Servant of God () is a title used in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible

canonization Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christianity, Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon ca ...

as a

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

Terminology

The expression ''Servant of God'' appears nine times in the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

, the first five in the

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

, the last four in the New. The Hebrew Bible refers to

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

as "the servant of

Elohim ''Elohim'' ( ) is a Hebrew word meaning "gods" or "godhood". Although the word is plural in form, in the Hebrew Bible it most often takes singular verbal or pronominal agreement and refers to a single deity, particularly but not always the Go ...

" (עֶֽבֶד הָאֱלֹהִ֛ים ''‘eḇeḏ-hā’ĕlōhîm''; , , , and ). and refer to

Joshua Joshua ( ), also known as Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' Literal translation, lit. 'Yahweh is salvation'), Jehoshua, or Josue, functioned as Moses' assistant in the books of Book of Exodus, Exodus and ...

as "the slave of Yahweh" (עֶ֣בֶד יְהוָ֑ה, ''‘eḇeḏ

Yahweh Yahweh was an Ancient Semitic religion, ancient Semitic deity of Weather god, weather and List of war deities, war in the History of the ancient Levant, ancient Levant, the national god of the kingdoms of Kingdom of Judah, Judah and Kingdom ...

''). The New Testament also describes Moses in this way in (τοῦ δούλου τοῦ Θεοῦ, ''tou doulou tou Theou''). Paul calls himself "a servant of God" in (δοῦλος Θεοῦ, ''doulos Theou''), while James calls himself "a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ" (θεοῦ καὶ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ χριστοῦ δοῦλος, ''Theou kai Kyriou Iēsou Christou doulos'') in . describes "servants of God" (Θεοῦ δοῦλοι, ''Theou douloi'') being free to act within the bounds of God's will. Following usage conventions established in the

King James Bible The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by ...

, the word "servant" is never capitalized or used as a title of nobility. ("The servant is not greater than his lord.")

Catholic Church

''Servant of God'' is an expression used for a member of the

whose life and works are being investigated in consideration for recognition by the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

and the Catholic Church as a saint in

Heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...

. The term ''Servant of God'' () should not be confused with '' Servus Servorum Dei'' (Servant of the Servants of God), one of the titles of the Pope. The term ''Servant of God'' is used in the first of the four steps in the canonization process. The next step is being declared

venerable ''The Venerable'' often shortened to Venerable is a style, title, or epithet used in some Christianity, Christian churches. The title is often accorded to holy persons for their spiritual perfection and wisdom. Catholic In the Catholic Churc ...

, upon a decree of heroism or

martyrdom A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In colloqui ...

by the honored. That is followed by

beatification Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the p ...

, with the title of Blessed. After the confirmation of miracles resulting from the intercession of the honored, the final step is

, where the honored would receive the title of a

. The process for

is under the jurisdiction of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. ''Servant of God'' is not considered a canonical title in a strict sense by the Catholic Church (as for instance venerable or Blessed are), but only a technical term used in the process of canonization. Hence, any of the faithful can be named a ''Servant of God'' in a larger frame of meaning. Public speeches about Servants of God are prohibited in Catholic churches as well as any acts that could mislead the faithful into thinking that the person will eventually be canonized.

Explanatory notes

References

External links

* {{Use dmy dates, date=October 2019 Ecclesiastical titles Sainthood Canonization

Terminology

Catholic Church

See also

Explanatory notes

References

External links