lactantius.

so this past week I was introduced to this theologian named lactantius. all week I struggled with how to say his name. poor fellow, sounds like he is lactose intolerant.

I read a chapter on his thoughts on the idea of righteous anger. is it possible to have anger and not sin? I liked the way his writing was organized in the chapter. the commentator pointed out that anger (which wants revenge) is in the category of the three furies, the other furies being sexual desire (which wants pleasure) & love of gain (which wants wealth).

I keep going back to this section because they are labeled as furies (and also "primary passions") for a reason. I had never thought of "love of gain" being in this category but it definitely makes a lot of sense to me now. I also like it in this category because it is a bit controversial along with anger- is it possible to have a healthy love of gain? lactantius would probably say yes. he indicated that love of gain is important so that one can provide for him/herself as well as his/her family. it's necessary to survival, yet it can overtake you. obviously, sexual desire is the same. it's necessary to the survival and continuation of the human race. although, it's obvious to see that when love of gain & sexual desire are abused, they become massively distorted.

so is it the same for anger? can anger bear positive fruit, but if misused, become dysfunctional in its use? ironically, even to use the word dysfunctional implies that there is a social norm for how something is to be used appropriately but that deviating from that makes it abnormal.

is there a difference between anger and having a quick temper? Dr. T alluded to the psalms & proverbs of the B and how many times people are warned of the consequences of having a bad temper.

the application part of me looks to what I know of anger. when you are the target, whether directly or indirectly, of someone's anger, it significantly impacts you. I think because I feel like I have somewhat been a spectator in life to anger's impact on the one it inhabits as well as the one it influences from onlooking, it's tricky to put into words how it makes one feel as to mentally create a non-blurry line that separates "righteous anger" from "unrighteous anger."

I've seen that in my own life, the consequences of generational anger on me have resulted in passivity. fighting, conflicts, anger... it all makes me cringe and shut down. I always go back to this scene in my head a year ago where a person I love angrily slammed a door and I realized I had immediately begun crying. it set the scene for me to begin having more open conversations with people in my family, which I am grateful for, but also has made me curious about anger because I think, as we talked about in class last night, that maybe what we know of anger is so distorted that righteous anger actually looks like something else, some other emotion, when in its true form. I was oddly encouraged by that thought and want to keep my eyes open for more examples of what could constitute righteous anger.