salvation in the Lord?

[Kenny同志]

Could someone explain this phrase to me? Why is "in" here?

Thanks in advance.

[fanglu]

This isn't really standard English. In here means through. Maybe it comes from an old usage of in, I don't know.

[skylee]

Standard English or not, in the Lord (and in Chinese 主內) appears to be quite common.

[fanglu]

Actually you're right, salvation in is quite common, and not just in a religious context - she found salvation in books. I don't know what I was thinking in saying its non-standard. Salvation through is valid too though.

[rob07]

Christians believe that God is (literally) everywhere and salvation involves becoming one with God. For that reason "in" is more appropriate than "through" - you can't go through something or someone that is both everywhere and the endpoint. Christians might refer to, for example, salvation through faith, because it is through faith you get to God.

I'm not a Christian myself, but I was educated as one.

[Kenny同志]

Thank you everybody, especially Rob. The information you gave is essential in understanding the use of “in” here. As I now understand this phrase, it means “the state of being saved from evil in the realm of God (or actually by Him), is this the case?

[rob07]

Salavation is a bit trickier than that, you probably need to be a theologian as well as a translator. I'm probably not getting this exactly right, but Christians believe that humans are born as sinners - they have a propensity to commit evil. They can get over this by becoming one with God, following God's teachings, doing good works etc (different types of Christians have different beliefs about exactly what you need to do). Salvation in this context is about someone being saved from their own sinful nature and becoming good/holy, not being saved from evil that other things or people do.

Although I'm not personally a Christian and don't literally believe these teachings, the cultural influence that these beliefs have had and continue to have in the West, even on non-believers, has been enormous.

[Kenny同志]

Rob, I really appreciate your help. Thank you so much for your informative input. Actually the question was not originally posed by me, but instead by a net pal of mine who, like me, was confused about the use of “in”. By the way, I don’t do religions-related stuff; it’s above my head and kills too many brain cells.

[Patpat]

Old thread sorry, but anyway, I'm not sure theology comes into it so deeply. For instance I can "find relief in" a glass of lemonade, which doesn't require the lemonade to be omnipresent, or enjoy "satisfaction in" a job well-done. I think some arrangements of Source/Force and Experiencer/Beneficiary just happen to be expressed using "in."

[parasite]

*Strongly agree with Patpat* Everyone is making it way too complicated. Notice the phrase: "find solace in friends", which is perfectly normal and common and has nothing to do with omnipotence or omnipresence or anything else so silly and superstitious =)

[doraemon]

I think it's just another way of saying "salvation through the Lord". It's like you're trying to seek something and the way to obtain it is via another person...I dunno, this is confusing me as well. But I think this expression is OK. ;)