"I can resist anything except temptation" Oscar WildeJust what is meant by temptation? Wikipedia suggests that it is a harmful act that looks appealing to an individual. It is usually used to describe acts with negative connotations and as such, tends to lead a person to regret such actions. Temptation also describes the coaxing or inducing a person into committing a negative act. In advertising, temptation is a theme common to many marketing and advertising techniques to make products more attractive for purchase by consumers. Temptation is also used in a loose sense to describe actions which indicate a lack of self control and as something that allures, excites, and seduces someone.
It has been argued that temptation in itself is not wrong or harmful and that only when consented to does the enticement to wrong become harmful. Former President Jimmy Carter once remarked that he had ‘lusted in his heart’. Was this an example of internal temptation even though he did not act? Can temptation have a positive purpose? For example, can it show and prove our own weaknesses on the one hand, and on the other hand humble us and to make us more understanding and compassionate toward others? Does it strengthen virtue in any way, as a storm might strengthen an oak tree?
What are your reflections on Temptation?
February, 28, 2007
The article states in part: “In December, the tercentenary of Charles Wesley’s birth will be marked by a series of events around the world. His chief legacy is as arguably the greatest hymn writer in the English language. Anyone who has heard Christmas carols sung in the high street is likely to recognize Hark! The Herald Angels Sing and Love Divine, All Loves Excelling. In the 18th century the hymn was an effective means to engage popular culture. Hymns enabled writers to express their religious convictions in ways that could be readily owned by the poor. When a cantor gave out words line by line, even the illiterate could join in. The ways hymn writers interpreted biblical stories through personal religious experience made the hymn — hard as this may be to grasp now — a highly subversive cultural innovation. By the second half of the 20th century, British Christians were waking up to the possibility that hymns had become alien to those they were trying to attract to services. Whatever the merits of the hymn had been, plugging the Church into popular culture was no longer one of them and hymns were more likely to estrange than engage visitors.
In his book 'Looking in the Distance' Richard Holloway quotes Nietzsche as saying:
In his book ‘The Heart of Christianity’, Marcus Borg argues that a literal interpretation of the bible leads to an unpersuasive view of Christianity while a metaphorical interpretation leads to a view that satisfies both the head and the heart.