Resistance is a fact of life…

Terry Dashner………………Faith Fellowship Church PO Box 1586 Broken Arrow, OK 74013

“He had kind of physical courage that allowed him to stare down and armed assassin and kind of mental courage that allowed him to keep secret of general’s plot against Hitler from even his own closest advisers” writes J. Bottum in his essay entitled, “Pius XII and Nazis.” Bottum continues, “He was a saint and a failure, a success and a sinner, a man designed by nature to be finest wielder of delicate tools of civilized diplomacy Vatican had ever know—and confronted during his papacy with only blind, monstrous barbarity, like a fencing master forced to duel a panzer tank.”

Bottum is referring to Pope Pius XII who ruled over Roman Catholic Church during rise and fall of Hitler and Nazi Germany. Why do I bring up his memory? I do because he is either despised or adored by historians. Again Bottum writes, “Whenever topic of his pontificate is raised, Pius XII is either unreservedly lauded as only significant resister of Hitler to survive on European continent, or unrelentingly denounced as a cowardly failure who passively or even actively participated in Nazi’s destruction of six million Jews.”

I write this not to bash pope’s memory—no one can effectively say that Pope Pius XII was negligent in allowing Hitler to exterminate six million Jews or brilliant in saving more than 700,00 Jews who probably would have been killed in Nazi death camps—but to raise this question. Why is it that world, who shares blame and guilt of allowing Hitler to rise to power, questions Pius XII in first place? Was Roman Catholic Church only religion in world in 1939? No, it wasn’t. But Roman Catholic Church—Christians in general—is castigated by world in regards to world’s violation of human rights because world expects Christians to resist evil. Always.

I find it odd that no one holds Muslims, Hindus, or Buddhists responsible when morality wanes and human rights are violated. It’s always Church of Jesus Christ. Why? Because world may not like ostensibly “moral smugness” that besets church, but it expects church to speak out, even if world says otherwise. The world wants us, world needs us to resist evil. If we don’t, who will?

I beseech you, brethren, suffer word of exhortation, (Heb. 13:22) meaning of word translated exhortation as set forth here in Hebrews is Greek word paraklesis.

This word paraklesis is used twenty nine times in Bible and is translated consolation fourteen times, exhortation eight times, comfort six times and entreaty one time. This will give you a flavor of how word is used in King James Version it is writers contention that exhortation may be a poor translation of word and that comfort or comforter is proper translation of paraklesis .

Paraklesis is defined by dual suggestion that that which comforts, comforts from two unique positions. Consider paraklete or Holy Spirit (John 14:26) and also consider Advocate parakletos (I Jo 1:2) here we have dual nature of paraklesis one as Comforter other as Christ legal defense of Believer.

We should look at Luke 2:25 "And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name [was] Simeon; and same man [was] just and devout, waiting for consolation paraklesis of Israel: and Holy Ghost was upon him." This is where we see that exhortation as a synonym of comfort as a meaning for paraklesis simply cannot work.