WHERE IS ESSAYS?? (SAVED THIS SOME TIME AGO)
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Friday, November 24, 2006
6:53 PM - Malakos
written by: Elias
Paul says that the effeminate will not inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Cor 6:9)
He ranks the effeminate among fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, and sodomites. Thus, the effeminate man is as hell-bound as the fornicator, adulterer, idolater, and the sodomite.
We routinely hear the clarion calls for a "kindler, gentler" preaching and witnessing. If a man declares that sodomy is an abomination to God, and is unnatural, and leads to hell, the man is declared "harsh" and "unloving". The sodomites are apparently not to be told that they are abominable. In fact, we are routinely told that it is not the sodomites alone who are not to be made "upset" with "hard preaching", but all sinners!
"They will never seek the grace of God if you preach harshly to them!" So we are told.
What does this "harshness" consist of? Why, it consists of plain talk. It consists in simply identifying what the Bible and nature teach about sin, sinfulness, and sinners.
There are folks who have become so effeminate that they think even the terms "sin" and "sinner" are "harsh and judgemental, unkind and unloving".
Then there are others who, while pretending to "stand firm" on Biblical terminology, nevertheless chafe and resist the "delivery". They say "it is not the words, but the tone which turns people away."
If something is an abomination to God, shall we present it to the people as if it weren't? It is a sure sign of DISHONESTY and INSINCERITY to say with your words what you deny with your tone and manner. Subconciously, even, people tend to DISBELIEVE a man when his words do not match his tone. Thus, when a man speaks of the "abominable sin" of idolatry, or fornication, or sodomy, if he uses a soft tone of voice, gentle and soothing, his tone gives the lie to his words.
Those who are so upset and offended by what they style "harsh preaching" are, in most cases, effeminate. (I do not speak of women, for it is natural for a woman to be feminine, delicate, "effeminate". I speak of men here.) And the effeminate, according to Scripture, is bound for hell unless he repents and experiences the CHANGING power of God's mercy.
Who is "effeminate"?
The English word means literally "from woman", and means a man who partakes of the qualities of a woman. The Greek term is malakos, which literally means "soft". So, the "effeminate" are in actuality "soft, womanly, delicate men". But what does this mean?
In ancient Greek culture (let's remember the cultural context, right?) malakos, or effeminacy, was opposed to manliness. Aristotle described it thus:
"Of the dispositions described above, the deliberate avoidance of pain is rather a kind of softness (malakia); the deliberate pursuit of pleasure is profligacy in the strict sense." (Ethics, VII, vii. 3)
"People too fond of amusement are thought to be profligate, but really they are soft (malakos); for amusement is rest, and therefore a slackening of effort, and addiction to amusement is a form of excessive slackness." (ibid.)
Later on, Aquinas gave the results of his inquiry into the question of what "effeminacy" meant, thus:
"...perseverance is deserving of praise because thereby a man does not forsake a good on account of long endurance of difficulties and toils: and it is directly opposed to this, seemingly, for a man to be ready to forsake a good on account of difficulties which he cannot endure. This is what we understand by effeminacy, because a thing is said to be "soft" if it readily yields to the touch." (Summa., Q. 138ff)
(Referring to Aristotle's definitions in Ethics VII) "...properly speaking an effeminate man is one who withdraws from good on account of sorrow caused by lack of pleasure, yielding as it were to a weak motion." (ibid)
"Accordingly just as it belongs to effeminacy to be unable to endure toilsome things, so too it belongs thereto to desire play or any other relaxation inordinately". (ibid)
So then, the effeminate are those (men) who are soft, who "withdraw from good on account of sorrow caused by lack of pleasure". You see, the effeminate man hates plain preaching and plain speaking, because it causes him sorrow. He withdraws from plain speech because he is made sorrowful by it, and why is he made sorrowful? Because there is lack of plasure. The words are not calculated to make him "feel good."
Because plain preaching is not designed or delivered for the purpose of making the hearer "feel good", the effeminate man does not like it. He withdraws from the "good" (the Truth of God's Word) because the speech makes him sorrowful (ie "makes him feel bad", angry, upset, sad, or whatnot).
Rather than being man enough to put up with the "bitter sting" of the Physician's prick, he flees from the psychological, emotional "pain". Then, needing to justify himself, he blasts the messenger as "harsh" (that is, as "causing pain").
The effeminate man is soft. He flies from the Words of truth because they cause pain. If preaching does not make him feel good, he rejects it.
And the effeminate man is hellbound, and in need of repentance.
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