Glossary

Definitions germane to the holiness topic.
(This page is in perpetual draft/subject to revision)

Spiritual Radiation – Being holy (or unholy) will influence others to be holy (or unholy).

Spiritual Convection – Holding the expectation that someone will be holy (or unholy) influences them to actually be holy (or unholy).

Spiritual Conduction – Treating another in a holy (or unholy) way will influence them to be holy (or unholy).

Spiritual Freedom – The right to choose whether to be holy or not. Without free choice, holiness is impossible.

Virtue – A spiritual quality enabling action in challenging circumstances. There are three types: evil, worldly, and holy.

Evil Virtue – The will to do something that is hard, destroy the self and others, for the sake of some other thing (material gain, fame, prestige, power, etc…).

Worldly Virtue – The will to do something hard, delay immediate gratification, for the sake of becoming a ‘better’ person.  A requirement for ‘decent’ society. Developed by commitment and effort. Getting along with others based primarily on effort and desire to do so. ‘I am so patient with so and so.’ (patience – a supreme effort to tolerating another, even though I find their behavior annoying). Obviously better than evil virtue but ultimately self centered. ‘I’ did this.

Holy Virtue – The will to do something hard, put others first, for their own sake and to benefit indirectly, if at all from the action. Virtue that is ‘created’ by love and as such requires no effort. Virtue received by participating in a loving relationship. For many, their spiritual character takes a giant leap when they experience Christ’s mercy. Holy virtue is related to Worldly virtue and is often confused with it. But, the two are not the same.

Vice – the opposite of virtue but not the same as evil virtue. Vice is a lack of spiritual character, or the inability to do something hard. Evil virtue is spiritual capacity, but used in a destructive way. Foolishness is the opposite of Wisdom. Being good at manipulating others is an example of evil virtue.

Some Examples of Vices and Evil Virtue…

Mob Priority – the belief that what the majority consider most important is obviously what is actually most important. ‘Everyone thinks x, so what is wrong with you that you don’t?’

Hate Reinforcer – A cute, pithy, or alarming statement which is so biased as to be hateful, or is specifically designed to incite disgust. Fake news that goes viral is often in this category as is a statement like ‘Science fly’s humans to Mars, but religion fly’s humans into buildings (an act of terror).’

Hate Wall – Extending another person’s thoughts, acts, or beliefs to closest possible position that can be reacted to with disgust, forming a wall between the person and the target making polite or civil conversation impossible. ‘Can you believe that guys position on marriage? What a homophobe!’

Thought Blocker – Any statement that can’t be refuted and designed (subconsciously) to end the conversation. ‘That’s not what the bible says.’

Demonization – Assigning the worst possible motive for a position. Usually ending up in a comparison to Hitler. Similar to a hate wall.

Sloganeering – Legitimizing something bad by placing it in opposition to something that is worse. ‘Make love, not war.’

Holy Projectionism – what I think is what God thinks.

Proof by Desire – if I want it, then it must be good. ‘If God gave us sexual desire even for those who are not our spouse, then it must be good and could conceivably be evil to ‘repress’.’

Concupiscence – choosing to act merely for the pleasure involved, and not because the act is good itself.

Hedonism – failing to recognize that while good things are pleasurable, it is not pleasure itself that is good.

False Humility – calling something bad, even if it is good, with an underlying sense that to do otherwise would be arrogant.

Infinite False Humility – comparing something finite to the infinite (God) and calling it unworthy, or so trivial as to not be important, by comparison.

False Piety – groveling before the infinite simply because He is infinite and we are not. Considering a feeling of closeness or familiarity with God to be arrogant.

Unnecessary Self Loathing – accepting beliefs about humans or making decisions about how humans should act in response to God that demean humans and then pointing out how far God is above us to justify the behavior.

Justified Idolatry – if something is related to God, who is infinite, then it is obviously infinitely important.

Short Circuit – Accepting a concept or conclusion that obviously contradicts reason when the topic is God (or the word of God). Sometimes followed by the conversation blocker, “It’s a mystery.”

False Maximum – The tendency toward obsessive compulsive conclusions: if something is good, then even more is better. Especially with regards to how to think or act in relation to God.

Holy Tool Idolatry – ( A holy tool is some behavior or ritual that supports holiness. Eg. Honoring the Sabath.) – Some a kind of justified idolatry that puts the tools to become holy over actually being holy itself. Ex. When the Pharisees condemned Jesus for healing on the Sabbath.