Texts in Conversation
In 2 Corinthians, Paul contrasts sadness that leads to repentance with sadness that leads to death. The Shepherd of Hermas describes a similar distinction, where sadness crushes the Holy Spirit after a failure but brings repentance after an angry act.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
2 Corinthians 7:10
New Testament
8 For even if I made you sad by my letter, I do not regret having written it (even though I did regret it, for I see that my letter made you sad, though only for a short time). 9 Now I rejoice, not because you were made sad, but because you were made sad to the point of repentance. For you were made sad as God intended, so that you were not harmed in any way by us. 10 For sadness as intended by God produces a repentance that leads to salvation, leaving no regret, but worldly sadness brings about death. 11 For see what this very thing, this sadness as God intended, has produced in you: what eagerness, what defense of yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what deep concern, what punishment! In everything you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.
Shepherd of Hermas 41:4
Early Christian
1 “Now listen, foolish one,” he said, “to how sadness crushes the Holy Spirit, yet can also save. 2 When a double-minded person begins some action, and fails in it because of their double-mindedness, grief enters that person, and grieves the Holy Spirit and crushes Him. 3 Again, when anger takes hold of a person over something, and that person is greatly embittered, sadness enters the heart of the one who was angry, and they are distressed at the evil they have done, and repent of doing what is wrong. 4 So this sadness seems to bring salvation, because they regretted having done the evil. Both actions grieve the Spirit: the double mind grieves the Spirit, because it did not succeed in its task, and anger again grieves Him, because it did something evil. So both are painful to the Holy Spirit—the double mind and anger.
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Notes and References
“... The text with which commentators place this statement in dialogue is 2 Cor 7:8-11, where Paul speaks of two kinds of "sadness" [...]: that which is of God, which produces conversion [...], and that which is of the world, which produces death [...], and they sometimes conclude that, because Hermas does not seem to make the same distinction, his theology on the subject is "unchristian." [...] The sadness of failure wears down the human spirit that cannot shake it off because of doublemindedness, lack of clear faith. [...] But there is another way in which sadness can work. For example, bad temper can also produce sadness (v. 3), but this time it is a sadness that works toward salvation because it aids the process of conversion from evil (v. 4). [...] or better, perhaps because the idea of two kinds of sadness was so well known from 2 Cor 7:10 that the author feels he cannot not include it. ...”
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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