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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J.

Bryson Arthur

Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution.


By J. Bryson Arthur An Occasional Paper published by Nazareth Evangelical Theological Seminary (No 1, February 2012)

Director of Publications and Editor: Duane Alexander Miller Assisting Editor: William Brown Citation: Arthur, J. Bryson. Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution in Marys Well Occasional Papers, 1:1, February (Nazareth, Israel: Nazareth Evangelical Theological Seminary 2012).
Marys Well Occasional Papers Nazareth Evangelical Theological Seminary 1 1:1 February 2012 Nazareth, Israel

Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1: Pauls Theology of Suffering Chapter 2: Risk for Life

p. 3 p. 22 p. 34 p. 46

Chapter 3: Persecution for Christ Bibliography


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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur

Chapter 1: Pauls Theology of Suffering


1. Introduction

That there is suffering, of immense proportions, in the world there can be no doubt: The sorrow-less gods have so spun the thread that wretched mortals live in pain (Homer)1. The suffering of the Biblical figures from Old Testament to New, summed up, we might say, in the great suffering of Jesus, is also clearly recorded. We could be forgiven for saying that both the history of the World and Biblical history is a history of suffering. We often refer to the history traced out in the pages of the Bible as heilsgeschichte, the history of salvation. I want to propose that the history of salvation from the Exodus to the cross and beyond is closely related to the story of the great suffering of the saints OT and NEW. So much so that our first question in this paper can possibly be: is suffering salvific? In St. Pauls writings we find a greatly developed meaning of suffering. Pope John Paul II explains why St. Paul writes so much on suffering: The Apostle shares his own discovery and rejoices in it because of all those whom it can help just as it helped him to understand the salvific meaning of suffering (Salvifici Doloris 1) 2 There can be no question amongst Evangelical Christians if not all Christians that the passion/suffering of Jesus was salvific for others but to argue that the suffering of others, including the Apostles, even if of a certain quality,3 is salvific, is another matter. Nonetheless suffering, if we consider texts such as James 1:2-4 or 1 Peter 4:12-18, is of profound and essential value. We might even pose that suffering of a certain quality4 is an essential and unavoidable product of following Jesus, and in that sense necessary for salvation. Morna Hooker states, Dying with Christ involves real suffering...but this dying leads not only to a future life with Christ but to an experience of life in the present also5 Christian life is a process, I believe, of moral recovery. Moral recovery requires the reverse journey to that which the human ego naturally and vigorously pursues. What is involved then is the dying to self, the deconstruction of the ego. But the sinful desire for self; self gratification and self establishment - realisation of the full potential of the human ego is very strong and so undeserved suffering comes upon us as the means of loosening the egos grip. This is why James declares:
1 2

Homer, Iliad 24:525. Brian Pizzalato, St Paul explains the meaning of suffering, Catholic News Agency CNA, 8 July 2010. 3 For example, suffering for others 4 Undeserved suffering and suffering for others 5 Morna Hooker, Paul: A Beginners Guide (Oxford: One world, 2003),130.
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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials (suffering) of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4) The pattern of Christs life is suffering and dying. He is the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53. He is the Lamb of God who suffered and died that others may live. The Apostles and all Christians are called to a life in Christ which involves suffering. But this suffering is very special because for those in Christ, according to Paul, it is sharing in the suffering of Christ: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. (2 Cor1:3-7) The RSV states perhaps more explicitly, v5 For as we share abundantly in Christs sufferings, so through Christ, we share abundantly in comfort too. The key to our suffering given to us by Paul is that we are sharing in the suffering of Christ. Paul considers himself sharing in this suffering and so the Corinthian church, to be authentic, must also share in the suffering of Christ.
6 And we read in Luke 9:23-26

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. 25What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? We see that anyone who follows Jesus truly must deny the sinful vagaries of his or her ego taking up his own cross or responsibility in whatever shape or form this is and follow. All followers then are sharing in the suffering of Christ. This is the way. Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life. The way is the way of the cross which may be understood as self denial

In 1 Peter 4:12-14 we see also a very similar concept with respect to sharing in the suffering of Christ.
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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur and suffering even to the extent, for some, of physical dying for the sake of others. We have then a suffering of dying to self, and dying for others. Undeserved suffering comes upon us in many guises: bereavement of a loved one or other grievous loss, illness or physical or mental incapacity. Persecution and oppression of others can also be visited upon us. Being the victims of injustice or not having an honest desire fulfilled (for example marriage, children, the opportunity to use our gifts fully), rejection and being hated and despised by others because of our faith. Such suffering, I propose, of those in Christ is suffering with Christ. Perhaps we could say that such sufferings are Christs sufferings in my flesh. Consider Col 1:24: Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. Is Paul saying that to complete Christs suffering on the cross we must suffer in our own body? This appears to be a statement of how far Paul himself has suffered for and in Christ. Paul is sharing in Christs sufferings through his own persecution, beatings, imprisonment etc. He is saying he fills up in his own body what until this point was still lacking in the cross? Could we say then that every Christians own particular suffering completes Christs suffering on the cross?7 This being the case it is easy to see why Pope John Paul II understood suffering as salvific. Morna hooker again: For Paul...to share in the sufferings and death of Jesus is not just a question of putting up with pain and degradation and hardship but a sharing in Christs ministry of bringing healing and life to others. [] Those in Christ must share in what he is and so become those through whom this principle of life through death operates. 8 According to Jerome Murphy OConnor OP. There is another facet to suffering, for Suffering can be revelatory when the unchangeable is accepted with grace. If the achievement is disproportionate to the means the power of God becomes visible.9 When we overcome the trials through suffering which come upon us even although we have no strength to do so, then Gods help can be seen. We get through what we have to get through because God is with us and we suffer then in His strength and not our own. Some suffering may be said to be supernatural
7 8

See further discussion on the concept of filling out that which is lacking in the cross of Christ below Hooker, Paul,131. 9 Jerome Murphy-OConnor, Paul: A Critical Life (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996), 313.
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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur in this light. But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him (2Cor 2:14). The overcoming of suffering Paul refers to as a triumphal procession. And this procession spreads the sweet fragrance of the knowledge of Christ. Further, and more explicitly: We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body (2 Cor 4:10). By our suffering and our overcoming of our suffering the life of Jesus becomes visible in our own bodies and persons. This according to OConnor is The summit of Second Corinthians and the most profound insight ever articulated as to the meaning of suffering and the authentic nature of ministry.10

2.

The Origin of Suffering and the Types of Suffering

2.1

Origin

From the Genesis narrative Adam and Eve disobeyed God leading mankind into a sinful and evil existence in the World. The desire for the knowledge and, therefore, the power of God overwhelmed first mankind and they fell from their happy perfect life to a zone or a way of life which is hamartia, missing the mark. Through this original sin suffering and death resulted. This beginning of suffering in the world is given entry through the curse of God on Adam and Eve. Eve would have great pain in childbearing, signifying the nature of her suffering in terms of both her children and her husband who would dominate her. I think we can take this further as a curse on human society. And the curse on Adam was in terms of the ground; which he would have tilled. Adam would now have to toil for his food coming from the ground. The curse is graphic: Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return. (Gen 3:17-19) The environment focusing on mankinds need for food would now be alien and resistant. It will be the means of physical, emotional and spiritual pain. Also we see death here. Man was called from the ground and now he will have to return to it. God had already given the first
10

Ibid., 314.
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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur commandment of death.11 Dont disobey or you will die. This death is most essentially to do with rejection and separation. Mankind is rejected by God its Creator and the essential ontological unity of God and man is broken. I want to go further and say that the internal unity and coherence of mans own being is also lost. Mankind is now divided from God and divided from himself and herself. The scene is set for a meta-narrative of suffering throughout world history and world history testifies to this reality. I propose that this narrative, whether read as historical or symbolic, is the ground of any metaphysic on suffering. Suffering entered the world and is the result of the fall. Original sin is the root and cause of human suffering although suffering is something far more than this. It is the reality of the nature of the state that human beings are now born into. This and the Biblical record of the suffering of the Saints and of God Himself, evidence for us the profound nature of the element of suffering in the very creation of God and in the nature of that creation. Suffering connects us both to the physical realm and to the social realm. It also connects us or reconnects us with God in terms of the suffering of Christ. This profound essential quality of suffering is seen nowhere more vividly than in the writings of Paul. In our analysis of suffering in Paul we have developed to what we may term a primary creational dialectic. This dialectic is suffering and healing. The three negatives of suffering, evil and death seem responsible for the destruction of the human race. In themselves they are entirely, and indeed utterly, negative; but they are not in themselves. They are in an essential and necessary relationship with their opposite reality. What I am saying here is that it is incorrect to think about suffering as an entity in its own. Suffering is linked inviolably with healing. Suffering and healing ought to be considered together because they exist together. Where there is suffering there is also healing. Suffering and healing are the negative and positive sides of something else. And that something else is eternal life in Heaven.

2.2

Four Types of Suffering

I propose that there are four types of suffering. Each of these types has its own quality. They are deserved suffering, undeserved suffering, suffering for others and suffering for God (persecution).
Refers to the command not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In the day you eat of it you shall surely die. Disobedience is itself evil and the entry of evil into the world, it produces both suffering and death.
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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur When we think about suffering we immediately have the question, what does this mean? When we are in suffering we ask what is the meaning of this? What is it for? I think we have gone a distance towards answering these questions in this paper. The meaning of suffering is the immediate and essential issue that dominates those who are in suffering almost to any extent. Job sought the meaning for his suffering and we have 42 chapters of discourse on this. We may consider the three categories of suffering which I pose, leaving the fourth type until chapter three on Persecution. Deserved Suffering: When we do something criminal, negligent, or sinful we suffer because we deserve to suffer. We know what we have done and we see immediately that what we suffer is a result of our action or omission. If we commit a theft and we are prosecuted and go to prison, we immediately know the cause of our suffering. We will agree if we are realistic that this suffering is deserved. This type of suffering usually comes in some form of punishment. The punishment may be corrective but there is nothing more to be had from this category. Undeserved Suffering: This type of suffering comes in many forms; bereavement, job loss, illness, rejection, some other personal tragedy which is no fault of the sufferer, etc. Oppression, injustice, persecution, abuse, neglect of others, etc. are also members of this category. Disappointment in marriage or not being married when one strongly desires to be so, childlessness; the list goes on. All of these forms of suffering, similar to Jobs, are profoundly difficult to understand. The sufferer perhaps aided by others struggles to know the meaning of his or her plight. This struggle if in the Lord, is essentially theological and in the end produces both revelation and ontological growth. The meaning comes through a great struggle and much anguish. This is Jobs type of suffering and also I believe the suffering referred to in James 1. In effect this suffering is a test of faith and has the result of increasing faith. Suffering for Others: We come now to the suffering of Jesus and the suffering of Paul. This is the category that renders immediate and profound meaning. Through this category I want to pose, God is seen. Grace is given entry. Suffering for others up to dying in anothers place is, I believe, the highest good and the highest virtue in the world. This is the sweet fragrance of life through sacrificial death. Its power is that it confers life as it conquers death. I believe that it is utterly compelling, we must believe in the one whom we believe suffered and died for us. God is in this suffering sharing the suffering of the beneficent sufferer. Suffering for God: We deal with in the third chapter on persecution.

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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur

3.

The Suffering of the Apostle Paul


Paul draws on the language of affliction (suffering) in virtually all of his letters to interpret human life and the gospel he understands to empower that life. With this language he creates a textual world in which suffering persists and weakness characterises the human lot. [...] the language of affliction does not provide simply another theological topic in the Pauline compendium. Rather it exposes the ground on which the apostle does theology. 12

Jesus the Messiah died on the cross and the apostles are suffering now in every essential aspect of their being. Similarly the Corinthians church, as all Christian communities, has to endure this suffering also. Adversity, suffering and weakness which we saw on the cross continue in the life of believers who must take up their own cross and follow Christ. The apostles are alienated from the world and so they are persecuted and oppressed. They are condemned men who have been made a universal spectacle. Weak fools dressed in rags hungry and thirsty and homeless, the scum of the earth and the rubbish of the world. For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men. We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honoured, we are dishonoured! To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world. (1 Cor 4:9-13) The central cry from the suffering Paul is that his suffering is a sharing in the suffering of Christ. Perhaps at the point of crucifixion Jesus, before Paul, had become the scum of the earth and the refuse of the world. The suffering of the Corinthian church has to be, it appears, of the same quality as the suffering of Paul. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort (2Cor 1:7). It appears that for Paul, the principal positive element in suffering is that it is followed by the fruit of the shared suffering - comfort.
12

Karl Plank, Paul and the Irony of Affliction (Atlanta, Georgia: Scholars press, 1987), 3f.
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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur The Greek term for comfort, paraklesis13, used in the text of 2 Corinthians, has the root meaning of a calling to ones side, hence either an exhortation or consolation. It means more fully a calling of someone to ones aid. Sharing in the suffering of Christ means that we are called to Christs aid and in so doing we also become ministers of this aid. Morna Hooker refers to this aid as healing. Christs ministry is a ministry of healing, both physically and spiritually. Through suffering we are called to share in Christs ministry of healing. Suffering then brings healing. Pauls suffering, as was the suffering of Jesus, was for the healing of the ecclesia, the body of Christ on earth. If we agree with the view of Jerome OConnor (above) that suffering can be revelatory, it follows that the healing which follows suffering, if of the quality of the healing ministry of Christ, is also revelatory. God becomes visible through it. We want to argue now that Pauls ministry was an authentic Christian ministry because of his suffering for others. Because of the suffering of Paul he was empowered to bring healing. He therefore continued the ministry of Christ. Thomas Schreiner says in this respect; ...Pauls suffering is vital to his mission as an Apostle to the Gentiles. We should not conceive of Paul as engaging in mission and experiencing the unfortunate consequences of suffering in the process, as if his difficulties were unrelated to his mission. On the contrary, the pain Paul endured was the means by which the message of the gospel was extended to the nations. Suffering was not a side effect of the Pauline mission; rather it was at the very center of his apostolic evangelism. (Schreiner 2001:87) Pauls suffering provided evidence to the truth of his gospel. It was not, of course, atoning as was the death of Jesus. Nonetheless, it was integral to his ministry. At the time of his conversion we hear the frightening words of God: But the Lord said to Ananias, Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name. (Acts 9:15-16) This suffering of Paul then is either of God or permitted by God. Jobs suffering was of a similar kind. God says to the satan, have you considered my servant Job?14 and in so doing invites Jobs great suffering to come upon him. It seems that in Gods words, I will show him how much
13 14

See W. E. Vine, Expository Dictionary of Bible Words (London: Marshall Morgan & Scott, 1981), 207. Job 1:8
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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur he must suffer for my name, speaking this time to Ananias the disciple, suffering has the same mystical quality in the case of Paul. Through suffering Job gained a great and advanced revelation of God. Through suffering Pauls ministry was extended. Sinners believed through Pauls overcoming of his suffering in every occasion of it, and his great resolve and integrity which was unmovable in Christ. In Jobs case a similar resolve is shown in that he refused to do as his wife urged him, Curse God and die. 15 Donald Guthrie, I believe, supports my statement that the suffering of Paul as indeed the suffering of Christians in general, is either of God and so willed by Him, or at least it is permitted by Him. He argues that life for the Christian is life according to Gods will and concerning suffering. He quotes Peter here, Those enduring suffering according to Gods will should entrust themselves to a faithful creator (1 Peter 4:19).16 Guthrie argues that the problems involved in the suffering of God Himself, which he terms Gods willing suffering for His people17, are nowhere discussed in the New Testament. However, the intensity of the Gethsemane passage, which is a loud statement as to the suffering of God linked to the will of God, is evidence that they had conviction of Gods will and wisdom in this matter: This is bound up with the conviction of Gods providential care for his people. If suffering comes God must have a purpose in it. 18 From the revelation of the writings of Paul19 we must conclude that suffering is indeed an integral part of Gods salvation of sinners. We might pose that there was no suffering in the world until the Fall, but after the Fall suffering abounded and so suffering is used, as is death, in the salvation dynamic or process. Guthrie again; ... the NT approach to suffering constantly takes it into the sphere of Gods purpose. Although it is true that suffering is nowhere explained there is enough evidence to show what the Christian attitude should be towards it...Since the supreme example of suffering lies at the heart of Gods redemptive activity in Christ it cannot be maintained that suffering is alien to the purpose of God.20


15 16

Job 2:9 Donald Guthrie, New Testament Theology, (Leicester: Intervarsity Press, 1973), 97. 17 Ibid. 18 Ibid. 19 And James and Peter 20 Ibid.
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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur Of course, there are those protest atheists who build a case against the existence of God because of the suffering and evil in Gods world. It is the great subject of theodicy to give reasons and a rational for the presence and effects of suffering and evil in the world in terms of the very nature of Creation and Gods purpose for Creation. We do not find Job denying God because of his great suffering and nor do we find Paul saying one negative word against God in this respect; Paul in recounting his experiences in 2 Corinthians 4:7-5: 10 in no way criticises God for the hardships he has endured. He sees these hardships as tools in the hand of God. The present momentary affliction is regarded as slight compared with the weight of glory to follow. 21 Paul has an attitude of triumph with respect to his suffering and similar to James (James 1:2) he rejoices in suffering because it develops the quality of endurance. (Rom 5:3)

3.1

Weakness the Essential Virtue

The pages of scripture and Pauls own writings testify to his ethical and moral integrity. He was a man of truth and great courage. He was completely loyal to his task of preaching the gospel of Christ to the Jews and then the Gentiles. He was in every way a giant of faith, meek when he was with his flock though fiery in writing letters. Yet what comes through from the pages of his letters is not great strength but great weakness. Paul is weak. And furthermore he holds weakness to be a virtue. As Schreiner explains, The advance of Pauls mission, that is, the progress of the gospel, occurred through his suffering. This explains how Paul could rejoice in weakness...for he understood that weakness was the means by which the powerful word of the cross took effect in peoples lives. (Schreiner 2001:99) This is intimately revealed in the following passage, which is central to understanding Pauls theology of suffering, and therefore, of redemption: To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, My grace is
21

Ibid., 98.
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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Cor 12:7-10) Jesus Himself had demonstrated human weakness from His plea in Gethsemane to let this cup pass from me to His apparent response to Pilots questioning and in the going to the cross itself as a lamb going to the slaughter. But in this human weakness is hidden the infinite, eternal and absolute power of God being brought to bear for the salvation of sinful humanity. For those who have eyes to see, the great power and glory of the grace of God is seen in this human weakness of Jesus. What we might term the weakness of the cross, I propose, is the essential element that draws human beings and changes their hearts. Indeed the weakness of the cross breaks human hearts. It is the amazing revelation of the grace of God which caused the Roman soldier to proclaim that Jesus was surely the Son of God. 22 Schreiner states above that weakness is the means by which the powerful word of the cross took effect in peoples lives. I want to say that the weakness of the cross is the powerful word of the cross. It is this chosen weakness of God that invokes our own words of response and our own affirmation that surely this man hanging on the cross is the Son of God. We are compelled by the courage and utter resolve of this innocent weakness to respond, not to Jesus the man hanging there, but to God. Schreiner again: When Paul enquires whether the Galatians have had a spell cast over them since they fail to see Jesus as the crucified one (Gal 3:1) he probably had in mind his own suffering as a corollary to Christs. Pauls weakness in terms of his affliction is given to him by God. God in a sense has given Paul weakness. This appears to be unjust, similar to the suffering given to Job the most righteous man on earth. Paul refers to this weakness as a messenger of Satan. It is Gods power that will be seen in and through Paul, and not Pauls power, as he has no power of himself. This is unjust in terms of the natural understanding of the term and concept. Indeed it is injustice defeating injustice similarly to death defeating death. Through this injustice and death concerning Jesus and extending to Paul abundant life and justice are restored in the kingdom of God on earth now and to come. If we can say that suffering is death working in us as in Paul and this quality of suffering leads to both our own healing and the healing and abundant life, or authentic life, of others then we have
22

Mk 15:39
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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur a completely new perspective of the positive nature of suffering. We might also pose that those who are not or have not suffered undeservedly and for others, are not equipped as ministers of the gospel and to work for the extension of the kingdom of God. The teaching here is that it is through suffering and weakness that God acts in Grace to save the world. Certainly not in human strength and power, puny as this actually is. Neither is it through human wisdom and knowledge, which in the end will be seen to be foolishness before God.23 All of the above said on Pauls weakness, Paul does not strike the reader as weak. It is great courage and commitment that shines through. It is Paul himself who informs us about his weakness but not so much in the form of a confession, although his own cry of despair does show sharply the weakness of fallen human nature: Oh wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death... (Rom 7:24). His confession is more that God is strong and that he trusts in this strength of God. He does not repent of the fact of his weakness and in 1 Cor 4:9-13 he intensifies his language of affliction and suffering perhaps with the purpose of really connecting with the Corinthian church. In the words of Karl Plank, At no time in the discourse does Paul employ the language of affliction simply to communicate the datum that he is weak. In the first place he has no need to do so. [] If Paul ever was concerned to repent the fact of his weakness he has here (in 1 Cor 4: 9- 13) abandoned such an attempt and has set out to use the language of affliction to assault the Corinthian sensibility. 24

3.2

Corollary to the suffering of Christ

Schreiner talks of Pauls suffering as a corollary to the suffering of Christ. This corollary fills out that which is lacking in the cross of Christ. So, according to him, Pauls suffering follows directly and is a consequence of the suffering of Christ, and with a purpose. The purpose is to fill out that which is lacking in the cross. We see that Paul functions as a corollary of the cross of Christ, in that his suffering is the path of salvation for the Corinthians just as Christs suffering is the way in which Gods saving power is released. [] Pauls life, through suffering is the means by which life is produced in the Corinthians (2Cor 4:12). Paul is again, therefore, the corollary of Jesus
This is not to say that Theology is futile it is the result of theology that I was able to make the statement. Theology must ever seek for the truth and the authentic meaning of the Revelation of God even although in the end before the Majesty and infinite wisdom of God it will be seen as foolishness. 24 Plank, Paul and the Irony of Affliction, 73, 74.
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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur for just as Jesus died to convey life to his people, so too Paul must suffer for the life of God to be communicated to others. (Schreiner 2001:95, 96) Dare we say that Jesus suffering was the way the truth and the life for the Jews and Pauls suffering as a corollary to Jesus suffering is the way the truth and the life for the Corinthians? And must we go further for the other Gentiles? No, but Pauls suffering is a revelation not of himself but Christ to the Gentiles. Pauls commitment to suffer and die for Christ is the means by which the strength of Jesus and his life are revealed through Paul... Paul maintains that one must suffer for the life of Jesus to be revealed. (Schreiner 2001:95, 96) In this instance at least the power of revelation is not made manifest through miracles and signs but the triumphant overcoming of profound suffering.

3.3

That which is still lacking in the cross of Christ

We introduced this statement above. The text again is Col 1:24: Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. And according to Schreiner [w]e can eliminate immediately any notion that Christs work on the cross was inadequate and that Pauls sufferings play a role in securing forgiveness for human beings. (2001:100) In Col 1:20 Paul argues that all things are reconciled through the death of Christ. Believers are full and complete in Christ (Col 2:20). Christs atoning sacrifice is absolute and eternal. There is no gap possible in this infinite quality of grace. So why does Paul make such a statement? What can be still lacking? If Paul is not compromising the uniqueness and sufficiency of Christs death what does he have in mind when he says he fills up what is lacking in Christs sufferings? (Schreiner 2001:101) According to Robert Wall Paul is surely not saying that the Lord Christ lacks anything as the messianic agent of God's salvation; nor does he mean that the redemptive results of his death need to be supplemented by Paul...The images of a suffering Christ in Paul's writings are usually employed to illustrate and interpret his own suffering as a missionary. Here suffering is exemplary of servant hood, but not expiatory of sin. In this way Christ's suffering is logically
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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur parallel to his own; like Christ, Paul is God's "suffering servant"; and like Christ's, his suffering indicates obedience to God's commission. (1993:87) Paul's phrase, however, is to be taken metaphorically rather than literally. Speaking of completing requisite suffering is yet another way of calling attention to the importance of completing the Gentile mission. In Paul's conception of the Gentile mission, his evangelistic work brings into Israel's number the "fullness of the Gentiles" (Rom 11:1-24) that will trigger the Lord's return to earth and ethnic Israel's return to God (Rom 11:25-26). Even in this passage Paul repeats the root of to fill to stress that the aim of his personal sacrifice--I fill up [antanapleroo] in my fleshis to complete his mission: to present to you the word of God in its fullness [plerosai]. (1993:88) (Wall also discusses the apparently common view arising from Jewish apocalyptic tradition which we do not deal with here25.) What Wall is saying is that we are to understand the term what is still lacking in regard to Christs sufferings as a metaphor that relates to Pauls ministry to the Gentiles. Filling up in Pauls flesh means to complete his mission to the Gentiles. The fullness of the Gentiles coming in is what is lacking in Christs affliction, so to speak. Paul is the Apostle to the Gentiles, and through him we see the mystery unravelled that salvation is not only for the people of God (the Jews) but for the Gentiles also (who are now enabled to become the people of God). Paul is commissioned (Col 1:23) to preach the gospel in the whole world. This is the subject of his discourse in v. 24 the filling up what is lacking statement. Seeing that the passage highlights Pauls unique apostolic commission to bring the gospel to the Gentiles helps us understand how he fills up the affliction of Christ...The fulfilment of Gods word... relates to bringing the gospel to the Gentiles so that they are perfected in Christ. [] The means by which Paul fulfils the word of God by bringing the gospel to the Gentiles is suffering. The filling up of Christs afflictions is the pathway by which the gospel is fulfilled in the lives of the Gentiles.26
Most scholars understand Paul's reference to Christ's afflictions as a catchphrase from Jewish apocalypticism. In this tradition, Jews understood Israel's suffering as a sign of the last days and a condition for the coming of the Messiah (see Peter O'Brien, Colossians, Philemon in Word Biblical Commentary [Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1982], 76-80). Some even assigned a fixed amount of suffering which, when satisfied, would result in the apocalypse of God's salvation. Israel's suffering, then, was the birthpangs of the promised new covenant (compare Jer 31:31) about to become a reality. 26 Schreiner, Paul, 101f.
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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur So according to Schreiner Paul is not saying that Christs death was insufficient in any way. Rather that the suffering of Paul, as a corollary to the suffering of Christ, extends the message of Christs all sufficient death to the Gentiles, for such a message was concealed from the Gentiles during the life of Jesus of Nazareth.27 So what was lacking was that the revelation of the gospel of the suffering servant was not yet proclaimed to the Gentiles and so the gateway to their salvation as not yet revealed to them. The suffering of Christ on the cross was effectively a revelation of the grace of God to the Jews. The Gentiles who were exposed to the revelation believed, like the Roman soldier for instance. The quality of the suffering of Paul being that of a sharing of the suffering of Christ was effectively a saving revelation to the Gentiles; but not a revelation of Paul, but of Christ. In Pauls suffering the mystery of the cross is revealed to those outside of the called people of God.

4.

The Nature of Suffering, continued

The corollary of the fall of first mankind into sin is that all human beings who follow are condemned with the same curse. Perhaps God does not invite satan to trouble us or He doesnt visit us with the great suffering of Paul but nonetheless we suffer to some degree and extent; some greatly and some not so. When the curse is removed by our entry into the Kingdom of God through regeneration the problem of suffering is not solved but rather it is more likely that we suffer more when fiery or not so fiery trials come upon us. And, of course, there is always the possibility of the amazing privilege of sharing in the suffering of Christ through undeserved suffering and by suffering for others.

4.1

Death to self: the dissolution of the ego and the old personal identity

Pauls type of suffering continues on from that of Jesus. It is suffering for others. And so there is immediate soteriological meaning involved. Paul is suffering for the Gentiles. We have argued that this suffering is the corollary of Jesus suffering, not that it is in any way atoning, but that it is the revelation of the Cross to the Gentiles. This quality of suffering, we have seen involves dying to live, it is a Suffering of the Cross because it is a dying of the human ego. It is a betrayal of the old nature in favour of the new. It is an ontological dissolution of me involving utter personal weakness. It is truly the end of myself.


27

Ibid.
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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur Saul the Pharisee came to nothing in himself; he died. As did Job: Why then did you bring me out of the womb? I wish I had died before any eye saw me.28 Elijah the Tishbite also came to the end of himself: He (Elijah) came to a broom tree sat down under it and prayed that he might die. I have had enough Lord he said. Take my life I am no better than my ancestors. 29 There is a real sense in which when beings in the world cease to run and turn to face their perceived ontological reality as nothing in themselves, echoic of the writer of Ecclesiastes. They come to the point of the death of self in themselves they have come to the nullity. Self- realisation failed because, I propose, it was grounded on the wrong understanding of authentic selfhood. Indeed the old nature with its lies and deception, and self-delusion, produces inauthentic selfhood. The force of undeserved suffering, and suffering for others, and this force alone, is the means of coming to this place of the death of inauthentic life and so Suffering is perhaps the greatest human virtue. Perhaps in more general terms we could say: When an Individual ceases to flee, [...] from the reality of being with its polarities and tensions and indeed frustrations, and faces his own being, he enters the realm of the ultimate whereby he becomes aware of the meaninglessness and futility of beings in the world which exist for their own sake, seeking meaning and value in terms of themselves alone. He comes to a nihilistic perspective where the only reality which has integrity is nothingness. [] Delusion is at an end and there is no point to anything. Perhaps the place of coming to nothing could be described as radical and total cynicism. Or perhaps it could be described as the reality of the disorder of fallen human existence whereby man seeks meaning, satisfaction and realisation in terms of himself and his finite world, rather than in and through God. He seeks the fulfilment of his person or selfhood in and through the love of self and not the love of the other in God. (Arthur 1993:80 ff) In the words of the late Scottish theologian John Macquarie Selfhood is attained only in so far as the existent (the person who exists) is prepared to look beyond the limits of his own self for the master concern that can create such a stable and unified existence. He must be prepared to accept the factical aspects of his
Job 10:18 1 Kings 19:4b. My argument here is that what is involved in this proclamation is much more than the fear of Jezebel. This is an ontological statement about the utter valuelessness of Elijahs life.
29 28

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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur existence, his finitude, transience, morality, and take these up into potentiality which he projects for himself into the future. This means in effect that by looking beyond himself, or as we may say dying to himself, he becomes himself. (Macquarrie 1988:79) Macquarie quotes the New Testament in respect to the paradox of the necessity of dying to self to live in a true self in God: Whoever will save his life will lose it; whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospels will save it (Mt 8:35). James Dunn puts the paradox of believers dying to live in this way: Death is at work in the believer as well as life... this is...the consequence of the believers divided state; as members of the first Adam they belong to this age, they are dying; as members of the last Adam, they belong to the age to come, they experience the life giving Spirit.30 Suffering now is a necessary preparation for and compliment to future glory...Only when death has had its full say, only when mortality has corrupted to death, only then will the believer escape the clutches of death.31 Dunn argues that Pauls near death experience (2 Cor 12:2-6) focused his mind on the problem of suffering as the place of death, and suffering and death within the process of salvation. Since Paul was given a thorn in the flesh to keep him from being proud and conceited, boasting in himself, Dunn concludes that out-of-body experiences and such were what prevented the power of God from having its proper effect: ...it was precisely not experiences of power leaving behind bodily weakness which Paul saw as the mark of Grace but experience of power in and through bodily weakness. Continuing human weakness was an integral part of the process of salvation. Human weakness was not a denial of divine power, but an unavoidable and even necessary compliment to divine power in the overlap of the ages.32 Pauls out-of-body experience and then the thorn in his flesh present us with the eschatological tension of the now and the not yet, the kingdom which had come and the kingdom which had
30 31

James D. G. Dunn, The Theology of Paul the Apostle (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2006), 482. Dunn, Theology, 483. 32 Dunn, Theology, 483-4.
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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur yet to come in its fullness. He sees a vision of the kingdom to come but he remains, for the sake of the Gentiles, in the present kingdom status with increased suffering through the message of satan in his own body. Suffering then is part of the now and yet to come tension. We die to the now, the already come, to live in the yet to come. The Kingdom come is the place of our death and the Kingdom that is yet to come is the place of our resurrection to eternal life. Believers are reborn of the Spirit but it is this very rebirth which demands the death of the sarx. The sins of the flesh which in reality constitute the old nature and the old identity must die in the now and finally and ultimately in physical death. The newborn spirit may enter the Kingdom of God but not in its dialectical tension with the old body. The old body remains and continues only as the seed or the physical principle of the new eternal body. In the drawing together of the re-born spirit and the new heavenly body we have a new and glorious human ontological unity and as such absolute peace of identity.

4.2

Suffering and Healing

Therefore, suffering and healing are a dialectical pair, as has been argued. Now I want to pose that human beings who have the capacity of suffering and healing engage the world, the physical and spiritual time space universe through this capacity. I am saying that our worldly relations in the different spheres of being, physical, spiritual, cognitive, and emotional all derive from the dialectic of suffering and healing. The dialectic connects us and gives us an incarnational dynamic. Suffering and healing is the way in and the way to be in this creation of God; which we argue of course is the most perfect creation. Suffering for others is the grace of calling others to our side and therefore comforting them. The primary and glorious example of Jesus is that He called men and woman to His side to heal them through His suffering. His ministry was clearly a healing ministry. Mankind is disconnected by the fall, disconnected from God, from each other and from themselves. In their own being they are disunited. Also from the physical universe; the ground is the subject of the curse. Disconnection is itself a profound source of suffering. Men and women live in this state of disconnection and so they live in angst and pain, insecurity, guilt, and meaninglessness. John Macquarrie discusses the human quest as a search to be free from guilt and a quest for meaning.33


33

Macquarrie, Principles.
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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur The disconnection is solipsistic it can never reach in and it can never be in. Citizens of the earth are not in. And so they are not secure. They have no security of being. Human communities are again to some extent and degree aggregate being. This we may term a crowd and not a community in the connected relational sense. A crowd is an aggregate of disconnected beings. World Being is aggregate: it is not connected Being. Human marriage attempts connection and therefore, poses the solution to the loneliness, the aloneness, and insecurity. Marriage is an attempt at connection, at being in each other. It is one flesh sharing intimacy. So many marriages break down completely as the attempt at connection fails, even Christian marriages. But it is a real and sincere attempt to be in. Connection requires suffering and pain of a certain profound quality, as already discussed. Healing is the result of connection. Otherwise put connection can only be the product of reconciliation. Connection in the authentic and not pseudo sense requires the reversal of the curse of the disconnection of original sin. This is true and absolute healing, infinite comfort. The suffering of the death of the self is a connector which, through the strength of God, regains the state of being-in. Those then who come to the utter end of themselves in terms of their old nature are attuned (as Macquarrie might say) to receive the power and strength of God and can now step in. To be out of themselves utterly is to be in Christ utterly. To be in Christ utterly is to be comforted and it is to be healed. To be in Christ means that Christ (in the prosopon of his Fathers Spirit) is at our side. We are not alone. The Spirit is the Paraklete, the Comforter. He is Christ at our side. He is our strength to be but the courage to be must be ours. Christians are involved in loss and mourning. But Jesus assures us with the promise Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted (Mt 5:4).

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Chapter 2: Risk for God is Risk for Life


1. What is Risk? Its Nature and Character

1.1

Risk as Suffering

We begin by defining terms. We have already understood that suffering is a necessary part of Christian life and moral and ontological growth (growth of our being). I propose now that risk is a form of suffering which is also normal for Christian life. Risk for God is suffering for others. In this, it is noble. The suffering involved in risk is anxiety of a particularly acute form. And anxiety is a profound care and worry that we are going to encounter loss. Anxiety is not fear. Fear always has a subject: we are afraid of something; when this something ceases to be we are no longer afraid. Those who are afraid of heights are afraid only when they are high up; when they return to lower levels the fear disappears. But anxiety is a malady at the centre of our being. When we take on risk-for-God it acts at the centre of our being. Anxiety is a burning in our soul, it is a profound and radical form of ontological and indeed existential insecurity. Anxiety increases as our factor of risk increases. The more the risk the greater the anxiety. Jesus teaches, dont be anxious for anything (Mt 6:25). God will provide for your basic needs and so your security must be based entirely on Him. And this is where faith enters the equation. Faith is the only remedy for anxiety and so it is the counterbalance of risk. Faith is the healing dynamic in the suffering of risk. We can go the next step: faith is faith in something or someone. Saving faith is faith in Jesus the Son of God. It is Jesus who is our eternal and absolute security. Therefore risk for Jesus sake is not risk as the world understands it. Risk in God through stepping out in faith and remaining in faith is eternal life. This is life against the current in the world. However insofar as our faith is not perfect we have suffering. For Christians to be alive in Christ they must take risks, they must live in some form or degree of risk. All Christians should be out on a limb. Missionaries are those who are totally out on a limb and to be so is indeed a blessed, rich and fruitful state of being. However when faith wanes there is suffering. When you are out on a limb your whole life, identity and security are on the line. All of your eggs are in one basket. And so missionaries, in the worlds terms at least, are fools for Christ.

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1.2

Risk as Vulnerability

In general terms risk is vulnerability. To take and live in Risk is to enter the emotional and indeed spiritual state of vulnerability. If we are vulnerable then we are dependent for our lives on something outside of ourselves. Of course all human beings are vulnerable. Human life is very vulnerable. We are dependent on others so often for our lives. We are dependent on medical doctors and sometimes surgeons; we are dependent on food processors from farmers through to the shelves in shops. We are dependent on governments and banks and oil producers, and now computers. In the late modern world technology has produced in human beings a new dependency on scientists and technicians. They are the new high priests of modern life. Again vulnerability for all people requires a form of faith. But Faith in God is a different order of vulnerability. Faith in God for all things in your life is a higher order of vulnerability. If we want to understand the nature of this vulnerability then we must seek to define and understand faith with greater precision. Saving faith has three elements that correspond to human nature. 1) Cognitive: this is mind and so knowledge. We believe with our mind and through the workings of our mind. We need to have some knowledge of the Person we believe in (Saving Faith is belief in a Person). So we have belief in Jesus the Son of God the Messiah and indeed the creator of all things. 2) Conative: to do with our emotions, symbolised by the heart. This is where we trust. We have to trust Jesus for our lives and everything we need. 3) Volitional: this has to do with our will. Our will is our faculty of choosing. Free will is free choice. In saving faith we must surrender our will to Jesus. In Gethsemane Jesus cried, not my will but yours be done. This is a total surrender to the Gods gracious sovereignty. When the three elements come together as one in human consciousness and true intentionality we have saving faith. Meaning that vulnerability in Jesus and His service is faith in action.

1.3

Utter Dependence on God

Friedrich Schleiermacher, the great German theologian, sought to reconstruct theology after the Enlightenment attack on it in the 18th C. Immanuel Kant had used Enlightenment philosophy to discredit Christian theology and he was quite successful. Schleiermacher who is known as the father of modern (liberal) theology moved theology from the place of reason to the place of feelings. He claimed that God was the feeling of utter dependence. Now I am not in agreement
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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur generally with Schleiermacher but his concept of the feeling of utter dependence is enlightening I think. I dont believe that God is a human feeling (even of utter dependence) but I do believe that we get closer to God through the feeling of utter dependence on Him. When we come to this place of almost total abandonment of the self and total giving over of ourselves to God we are totally and utterly vulnerable. We confess this vulnerability and our total inability and weakness to God and we trust Him totally with our lives. In this vulnerable state of confession and utter dependency God is always present. And when we perceive the presence of God we rejoice and praise Him with our whole heart. This place of the powerful feeling of utter dependence is where believers are small. It is the end of our journey of risk and vulnerability as it is the end of us. Elijah took the risk in the face of Jezebel to run with the chariots but in the evening he sat down in the despair of himselfhe saw himself as no better than his ancestors. His extremely vulnerable state overwhelmed him. It was too much for him to bear and so he was utterly dependent on God. Going out on a limb for God requires utter dependence on Him. Risk for God is dependency where we have no control.

1.4

Risk as Faith in Action

Risk in God is stepping out in faith. Stepping out in faith is stepping into risk and it is stepping into vulnerability. Through this step and to the extent and degree of the step we have the extent and degree of a living faith in action. Those who hold back from stepping out of their security base their home the place of their identity, support and comfort - have a dormant faith. Faith in action requires risk and we will see below that risk is to some extent a risk of your life. Faith in action means risking your life. A seminal example of stepping out in faith is Abraham, who left everything, his home, his security, and his comfort to wander in a strange land. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance; and he went out not knowing where he was to go. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a foreign land. Living in tents with Isaac and Jacob. (Heb 11:8f, 17-20.) Abrahams faith is greatly tested in that God called him to offer the life of his son Isaac (the son of the promise) as a sacrifice. Abraham knew that Isaac was the son of the promise and so he believed that Isaac would be raised again from the dead. Abrahams faith was life-risking and this was a great risk. This risk was great faith in action. Isaacs life was not required in the end, but the test of Abrahams faith was.
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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur Jesus is calling Christians to Faith in action: Unless you deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me you cannot be my disciple. What a risk! Jesus is calling us to leave home, to leave our worldly connections and to take a great risk in following Him. We arrive at what risk in God is in one paragraph: Risk is trusting in Jesus upon whom we are utterly dependant. Risk is surrender to God in whom we believe absolutely. Risk is believing in the promises. It is following Christ in the fear of God; which is the beginning of wisdom. Risk in the world has to do with uncertainty but in the kingdom of heaven risk is total certainty because it is faith in action.

2.

Risk in the Worlds view

2.1

Some Definitions

There is a lot of secular material written on risk from financial risk to the psychology of risk. Here are some definitions: Risk is the potential that a chosen action or activity (including the choice of inaction) will lead to a loss (an undesirable outcome). The notion implies that a choice having an influence on the outcome exists (or existed). Potential losses themselves may also be called risks. Almost any human endeavour carries some risk, but some are much more risky than others. Oxford Dictionary: Risk is (exposure to) the possibility of loss, injury, or other adverse or unwelcome circumstances; a chance or situation involving such a possibility. Risk is the potential that a given threat will exploit vulnerabilities of an asset or group of assets and thereby cause harm to the organization. Risk is the 'effect of uncertainty on objectives'. In this definition, uncertainties include events (which may or not happen) and uncertainties caused by a lack of information or ambiguity. This definition also includes both negative and positive impacts on objectives. Risks are future problems that can be avoided or mitigated. Risk has to do with Uncertainty: The lack of complete certainty, that is, the existence of more than one possibility. The "true" outcome/state/result/value is not known.

2.2

Risk, Gambling, and Idols

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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur It would appear that risk has to do with potential loss in general. The higher the risk the greater the potential for loss. The loss could be financial. Financial risk may be termed gambling but gambling can take place in other spheres such as relationships and indeed is involved in all types of risk-in-the-World. Marriage for example involves risk and some would say it is a gamble. Entering in to any new relationship involves risk and so often there is after the fact regret. Risk-as-gambling has the potential for success (gain) and therefore joy, or failure (loss) and therefore regret and sometimes despair. There are those who take calculated risk such as rock climbers or skydivers. These risks bring exhilaration. In a sense the exhilaration comes from overcoming the potential danger. The greater the danger, the greater the risk, the greater the exhilaration. Those who bet on horses gain exhilaration for a short time, and then later experience mostly regret and a degree of despair. They try to add to their lives by placing their money and so their economic substance at great risk. For this, without work and without skill, they seek to increase their substance and therefore their being. They are placing their hopes through a kind of fatalistic faith in providence smiling on them. But gambling is an empty faith and a false and foolish hope and so the end result so often is that the gambling risk-takers become smaller persons and not bigger, as they desired so much. They suffer loss and decline rather than gain and increase. Indeed their kind of risk I will term the risk-of-idols. It is a faith in something that doesnt exist. They place all of their hopes in a false god whose temples are betting shops or casinos. This forlorn faith is the blind faith of the world in that which is empty and fruitless: a fig tree that has no fruit. Risk in the world requires uncertainty and uncertainty is not boring. It is frightening and so risk in the world requires fear as a necessary component. But even further it produces angst, anxiety. Now for the majority of people in the world uncertainty is dangerous and frightening and so ought to be avoided at all costs. This avoidance we may call risk aversion. Risk aversion sees risk in only negative terms producing negative results, and if one is extremely lucky one will escape them, perhaps by the skin of the teeth. Risk is a radical form of insecurity and so taking risks adds to the feeling of insecurity and vulnerability. It is to stare loss in the face. It is to tempt providence. Taking risks is sometimes necessary but it is a bad thing, to be avoided if at all possible. Going out on a limb is foolishness to the world and worthy of mockery. Yet if we consider the psychological phenomenon of framing it appears that even in the worlds terms great risks are taken in the face of foolishness. Framing is the term for the boundaries on human rationality. The human mind gets overloaded and so what we might term adequate rationality is not applied. Human rationality in
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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur dealing with risk fails because the risk is merely framed out. Framing out happens for example in the case of drinking and driving. Drinkers who drive totally ignore the risk of a fatal accident. There are cultural, political or even emotional biases which frame out balanced rationality and therefore entry into great risk can occur by holding fast to the bias. Greed or jealousy can frame out risk factors as can the crowd mentality. Risk occurs in the world and in this case it often is foolishness.

3.

Risk for Life

In contrast to the world, or as Paul refers to it the flesh, I am proposing and have already discussed that risk, properly understood, is faith in action. The life of the Christian in one manner of thinking is total and absolute risk. This risk is the intentionality of the Kingdom of God on earth. It is a total risk in God the Trinity. This Godly risk is not a risk with money or possessions although these things come in to it; it is a total risk of ones life. It is a risk of everything, even our children, our family. He who does not hate his family cannot follow me. It is a risk of career and even sometimes physical illness, yes, but only as aspects of our be all and end all. It is a risk in the fear of God above the world. But in this risk there is no uncertainty. It is only uncertain outside of saving faith; indeed risk is of the very essence of is saving faith itself.

3.1

Biblical Window

Old Testament texts (NIV) with the Hebrew word for risk, sikoon. The Biblical texts are gathered only to show that for the most part when the term sikoon or Greek appears in the text it refers to risk of life. This we term ultimate risk. Judges 5:18: The people of Zebulun risked their very lives; so did Naphtali on the terraced fields. Judges 9:17: Remember that my father fought for you and risked his life to rescue you from the hand of Midian. 2 Samuel 23:17: Far be it from me, LORD, to do this! he said. Is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives? And David would not drink it. Such were the exploits of the three mighty warriors. Lamentations 5:9: We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword in the desert. New Testament texts with the Greek work for risk, either kiodynos or ripsokindynevo.

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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur Acts 15:26: men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 16:4: They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. Philippians 2:30: because he almost died for the work of Christ. He risked his life to make up for the help you yourselves could not give me. Acts 15:25 refers to Paul and Barnabus and it is the Apostles at Jerusalem who are proclaiming this. It appears that the commendation of the Apostles to the church at Antioch was sealed by this ultimate risk of Paul and Barnabus. Romans 16:4 refers to Prisca and Aquila whom Paul refers to as his fellow workers in Christ Jesus who risked their lives for Pauls life. Paul says that not only he but all of the gentile churches give thanks. Philippians 2:30 refers to Ephaproditis whom Paul refers to as my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier and your minister. He was ill and close to death. God had mercy on him. Paul sends him to the Philippian church asking them to receive him with all joy for he nearly died for the work of Christ, so risking his life. We see from these texts that the Biblical text is concerned with ultimate risk. This is the risk of life itself, the risk of everything. These early missionaries risked everything to gain the Kingdom of God. The Old Testament as would be expected is more general in its usage but the New Testament is very specific and from the New Testament we take our essential concept: risk of life for Christ (God) and within this risk, risk of life for our brothers and sisters.

3.2

Risk for Love: Peters Denial

Jesus taught that no greater love has a man than to lay down his life for his friends. But He also taught that authentic life had to do with loving God first. The love of God is the primary essence of the creation of personal beings. We must love God first and then others in the true and pure love of God. For those who do much travel by aircraft there is an excellent illustration of serving God first then others. On aircraft, when the stewardess is giving the safety instructions concerning the oxygen masks which will drop down if the aircraft cabin loses pressure, she always instructs us to fit our own masks first before helping children. Parents need to get the oxygen first before they have the energy to get the oxygen to their children. It is the same with Gods love. We must love God first. Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me (Mt 10:36-38).

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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur One of the great betrayals in the gospels is the denial of Peter. Peter above all perhaps was enthusiastic to the point of declaring that he would die for Christ, but then Risk came upon him. Jesus was captured and in the vision of Peter. By even being in the proximity of Jesus Peter was at great risk for his life. This was the test for Peter: is he able to take such a great risk of confessing Christ? The question came to him, Were you with him? And it came three times. But Peter would not take the risk. His faith had gone, or so it appeared. To have confessed Christ at this point may have meant imprisonment and possibly death. Luke 22:55-62 (NIV) reads: And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. 56 A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, This man was with him. 57 But he denied it. Woman, I dont know him, he said. 58 A little later someone else saw him and said, You also are one of them. Man, I am not! Peter replied. 59 About an hour later another asserted, Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean. 60 Peter replied, Man, I dont know what youre talking about! Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times. 62 And he went outside and wept bitterly. This clear and strong denial was a betrayal of Jesus, and after the cock crowed Jesus turned his head and looked at Peter. Peter knew he had betrayed Christ the Lord, the one whom he confessed earlier as the Son of God. Peter stepped out of the risk which he had lived in for several years. The opposite of risk is betrayal.34 With betrayal faith dies. Betrayal is the suicide of faith enacted powerfully in the suicide of Judas Iscariot.35 The restoration of faith and its dynamic essence risk, is forgiveness. And we see Jesus forgiveness in His restoration of Peter in the three-fold love question in John 21:17: The third time he said to him, Simon son of John, do you love me? Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, Do you love me? He said, Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you. Jesus said, Feed my sheep. Peters love failed and so the question asked three times was do you love me? The answer was yes. But Jesus says this love has to be in evidence through teaching the gospel to those who
See George Orwells book, Nineteen Eighty-Four. Winstons life began with his love for Victoria and visa versa. When they betrayed each other their love and the new faith which this love inspired was lost. 35 Matt 27:5
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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur would believe in Him. Peter has to step out in His restored faith in Christ, he is converted through his betrayal and, unlike Judas, he goes on in great risk to build the Church. In great courage he preaches to the Jews and ultimately is persecuted and dies as a martyr. Risk is the cost of love. It is what true love does. True love risks its life for the beloved now and always and completely. Missionaries are those who are prepared to give their lives for Christ nothing short of this. They must be prepared to risk their lives. This risk is their stock in trade.

3.3

Risk for Service; True Security & Fulfilment: The Case of the Parable

of the Talents (Mat 25: 14-30)


In the Parable of the Talents the Master gives different amounts of money to three servants. The task for them is the growth of their asset. They should seek to find the way that they can increase the Masters investment in them. They are entrusted with risk. They have to take risks with the money if they are to gain the increase. Two of them did so but the third did not. He sought what he thought was maximum security. Rather than risk the money he buried it in the ground where it would be safe, in doing this he did not even engage in the minimal risk of depositing it in the bank. Two of the servants stepped out in faith, theirs was faith in action and they succeeded in gaining an increase. The third servant of course could not in any way gain an increase. His fear was that he would lose what he had and so he sought by secure means to preserve it. The others may lose the money but he would not; he acted wisely whereas they acted foolishly, or so he thought. The two servants who trusted their master and took a risk, and thereby received a considerable gain for him, were complimented and rewarded. But for the servant who would not take the risk the consequence was devastating. He was accused of being wicked and lazy. Also he clearly did not know his master, he had no relationship with him, and he even lacked the wisdom to invest the money in a bank. This would still involve risk but to a very limited extent. This false servant is condemned to hell. He sought personal security but reaped disaster. And why? Because he did not have faith in and he didnt know the master. Risk for God is faith in action, and faith in action always produces increase for both God and His true servants. Our eternal and therefore real security lies in God Himself. Living with and knowing God can be frightening because it is risky. But this fear and this risk go together as the route to absolute and eternal security. Which is ultimate Peace and therefore fulfilment. But this peace passes human understanding.
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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur His master replied, You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest 28 So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Mat 25:26-30)

4.

Gods Risk

4.1 Risk as a Necessity of this Creation


When God creates the time space universe and the world as we know it, and more specifically and vitally human beings, He creates something that is different to Himself. He is not merely extending Himself, which is pantheism, but through the motive of love and indeed grace He sets this difference free. In the case of human beings created in His image He is both absolutely similar to His creation and absolutely different. Through the similarity we know God and have the capacity to grow and develop forever in this infinite knowledge. Some would say growing in the likeness of God and others becoming God or perhaps participating in the Trinitarian koinonia of Gods essence. We are partakers of the divine nature, but we are not just an extension of God; we are different and it is this difference in which our capacity and nature as free spirits is grounded. Love sets the difference free and in so doing God creates and enters into loving reciprocal relationships with human persons (Sanders 2007:173). He has truly set us free and this freedom means that to be authentically free we are free to return Gods love in freely choosing God as Lord or we are free to reject Gods love and Gods lordship over us. This means that God necessarily takes a risk in that we may not return to him, and in fact many do not. I want to refer to this risk as Gods sovereign risk. It is the risk of the Creator which is of the very essence of nature of this particular creation of truly free beings. Free will and risk are metaphysically linked to and dependent on each other. A relationship with truly free personal beings necessarily involves risk. This is Gods great risk. This is the risk of this kind of creation with this kind of ultimate goal. We will term this risk of creation the risk of betrayal. This is not the same as human risk and I want to talk only about
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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur those who through rebirth are members of the Kingdom of God and the Body of Christ. Their risk, as we have seen, is actually the leap of faith and it is faith in action. But Gods risk is of a different quality. It is an ontological risk, a risk of being, in which the other to God, whom He set free, has the essential right to be or not to be. The choice is whether to return Gods love and to live in the glory of this return for eternity or to reject Gods love and therefore to forfeit being itself and thus to die spiritually. This is the eternal rejection, the eternal betrayal, the eternal not-returning. Gods promise to us is that He will remain in this risk until the last day. To this risk of God we now can give a proper name, which is the cost of grace. This risk is the mercy of God on undeserving recipients who have betrayed Him. Of course when we talk about this risk we are talking about providence. Gods risk (as ours) has a goal and an end point. Our risk is faith in God to fulfil His promise which, in essence, is that we will share in His glory. Gods risk is not faith. It is the cost of His grace which He is infinitely and eternally willing to pay. The cost of grace is love itself, but love which is infinitely more profound than the analogy of human love, even at its deepest. This love cares for us completely, it is involved with our history and it has a great goal for us. There can be no limits on love or it would not be love. Love must give itself utterly and totally and it must necessarily be vulnerable. It is unlimited concern for the beloved. The lover desires to give all to the beloved (Sanders 2007:178).

4.2

The Suffering of God

In the classical attributes of God which partially define classical theism, God is understood to be impassable. That is that He does not have emotion and He certainly cannot suffer. After the holocaust, the German Theologian Jurgen Moltmann, who had been a member of the Hitler youth, struggled to find the way forward for His belief about God. He produced what is now a very famous statement. Only a suffering God can help. I think Moltmann is right, if we consider the awful suffering of Jesus and we believe, as we must, that Jesus is God, then it follows that God suffers. If risk is the cost of love then suffering is the cost of redemption. God suffers in relationship with sinners. He does not over ride with power but suffers in love.

4.3

Risk is Wisdom

Gods foolishness is wiser than human wisdom (1 Cor 1:25)


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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur For Paul Gods foolishness is wiser than human wisdom. Gods wisdom is manifested in the incarnation, death and resurrection of the Son of God. To us death, vulnerability, and risk seem utter folly Yet the way of Jesus is the way of powerful love, a love that calls us to be reconciled with God, a love that raises us in resurrection life to share in the divine love. God has not chosen immunity from the suffering involved in a relationship with sinners. (Sanders 2007:183) The way of love is the way of risk and the way of love is the way of the cross. This is Gods wisdom. We have arrived at Risk-for-God not as folly but as wisdom. Most essentially we are saying that wisdom is love. Love necessitates risk and therefore to enter risk, to take a leap of faith, to leave your home where you feel secure for radical vulnerability is wise. Gods wisdom can appear as foolish to worldly minds. Similarly risk is foolish. Thinking of Risk as wisdom or Risk as wise means that we think of it in an entirely different way to that of the world. But this wisdom is born of faith. This is Faith-Wisdom which may seem foolish with respect to human reason. But God doesnt have human reason although human reason we would argue is continuous with and compatible with faith. Although we may be talking now of what we may term higher reason. This is reason with a faith priority. Risk is fundamental to such reason. In risk we leave behind our old natural resources, our security base in the world stepping out in faith and indeed into suffering. To step out into total risk is a fearful thing. We can say here however, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom! (Pro 1:8). Therefore stepping out into risk is in reality stepping out into God. The famous missionary Jim Elliot said, it is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot loose. To risk all for God, to follow Jesus is to arrive at the place of absolute security, the eternal heavenly home. Risk as faith in action then is, in the gospels light, absolute certainty. Gods risk is grace in action. Our risk, which is the response to Gods risk, is faith in action. Faith in action is radical wisdom. And we can say now that risk for God is absolute certainty. Gods risk is of this quality: it is a foundation factor of the creation and the re-creation. This risk is of the essence of God and therefore compatible with all of the attributes of God.36
We dont have space here to enter a discussion on the divine attributes. However I have made the statement that our view of God as taking upon Himself risk is compatible with the classical attributes of God. Clearly we need to redefine or reconstitute the attributes to include passibility.
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Chapter 3: Persecuted for Christ


1. Introduction
General definitions Persecution is the systematic oppression which seeks the destruction of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, ethnic persecution, and political persecution. It involves the inflicting of suffering, harassment, isolation, imprisonment, fear, pain or exclusion. Persecution is a program or campaign to exterminate, drive away, or subjugate a people because of their religion, race, or beliefs such as the persecution of the Christians by the Romans Any unjust action of varying levels of hostility perpetrated primarily on the basis of religion and directed at Christians, resulting in varying levels of harm as it is considered from the victims perspective. The Greek terms for persecution are, dioko/diogmos which have the meanings of to put to flight, to drive away, to pursue. The primary Hebrew term is radap. The meanings can include to oppress, to harass and also to afflict. Throughout the Bible there are examples of physical, social,
mental, and spiritual persecution. By social persecution we mean discrimination against an individual or group effectively driving them away or with the intent of driving them away; making them outcasts.

Looking in on the subject of Christian persecution in the world both past and present is like standing before the sea. It is a vast subject. It appears the persecution of Christians is going on in the world of the 21st century on a vast scale; the recent persecution of Coptic Christians in Egypt is a case in point. But not in the West. For Western societies who apparently focus on human rights and the rights of the individual, the rights of minority groups and even criminals, persecution is understood in political, ethnic or perhaps economic terms only. Religious persecution in terms of governments or societies at large is nowhere to be found. However for the first 300 years of the Churchs life in the Roman Empire the history of the Church was a history of persecution. Christianity was religio ilicita, illegal, until the conversion of Emperor Constantine in the 4th Century.

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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur Persecution brings suffering and risk under one banner. It is perhaps well termed suffering for righteousness (Penner 2004) which of course, since Christ is our righteousness, is suffering for Christ who said, Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you (Mat 5:11). Fairly recently a Palestinian Christian in Gaza named Ramay was brutally murdered by decapitation. He ran the Christian bookshop and was a prominent figure and an outspoken Christian and evangelist. In Afganistan a number of Interserve Christians lost their lives for Christ around two years ago: Statistics show that since the Churchs inception nearly 70 million Christians have been killed for their faith with 65% of these martyrs dying in the 20th century. Including victims of persecution which do not die for their faith, but rather live daily with threats, ridicule, torture, and/or imprisonment would further inflate these numbers.37

2.

The Nature and Ethos of Persecution

2.1

Persecution as Suffering for God

In our earlier treatment of suffering it was stated that there are three kinds of suffering: deserved suffering, undeserved suffering and suffering for others. Now we want to introduce a fourth kind: Suffering for God. More specifically, suffering for Christ. Paul has taught that the reality of our suffering in Christ is that it is sharing in Christs suffering. Our view is that undeserved suffering and suffering for others is sharing in the suffering of Christ. But persecution is special in that it is suffering for Christ. This form of suffering is the suffering of the prophets. Of course there is an overlapping of these categories, each is involved in the other and indeed even interwoven in the other. However sharing in the sufferings of Christ means that one also shares in the healing ministry of Christ; including our own healing whereas suffering for Christ through persecution produces a great heavenly reward. To be persecuted and prevail is to store up riches in Heaventhe temporary oppression on earth renders an eternal reward. The ultimate persecution is to lose ones life for Christ, which is martyrdom. Martyrdom is a very special end of life on earth and entry to heaven. To pay the ultimate cost is the ultimate honour. Yet Jim Eliot said, He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.
David B. Barrett and Todd M. Johnson, World Christian Trends AD 30 - AD 2200: Interpreting the Annual Christian Megacensus (Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2001), 227, 229.
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2.2

Martyrdom

I want to propose that the nature of persecution for Christ is of the essence of martyrdom. Persecution has at its heart the desire to destroy life. It is a murderous hatred or sometimes a jealous rage. The hatred is hatred of Christ, hatred of God, a hatred of those who are now righteous by those who are proud in their sin. The persecutors are the nations which rage against God and the one He sent. The kings of these nations conspire together to break any bonds which their Creator has with them (Ps 2). They dont want any other lord. They certainly dont want the authority of the Triune God over them. Persecution as martyrdom means that those who are persecuted live in the midst of dark forces of opposition. The forces against them are very real and they are deadly. This is courageous life against the world. And courageous life against the world is evidence of the real existence of God. This quality of faith in action makes a loud statement that the one in whom the courageous martyrs have faith is alive and true and is worth dying for.

2.3

Persecution as lies (The Persecution of God)

Persecution is lies against us. It is grounded on a false accusation. It turns the truth about God and His people into a lie:
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and

wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world Gods invisible qualitieshis eternal power and divine naturehave been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. (Rom 1:18-22) Persecution is a suppressing of the truth. Its goal is to suppress the light and maintain the darkness. It is angry hatred against God. Persecution is a complex lie system that is brought to bear in the accusation of the brethren. And if this is so then Western Christians are being persecuted. The network of lies is executed, told out, repeated, in the darkness.
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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur Persecution is lies against you aimed at putting you to flight. It is driving you away through various means like the ruination of your reputation or causing you to have great fear of personal destruction. It is false accusation. It is bearing false testimony aimed at destruction that is its sinful essence, named in the eighth commandment. The true nature of lies against God is murder. Murder is the ultimate goal of lies against God and His chosen people, whether Jews or gentiles. The way of lies and ultimate murder is the way of the false accusation of the brethren. Jesus said that Satanthe accuserwas a liar and a murderer from the beginning. Look at the first lie in Genesis 3:1-5: Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, Did God really say, You must not eat from any tree in the garden? 2 The woman said to the serpent, We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die. 4 You will not certainly die, the serpent said to the woman. 5 For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. This lie of satan, You will not die, is the basis of an alternative world where God is put to flight. He is driven out and effectively murdered in the hearts of mankind. This alternative world is what we term fallen. It is a false world based on lies about God, built upon the primary lie of Genesis 3:4. The maintenance of this lie requires the careful covering or hiding of the truth through devious confusion and false teaching and doctrine. Satan cannot allow the face of truth to be seen. There is a book called The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexander Dumas, and it is based on a true story, which is about the sovereign of France in the 17th century. One version of the story goes that the Queen gave birth to identical twin boys. But this birth, with the confusion of who would be the next king, was considered to be very dangerous for the future of the monarchy. So when the princes were sixteen they decided to shut one boy away in a dungeon as if he had never lived. The problem was that the imprisoned boy looked exactly like the boy who became the king. If his face were seen people would know the truth. What the persecutors of the imprisoned boy did to solve the problem of the truth was to encase his head in an iron mask that could not be removed, and so the truth was concealed.

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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur The truth of the false evil world is well hidden under an iron mask. And those, sent by God, who sought to proclaim the truth, the prophets and Apostles and the Son of God Himself, were murdered. And as I have already said, the history of the churchwhich is called to proclaim the truth of God the Creator of the true and real world to the false alternative worldis a history of persecution and martyrdom. The prophets task was not to predict the future but to expose the corruption in Israel. The truth of the false world built on a foundation of lies, is that it is desperately sinful and evil. That is its nature, indeed the Greek term for sin hamartia means missing the mark or going the wrong way. Sin is the way of the alternative world no matter how much they seek to cover it up. The truth is the truth from the Genesis story: men and women who live in the alternative world of the disobedience of a God who is driven out will surely die; and we are talking about death in the full and eternal sense. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil (Jn 3:19).

3.

The persecution of the Apostles, a model for mission

3.1

Association with Jesus

Jesus predicted that the disciples would suffer persecution. And in this period, at least association with Jesus brought persecution. Persecution was a direct result of association. Peter and John were speaking, in the Temple, very definitely in the name of Jesus (Acts 3). To speak and teach in Jesus name had the effect of not only undermining the policy and teaching of the religious authorities but rendering them impotent. As they spoke they were approached by the priests and captain of the temple and the Sadducees (Acts 4). This teaching was causing annoyance and so they were arrested. The teaching was preceded by the healing of a lame man and possibly because of that healing about 5000 persons believed the teaching. They gave their assent to the Apostles which the authorities were aware of. This occasion brought together the high priest Annas, Caiaphas, John and Alexander and all of the high priestly family. Peter and John were questioned by this court and the question in Acts 4:7 By what power or by what name did you do this? is very salient. The answer of course was Jesus Christ of Nazareth and also the addition, whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead (Acts 9:10f). This confession of Christ, which was made in the power of the Holy Spirit, was clearly an attack on the high priestly family and it was extremely courageous. It was a strong proclamation of the truth made in the lions den as it were. However the results of the miracle and the teaching about Jesus were too great for the high priest to act against them and they were released with

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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur the key command not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. If they ceased speaking and teaching in the name of Jesus no persecution would follow. When Peter and John returned to their friends and reported what had happened, the friends with one voice quoted Psalm 2: Why does the heathen rage and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth set themselves in array and the rulers were gathered together against the lord and against His anointed. (RSV) In this beginning we witness I believe the birth of the persecution against Christians and, of course, the Church. The persecution occasions one question: by what power and authority do you do and teach these things? And one prohibition, do not speak or teach in the name of Jesus Christ. The implication is clear, deny Christ and you will be safe. These are the simple parameters of the persecution of the Apostles and early disciples. Associate with Christ and you will be fiercely persecuted. Deny Christ and you will not. What we have here is the origin and nature of the persecution of the first Christian missionaries. The mission is also clearly and simply defined, it is to heal and to speak and teach in Jesus name. Which is at the same time a denial of the Jewish Sanhedrin. We see even in this early story a division in Israel of the people and the High Priestly family and their devout followers,

3.2

Mission as Revolution

We see in the Acts story that there could be no mission apart from persecution. We also see that mission is of the essence of revolution. The basis of this revolution is also clearly stated, that there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (4:12). Peter stated to the Sanhedrin, by implication, that there is no salvation through their religious cultus. They are false in that their religion is inauthentic and therefore merely a hypocrisy. It is a fig tree which bears no fruit. This is a revolution of that which is authentic and true against that which is inauthentic and untrue. I want to propose now that authentic mission is revolution. It uses the language of revolution in that it points to the corruption in human societies and human authorities and powers. It understands, in the light of Psalm 2, that there is a corporate rebellion against God by the world rulers and leaders and indeed by false religion. It is against those who have suppressed the truth about God (Rom 1:18) and it seeks to overthrow or conquer the suppressers through the proclamation of the truth and the resultant conversion.

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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur By definition this revolution, which I am arguing is authentic mission, will produce a division in the people and persecution by those who have set themselves against God. Including some religious authorities. I am proposing then that the Apostles were revolutionaries. They were true and authentic missionaries. And the people divided into those who believed and were added to the church, on a daily basis, and those who would not believe and who joined the camp of the persecutors. I am also proposing that the Apostolic model of the Church in terms of its missionary task which is its primary life dynamic of proclaiming the truth about God which is the gospel of Jesus Christ means that it will be persecuted. Let me be very clear here I am saying that if a church is not persecuted it is not an authentic church. In this sense persecution is the root of church growth.

3.3

The Dialectic of Mission and Persecution

Mission and persecution then are the poles of a dialectic. Persecution is the antithesis of Mission. We have all heard the saying that persecution the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church (Tertullian). It is argued that this saying is not right because the leaders were all wiped out but I am arguing that it is right for a slightly different reason. Authentic mission is always done in the context of persecution. Mission causes division of the people. This division is dialectical as it is a division of new believers who join the mission dynamic and are themselves the ground of it, and those who will not believe and who become the persecutors and so the enemies of God. There is no neutral zone involved only a harsh dialectical reality. Therefore Persecution of those who are good and true followers of Christ, is itself the witness of true mission. The life blood of the Church must remain the truth which is proclaimed and lived, but this truth is evidenced by persecution. Those who have suppressed the truth and exchanged it for a lie must persecute those who proclaim the truth and teach it; in the Power of the Holy Spirit and in the Name of Jesus Christ. Mission calls to the people to leave their home of impotence and through faith in the truth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God to enter authentic or abundant life. But the dialectic remains, as, in my view, all dialectics ought to in this order of being. The impotence finds its strength in persecuting that which is virile and fruit bearing. And this strength, in the world at least, does not fail, but neither is it victorious.

4.

Should all Christians be persecuted?

We have already posed or inferred that all Christians will have suffering of at least two of our types of suffering: undeserved suffering and suffering for others. The question before us now is
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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur concerned with the fourth type, which is suffering for God or persecution. Otherwise put to be true and real and indeed authentic Christians do we need to be persecuted? Conversely if we are not persecuted does that mean we are not true Christians. Paul writing to Timothy said: You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance,11persecutions, sufferingswhat kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. 12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Tim 3: 10-12) Well Christians strive to live a Godly life and so it appears that those who are doing so are persecuted. Does this mean that those who are not persecuted are not living a Godly life? It follows that the answer must be yes. But Christians in the West do not appear to be persecuted. Whereas Christians in what is termed the majority world are persecuted. So it appears that Christians in the East and Middle East, Africa etc. are Godly and therefore authentic, and those in the West are not.38 We have now to consider different modes, types or guises of persecution. According to Charles Tiesze: The view that persecution is only the experience of Christians in the Majority World is perhaps of greatest relevance for the global Church today. This view stems from a tendency to associate persecution with violent acts. For Christians in the West, this false association renders many unable to see the subtle, mild, and infrequent persecution that does occur in their societies. Consequently, what is perceived to be nonexistent is not appropriately addressed or it is left to those portions of the Church who may experience persecution more. 39
For more information on the rise of persecution around the world see Ayaan Hirsi Alis The War on Christians in Newsweek 2012, February. For instances of how some ex-Muslim Christians are being persecuted, and their responses see Duane Alexander Miller Your Swords do not Concern me at all: The Liberation Theology of Islamic Christianity in St Francis Magazine Vol 7:2, April 2011, pp 228-260. For a synopsis about the future challenges of religious persecution of Christians see Patrick Johnstones The Future of the Global Church (Authentic 2012), pp 16, 17. 39 Charles Tiesze, Striving Towards a Theology of Persecution (originally presented as Mission in Contexts of Violence: Forging Theologies of Persecution and Martyrdom at the northeast regional conference of the Evangelical Missiological Society, April 8, 2006).
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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur Those of us who are European Evangelicals know of persecution as the only minority group which can be publicly ridiculed and spoken against in the public media. We cannot speak out publicly against what we hold to be social evils without fear of prosecution. It does appear that atheists, perhaps inspired by gurus such as Richard Dawkins, can speak out in very offensive terms against those who believe in God. It may not be the same in USA. However in asking the question, is there persecution of Christians in American? to a young American he answered; I am not aware of physical abuse but there is verbal abuse particularly in extreme opposition to Christians who hold to Christian beliefs arising from the Bible. for example that homosexuality is a perversion and sinful. Also He said that students expressing their Christian views in homework assignments are penalised. Whereas secular views are applauded. 40 The inference is that Western Christians are indeed persecuted but because there is no real theological reflection done on persecution this is not understood by the Church or society in general. Christians from the two-thirds world tend to describe the persecutions against them rather than to engage in theological reflection. Perhaps the exception to this is liberation theology although they hold to the descriptive method rather than seeking to get to the nature of the persecution itself. Gustav Gutierrez said we do theology when the sun goes down 41 which means that they reflect on their experience. Which is fine but the theological issue which they are reflecting on is invariably the persecution of the materially poor by the materially rich and not the persecution of Christians. Tiesze again: For Christians in the Majority World, persecution is easily associated with violence given an experience of it which can be much more frequent and intense. Christians in these regions however, have not necessarily matched their experience with more thorough theological reflection. Instead, many Majority World Christians focus their efforts on describing their experiences or they choose to question what they perceive to be an imbalance between what they experience and what may or may not occur in the West. While questions such as these can be theological, their focused nature allows for gaps in theological reflection on persecution to remain. The Church must seek to understand the full nature of persecution instead of focusing on perceived imbalances or what may seem to be nonexistent for a certain portion of the Church . If we understand persecution correctly, we must acknowledge that it is a part of Christian living in the


40 41

The view of Luke Izard from Conroe, Texas, a Godly young Christian. Gustavo Gutierrez, A Theology of Liberation (Maryknoll: Orbis, 1973).
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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur here-and-now, for every member of the Church. This means that the global Church must once again acknowledge Christs claim that those who follow him will be persecuted. 42

5.

Persecution as Gods plan: the metanarrative

5.1

Persecution as Divine Providence

I have argued that suffering is in the will of God for his people, and persecution as perhaps the most extreme type of suffering is no exception. Just as it is always Jesus who is persecuted in the persecution of Christians, I believe there are always dark, satanic forces behind the persecutors. If Jesus is being persecuted then the persecutor is likely to be the prince of evil. Persecution is rejection and its task is the destruction of the human identity to the point of death, which is the antithesis of the gospel of acceptance and eternal life. In persecution we have the dialectic of creation and utter destruction. Thought of in this way we have a primordial creation dynamic. And the persecution of God, by a spiritual being which He created is therefore a matter of divine providence. According to Scott Cunningham Persecution is not viewed as an accident by Luke. It is not simply an obstacle to be overcome or the unanticipated or surprising negative response to the gospel. Persecution is firmly located within divine providence The persecution of the disciples in Acts fulfills the prophecies of Jesus made in the gospel. Jesus as a prophet of God reveals the will of God for his disciples. (1997:287) Association with Him means persecution: The persecution of the apostles and Peter in Acts 4;1-31 and 5:;17-42 fulfills these prophecies in a particularly poignant manner The inability of the Sanhedrin to contradict the testimony of Peter and John is in fulfillment of Jesus prophecy that the opponents of the disciples would not be able to resist them Lk 21:15, Acts 4:14Stephen is martyred just as Jesus had predicted Since these revelations are from the mouth of God the narrator assures the reader, in the words of Paul, I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. (Cunningham 1997:288) We have, perhaps beginning with the revelation of Ps 2, the persecution of the Prophets and then in like manner the persecution of Jesus and again in like manner, after the same pattern, the persecution of the Apostles and disciples. As for the Church Pauls informing of the disciples
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Tiesze, Striving Towards a Theology of Persecution.


43 1:1 February 2012 Nazareth, Israel

Marys Well Occasional Papers Nazareth Evangelical Theological Seminary

Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur of Lycaonia that through many tribulations it is necessary for us to enter the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22).

5.2

The Triumph of God


Nothing can stop the growth of the word of God. Man may erect obstacles against it, but Gods purpose cannot be overcome. As Gamaliel warned the Sanhedrin If this is the work of God, you will not be able to overthrow the apostles. (Cunningham 1997:293)

Cunningham sees that the providence and indeed decree of God is demonstrated in the three prison rescues (5:19,12:6-7,16:25-34). He states that the narrator (Luke) believes that the word of God cannot be imprisoned (ibid). We see in the prison narratives the evidence of divine rescue and divine rescue appears to be the means of the unstoppable will of God with respect to the preaching of the gospel (the Truth) and the salvation of sinners. Here we have the instance of rescue or correction rather than prevention. We see also that persecution becomes the occasion for the triumph of God. Persecution captures souls but God sets them free. The truth cannot remain in prison it will come out. I believe that this quality of being set free through and from persecutionfrom radical and fierce rejection to utter acceptanceis the reward of persecution. Being persecuted for Christ is suffering for God and the freedom of release is perhaps the wonderful eternal reward.

5.3

Continuity with Christ

In the persecution dynamic from the Prophets through Jesus to the Apostles and now the Church we see amazing continuity. To be persecuted for Christ is to be joined with Christ in His conflict and passion. It is to be considered worthy and therefore significant. Through this temporary rejection of worldly authorities (who may in fact be in the Church) we are eternally accepted. Through persecution we are connected to the movement of God which is the Missio Dei. We are connected as to become one with Christ. Through persecution we experience the discontinuity of the Fall, evidenced by the inner persecution of our own sin. Through the movement of persecution we are in-grafted, we become occasions of Heilsgeschichte (Salvation history). We are truly the body of Christ which lives to tell the truth about God to the world. The value of suffering for God is inestimable. It is an infinite value and therefore the greatest of riches. I believe that the Truth about God and his Creation, proclaimed and taught will produce persecution and Truth and Persecution are the essence of infinite worth in the finite world. When you are persecuted for truth about a God who is love, you are a disciple of Christ, you are
Marys Well Occasional Papers Nazareth Evangelical Theological Seminary 44 1:1 February 2012 Nazareth, Israel

Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur a partaker of the divine nature and you have a living and fruitful faith. Whilst you are in prison, you are free.

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Bibliography

Arthur, J. Bryson. Revelation and Religious Pluralism. PhD Thesis, Glasgow University, 1993. Barrett, David B., and Todd M. Johnson. World Christian Trends AD 30 - AD 2200: Interpreting the Annual Christian Megacensus. Pasadena, CA: William Carey, 2001. Cunningham, Scott. Through Many Tribulations: The Theology of Persecution in Luke-Acts. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 1997. Dunn, James D. G. The Theology of Paul the Apostle. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006. Guthrie, Donald. New Testament Theology. Leicester: Intervarsity Press, 1973. Gutierrez, Gustavo. A Theology of Liberation. Maryknoll: Orbis, 1973. Hirsi Ali, Ayaan. The War on Christians in Newsweek, 14 February 2012. Homer. The Iliad. Hooker, Morna. Paul: A Beginners Guide. Oxford: One World, 2003. Johnstone, Patrick. The Future of the Global Church. Milton Keynes: Authentic, 2012. Miller, Duane Alexander. Your Swords do not concern me at all: The Liberation Theology of Islamic Christianity in St Francis Magazine Vol 7:2, April 2011, pp 228-260. Macquarrie, John. Principles of Christian Theology. London: SCM, 1988. Murphy-OConnor, Jerome. Paul: A Critical Life. Oxford: Clarendon, 1996. O'Brien, Peter. Colossians, Philemon in Word Biblical Commentary. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982. Penner, Glen. In the Shadow of the Cross: A Biblical Theology of Persecution and Discipleship. Bartlesville, OK: Living Sacrifice, 2004. Pizzalato, Brian. St Paul explains the meaning of suffering. Catholic News Agency CNA, 8 July 2010. Plank, Karl. Paul and the Irony of Affliction. Atlanta, Georgia: Scholars, 1987. Sanders, John. The God Who Risks: A Theology of Providence. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2007.
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Out on a Limb: a theological exploration of suffering, risk and persecution J. Bryson Arthur Schreiner, Thomas R. Paul, Apostle of Gods Glory in Christ: A Pauline Theology. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2001. Tiesze, Charles. Striving Towards a Theology of Persecution. Originally presented as Mission in Contexts of Violence: Forging Theologies of Persecution and Martyrdom at the northeast regional conference of the Evangelical Missiological Society, April 8, 2006. Vanstone, W. H. The Risk of Love. New York: Oxford University, 1978. Vine, W. E. Expository Dictionary of Bible Words. London: Marshall Morgan & Scott, 1981. Wall, Robert. Colossians and Philemon. Leicester: IVP, 1993.

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