What a Brutal Dictator Can Teach About Repentance


Imagine the most brutal dictator of modern times, one raised in a Christian culture, but rejecting his heritage for something more sinister, bent on conquest and control, imagining himself as godlike before his people, a man like Hitler or Stalin, then in a miraculous turn of events, he repents of his brutality, embraces his childhood faith, and begins to undo the horrors inflicted upon his people.

Enter King Manasseh.  Manasseh may be the the most evil of the Biblical kings, rejecting the faith of Israel, diving headlong into paganism, enforcing it upon his people, killing prophets, and sacrificing his own children.

Unlike our imaginary scenario, Manasseh is humiliated by defeat and imprisonment, leading to repentance.

His prayer is especially relevant during the Lenten season, and is found at the end of the book of 2 Chronicles, but only in the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint).

The prayer has much to teach about repentance.  Prayerfully read the Prayer of Manasseh, and consider these thoughts on a life of repentance.

1.  Sometimes dramatic life events are necessary for us to repent.
2.  Repentance is conditioned upon a vision of the Holy.
3.  The distance you sense from God empowers repentance.
4.  Confession is a critical element to repentance.
5.  Repentance leads to action not just sorrowful feelings.
6.  Repentance is not a one time event, but a way of life.
7.  Repentance is an act of crucifixion of self.  It is the way of the cross.
Manasseh’s repentance was born on Golgotha. For many Christians, each day is a day of cross and resurrection, and such was probably true for Manasseh after this dramatic experience. However, it was his imprisonment and deprivation that opened a crack in his soul for the grace of God to enter. The utter helplessness of his life shattered the image of a powerful king who could defy the traditions of his fathers and manipulate the darkness for his own control and satisfaction. The cross was thrust upon him, but he chose to bear it, and resurrection was to follow.
Most of us may not have such outward displays of wickedness,but inwardly we build kingdoms of darkness to protect ourselves from the fear of death. - The Rest of the Bible

P.S.  Here are some other related resources:


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is Theistic Evolution Orthodox?

Image
Everyday Theology or Speculative Theology? Eagle River Institute, I’m disappointed.  Your institute has produced consistent edifying lectures for the Orthodox Christian. Yet, you allow someone to present on Evolution as if this is the only sensible position for an Orthodox Christian.  It is not! The presentation is upsetting. Maybe you found the arguments edifying for the average Orthodox Christian, but please qualify it. This is a historical aberration and deserves to be contrasted in the light of the historic Christian position. This article stands as a counterpoint to the theistic evolutionary position held by Dr. Gayle Woloschak in her presentation at the Eagle River Institute in August. There are more episodes to come, and depending on their content, I may put together another response. First of all, I am not judging this person’s Christian faith and commitment to Christ and Orthodoxy.  I am not judging her piety or personal holiness. I am judging her ideas about th
Read more

4 Senses of Scripture

Image
Scripture is a critical element in the life of a Christian, but it does not take much effort to see the abuse and twisting that the Bible has endured at the hands of well meaning and not-so well meaning people over the centuries.   To protect against such error, the Bible should be read within the context of the Church.  This means many things but one aspect of context is a particular approach to reading Scripture.   This approach can be summarized as the Four Senses of Scripture.  From early times times, the faithful approached Scripture this way.  Faithful Jews prior to Christ used this method, and it became incorporated into the life of the Church from the beginning.   Later in history these 4 Senses were listed and categorized with helpful labels by St. John Cassian (360-435).  The labels stuck and have been used ever since.   What are they? Literal:   Another way of stating this is literary.  Obviously not every Scripture is meant literally.  Genre must b
Read more

The Problem of Orthodox Culture

Over the past months several Orthodox writers have taken up the topic of Orthodox culture and whether we can create one in this country.  Much of the writing flows out the pens of artists, so I am sure that this is a desire longing for an ethos where there is a richness of art seen in places like old Russia with majestic architecture, beautiful music and haunting works of literature.  I long for this too. What is the critical mass of people for such a culture to emerge?  Evangelicals have had this mass in America for some time, but only recently is there a serious arts movement bubbling up.  Rather than a culture of high art, I propose we are looking for community, and this is the base where we must start. The magnet that draws Americans into the Evangelical world, robust Catholic life, and even stranger American movements such as Mormonism is not theology, but community.  This is a place where you can enter and every part of your life is infected by it.  For these be
Read more