- published: 21 May 2016
- views: 5845
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.
In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth. (2Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 3:14-19; 2Corinthians 13:5) In Orthodox and Catholic teachings, all Christians in heaven are considered to be saints, but some are considered to be worthy of higher honor, emulation, or veneration.
In the Christian Bible, only one person is expressly called a saint: "They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the LORD." (Psalms 106:16-18) The apostle Paul declared himself to be "less than the least of all saints" in Ephesians 3:8.
The term in English is mostly used for Christians, and is "...used predominantly in the popular and theological sense indicated above, that is, as referring to all those who have died and are with God in Christ."
Many religions use similar concepts to venerate individuals worthy of honor in some way, e.g., see Hindu saints. John A. Coleman S.J., Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, wrote that saints across various cultures and religions have the following family resemblances: