Main news for 5 August 2015

Paul considers all the spiritual problems and sins appearing in the life of the Corinthian church a "human testing", that is, one in which there is nothing unusual, nothing supernatural, and perhaps nothing especially terrible. In such a context the word "testing" is customarily translated into Russian as "temptation", but the corresponding Greek word, like its Hebrew equivalent, means precisely "testing", although it can also contain the meaning we have in mind today when speaking of temptations. For us, temptations are still more often connected with our own sins, while testings are usually associated with a kind of exam, with a verification of our faith and our faithfulness. Strictly speaking, however, the difference between a testing and a temptation is determined only by whether we fail the exam or not. If not, we sometimes proudly speak of the testing through which we passed; if we fail, we call the testing a temptation, grieving that our sins have once again proved stronger than we are. But for the first Christians, evidently, there was no clear distinction here, and Paul is no exception.

And this is not surprising: for the apostle, Christianity is not a religion where there is room, on the one hand, for bright preaching and heroic self-sacrifice, and on the other, for a secret struggle with personal sin, secret because speaking aloud about such things is awkward and shameful. For Paul, Christianity is life in the Kingdom. And it does not matter what prevents a person from living this life in fullness: fear of possible or real persecutions, resentment at rejection by those around him who live the life of "this world", or one of those passions or vices that have seized mind and heart, about which the apostle says that among Christians it is indecent even to mention them.

In any case, the matter concerns something incompatible with the life of the Kingdom and therefore something that must be overcome. This means that the matter always concerns a testing. And that it is "human", characteristic of people, is also unfortunately true: Paul is speaking of things that are quite typical for fallen people, despite all the unattractiveness of those things. But the apostle knows something else too: for those for whom the life of the Kingdom is more important than everything else, such testings are completely surmountable. For unlike people, God is faithful to promises once given and to the union-covenant once made.