I am currently reading English historian Tom Holland's recent book, "Dominion: How the
Christian Revolution Remade the World". I found particularly interesting this quote on page
32:
This spirit, this ferocious commitment to being the best, was one in which all aspired
to share. In Homer's poetry, the word for 'pray', euchomai, was also a word for
'boast'.
This passage resonated strongly with me having just finished the Iliad last month and
subsequently visited the site of ancient Troy. Praying and boasting are, for Achilles
and his friends, much more closely related than we see them today.
Euchomai was also used, with a very different meaning, a millenium later by Paul in what
has become the most influential set of letters ever written. In 50 AD, Paul planted a
church in Corinth that he would write to several times over the next few years. It was
facing some pretty significant issues: adultery (1 Cor 5:1), lawsuits (1 Cor 6:1), and
prostitution (1 Cor 6:15) to name a few. In 55 AD, he writes in his final extant letter
to the Corinthian community:
Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you
not realize that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless, indeed, you fail to meet the test! I
hope you will find out that we have not failed. But we pray [euchometha] to God that you
may not do anything wrong—not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may
do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against
the truth, but only for the truth. For we rejoice when we are weak and you are strong.
This is what we pray [euchometha] for, that you may become perfect.
2 Corinthians 13:5-9
Paul cares deeply for this community and wants the best for them. The last two lines are
a stark contrast with Homer. Paul rejoices in his weakness if it means that his friends
are strong, and in his weakness he is praying. The two statements can be read in
parallel: weak/pray -> strong/perfect.
Paul's euchomai is my inspiration for this blog. You won't find any greatness here: most
of my projects are half finished and my writing seems dated to me the very next time I
read it. What I can offer is honesty and some of my small contributions to this world.
Thank you for reading.