1 John
Photo by Aleksandra Sapozhnikova on Unsplash
Elevate the Discourse | Nov. 20, 2024
Do you want to wash your hands or do a total body cleanse? Do you want to shower to cleanse your moral ick, or do you want a catharsis that readjusts the essence of your humanity? Take your time. You may need a few moments to think about it.
RLB Ident 2024
I’m reading 1 John. The first few verses urge us to cleanse ourselves from sin. The word generally translated as “clean” in New Testament Greek is our modern word “catharsis.” Catharsis is a much stronger word than a simple cleansing. A catharsis goes below the surface to the soul. People who undergo a catharsis are changed forever. People only stay clean until the next time they get dirty. The other side of a catharsis ought to represent a new way of life. A catharsis carries a degree of permanence.
In the Armenian language, “sin” and “cleanse” share similar root words. You can’t have one without the other. In Armenian history and theology, there is a clear understanding that sin cannot go unanswered, un-cleansed, or forgotten. The verb to cleanse (մաքրել) (pronounced mak’rel) carries connotations of obliteration and purification. Each word echoes the catharsis John calls to mind.
Sins, մեղք (meghk’), are the unique faults and transgressions produced by a human մարդ (mard). Here, the hand of Indo-European linguistics rears its head; the Greek word for sin, which John uses when telling us we need to be cleansed, is hamartia.
What does this mean? The Greek word for sin and the Armenian word for human are joined by a common bond (also with the Latin mortalis). The words "human" and "sinner" share an indirect familial bond far up the Indo-European language tree. Maybe the Armenians, Greeks, and other ancient cultures knew something we moderns have spent years trying to deny: humanity and sin go hand in hand. Perhaps this is why we need a catharsis now more than ever.