves as persons, and the Trinity as three persons in one God? Or what about those curious words which mean the same thing--circumincessio or perichoresis, in Latin and Greek respectively--which dare to speak about the mystery of mysteries: the relations of the persons within the Blessed Trinity. How can man even utter words about such things so far above his ken and his experience?
Some of these words have extensive and intensive histories and involve subtle concepts that can make the difference between the heretic and the orthodox. What a difference one letter makes--in this case the Greek letter iota or "i"--in a Creed! What odium theologicum (theological "hatred") it engendered!
Yet how utterly important this iota was--with greater weight than any jot and tittle of the Hebrew Scripture--since it spelled the difference between Jesus being God, or being less than God, a difference of infinite proportion. You go one way (without the iota) and you are Christian. You go the other way (embrace the iota) and you deny Christ. The Holy Spirit shunned the iota, though the Spirit worked hard to find the Church's champion and the Paraclete's mouthpiece: St. Athanasius.
Only the most crass and religiously obtuse--like the historian Edward Gibbon--would deride "the furious contests which the difference of a single diphthong excited," as if it mattered not whether Jesus was in fact God or merely God's superlative creature.
The Nicene Creed we take for granted today and wherein we aver each Sunday that Jesus is "consubstantial with the Father," the same substance as the Father, translates the Greek homoousios to Patri. Against St. Athanasius--the champion of the Nicene Creed--the heresiarch Arius insisted that the truth was not that Jesus was homoousios to Patri (of one substance with the Father), but homoiousios to Patri (of a similar, i.e., created, lesser substance as the Father).
But this is to get a little ahead of the story. Before we begin this series, we might invoke as patrons St. Jerome (the patron saint for translators) and St. Gotteschalk (the patron saint of linguists).
With our patrons in hand, let us go on a pilgrimage of words!
Andrew M. Greenwell is an attorney licensed to practice law in Texas, practicing in Corpus Christi, Texas. He is married with three children. He maintains a blog entirely devoted to the natural law called Lex Christianorum. You can contact Andrew at email@example.com.
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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.
Keywords: Latin, Hebrew, Greek, sacred languages, Andrew M. Greenwell
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