Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 9
Chrysostom’s “dainties vs. combat” choice frames two lives: comfort in a prison of death-fear versus struggle that “should no longer lead to death but to a kingdom”; what “dainties” most compete for your loyalty, and what would it practically look like for you to choose the “combat” he describes?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
The transcript’s “dainties” represent comforts that try to pacify a life still trapped in death-fear, while “combat” represents choosing costly struggle for Christ because the end is not death but “a kingdom.” Practically, choosing combat means rejecting comfort as your highest good and embracing risk-filled obedience because death no longer has the final word.
- Chrysostom’s first picture: a captive “being led to death… in continual expectation,” who is “feed… with abundant dainties” to pacify fear.
- “Dainties” are defined as “something good to eat… delicacy,” symbolizing the best of a “meaningless existence.”
- The alternative: “taking away the fear of death along with the dainties… promise a contest… propose a combat… no longer lead to death but to a kingdom.”
- He frames it as a choice of identity: “Point blank, it’s your choice. Decide who you are.”
- The speaker interprets combat as spiritual warfare language: “put on the armor of God and enter into a combat waging war against the gates of hell.”