Editorial February 26, 1938 Issue

Enthusiasm versus Apathy

George Shaw Cook

WEBSTER gives as the derivation of our English word "enthusiasm" the Greek word entheos (en, in, and theos, god); and the primary definition of enthusiasm is, "Inspiration by a divine or superhuman power." Some of the synonyms for enthusiasm are: eagerness, alacrity, zeal. A secondary meaning of enthusiasm is "strong excitement of feeling on behalf of a cause or a subject;" hence, the word "enthusiasm" has come to be associated in the thought of many with excitement, fervor, and untempered zeal.

With primitive Christians there was always an abundance of the right sort of enthusiasm. They fearlessly faced persecution and even martyrdom in defense of the cause which they had espoused. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, faced death with the utmost courage. He did not hesitate to tell the truth about Christ Jesus to the Jews by whom he was confronted, nor did he lack the courage to charge them with bringing about the crucifixion of Jesus. Yet after he had been stoned for his outspokenness, he manifested true Christian forgiveness. In his last earthly moments he uttered the prayer, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge."

Paul experienced deprivation, humiliation, suffering, and eventual death for the sake of bringing the message of Christ-healing to the pagan countries surrounding the Mediterranean. He not only spoke with the utmost fearlessness in the face of hatred and persecution, but endured untold hardships in his missionary journeys, to say nothing of being several times scourged and imprisoned.

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