“The Idea of the Holy” by Rudolf Otto – Chapter 8

Chapter 8 of “The Idea of the Holy” by Rudolf Otto is named ‘The Holy as a Category of Value.’ Here is our summary.

CHAPTER 8

The Holy as a Category of Value
Pages 52 to 61

Sin and Atonement

When we experience the numinous, we have a reaction of creature-feeling, together with concomitant feelings of abasement and prostration and the spontaneous diminution of the self into nothingness. David said: “Depart from me for I am a sinful man.” Isaiah said: I am a man of unclean lips.” [Page 52]

That experience does not stem from regrets about a moral lapse. Rather, it is the feeling of absolute profaneness. At the same time, experiencing the numinous gives us a sense of appreciation. It is not merely the perfect or the beautiful or the sublime or the good. No, it is the Holy. [Page 53]

Our awe of holiness is not simply fear. We are not simply praising Absolute Might. Rather, we are praising the One who, in an absolute sense, is worthy to be praised. The Holy is not a moral category at all. Otto suggests the word “august” to refer to the supreme worth of the numinous. [Page 54]

We can feel unworthy of the numinous. Some people blame that on moral delinquency. Thus moral precepts and sin become central issues. If we feel unworthy of the numinous AND blames it on sin, there will be dreadful consequences. Our conscience will despair of its own power. This is a catastrophe. [Page 55]

The notions of redemption or deliverance or atonement all stem from experiences of numinous awe. That is, from the mystical realm. Later, dogmatists transferred them into the realm of rational ethics and moral concepts. [Page 56]

The notion of covering stems from the experience of numinous awe. A profane person feels they cannot approach the numen, but they must have a covering (or shield) to be protected from the numen. [Page 56]

Some people feel they are not worthy to stand in the presence of The Holy; that their mere presence might corrupt even Holiness itself. The centurion in Capernaum said: “Lord, I’m not worthy for you to come under my roof.” [Page 56]

Before the numen, some people feel profane. They feel a need for atonement. They want to transcend their feelings of unworthiness. Their felt need is stronger when their craving for the numen becomes their summum bonum. As they focus more and more on unworthiness, their attention shifts wholly to the rational side of religion, ignoring the non-rational. [Page 57]

Experiencing the numinous, we feel polluted in comparison. We loath ourselves. We long for washing and cleansing. We need atonement. The Christian religion is the best at meeting that need. The numen itself becomes itself the means of atonement. [Page 58]

In the New Testament, God provides a way for intimacy with himself. This is a grace beyond our power to apprehend. We are covered. We are atoned. We come into the presence of Holiness itself. However, these truths at the centre of the religious experience are mistrusted by moralizers. For them, religion is all about morality and Laws. [Page 59]

Another group that mistrusts these truths at the centre of the religious experience is theologians. For them, religion is to be speculated and theorized about. [Page 60]

The words non-rational does not mean irrational. [Page 60]

Beneath the sphere of intellectual concepts lies a depth that is non-rational. [Page 61]

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