Headline: Tyler Robinson on suicide watch
Oh, the irony...
I recently read that Charlie Kirk's assassin, Tyler Robinson is on suicide watch as he awaits his trial for which the prosecution has decided his crime deserves the death penalty.
How ironic that we will refuse to let him die - until such a time as we will kill him with a sick, judicial satisfaction.
Recently, I introduced my church to two of the terms in Scripture that get interpreted to our English word, punishment. These are: "timoria" and "kolasis."
Timoria is the type of punishment that humans carry out. It is retribution - punishment for the satisfaction of the one inflicting it. Its purpose is to feel better through causing the suffering - by punishment - of another person.
On the other hand, kolasis is divine punishment. It is the only type of punishment Scripture describes God as carrying out. Unlike timoria, this form of punishment is not for the benefit or the punisher. It is entirely for the sake of the one being punished - for their healing and restoration. Kolasis is a remedial action.
Aristotle clarifies the difference well: timoria is for the sake of the one inflicting punishment, while kolasis is for the sake of the one who suffers the punishment.
The word kolasis relates to the idea of pruning: when a gardener trims away what prevents a plant flourishing. Or, it can be thought of in medical terms - like a doctor prescribing bitter medicine to cure an illness, performing painful surgery to correct a condition, or administering chemotherapy to destroy cancer.
God only ever acts through kolasis. God does not need to inflict punishment on us for his sake. Rather, God sometimes prescribes that difficult and painful things are necessary for our healing, and so that life can abound in us.
Timoria punishment, however, is not godly. It is self-serving, driven by the appetites of our own desire for satisfaction and release. It is for our own enjoyment. We punish others to make ourselves feel better.
It is for our enjoyment, our satisfaction, our own appetites that we ensure Tyler Robinson stays alive so that we can kill him and achieve release.