"In contrast, Christianity, while acknowledging the presence of suffering, declares that life can be infinitely worth living and opens the way to eternal life in fellowship with God Who so loved the world that He gave Himself in Christ"
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Latourette isn’t offering comfort so much as staging a historical argument with theological teeth: Christianity’s most radical move is not to deny suffering but to downgrade its final authority. The phrasing “in contrast” signals a comparison with rival accounts of existence that treat pain as either the decisive refutation of meaning or a problem to be managed into private serenity. His claim is bolder: life can be “infinitely worth living.” That word “infinitely” doesn’t just heighten the sentiment; it relocates value from circumstances to a horizon beyond history, where meaning isn’t hostage to politics, health, or luck.
As a historian of Christianity’s global expansion, Latourette writes with the long view. He knows how often faith has spread not through argument alone but through communities that could endure plague, war, and loss without collapsing into nihilism. The subtext is apologetic, but it’s also sociological: a religion that can acknowledge suffering without surrendering to it becomes culturally adhesive. It offers a narrative that turns endurance into testimony and despair into a contested verdict, not an obvious conclusion.
The pivot “opens the way” matters. Salvation here isn’t framed as a self-improvement project; it’s an access point granted by relationship: “fellowship with God.” Then he seals the logic with the John 3:16 cadence, “Who so loved the world that He gave Himself in Christ.” The rhetoric makes suffering legible through sacrifice: God doesn’t merely explain pain; He enters it. Latourette’s intent is to show why Christianity has been historically potent: it answers the problem of suffering with a claim of costly, personal divine commitment.
As a historian of Christianity’s global expansion, Latourette writes with the long view. He knows how often faith has spread not through argument alone but through communities that could endure plague, war, and loss without collapsing into nihilism. The subtext is apologetic, but it’s also sociological: a religion that can acknowledge suffering without surrendering to it becomes culturally adhesive. It offers a narrative that turns endurance into testimony and despair into a contested verdict, not an obvious conclusion.
The pivot “opens the way” matters. Salvation here isn’t framed as a self-improvement project; it’s an access point granted by relationship: “fellowship with God.” Then he seals the logic with the John 3:16 cadence, “Who so loved the world that He gave Himself in Christ.” The rhetoric makes suffering legible through sacrifice: God doesn’t merely explain pain; He enters it. Latourette’s intent is to show why Christianity has been historically potent: it answers the problem of suffering with a claim of costly, personal divine commitment.
Quote Details
| Topic | God |
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