endurance(1/2)
The suffering and the patience
Current favorite Greek words? θλῖψις and ὑπομονή The first is translated “tribulation” in the KJV, but that translation doesn’t do much good for me who, after all these years, still can’t get the claws of dispensationalism totally out of my head. Seeing the word “tribulation”, I still envision either some future period of intense suffering or an exceptionally intense personal struggle. What I am discovering; however, is that the etymology of the word is a metaphor taken from intense pressure, as in the pressing of grapes to produce wine.…
Real life is an endurance test
Real life–as distinguished from romanticized, sentimentalized life–is largely an endurance test, a “long defeat.” Hope based on empirical evidence of human goodness or human perfectibility is not true hope; it is only optimism or “positive thinking” and cannot stand up to the actual situation. True hope is the hope-against-hope of which Paul speaks in Romans 4:18; that is to say, it is based on a promise from a sphere beyond this one.…
Suffering undertaken for a higher cause
θλῖψις can be translated “apocalypic suffering” because it refers to the affliction suffered by the servants of God in the ongoing conflict with the “world rulers of this present darkness” as Ephesians calls them (6:12). This is not ordinary suffering that comes willy-nilly to everyone. This is suffering that is voluntarily undertaken for the sake of a higher cause. The entire Ring saga could be described as a tale of apocalyptic affliction endured so that the united kingdom [βασιλεία] of Arnor and Gondor can be restored to its rightful ruler.…