Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 66:1 (Mar 2023)
Article: "Tris-Hagion": Foundation For Worldwide Mission
Author: Donald A. Carson

JETS 66:2 (March 2023) p. 1

Tris-Hagion:
Foundation For Worldwide Mission

D. A. Carson*

^* D. A. Carson is Distinguished Emeritus Professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 2065 Half Day Road, Deerfield, IL 60015. This is a lightly edited version of his ETS Presidential Address delivered in Denver, Colorado, on Wednesday, November 16, 2022.

“Holy, holy, holy”—the tris-hagion, the thrice-holy formula—appears only twice in the pages of Scripture, give or take a textual variant. In due course we shall see that the two passages where they are found, Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4–5, are related in various ways. In this address, I want to suggest that one of the ways in which they are related is sometimes downplayed or even overlooked, and it is foundational for our understanding of Christian mission.

I. Isaiah 6

It will be useful to outline the flow of Isaiah 6 in the following way:

First, the holy God (6:1–4). It is commonly asserted on etymological grounds that “holy” is tied either to the notion of brightness or to the notion of separateness or distinctness. Whatever the etymological truth of the matter, it is quite clear that the seraphim were not crying out, “Separate, separate, separate is the Lord Almighty,” or “Distinct, distinct, distinct is the Lord Almighty,” or, still less, “Moral, moral, moral is the Lord Almighty.” Careful study of the word suggests that its semantic range works out from a tight core through expanding concentric circles. At the core, “holy” is almost an adjective for God: only God is God, only God is holy. This theme is especially strong in Isaiah, where “The Holy One of Israel [or Jacob]” serves as a title for God twenty-six times (and only six times in the rest of the Hebrew canon). Then, spreading out a little, that which is tied to God and his service is said to be holy—for instance, the shovel used to take out the ash from the altar is said to be holy. If the shovel were given any other task—say, cleaning out the latrine—it would be profane. To say the shovel is holy does not mean it is moral. But people too are sometimes said to be holy—indeed, they are commanded to be holy: “Be holy, for I am holy” does not mean “Be God, for I am God” but that people are to be reserved for God and his service, like the altar’s shovel. Of course, the entailments of being holy for a human being made in the image of God are different from the entailments for a shovel: for the human being who is reserved for God and h...