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Translation
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What the Fathers say
Eastern Fathers
John Chrysostom
"Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God." See how he gathers comfort for them. He had said, We give thanks to God, he had said, We glory among men: these things indeed are honorable. But that which he most seeks for, who is in suffering, is, deliverance from evils, and vengeance upon those who are evil entreating them. For when the soul is weak, it most seeks for these things, for the philosophic soul does not even seek these things. Why then does he say, "a token of the righteous Judgment of God"? …
Theophylact of Ohrid
Already by what was said above he comforted the Thessalonians, namely by the fact that he said: we give thanks and we boast; but now he gives that which the sufferer seeks most of all, that is, deliverance from afflictions and punishment of those who caused them evil. Thus, here is what the words of the apostle mean: endure afflictions as proof that the righteous judgment of God will deem you worthy of the Kingdom. For if He crowns you who are persecuted and punishes those others, then His righteousness is revealed in this. …
Western Saints
Augustine of Hippo
Lastly, as regards Faustus' crafty insinuation, that the Old Testament misrepresents God as threatening to come with a sword which will spare neither the righteous nor the wicked, if the words were explained to the Pagan, he would perhaps disagree neither with the Old Testament nor with the New; and he might see the beauty of the parable in the Gospel, which people who pretend to be Christians either misunderstand from their blindness, or reject from their perversity. …
Thomas Aquinas
And the saints endure these tribulations for the sake of two things. One is to strike fear into the wicked: for if God does not spare the good in this world, how will he spare the wicked in the next? "And if it begins with us, what will be the end of those who do not believe in the Gospel of God" (1 Pet 4:17). "Behold, those who were not condemned to drink the cup shall drink it, and shall you escape as though innocent?" (Jer 49:12). The second is to increase merit. …
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