Through the writings of E. Durkheim, N. Söderblom and R. Otto, “the holy” became a central concept in comparative religion. But the unique and primordial notion of the holy has always been part, not only of human experience but of man’s conscious convictions. It became a major subject of thought as soon as the interpretation of the holy given in religious worship and in myth ceased to be sufficient.

Plato was the first Western thinker to deal with the holy, after the struggles of the p…