![]() In doing so, we see God’s compassionate love as the affective attitude that he eternally chooses to take toward his creatures, voluntarily taking on the form of a Suffering Servant even to the point of death. ![]() If God’s love through the cross and resurrection of Christ is understood in this manner, is there, perhaps, a profound wisdom expressed by contemplating the themes of glory and suffering together? This paper is an attempt to think theologically about suffering. ![]() ’ Three things are evident in Augustine’s remarks: (1) The cross of Christ is not about the suffering, brutality, or cruelty (2) it is about the act of self-giving love revealed through suffering (3) and, Christ’s suffering is for our benefit. He loved us, that we might in turn love Him. How can such themes be brought together in this diptych? Is the artist’s rendering an attempt to glorify suffering, mocking the millions who have and do suffer today? Augustine struggled with these very questions, asking: ‘What is it we love in Christ - his crucified limbs, his pierced side, or his love? When we hear that he suffered for us, what do we love? Love is loved. ![]() ![]() The “Bargello Diptych: The Adoration of the Magi and Crucifixion” (Unknown French Master, 14th century) juxtaposes themes of adoration and glory, on the one hand, with sorrow and suffering, on the other. ![]()
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