Vineri 
Christianity was perceived by the early Christians as an empowering experience that endowed them with special abilities which they did not have before and which are referred to as "spiritual gifts." One of the passages in which Paul mentions them with great appreciation is 1 Corinthians 1:4-7:
"I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every king -- just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you -- so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ."
While some gifts were of practical value such as healing, others involved intellectual achievements such speaking in public both in the native tongue as well as in foreign languages.
Taking into account that the first Christians came from the most disadvantaged backgrounds with virtually no training and educational opportunities, such dramatic intellectual achievements were referred to as "gifts" because they were received as a result of accepting the new faith and not as a result of their natural abilities gradually honed through hard work in a training program under an experienced master. So spectacular were some of the abilities which Christians acquired almost over night as a result of accepting the Christian faith that their lack of talents and educational opportunities seemed to be irrelevant. The Christian faith seemed to turn the most unfulfilled and hopeless life into one which seemed to have no boundaries as to what one could achieve.
The subject of achieving success and happiness in life has become a central topic for philosophical discussion in modern times and according to this understanding happiness and fulfillment are impossible to achieve unless the society provides its citizens with certain privileges which are referred to as "human rights." They are called “rights” because they refer to what the society has to offer individuals without them having to perform anything in order to enjoy them. Such “rights” range from freedom of speech to having a guaranteed income even without a job and to own a gun to “defend” yourself against others and even against the government.
While the concept of “human rights” developed in the Christian world and often Christians have been the strongest supporters of them, it belongs to a secular mentality that finds some of the things which Jesus taught quite offensive today. While “human rights” refer to things which an individual is entitled to receive from the society for personal enjoyment, “spiritual gifts” were received by individuals for the specific purpose of the enjoyment of others. In other words, the “enjoyment” which Christians received consisted in the satisfaction which they experienced by discovering that they had abilities now to make a difference in the lives of others. It was “enjoyment” of the pleasure of bringing enjoyment to others.
Although the concept of “human rights” was hailed as a powerful concept intended to eliminated abuses against individuals in the modern world, it is now known that it is used as a weapon to gain political power and not eliminate injustices. The most obvious example is the way in which “champions” of human rights such as the United States of America and Western Europe accuse other countries of “human rights” abuses when oppressive countries refuse to comply with their demands and turn a blind eye to such abuses when oppressive governments cooperate with policies that are beneficial to the Western countries. The “civil rights” movement has gone further and used the concept of “human rights” to gain political power to establish the so called “affirmative action” which confers special privileges upon categories of people in the name of equality. The end result is that those who do not belong to the categories of people whose “rights” need to be “affirmed” are excluded from enjoying the political power which is supposed to be the bases for success and happiness. By contrast, the Christian happiness and success based on spiritual gifts was available to anyone who entered a faith relationship with God through Jesus Christ and could not be destroyed even when the society turned against Christians and submitted them to the most cruel persecution.
Aurel Ionica - Majesty.ro
