Search

Eben Scheffler wrote much on poverty and social injustice, and this article focusses on his understanding of the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts in order to comprehend the different dimensions of suffering and the healing ministry of the Lukan Jesus. Scheffler stressed that Jesus' life, from birth to cross, was immersed in suffering thus becoming part of the human condition of sorrow and misery, but Scheffler ultimately stressed the compassion of Jesus' ministry which continued in the early church and which must be reflected by his followers to all people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the outstanding poetic achievements of the French Counter-Reformation is the sonnet sequence of Jean de La Ceppède (1550-1623), the full title of which isLes Théorèmes sur le sacré mystère de notre Rédemption, and which appeared in a form whose combination of intense formal focus and broad narrative development is particularly appropriate to the subject. The collection, published in two stages (dating from 1613 and 1622) is at once erudite, physical, penitential and precise, under which broad headings it is discussed in the first part of this article, which concentrates on the detailed attention accorded to the specifics of Christ’s suffering body before and during the Crucifixion, often in a strikingly painterly fashion. Two other features stand out: first, the existence of frequently very extensiveAnnotations, in which the whole panoply of patristic and later erudition is applied to features of the episodes depicted; and, then, the potential for their evocation to serve as meditational and penitential stimuli for the poet persona and, through him, for the reader. The second part of the article turns to the status of the wounds of Christ in the post-Resurrection appearances, as a means of restoring to the risen body some of the previous physical beauty implicitly evoked in the earlier pieces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on German theologist Martin Luther's theology of the cross in the Bremen Church Order (BCO) of 1534. Topics discussed include Luther's reference to the suffering and cross of Jesus Christ; the BCO, which states that the evangelical preacher condemns human righteousness, glory and wisdom, and bears witness to Jesus Christ; and BCO's chapter "About the Cross" which states that Christians may expect "Cross and Suffering" as part of the revelation of Jesus Christ.

The article explores how the heart of Jesus was shaped by a deep concern with people's suffering. It discusses the realization of Jesus that a lot of suffering was contrary to the will of God mainly due to false understanding of God's will through prayer and observation. It highlights how people were taught that dire poverty and severe illnesses were a punishment from God.

The New Testament's two pictures of divine intercession, that of the risen Christ interceding at the right hand of God (Rom 8:34; Heb 7:25) and that of the Holy Spirit interceding from within believers’ hearts (Rom 8:26–7), offer additional perspective on the difficult issue of how God comes in touch with human suffering. Romans 8:26–7 connects the Spirit's intercession with the experience of human suffering, and through its reference to groaning implies that the Spirit communicates something of the believer's felt experience of weakness to God. Hebrews links Christ's high priestly work, including his intercessory activity, with his experience of struggle, thereby implying that he brings the needs of weak and pressured believers to God with an empathy born of direct experience of suffering. These scriptural pictures open a fruitful path for theological reflection, suggesting that God comes to know human suffering not simply by unmediated divine knowledge, or even by the bare fact of the divine Son's incarnation, but also in a mediated fashion, through complementary actions of Christ and the Spirit best described as acts of intercession.Applying a model of thought which emphasises the intercessory activities of Christ and the Spirit to the problem of divine passibility has a number of advantages. First, it coheres well with New Testament patterns for describing the roles of Father, Son and Holy Spirit: Christ's intercession is rooted in his incarnation and distinctive redemptive mission, while the Spirit's intercession emerges from his redemptive indwelling. Second, its picture of God knowing human suffering through the mediated process of intercession suggests that God maintains his freedom and holiness even as he gets in touch with human suffering. Third, the intercession model may shed additional light on how the sufferings of the incarnate Son touch or otherwise relate to the Father. Fourth, the Bible's pictures of divine intercession suggest that God is brought in touch with two dimensions of human suffering: the objective reality of human affliction (mediated through Christ's intercession) and the subjective experiences of afflicted people (mediated through the Spirit's intercession). Finally, these scriptural pictures of intercession orient our thoughts about the question of passibility in a pastoral direction. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article explores the redemptive significance of the patience of Jesus. It examines how the patient suffering of Jesus is uniquely manifested in Jesus' life of obedience, crucifixion, and burial, in order to shed light on how God brings about redemption in a world marked by great suffering and evil. The article uses two novels, Peter De Vries's The Blood of the Lamb and Wallace Stegner's Crossing to Safety, in order to examine how it is precisely the patience of Jesus that provides the possibility for redemption in the midst of awful situations of suffering and grief. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers religious insights on death and horror based on selected verses of the book of Job and Hebrews in the Holy Scripture. It introduces the biblical character Job, whose virtue and piety are being praised by God, and relates his sufferings in the hand of Satan. It is emphasized that the fortunes of Job have been restored after all those sufferings. The problem of death, the way Jesus Christ conquers fear and the optimism about the power of humans detailed in the book of Hebrews are explained.

The article presents a sermon about having faith in God, based on the book of Matthew in the Holy Bible. The message of Jesus Christ to his disciple Peter is quoted. The plight of a suffering woman due to her daughter's chronic condition is used to demonstrate how man can be of little faith. The importance of listening and understanding is emphasized.