245 lines
9.7 KiB
Plaintext
245 lines
9.7 KiB
Plaintext
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THE REFINING FIRE
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The presence of suffering and hardship in life cannot always be
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explained on the basis of divine justice. Why, if God is just and
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gracious, and the true teaching brings forth love and peace, do the
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righteous seem to suffer about as much as the wicked? The problem of
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theodicy, particularly when it concerns the problem of the righteous
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sufferer, has occupied the minds of some of the greatest religious
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thinkers. Passages relevant to the problem of theodicy are found
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scattered throughout this anthology according to the various solutions
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which are posited in scripture: e.g., the human condition is inevitably
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Ill, pp. 379-85; people are deluded by Ignorance, pp. 395-402; infected by
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Original Sin from a primordial Human Fall, pp. 422-34; fated to work out
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accumulated Karma or Inherited Sin, pp. 694-702; or influenced by Demonic
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Powers, pp. 435-44. One may have an Argument with God, pp. 782-86 that
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such suffering is unjust, or empathize with God's own Grief, pp. 457-62.
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Another way in which the suffering of the righteous is frequently
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under- stood is as a means to spiritual advancement and hence a
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manifestation of God's grace. Suffering tries and tests people, purifies
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their faith, corrects their flaws, and refines their character. This
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suffering is an expression of grace and love because once people have come
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out of the refining fire and accepted correction, they will shine with a
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tested and confirmed faith and a splendid character. Especially those
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whom God wishes to entrust with a special responsibility, or who are
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desirous of reaching the highest goal, will be most severely tested and
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most thoroughly refined. The passages gathered below treat this gracious
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side of suffering: the refining fire.
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Welcome to Thy wrath and to Thy glow!
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Our welcome be to Thy flame!
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Let Thy missles burn our enemies,
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Be our purifier, be gracious to us!
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Hinduism. Yajur Veda 36.20
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Just as a great conflagration
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Can burn up all things,
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So does Buddha's field of blessings
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Burn up all fabrication.
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Buddhism. Garland Sutra 10
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As the heat of a fire reduces wood to ashes, the fire of knowledge burns
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to ashes all karma. Nothing in this world purifies like spiritual wisdom.
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Hinduism. Bhagavad Gita 4.37
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Just as a fire quickly reduces decayed wood to ashes, so does an aspirant
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who is totally absorbed in the inner self and completely unattached to all
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external objects shake to the roots, attenuate, and wither away his
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karma-body.
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Jainism. Samantabadhra, Aptamimamsa 24-27
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"From His right hand went forth a fiery law for them" (Deuteronomy 33.2).
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The words of Torah are compared to fire, for both were given from heaven,
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both are eternal. If a man draws near the fire, he derives benefit; if he
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keeps afar, he is frozen, so with the words of the Torah: if a man toils
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in them, they are life to him; if he separates from him, they kill him.
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Judaism. Midrash, Sifre Deuteronomy
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I will put this third into the fire,
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and refine them as one refines silver,
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and test them as gold is tested.
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Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Zechariah 13.9
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Ambrosia can be extracted even from poison; elegant speech even from a
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child; good conduct even from an enemy, gold even from impurity.
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Hinduism. Laws of Manu 2.239
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Garland Sutra 10: Cf. Dhammapada 239, p. 713; Ramayana, Yuddha Kanda
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118-20, pp. 783f. Zechariah 13.9: Cf. Hidden Words of Baha'u'llah, Arabic
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54, p. 937.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Make chastity your furnace, patience your smithy,
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The Master's word your anvil, and true knowledge your hammer.
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Make awe of God your bellows, and with it kindle the fire of austerity.
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And in the crucible of love, melt the nectar Divine.
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Only in such a mint, can man be cast into the Word.
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Sikhism. Adi Granth, Japuji 38, M.1, p. 8
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Devotion to God's Name is my lamp;
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In this lamp is poured the oil of suffering.
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The light of realization burns away this oil,
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Lifted is the encounter with Death.
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Let not the world ridicule this as an idle boast:
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Vast loads of firewood are reduced to ashes by a tiny spark of fire.
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Sikhism. Adi Granth, Asa, M.1, p. 358
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Every soul must taste of death, and We try you with evil and with good,
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for ordeal. And unto Us you will be returned.
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Islam. Qur'an 21.35
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Rabbi Johanan said, "The Israelites are compared to an olive tree, because
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as the olive yields its oil only by hard pressure, so the Israelites do
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not return to righteousness except through suffering."
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Judaism. Talmud, Menahot 53b
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We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
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and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope
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does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our
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hearts.
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Christianity. Bible, Romans 5.3-5
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In the whole world it is said that some part of the body is afflicted and
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painful. It is truly a signpost or guidance from God, though you are
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ignorant of it.
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Tenrikyo. Ofudesaki 2.22
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My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline
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or be weary of his reproof,
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for the Lord reproves him whom he loves,
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as a father the son in whom he delights.
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Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Proverbs 3.11-12
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I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself,
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that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
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Correct me, O Lord, but in just measure;
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not in thy anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.
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Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Jeremiah 10.23-24
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Japuji 38, M.1: Cf. Book of Certitude, 68-69, p. 805. Menahot 53b: Cf.
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Canticles Rabbah 2.5, p. 764. Proverbs 3.11-12: Quoted in Hebrews
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12.5-11. Cf. Job 1.6-12, p. 442; Deuteronomy 6.20-8.20, p. 1084; Book of
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Mormon, Mosiah 3.19, p. 912.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Yet the suffering
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Involved in my awakening will have a limit;
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It is like the suffering of having an incision made
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In order to remove and destroy greater pain.
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Even doctors eliminate illness
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With unpleasant medical treatments,
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So in order to overcome manifold sufferings
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I should be able to put up with some discomfort.
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But the Supreme Physician does not employ
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Common medical treatments such as these,
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With an extremely gentle technique
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He remedies all the greatest sins.
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Buddhism. Shantideva, Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life
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7.22-24
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Do men imagine that they will be left [at ease] because they say, "We
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believe," and will not be tested with affliction? Lo! We tested those
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who were before you. Thus God knows those who are sincere, and knows
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those who feign.
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Islam. Qur'an 29.2-3
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Mencius said, "Shun rose from the fields; Fu Yeh was raised to office from
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among the builders; Chiao Ke from amid the fish and salt; Kuan Chung from
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the hands of the prison officer; Sun Shu-ao from the sea and Po-li Hsi
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from the market. That is why Heaven, when it is about to place a great
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burden on a man, always first tests his resolution, exhausts his frame and
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makes him suffer starvation and hardship, frustrates his efforts so as to
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shake him from his mental lassitude, toughen his nature, and make good his
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deficiencies."
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Confucianism. Mencius VI.B.15
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If the Holy One is pleased with a man, he crushes him with painful
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sufferings. For it is said, "And the Lord was pleased with him, hence he
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crushed him by disease" (Isaiah 53.10). Now, you might think that this is
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so even if he did not accept them with love. Therefore it is said, "To
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see if his soul would offer itself in restitution." Even as the
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trespass-offering must be brought by consent, so also the sufferings must
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be endured with consent. And if he did accept them, what is his reward?
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"He will see his seed, prolong his days." And more than that, his
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knowledge [of Torah] will endure with him. For it is said, "The purpose of
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the Lord will prosper in his hand."
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Judaism. Talmud, Berakot 5a
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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Qur'an 29.2-3: Cf. Qur'an 2.153-57, p. 745; 6.165, p. 707; 47.31, p. 468;
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Majjhima Nikaya iii.21, p. 469; Job 1.6-12, p. 442; Sirach 6.7-17, p. 267;
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Dahomey Song, p. 745. Mencius VI.B.15: Cf. Luke 12.48, p. 707. Berakot
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5a: The Talmud is explicating on Isaiah 53.10, pp. 639f., a verse from
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Isaiah's portrayal of God's suffering servant. Cf. Job 23.3-10, p. 783.
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- - - - - - - - - - - -
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And to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a
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thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to
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keep me from being too elated. Three times I [Paul] besought the Lord
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about this, that it should leave me; but he said to me, "My grace is
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sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." I will all
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the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest
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upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses,
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insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then
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I am strong.
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Christianity. Bible, 2 Corinthians 12.7-10
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2 Corinthians 12.7-10: Paul never specifies the nature of his 'thorn'; it
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was most likely a physical ailment. When he petitioned God for relief,
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instead he received the response 'My grace is enough for you...' which he
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takes to be a manifestation in his person of the message of the cross.
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