LiTEaATi;RF.. — .\i tides on 'Angels' in Ilaslings' DB (b.v Davi.lsen ; ,r. also Extrii, Vol. p. 2S.5 ft.), ScheTikd's Bibdhxicoa
and philosophical tiainiiig may as|.iie to know God as 'the One in all,' 'the Absolute,' 'the First Cause'; and may appeal for support to isolated
,,/,„; «,"/ A.y.'mdiri/ Life of Chris! ; .Schiefer, Die rfligiosm iind rthisi-lini Anschauunqen des- IV Ezmbnches; Eohut, Z)i"e Jtkiiselie Angelologie. Oii the general subject see Everlinj,
60
AXGER
AN"GER
Die Paullin.iclie ,4/^i. /",'".i,V ; l..ali,uii. 77,.- .SV,r,iv o/Anricls; Martensen, CAnV/Zc' , / ' ' - I ;r-i s^ ric-s,
viii.409ff. ; Expo- ■ ■ i : !. ,i,,„„
ANGER.-A1.K.-1 i.^ t;.. i..„auaiic lc.rl;lliiunt or reaction of the &oul agaiu.st anything which it regards as ■nron<; or injurious. It is part of its equipment for self-preservation, and the prompti- tude and energy with which it comes into play are a fair measure of tlie soul's power to protect itself from the evil which is in the world. If there is not an instant and indignant repulsion of evil, it creeps into tlie apathetic soul, and soon makes it not only its victim but its instrument. The child's anger with the fire which bums him is in a sense irrational ; but one true meaning and purpose of anger in the moral world is illustrated by it. It is the vehement repulsion of that which hurts, and there is no spiiitual, as there is no natural, life without it.
An instinct, however, when we come into the world of freedom and responsibility, always needs education ; and the radical character of the educa- tion required by the instinct of anger is apparent from the fact that the first thought of almost all men is that anger is a vice. Taking human nature as it is, and looking at tlie actual manifestations of anger, this is only too true. There is, as a rule, something vicious in them. They are self-regard- ing in a selfish way. Men are angry, as Aristotle puts it {Ethics, iv. 5. 7), on wrong gi"ounds, or with the -WTong people, or in a wrong way, or for too long a time. Their anger is natural, liot spiritual ; selfish, not guided by consideration of principle ; the induli^enee of a temper, not the staking of one"sbi-in.; |mi :, .,,u-i\ In the NT itself there are farnioi'- ■ ■ i_iinst anger than indications
of its tin ;' ! ;i;iu-tion. Yet when we read
the Go^i" 1- . ii!i I 111- i.k'a of anger in our minds, we can easily .see that justice is done to it both as a virtue and a vice. There is a certain arbitrari- ness in trying to systematize the teaching of Jesus on this or on any other subject, but most of the matter can be introduced if Ave examine (1) the occasions on which Jesus Himself is represented as being angiy ; (2) those in which He expresses His judgment on moral questions with a vehemence which is undoubtedly inspired by indignation ; and (3) those in which He gives express teaching about anger.
1. Occasions on trhich Jcsiis Himself is repre- sented as being angry. — (a) The most explicit is Mk 3' 'He looked round on them with ano;er (ixer ipyrii), being grieved (<Tvi'\vitoiiicvo$) over the Iiar- dening of their heart.' The objects of Christ's anger here are the people in the sj-nagogue, who maintained an obstinate and prejudiced silence when He a.sked them, ' Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?' What roused His an^er was partly tlieir inhumanity, which cared nothing for the disable- ment of the man with the withcn-d haiid, but ivimi more, perhaps, the misi. 1 . - n , , • ...n ..1 i.-i d which they Avere guilty. ' I
they would have it) tlir\ 11
the Sabbath day. To b." ini inili.ii .,,.
bad enough, but to impute the same mliuniuiiity to the Heavenly Father was far worse, and the indignation of Jesus was visible as He looked round on them. He pa«si"iinti>]y v'sfnted their
temper, and repelled it I r !l ■; ' i ' ' 1 M-lieraence,
as injurious at once to c in. Yet His
indignation was express,. I u, , i, 1 ,..,^ii.ait glance {irepi^XeypaiKvof, aorist), wljii.- u wu.- accompanied by a deep pain, which did not pass away {avy\i>Trou- fiffos, present), over the hardening of their heart. This combination, in Avliich resentment of wrong is accompanied with a grief whiili makes the
oft'ender's ease one's own, and seeks to win him by reaching the inner AA-itness to God in his soul before insensibility has gone too far, is character- istic of Jesus, and is the test whether anger is Christian.
(b) The next occasion on Avhich Ave see our Lord display an emotion akin to anger is found in Mk lO'^"-. He Avas 'moved Avith indignation' (RV Tiya.pa.KTrjtyei') Avhen the disciples forbade the chil- dren to be brought to Him. The other instances in AA-hich the same Avord is used (Mk 10" 14'', Mt 21'^, Lk 13") shoAv that a natural feeling of being hurt or annoyed is Avhat the Avord specifically means. The disciples should have knoAvn Him Ijetter than to do Avhat they did : they AA-ronged Him in forbidding the approach of the children. Hence doctrines and practices Avhich refuse to children, and to the intellectually and morally immature in general, their place and interest in the kingdom of God, are proper subjects of resent- ment. In one aspect of it, the kingdom of God is a protest against nature, and to enter into it Ave must be born again ; but in another, there is a real analogy betAveen them ; the order of nature is constituted Avitli a vieAv to the order of grace ; man is made in God's image and for God, and it is his true nature to AA-elcorae God ; if the children are ' suffered,' and not forbidden, they Avill go to Jesus. They Avrong God Avho deny this, and therefore the denial is to be resented.