K - Past Witnesses
- Walter Kaiser - Thomas a Kempis - Soren Kierkegaard - Esther Ahn Kim - Kaufman Kohler -
Walter Kaiser
Walter Kaiser
Walter Kaiser summarized what he considered to be the eight kinds of suffering in the Old Testament:
- Retributive suffering involves people receiving punishment for their wicked behavior (cf. Deut. 30:19). This is the kind of suffering that Jeremiah described the people of Jerusalem and Judah undergoing in Lamentations. It is also the kind of suffering that Job's three friends incorrectly concluded that he was experiencing.
- Educational or disciplinary suffering is what God allows to touch people in order to teach them various lessons (cf. Prov. 3:11; Jer. 8:18-21; 15:15; Heb. 12:7). Job's friend Elihu erroneously believed that Job was suffering primarily because God wanted to teach Job something (Job 32—37).
- Vicarious suffering is suffering that people experience on the behalf of others (Lev. 16; Isa. 53:5). The Old Testament sacrificial system, for example, involved this kind of suffering.
- Empathetic suffering is suffering that someone experiences when he or she enters into the suffering of someone else (cf. Gen. 6:5-6; Exod. 32:14; Judg. 2:15; 1 Sam. 15:11; Isa. 63:9; Hos. 11:8; Rom. 12:15; 2 Cor. 2:4).
- Doxological suffering occurs when God purposes to glorify Himself through the suffering of someone (cf. Gen. 45:4, 5, 7; 50:20; John 9:3).
- Evidential or testimonial suffering is suffering for the purpose of bearing testimony to something (Job 1—2; Ps. 73:23-24; Hab. 1:13; 2:4; 3:16, 18).
- Revelational suffering is suffering designed to bring someone into a deeper understanding and closer relationship with God (e.g., Hosea; Jeremiah).
- And eschatological or apocalyptic suffering is the unique suffering that will be the portion of earth-dwellers shortly before the Lord returns to the earth (Isa. 24—27; Jer. 30—33; Ezek. 33—48; Dan. 2—12; Zech. 12—14).
soren kierkegaard
Søren Kierkegaard
It is well known that Christ consistently used the expression “follower.” He never asks for admirers, worshippers, or adherents. No, he calls disciples. It is not adherents of a teaching but followers of a life Christ is looking for.
Christ understood that being a “disciple” was in innermost and deepest harmony with what he said about himself. Christ claimed to be the way and the truth and the life (Jn. 14:6). For this reason, he could never be satisfied with adherents who accepted his teaching – especially with those who in their lives ignored it or let things take their usual course. His whole life on earth, from beginning to end, was destined solely to have followers and to make admirers impossible.
Christ came into the world with the purpose of saving, not instructing it. At the same time – as is implied in his saving work – he came to be the pattern, to leave footprints for the person who would join him, who would become a follower. This is why Christ was born and lived and died in lowliness. It is absolutely impossible for anyone to sneak away from the Pattern with excuse and evasion on the basis that It, after all, possessed earthly and worldly advantages that he did not have. In that sense, to admire Christ is the false invention of a later age, aided by the presumption of “loftiness.” No, there is absolutely nothing to admire in Jesus, unless you want to admire poverty, misery, and contempt.
What then, is the difference between an admirer and a follower? A follower is or strives to be what he admires. An admirer, however, keeps himself personally detached. He fails to see that what is admired involves a claim upon him, and thus he fails to be or strive to be what he admires.
To want to admire instead of to follow Christ is not necessarily an invention by bad people. No, it is more an invention by those who spinelessly keep themselves detached, who keep themselves at a safe distance...
---Søren Kierkegaard
Christ understood that being a “disciple” was in innermost and deepest harmony with what he said about himself. Christ claimed to be the way and the truth and the life (Jn. 14:6). For this reason, he could never be satisfied with adherents who accepted his teaching – especially with those who in their lives ignored it or let things take their usual course. His whole life on earth, from beginning to end, was destined solely to have followers and to make admirers impossible.
Christ came into the world with the purpose of saving, not instructing it. At the same time – as is implied in his saving work – he came to be the pattern, to leave footprints for the person who would join him, who would become a follower. This is why Christ was born and lived and died in lowliness. It is absolutely impossible for anyone to sneak away from the Pattern with excuse and evasion on the basis that It, after all, possessed earthly and worldly advantages that he did not have. In that sense, to admire Christ is the false invention of a later age, aided by the presumption of “loftiness.” No, there is absolutely nothing to admire in Jesus, unless you want to admire poverty, misery, and contempt.
What then, is the difference between an admirer and a follower? A follower is or strives to be what he admires. An admirer, however, keeps himself personally detached. He fails to see that what is admired involves a claim upon him, and thus he fails to be or strive to be what he admires.
To want to admire instead of to follow Christ is not necessarily an invention by bad people. No, it is more an invention by those who spinelessly keep themselves detached, who keep themselves at a safe distance...
---Søren Kierkegaard
thomas a kempis
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Thomas à Kempis, original name Thomas Hemerken, (born 1379/80, Kempen, near Düsseldorf, Rhineland [Germany]—died August 8, 1471, Agnietenberg, near Zwolle, Bishopric of Utrecht [now in the Netherlands]), Christian theologian, the probable author of Imitatio Christi (Imitation of Christ), a devotional book that, with the exception of the Bible, has been considered one of the most influential works in Christian literature.
About 1392 Thomas went to Deventer, Netherlands, headquarters of the learned Brethren of the Common Life, a community devoted to education and the care of the poor. There he studied under the theologian Florentius Radewyns, who in 1387 had founded the Congregation of Windesheim, a congregation of Augustinian canons regular (i.e., ecclesiastics living in community and bound by vows). Thomas joined the Windesheim congregation at Agnietenberg monastery, where he remained almost continually for over 70 years. He took his vows in 1408, was ordained in 1413, and devoted his life to copying manuscripts and to directing novices. |
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Thomas a Kempis Files
"First there cometh into the mind a bare thought of evil, then a strong imagination thereof, afterwards delight, and evil motion, and then consent. And so little by little our wicked enemy getteth complete entrance, for that he is resisted at the beginning. "
--Thomas a Kempis ; Pulpit Commentary ; The Book of James
esther ahn kim
May 25, 2023: Gospel Coalition: Amy Carmichael Shaped Me as a Mom
During the Second World War, a music teacher at a Christian school in Korea heard that people in her area were being arrested for refusing to bow to the Japanese sun goddess. Esther Ahn Kim began memorizing Bible verses and then whole chapters of the Bible to prepare for the possibility she could go to jail if she was asked to bow. She ended up memorizing over 100 chapters of the Bible before she was arrested. She spent six years in prison, where she showed God’s love to her guards and fellow prisoners. After she was released, she came to the United States, went to seminary, married, and wrote a book called If I Perish about her experiences.
During the Second World War, a music teacher at a Christian school in Korea heard that people in her area were being arrested for refusing to bow to the Japanese sun goddess. Esther Ahn Kim began memorizing Bible verses and then whole chapters of the Bible to prepare for the possibility she could go to jail if she was asked to bow. She ended up memorizing over 100 chapters of the Bible before she was arrested. She spent six years in prison, where she showed God’s love to her guards and fellow prisoners. After she was released, she came to the United States, went to seminary, married, and wrote a book called If I Perish about her experiences.
kaufman kohler
May 25, 2023: University of Chicago: Connection and Celebration at the World's Parliament of Religions
Philip Schaff, a Protestant leader who had worked years for unification efforts within Christianity, argued that the Parliament would further his vision of Christian ecumenism based on “ethical unity” and “Christian freedom” by opposing a “spirit of pride, selfishness and narrowness.” Prince Serge Wolkonsky from Russia urged in his address, “Universal Brotherhood,” that attendees embrace an already existing human connection. He stated: “Human brotherhood is not a club where membership is needed to enjoy the privileges. Not by instituting societies or associations shall we inspire feelings of brotherhood, but in breaking the exclusiveness of those which exist.” Kaufman Kohler, a prominent leader of Reform Judaism, emphasized human unity, the divine image, and the “bonds of human brotherhood” in his talk. The repeated claims about the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of humanity have seldom been noted, but they are examples of multiple religious leaders (even beyond the Jewish and Christian traditions) who sought to expand the circle of human connection beyond blood ties, national boundaries, and even inherited religious traditions. At the height of racism in the US and Western colonialism, the Parliament was one attempt to mitigate human division and the sectarian passions nurtured and released by religious certainty.
Philip Schaff, a Protestant leader who had worked years for unification efforts within Christianity, argued that the Parliament would further his vision of Christian ecumenism based on “ethical unity” and “Christian freedom” by opposing a “spirit of pride, selfishness and narrowness.” Prince Serge Wolkonsky from Russia urged in his address, “Universal Brotherhood,” that attendees embrace an already existing human connection. He stated: “Human brotherhood is not a club where membership is needed to enjoy the privileges. Not by instituting societies or associations shall we inspire feelings of brotherhood, but in breaking the exclusiveness of those which exist.” Kaufman Kohler, a prominent leader of Reform Judaism, emphasized human unity, the divine image, and the “bonds of human brotherhood” in his talk. The repeated claims about the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of humanity have seldom been noted, but they are examples of multiple religious leaders (even beyond the Jewish and Christian traditions) who sought to expand the circle of human connection beyond blood ties, national boundaries, and even inherited religious traditions. At the height of racism in the US and Western colonialism, the Parliament was one attempt to mitigate human division and the sectarian passions nurtured and released by religious certainty.