While Ecclesiastics probes the problem of pain, the book of Philippians speaks about our joy in Christ. In the end, Solomon exhorts readers to enjoy the life God has granted and to fear the Lord (Ecc 11:7-8,10, 12:13). I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on mankind: God gives some people wealth, possessions and honor, so that they lack nothing their hearts desire, but God does not grant them the ability to enjoy them, and strangers enjoy them instead. The opening and closing lines are “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity” (Ecc 1:2 12:8). The book of Ecclesiastes reflects deeply on pain and pleasure in life. The purpose of Jesus’ instruction and the epistle of 1 John was “to make your joy complete” (John 15:11 1 John 1:4). Jesus endured the pain of the cross “for the joy set before him” (Heb 12:2). Nehemiah told Israel, “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (10:8). The Psalms say, “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (37:4) and “May the nations be glad and sing for joy” (67:4). God wants people to find joy and pleasure in him. The pain-pleasure motif is also common in Bible. For many people today, especially in the West, pain and pleasure are the defining factor for choosing a course of action. The French are known for the longing and pursuit of culinary, visual, and physical pleasure. France is a common example of this culture type. A “pain-pleasure culture” is passionate about aesthetics, beauty, and perfection in all of life. The pain people dread is futility, despair, vanity, and boredom. The words “joy” and “satisfaction” explain this pleasure of the soul. The pleasure people seek is a sense of delight, adventure, purpose, and deep contentment. They are existential realities of the soul, not just biological realities in the brain. When referred to as a culture type, “pain-pleasure” carries a philosophical meaning. Modern scientists even research neurochemical realities to study the biological roots of pleasure and pain. The moral theory of Utilitarianism based ethics on the pain or pleasure caused by an action. Later philosophers such as Spinoza and Descrates hypothesized about nature of pain and pleasure. In the 4 th century B.C., Aristotle described the human inclination to move towards pleasure and away from pain, “We may lay it down that Pleasure is a movement, a movement by which the soul as a whole is consciously brought into its normal state of being and that Pain is the opposite” ( Rhetoric, book I, ch 11). Philosophers have long considered the feelings of pain and pleasure to be part of a continuum. A long with guilt-innocence, shame-honor, and fear-power, should there be a fourth category of “pain-pleasure”? This post considers the merit of this idea.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |