Attend to Stories by Karen D. Scheib

Author:Karen D. Scheib [Karen D. Scheib]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: -
Publisher: BookBaby
Published: 2018-10-04T16:00:00+00:00

A Brief Note on Language

The English words well-being, flourishing, and happiness, which are often used interchangeably, are all imprecise translations of Hebrew and Greek terms that often have more complex meanings than the contemporary meanings of the corresponding English words. I’d even say they have misled us into thinking that happiness, flourishing, and well-being are something different from what the Bible actually teaches. And so we have false expectations.

“Happy are those whose hope is the God of Jacob,” the psalmist declares (Ps 146:5). The Hebrew word often translated as “happy” or “blessed” is asher, which can also refer to flourishing or well-being found in relationship with God.24 The Greek word makarios, which appears repeatedly in the Beatitudes found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, has traditionally been translated as “blessed,” but is increasingly rendered as “happy.”25 In addition to these terms, there are many others that might contribute to a discussion of happiness.26

One of the Greek terms that is translated as flourishing, well-being, or happiness is eudaimonia.27 What Aristotle meant by happiness had to do with virtue and a life well lived. It described an enduring state of well-being.28 Another Greek term also used to describe “the happy or blessed life” is hēdonē, usually defined as a transitory state of pleasure dependent on the presence of external things, like wealth.29 Aristotle characterized the good or flourishing life as an “eudaimonic life,” meaning a virtuous life rather than an “enjoyable life filled with enjoyable sensations.”30 In Greek philosophy, these two terms sometimes even represented opposite or contradictory views of a happy or well-lived life. Biblical thinking about happiness is not restricted to concepts of eudaimonia or hēdonē, though these concepts have sometimes been applied to discussion of well-being, flourishing, or happiness in the Bible.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.