Philippians 1:21
Εμοι γαρ το ζην Χριστος και το αποθανειν κερδος.
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Question: Does "to live" here refer to earthly life or to eternal life, or perhaps both - life in general?
My thoughts: On the one hand, it appears that Paul is contemplating whether he will die or not, in which case το ζην would refer to earthly life. This makes sense since it is the opposite of το αποθανειν (dying). However, then the other half of the equation doesn't seem to follow very cleanly: if to remain alive is Christ, then why does he call death "gain"? Wouldn't "living" be gain, since it is equated with Christ?
Or does "to live is Christ" refer more specifically to the eternal life that believers will have in Christ? Then perhaps these two statements are not to be seen as contradictory. In other words Paul is saying, "to live is to be with Christ, and that's why I consider death gain because it will bring me to Him for eternity."
Or does το ζην refer to Paul's earthly life in the following way: "If I live, the purpose of my life will continue to be Christ, and Christ will continue to be proclaimed through me to his glory and to the help and service of others. Thus, I certainly cannot complain about living" [Paul expresses this in the surrounding verses (12-14, 24-26)]. "On the other hand, if I die, that would really be a greater gain for me because then I would be with Christ" [Paul clearly expresses this as his desire in v. 23]. As I consider this anew while typing this up, I am leaning toward this latter explanation. The way v. 20 prefaces v. 21 with the statement "Christ will be magnified in my body, whether in life or death" also seems to indicate that earthly life as opposed to death is still the topic in v. 21.
Even so, "For me to live is Christ" is a rather puzzling statement, isn't it?
Another thing I'm wondering is whether Luther's translation, "Denn Christus ist mein Leben und Sterben mein Gewinn" favors one understanding over the other?
Your thoughts?
Hi friends and family! Many of you have been keeping up with my German and European travels via my posts on Facebook. For those of you haven't or who aren't on Facebook, I'm sorry I've been a bad blogger lately.
My 8-week break between the winter and summer semesters is now over. The new term began on Tuesday, and I'm really glad to be back in Oberursel and taking new classes again. Monday night, my friend Jeremy and I got back from our 3rd trip together. We used the Eurail Pass to go Garmisch-Partenkirchen in the Bavarian Alps, then through the Alps into Italy where we spent time in Venice, Ravenna, Bologna, Florence and Rome. Finally we took a night train from Rome to Vienna, and after a day in Vienna we took the train back to Oberursel with stops in Salzburg and Passau along the way. Our friend and classmate Mathias also joined us for most of the trip. (He joined us on day 2 and went back 1 day early.) All in all it was a great trip with lots and lots of impressive sights. Unfortunately the weather didn't entirely cooperate and we had a lot of rain in Rome and onwards, but it was a good time nonetheless. The 1200 pictures I took in 8 days can testify to that! A few hundred of them I have posted on Facebook in 5 separate albums.
I've discovered that's it's much simpler and more convenient for me when posting a large number of photos to do it on Facebook and then share the link here. This Blogger website isn't so great for posting lots of pictures - it takes way too long. Therefore, I am posting below the links to all 5 Facebook photo albums which anyone can view, even without being in Facebook. Just click on the links! Now that I've got these big trips behind me, I will try to be a better blogger again. But not tonight; it's time for bed.
