(change, conversion).
Mar 1:4, Mar 1:15.
Christian Bible Dictionary
Dr. J. Dominguez
http://bible.com/dictionary/
Source: Christian Bible Dictionary
Etymologically it means change or transformation. Psychologically it indicates transformation or change of feelings or attitudes towards a better situation.
That is why religiously it identifies with the demand for “conversion or improvement of life” that the Old Testament prophets demanded, that John the Baptist requested and that Jesus himself asked his listeners at the beginning of his public life (Mt. 34. 11; Mt. 4.17, Mk. 1.12, Lk 3. 3) The metanoia or conversion was the beginning.
(See Message of Jesus 4.2)
Pedro Chico González, Dictionary of Catechesis and Religious Pedagogy, Editorial Bruño, Lima, Peru 2006
Source: Dictionary of Catechesis and Religious Pedagogy
(see conversion)
(ESQUERDA BIFET, Juan, Dictionary of Evangelization, BAC, Madrid, 1998)
Source: Dictionary of Evangelization
1. Terinology.- In biblical language, metanoia says more than the term “conversion” according to its modern meaning of passing from one conviction or behavior to another, since in Scripture it contains the idea of permanence that arises from the new existential orientation that it provokes.
All this rich spiritual process is translated by means of a double series of terms: 1) those that are related to the Hebrew root shlub, translated in the Greek of the Septuagint by compounds of the verb strepho, especially epistrepho, and 2) those that refer to the root nhm, always translated by metaneo/metanoia. The first series is the most abundant, especially in the Old Testament, and retains its specific original meaning of “returning, reversing the path, departing from a path followed until then”, with the double connotation of both physical movement (return from exile ) and psychological (religious conversion). In the New Testament, among the various compounds of strepho, only epistrepho has, and not always, a clearly religious meaning. As for the second series of terms, in the Old Testament it is less frequent than the first and also retains the original connotation of nhm (“sob, sigh”), which reflexively says “repent, grieve”, not always in a primarily and exclusively religious sense. Therefore, “these terms do not evoke for the reader of the Old Testament an attitude or an initiative characteristic of the faith of Israel” (J Guillet, Metanoia, 1094).
On the contrary, when one goes to the New Testament, the opposite phenomenon is observed: metanoeo/metanoia are used much more than epistrepho, and always to indicate an underlying attitude of the Christian faith. If one takes into account that the Old Testament of the Seventies always rigorously distinguishes between methanoeo and epistrepho, so that shub is never translated by methanoeo and, vice versa, niham is never translated by strepho or any of its compounds, it must be concluded that methaneeo /metanoia in the New Testament essentially mean “repent” and “repent.” However, this does not mean that the “conversion” of the Old Testament can be drastically separated from the “repentance” of the New, since the contacts between both concepts are present both in the Old (Gn 3,9; Ex 32,12; Jr 31 ,18-19) as in the New Testament (Lk 17,4; Acts 3,19: 26,20).
2. Concept.- In fact, the characters and the existential context of the New Testament “repentance” coincide in their contents with the “conversion” of the Old Testament. Indeed, on both sides we find the same imperative demand for a change of life, the same need arising from an imminent event (the prophetic call in the Old Testament, the coming of the Kingdom of God in the New), the same irreparable ruin for those who refuse to enter the Kingdom of God, as well as, on the other hand, the same hopeful promise for those who welcome the call (cf. J. Guillet, Metanoia, 1095).
In addition, the underlying idea of this demand for a change of life is always the same: to return, to retrace the path traveled in the opposite direction, to convert with sincere repentance (Acts 3:19), with the conviction of accepting in this way the invitation to the encounter with God, broken by his own sin (Os 2,9; 6,1. 14,2; Jr 24,7. 25,5; Acts 2,38; 3,19.26; 1730). This is the essential condition to be able to “believe” in the good news of the arrival of the Kingdom of God and to adhere to it (Mk 1,15; Acts 1 1,21). For the Jews it will be a question of “returning” to the God of the covenant, recognizing him present now in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, constituted Lord by his resurrection from the dead (Acts 2,36; 2 Cor 3,16-18); the pagans, on the other hand, have to return to God abandoning their own idols (1 Thess 1,9; Gá14,9; 1 Cor 7 14; Acts 14,15).
In this existential context, metanoia necessarily combines the connotation of regret and repentance for the wrong approach to the previous life (semantic value of the Hebrew root nhm) with that of a deep inner change, expressed by the preposition meta together with the radical of nous (feeling, understanding, spirit), which leads to a radical change of spirit (Heb 6,6) and its determining orientations. Thus, metanoia has as its specific characteristic that of inaugurating a new way of situating oneself in existence, due to the fact that the individual has opened his own mind in a total and unconditional way to the call of God.
This meaning stands out clearly in the texts in which there is a relationship between rnetanoein and epistrephein (Acts 3,19; 20,26). In these cases, while metanoein underlines the repentance that leads to moving away from the wrong path, epistrephein emphasizes the new positive direction that is printed on one’s own existence: when a person turns towards God and towards Christ, the Lord (Acts 20,21) , fixes his attention on the new lifestyle that derives from it for him (Acts 26,20).
In this perspective, metanoia constitutes a permanent fact in the believer’s life and not only the starting point of his new religious orientation. This fact appears above all in the link between metanoia and baptism. If metanoia represents man’s response to the divine call, baptism expresses the moment of God’s salvific intervention, which gives birth to the communion of life between God and man, a communion that must then continue in a continuous crescendo. “Therefore, let sin not reign in your mortal body. Do not submit to their appetites, nor lend your bodies as perverse weapons at the service of sin. Rather, offer yourselves to God as what you are: dead who have come back to life, and make of your members instruments of salvation at the service of God (Rom 6:12-13).
However, despite the requirement of active human collaboration so that it can be realized, metanoia continues to be a gift from God: “(God has exalted him (Christ) to his right as prince and savior, to give Israel the occasion to repent and obtain forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5,31; cf. 11,18; 2 Tim 2,25). For this reason, metanoia, in addition to constituting the object of an urgent imperative, is also the central point of the good news on the part of John the Baptist (Mt 3,2; Mk 1,4; Lk 3,3), of Jesus (Mt 4,17. Mk 1,15) and of the apostles (Acts 2,38; 20 ,21; 26,20), since it represents the notification that God wants our salvation through our adherence to a life of communion with him.This graceful aspect of metanoia is postulated by its very nature, which, as has been seen, it carries out a radical revolution in the life of the individual.
It is identified, in other words, with the fundamental option that the believer carries out in his existence. And this initiative is only possible with the decisive intervention of divine help. This being the case, we are not surprised to see how often metanoia is present in the message of the New Testament, even where it is not expressly mentioned, a fact that is perceived above all in the Johannine writings, in which it is glimpsed in the discourse on faith, seen as a radical option of the believer. In this sense, the parallelism in John of the synoptic “repent and believe in the gospel” (Mt 4,17. , Mc 1,15) we have it in Jn 6,29: “(This is the work of God: believe in the one who He has sent them. In this same perspective, John will insist on the demand for the progressive dynamism of the life of faith, just as the Synoptics insist on metanoia as a fact that affects the entire Christian existence. This postulate is enunciated in an almost programmatic way as the conclusion of the sign of Cana: (“This happened in Cana of Galilee. It was the first sign performed by Jesus. Thus he began to manifest (an aorist ingressive!) his glory and his disciples began to believe (another aorist ingressive!) in him” (Jn 2,1 1).
3. Effects of metanoia.- These effects are always stated in the New Testament in a very broad way.
We have in the first place the general affirmation that metanoia makes one enter into life, said in an absolute way without any specification, which means that metanoia makes one participate in full and true life, which is only divine life: it is the one that believers of the Jerusalem community perceive in the pagans who have converted: “So God has also granted the pagans the conversion that leads to life!” (Acts 11,1 8; cf. Heb 6,1). But this is only possible to the extent that conversion creates the conditions for God to forgive sins (Mk 1,4; Lc3,3; 24,47; Acts 2,38; 3,19; 5,31) .
This complete and definitive rupture with evil transfers the convert to an existence totally committed to the convinced and filial service of God (1 Thess 1,9), since it leads to true faith, making the individual available to welcome God’s salvific proposal. in its entirety and unconditionally: (“Without making a difference between them (the pagans) and us, (God) purified their hearts by faith” (Acts 15:9).
A. Dalbesio
Bibl.: AA. VV., Conversion, penance, repentance, in DTNT. 1, 331-338: D. Borobio, Conversion, in CFP 209-226; F Herráez, Conversion, in CF, 249-256: Vergés, Christian conversion in Saint Paul, Trinitarian Secretariat, Salamanca 1981: B. Haring, Conversion, in Pastoral of sin, Verbo Divino, Estella 1970, 97-202.
PACOMIO, Luciano, Encyclopedic Theological Dictionary, Divine Word, Navarra, 1995
Source: Encyclopedic Theological Dictionary
When biblical authors use the concept of m. (27 times in the LXX; 55 in the NT), link the profane sense of change of opinion (in the classical period) and sorrow for a behavior (in the Stoics of the Hellenistic period) with the idea of change of conduct and return to God, as expressed in the Hebrew verb süb (1059 times in the Hebrew Bible) and in the noun tesubra, usual in late Judaism.
Although the words matánoia and metanoeín appear relatively little in the LXX, nevertheless the idea of m. it is a fundamental theme of Biblical and Jewish literature. If we speak here of “-> repentance” and “-> penance”, we must make it clear that the best equivalent…