Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Studies, Islamic Azad University, Pardis Science and Technology Branch, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Elucidating and delineating the scope of the concepts of sacred and profane constitute fundamental research within the field of religious studies. The significance of investigating the processual development sacred and profane is very important, making it impossible to know the secularization or humanism. The notions of sacred and profane have an expansive historical breadth rooted in the history of religion. Analyzing the evolution across the Bible, the early church eras, and the medieval period provides a paradigm of semantic transformation and conceptual development. This process reveals four interpretative patterns for knowing the sacred from profane:
The Biblical pattern, which sees a close connection between religion and the world, considering the worldly affairs as a farm for the hereafter;
The Ancestral pattern influenced by Gnostic and Greek cultures, often repudiating the world and deeming it as profane;
The medieval pattern, where the dialectic between the sacred and profane in biblical texts destabilizes, leading to a negation of worldly existence and an exaggerated emphasis on the afterlife;
The modern pattern, which elevates anything that alleviates human suffering to the status of sacred. Jesus’ positive approach to the world is undeniable, and his view of poverty signifies a negation of greed and attachment to material wealth.
