Anxiety

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by David W. T. Brattston

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“Be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us” – 2 Thessalonians 2.2

Documents from the church’s foundational period encourage Christians not to be anxious or troubled.  Among the more familiar are: Matthew 6.25: “Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.  Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?”, Matthew 24.6: “ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that ye be not troubled”, John 14.1: “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me”, and John 14.27: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

This sentiment was reinforced in apostolic times outside the present Bible in a letter from the church atRometo the church atCorinth: “let us give up vain and fruitless cares”.  In the AD 190s the dean of Christianity’s foremost school wrote that the proper Christian “is not disturbed by anything which happens; nor does he suspect those things which, through divine arrangement, take place for good.”  On the subject of persons with money, he wrote that the Master “bids him banish from his soul his notions about wealth, his excitement and morbid feeling about it, the anxieties, which are the thorns of existence, which choke the seed of life.”  Traveling Christians in the early third century were to exhort local believers “to please God in everything, and abound and go forward in good works, and be free from anxious care in everything, as is fit and right for the people of God.”

The same literature provides alternatives and remedies for anxiety.  Matthew 6.25-33 reminds us that just as God provides the necessities of life and some of its luxuries to birds, lilies, and grass, so also he cares for every human being and will supply each with all the food, drink, and clothing we need.  Verse 33 assures: “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”  About AD 200 readers were exhorted to trust Christ “and to esteem Him our Nourisher, Father, Teacher, Counsellor, Healer, our Wisdom, Light, Honour, Glory, Power and Life, so that we should not be anxious concerning clothing and food.”  First Peter 5.7 exhorts us to cast all our cares upon the Lord “for He careth for you.”  The letter from Rome to Corinth completes its above thought “let us give up vain and fruitless cares, and approach to the glorious and venerable rule of our holy calling.  Let us attend to what is good, pleasing, and acceptable in the sight of Him who formed us.”

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David W. T. Brattston is a retired lawyer residing in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada. He has been a self-directed student of ancient Christian writings since a teenager. His mission is to make early Christian literature known and used by all Christians, especially as Christian moral teaching from before A.D. 250 relates to today. His articles on Christian behavior and ethics have been published by a wide variety of church denominations in many countries. He can be contacted at: dwtbrattston@hotmail.com.

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