Article November 26, 1979 ISSUE

No Achilles' heel

[Original in German]

CLAIRE ROSELIUS

Mythology tells how Achilles, the Greek hero, was held by the heel in the river Styx by his mother, the sea nymph Thetis, in order to make him invulnerable. But his heel remained vulnerable. This turned out to be fatal when he was hit by the arrow of Paris.

Paul, who understood the total invulnerability of spiritual man, gave us a beautiful proof of the power of this understanding (see Acts 28). When a viper fastened on his hand as he was making a fire on the island of Malta, he shook it off, undismayed. There were no aftereffects; he was unharmed. The people there, not yet acquainted with the power of Spirit as Principle, thought at first an evil power was operating in Paul. Then they swung to the other extreme and considered him to be a god. Doesn't this remind us that whatever demonstrates the real condition of man in his permanent relationship to God is either uncomprehended or considered miraculous by mortals?

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

Defining our goals