Autor: Lonergan, Bernard J.F.

Buch: A Third Collection

Titel: A Third Collection

Stichwort: Wieder: 2-fache Bedeutung von Leben und Tod: Euripides, Sokrates, Johannes, Paulus

Kurzinhalt: the twofold meaning of death: in the Greek + in a far sharper form in the words of our Lord;

Textausschnitt: 20/14 There is a further aspect to the matter. For attention to the meaning of one's life leads to the further question of the meaning of death. Is death the end of living or is it the entry into another world? The question comes easily to man. The Greek tragedian, Euripides, could exclaim, "Who knows if to live is to be dead, and to be dead to live?" Plato at the end of the Apology has Socrates say to his judges, "But now the time has come to go. I go to die, and you to live. But who goes to the better lot is unknown to anyone but the God." Four centuries later in the fourth gospel, in the chapter that precedes the Last Supper, Jesus says to the apostles, Philip and Andrew,
In truth, in very truth I tell you, a grain of wheat remains a solitary grain unless it falls into the ground and dies; but if it dies, it bears a rich harvest. The man who loves himself is lost, but he who hates himself in this world will be kept safe for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; where I am, my servant will be. Whoever serves me will be honoured by my Father (John 12: 24-26).
21/14 For Christians, then, the meaning of life is momentous. The twofold meaning of life and the twofold meaning of death that occurs in the Greek classics also occurs in a far sharper form in the words of our Lord. He who loves himself is lost. He who hates himself in this world will be kept safe for life eternal. (230f; Fs)
22/14 This is strong doctrine and it is put into practise only through the grace of God. It is the grace of being drawn by the Father. In the sixth chapter (vv. 41-45) of St. John's Gospel we read: (231; Fs)
At this the Jews began to murmur disapprovingly because he said, 'I am the bread which came down from heaven.' They said, 'Surely this is Jesus son of Joseph; we know his father and mother. How can he now say, "I have come down from heaven"?' Jesus answered, 'Stop murmuring among yourselves. No man can come to me unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me [...] Everyone who has listened to the Father and learned from him comes to me.'
23/14 Not only does the Father draw us to Christ, but Christ himself also draws us by his passion and death. For he himself said, "And I shall draw all men to myself, when I am lifted up from the earth." And the evangelist comments immediately, "This he said to indicate the kind of death he was to die" (John 12:32-33). Drawn by the Father and drawn by the Son, the Holy Spirit brings God's own love to us. So St. Paul could write, "[...] God's love has flooded our inmost heart through the Holy Spirit he has given us" (Rom. 5:5). (231; Fs)
24/14 St. Paul's estimate of the magnitude of this gift of the Holy Spirit is known to all with his chapter on love. (231; Fs)
I may speak in tongues of men or of angels, but if I am without love, I am a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal. I may have the gift of prophecy, and know every hidden truth; I may have faith strong enough to move mountains; but if I have no love, I am nothing. I may dole out all I possess, or even give my body to be burnt, but if I have no love, I am none the better.