[Pain and Christianity. A symbol for overcoming pain?].
Pain and Christianity appear to belong together: Christ's pain stands at the centre of God's healing; his pain leads to the salvation of mankind. We can learn from Jesus' example how to bear suffering and pain. In early Christian times, the belief that Jesus Christ suffered pain on the cross was usually not accepted. In line with the "apathy axiom", freedom from emotion was something to strive for at that time. Only after the acceptance of Christianity as the state religion of the Roman Empire in 380 AD did the pain of Christ again stand in the centre of the Christian doctrine of salvation. The memory of the fact that Jesus himself had to undergo the worst pain can still help people to overcome their pain and comfort them.
Lehrstuhl für Altere Kirchengeschichte, Theologische Fakultät der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Deutschland. christoph.markschies@theologie.hu-berlin.de
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Markschies
D001633:Bible; D002835:Christianity; D006801:Humans; D010146:Pain; D013315:Stress, Psychological