Abstract:
Although Christian spirituality includes a long tradition of suspicion of humour, humour can
express and further holiness in several ways. Humour serves holiness in religious satire; it can
also communicate the self-transcendent perspective of holy women and men. Humour and
holiness can also illuminate each other because both are inherently relational. Christian
holiness consists primarily in right relationship to the Holy One and, thus, to others. Humour’s
complex relational nature is examined with the help of Ted Cohen’s analysis of joke-telling and
evolutionary and cognitive research. Humour and its primary expression, laughter, are
inherently ambiguous, capable of expressing and creating a range of attitudes and relationships;
consequently, they can both conduce to and hinder holiness. Finally, humour can contribute to
the religious imagination, and thus to holiness, by challenging established images of the holy,
inviting fresh theological reflection, and inspiring ethical action. Both holiness and humour
require openness to that which is beyond us and agility in responding to the other.
Description:
Prof Dr. Anita Houck is chair
and associate Professor of
Religious Studies at St Mary’s
College, Notre Dame,
Indiana, and is part of the
research project, ‘Biblical
Theology and Hermeneutics:
Holiness’, directed by Prof Dr.
Andries van Aarde, professor
emeritus and senior research
fellow in the Faculty of
Theology of the University of
Pretoria, South Africa.
