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Anathema (in Greek Ανάθεμα) meaning originally something lifted up as an offering to the gods; later, with evolving meanings, it came to mean: Image File history File links Broom_icon. ...

1. to be formally set apart,
2. banished, exiled, excommunicated or
3. denounced, sometimes accursed.

This page is a candidate to be moved to Wiktionary. ... See Exile (disambiguation) for other meanings. ... Exile (band) may refer to: Exile - The American country music band Exile - The Japanese pop music band Category: ... Excommunication is religious censure which is used to deprive or suspend membership in a religious community. ... Look up Curse in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Interpretation

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 (the traditional Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures) 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 single 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. For other uses, see Word (disambiguation). ... The Septuagint: A column of uncial text from 1 Esdras in the Codex Vaticanus, the basis of Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brentons Greek edition and English translation. ... Look up translate in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The word Hebrew most likely means to cross over, referring to the Semitic people crossing over the Euphrates River. ... Jacob wrestling an angel, by Gustave Doré (1832-1883), a shared Judeo-Christian story. ...

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 (Numbers 18:14; Leviticus 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 (Leviticus 27:21, KJV); and "none devoted shall be ransomed. He shall surely be put to death" (KJV). The Hebrew word therefore carried the idea of devoted to destruction (Numbers 21:2-3; Joshua 6:17); and hence a majority of scholars have treated the word anathema similarly, generally as meaning a thing accursed. For example, in Deuteronomy 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 passages, was used by the Greek Septuagint translators to mean "offered up to God." This article is about the Christian scriptures. ... Judith with the Head of Holophernes, by Christophano Allori, 1613 (Pitti Palace, Florence) The Book of Judith is a deuterocanonical book, included in the Septuagint and in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christian Old Testament of the Bible, but excluded by Jews and Protestants. ... The Septuagint: A column of uncial text from 1 Esdras in the Codex Vaticanus, the basis of Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brentons Greek edition and English translation. ... “Hebrew” redirects here. ... For other uses, see Lord (disambiguation). ... “Hebrew” redirects here. ...

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, 23:14, 23:21). "To call Jesus denounced" [anathema] (1 Corinthians 12:3) is to pronounce him execrated or accursed. If any one preached another gospel, the apostle says, "let him be denounced" (Galatians 1:8-9); i.e., let his conduct in so doing be accounted banished. This article is about the Christian scriptures. ... This article is about Jesus of Nazareth. ...

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

In Romans 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 Corinthians 16:22 denotes that they who love not the Lord are objects of loathing and execration to all holy beings; they are unrepentant of a crime that merits the severest condemnation; they are exposed to the sentence of "everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord" as was the sentence of all mankind before the atonement, justification and sanctification of the blood of Christ Jesus that washed away our sins. The alternative view is that Paul is saying that those who do not love the Lord should be offered up to God. For other uses, see Lord (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Lord (disambiguation). ...

It must be said that an Anathema in the New Testament is merely a serious charge laid against a person to be delivered up for the immediate but temporary judgment of God lest it contradict other scripture. The ultimate goal is meant to restore one to fellowship and to cease their error and to end false teaching and bad doctrine. Both the Church's process of excommunication and the Lord bringing tragedy into the offenders life is performed with the hope of bringing the offender back into a right understanding of the scripture and into a right relationship with both God and their brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus.

The offenses which preclude Anathema such as to preach another gospel (Galatians 1:8-9) or to not love the Lord (1 Corinthians 16:22) and prescribed against those that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government ({{bibleverse|2|Peter|2:10|KJV))), are forgivable as with all offenses and sins for it is written if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). The Lord is long suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). To our Lord Jesus Christs preaching that all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme (Mark 3:28). For if one could not repent from not loving the Lord (1 Corinthians 16:22) then who could be saved for we are all born enemies of the cross until we are converted and born again of the spirit. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life (Romans 5:10).

It is valuable to note that the offense of preaching the gospel of circumcision was also dealt with in Titus 1:10-13, these "false teachers and those being led astray" were to be strongly reprimanded to make them strong in the faith. 1 Corinthians 7:19 NLT deals with this topic another way, "For it makes no difference whether or not a man has been circumcised. The important thing is to keep God’s commandments." It is interesting that those teaching circumcision were said to have "intentiontially" departed from the truth in order to make money from teaching circumision or to glory in the flesh of those they deceived while those that innocently believed it is what God wanted were to be reprimanded to make them strong in the faith. It is as though the false teachers, being unwilling to repent of their false teaching, would not be corrected through reprimand as someone who made an innocent mistake would be corrected through reprimand.

Anathema in the Roman Catholic Church

After the time of the apostolic church, the term anathema has come to mean a form of extreme religious sanction beyond excommunication, known as major 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 Church. Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive or suspend membership in a religious community. ... Synod of Elvira, an ecclesiastical synod held in Spain, the date of which cannot be determined with exactness. ... Events July 25 - Constantine I proclaimed Roman Emperor by his troops. ... Look up Heresy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... St. ... Nestorius - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Events June - Council of Ephesus: Nestorianism is rejected, the Nicene creed is declared to be complete. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... For other uses, see Eucharist (disambiguation). ...

While "minor excommunication" could be incurred by associating with an excommunicate, and "major excommunication" could be imposed by any bishop, "anathema" was imposed by the Pope in a specific ceremony described in the Pontificale Romanum. Wearing a purple cope (the liturgical color of penitence) and holding a lighted candle, he, surrounded by twelve priests, also with lighted candles, pronounced the anathema with a formula that concluded with the phrase: "Wherefore in the name of God the All-powerful, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, of Blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and of all the saints, in virtue of the power which has been given us of binding and loosing in Heaven and on earth, we deprive (Name) himself and all his accomplices and all his abettors of the Communion of the Body and Blood of Our Lord, we separate him from the society of all Christians, we exclude him from the bosom of our Holy Mother the Church in Heaven and on earth, we declare him excommunicated and anathematized and we judge him condemned to eternal fire with Satan and his angels and all the reprobate, so long as he will not burst the fetters of the demon, do penance and satisfy the Church; we deliver him to Satan to mortify his body, that his soul may be saved on the day of judgment." The priests responded: "Fiat, fiat, fiat" (Let it be done), and all, including the pontiff, cast their lighted candles on the ground. The pontiff and the twelve priests then cast to the ground the lighted candles they have been carrying, and notice is sent in writing to the priests and neighbouring bishops of the name of the one who has been excommunicated and the cause of his excommunication, in order that they may have no communication with him. Although he is delivered to Satan and his angels, he can still, and is even bound to repent. The Pontifical gives the form for absolving him and reconciling him with the Church.)^[1] Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Wycliffe Tyndale · Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      The Pope (from Latin... a priest wearing a cope The cope is a liturgical vestment, which may be of any liturgical colour, and is like a very long mantle or cloak, fastened at the breast by a clasp. ...

The 1917 Code of Canon Law, which abolished all ecclesiastical penalties not mentioned in the Code itself (canon 6), made "anathema" synonymous with "excommunication" (canon 2257). The 1983 Code of Canon Law, now in force, has no mention of the word "anathema". The ritual described above is not included in the post-Vatican II revision of the Pontifical. 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar (see: 1917 Julian calendar). ... Canon Law is the ecclesiastical law of the Roman Catholic Church. ...

Anathema in popular culture

• In the MMORPG World of Warcraft, Anathema is the name given to the unholy form of a Priest's epic staff, the holy form of which is called Benediction.
• In the MMORPG EVE Online, Anathema is an Amarr covert ops ship.
• Anathema is an English Doom Metal/Atmosferic Rock band.
• Anathema Device is a character from Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's apocalyptic spoof Good Omens. She describes herself as a "professional descendant," and runs her life according to prophecies handed down from an ancestral witch, Agnes Nutter. Her mother chose the name Anathema because it "sounded nice."
• Anathema is also mentioned in the game Van Helsing.
• In AFI's punk rock song "Paper Airplanes (Makeshift Wings)", the lyric "Anathema, I will remain..." refers to the narrative of being cast out of the "plastic waves of fame" and thus, cultural faddism.
• In the role-playing game Exalted, the celestial Exalted as a whole and Solar Exalted in particular are named anathema and considered demons by the Scarlet Empire. They are in reality heroes chosen by the gods, which oddly enough makes the word fit by both definitions.
• "Anathema" is the name of a topsite.
• In Scott Westerfeld's novel Peeps, the "Anathema Effect" is a fictional scientific explanation of why vampires hate religious symbols.
• In the MMORPG Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, clerics use a spell called Anathema.
• In the video game Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, the first level is entitled "Anathema". It requires Agent 47, the main character, to assassinate a mobster in order to save a priest.
• In the Kushiel's Legacy series by Jacqueline Carey, Joscelin Verreuil is considered an anathema for leaving the Cassiline Brotherhood for Phèdre nó Delaunay.
• In the MMORPGs City of Heroes and City of Villains, a certain "Boss" or "Lieutenant" member of "The Lost" faction are called Anathema.

An image from World of Warcraft, one of the largest commercial MMORPGs as of 2004, based on active subscriptions. ... World of Warcraft (commonly abbreviated as WoW) is a massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by Blizzard Entertainment and is the fourth game in the Warcraft series, excluding expansion packs and the cancelled Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans. ... A benediction is a short invocation for divine help, blessing and guidance, usually at the end of church worship service. ... An image from World of Warcraft, one of the largest commercial MMORPGs as of 2004, based on active subscriptions. ... EVE Online is a persistent world multiplayer online game set in space. ... Anathema are an English band from the city of Liverpool, who - together with Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride - helped develop the doom death genre. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Neil Richard Gaiman () (born November 10, 1960) is an English author of science fiction and fantasy short stories and novels, graphic novels, comics, and films. ... Terence David John Pratchett OBE (born April 28, 1948, in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England[1]) is an English fantasy author, best known for his Discworld series. ... Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (1990) is a fantasy novel written in collaboration between Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. ... Van Helsing is a third-person shooter for the Play Station 2 and Xbox which resembles the events of the 2004 action/horror film of the same name by Stephen Sommers. ... AFI, in recent years short for A Fire Inside, is an American band from Ukiah, California. ... This article is about games in which one plays the role of a character. ... Exalted is a role-playing game published by White Wolf Publishing. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Scott Westerfeld (born May 5, 1963) is a New York Times bestselling author of science fiction and young adult literature. ... Peeps is a 2005 novel by Scott Westerfeld about a parasite which causes people to become cannibalistic and become repelled by that which they once loved; it is the basis for many myths, mainly vampirism, but also lycanthropy, zombies, and others. ... “Computer and video games” redirects here. ... 47 disguised. ... 47 with his WA2000 Sniper Rifle. ... assassin, see Assassin (disambiguation) Jack Ruby assassinated Lee Harvey Oswald in a very public manner. ... Mobster is a slang term for a person who participates in organized crime, which is known as belonging to the Mob. In western stories and movies, cowboys as mobsters are known as outlaws. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Kushiels Legacy is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Jacqueline Carey, comprising Kushiels Dart, Kushiels Chosen, and Kushiels Avatar. ... Jacqueline Carey (born 1964 in Highland Park, Illinois) is an author and novelist, primarily of fantasy fiction. ... In Jacqueline Careys Kushiels Legacy series, Joscelin Verreuil is a member of the Cassiline Brotherhood whom Anafiel Delaunay contracts to guard Phèdre. ... In Jacqueline Careys Kushiels Legacy series, the Cassiline Brotherhood is an order of priests who swear allegiance to the Precepts of Cassiel. ... Phèdre nó Delaunay The main character of Jacqueline Careys Kushiels Legacy series. ... City of Heroes (CoH) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing computer game based on the superhero comic book genre, developed by Cryptic Studios and published by NCsoft. ... City of Villains is a massively multiplayer online role-playing computer game based on the superhero comic book genre, developed by Cryptic Studios and published by NCSoft. ...

References

See also

• Cherem

Cherem (or Herem חרם), is the highest ecclesiastical censure in the Jewish community. ...

External links

• "Anathema" from Catholic Answers
• "Anathema" in New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia
• Anathema sit in Everything2
• St. Paul's Anathema Esto in Galatians One by Gerald O. Hoenecke
• Christian Cyclopedia article on Anathema

This entry incorporates text from the public domain Easton's Bible Dictionary, originally published in 1897. Eastons Bible Dictionary generally refers to the Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, by Matthew George Easton M.A., D.D. (1823-1894), published three years after Eastons death in 1897 by Thomas Nelson. ...

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