From my study notes on 2 Corinthians 1:
It seems unfortunate we translate the Greek word (paraklesis) simply as "comfort" in English, because the typical associations with that word miss the point. The Greek word is both the invocation of someone’s assistance, and the assistance delivered. The Holy Spirit, often called by the related term "Comforter" (paraklete), is One who by His nature draws you up out of yourself. When you call upon God, He calls you to Himself. That primary form of assistance and comfort is to make you see you need not care about the sorrows that clamor your attention. Comfort in tribulation is rising above it mystically. We then offer that same blessing to others, helping them rise above their sorrow by climbing outside themselves. Such consolation is abundant in Christ.
Naturally, as we develop a stronger immunity to worldly sorrows, we should expect those sorrows to abound. What kind of reward is that? Wrong question. God sends more sorrows because that is how He executes His wrath on sin. If this drives you deeper into despair, it is because you cling too much to this life. If it drives you farther from your old self, you should expect more of it as the sorrows succeed in their mission. Our sorrows abound, but our "comfort" abounds the more, as we pull farther and farther away from the false and fallen world around us. Yes, the whole point is to make you even more otherworldly, more "out of touch" from things which only hinder His Kingdom. Paul sincerely hopes they understand this, so the same deep blessings can fall on them.
This is a sample of moral reasoning in the heart. The objective is to become less attached to this world, so suffering and sorrow make sense. They are your friends.
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A random question: what do you think about dreams and their (spiritual) significance?
At least there could be a line of reasoning that questions our naturalistic assumptions concerning the “modifyablity” reality — and if your own brain (or body/soul/spirit) can create dreams, obviously God can/could do much more also to “waking reality”.
Also been reading about (and trying to understand the complex philosophical language) the hiddenness of God: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/divine-hiddenness/
http://infidels.org/library/modern/john_schellenberg/hidden.html
Intellect has fallen, indeed, but interesting things to wonder about.
Mr. T. wrote: A random question: what do you think about dreams and their (spiritual) significance?
Our biggest problem is trying to connect our experiences with the Bible. As noted often, our Western tendency to define (circumscribe and delineate) is the wrong approach. There is a body of lore in Scripture but you simply cannot use it without a heart-led awareness. It has to become almost “instinctual” in that sense. What you experience as a vivid and almost palpable experience in a dream state may still be impossible to nail down until sometime long after. We too easily forget that our minds are hugely mistaken about the meaning of time and proximity. So there is no short answer, but I feel confident I can help most folks interpret dreams because God keeps giving me peace about helping them.
Re: “hiddenness of God” — the first link starts off missing the point entirely of biblical references. People keep trying to force Hebrew language into Western intellectual expectations. Most such comments about God being distant is an established protocol for addressing God. It’s also a well-established sense of separation, something we do well to examine after consciously discarding Western theological assumptions. If nothing else, reading this link Steven offered previously on another post will help make you aware of some of the assumptions we are saddled with by Western heritage. So the first link represents a long and needlessly painful approach that gets you lost. The second one is equally cerebral and mistaken.
The “hiddenness of God” is a bogus philosophical approach to a moral experience in the heart. There is no intellectual explanation because the actual experience (separation) is entirely in the realm of the heart. Recognizing that will help make those two links easier to digest.
I disagree. Suffering and pleasure are the two sides of the same coin (attachment). Even their duality is illusory, as sadomasochism shows us. Jesus wasn’t attached to suffering (Matthew 26:39). Notice Abba would have delivered Jesus from the Cross if He prayed for it (Matthew 26:53).
The idea that suffering has some kind of purifying magic is pagan. The Pharoah was tormented to death, yet he didn’t repent. The people in Revelation 16:11 will be tormented, yet they won’t repent. The main reason I reject apokatastasis is that I don’t believe in purification through suffering.
Steven wrote: I disagree. Suffering and pleasure are the two sides of the same coin…
You could say that. But I didn’t say suffering was purifying, and I think I was pretty careful to avoid equating torment with the suffering Paul discussed in the referenced passage. Indeed, he made similar comments in several of his letters, but more in the Corinthian letters. The emphasis was to shatter the Western instinctive absolutism about pain as somehow always evil, something justifying frantic efforts to avoid at the costs of toxic chemistry, etc. When things go bad, it should drive you into the arms of God.
“something justifying frantic efforts to avoid at the costs of toxic chemistry”
Do you believe its a sin to use painkillers?
Steven asked: Do you believe its a sin to use painkillers?
No. The sin is in how and why they are used. Materialistic culture demands instant gratification for the smallest issues.
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