For Further Reading: Oepke, Kittel, 5:858

The word "Passover" denotes the paschal lamb, the sacrifice offered on the eve of the cele­bration. The nature of this ceremony is described in detail in Exodus 12. At the time of the full moon in the first month of spring every Jewish family slaughtered a lamb at twilight (the "lamb" could be a kid, v. 5). Then, in the middle of the night, the family hastily ate the roasted lamb, along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. In addition, as soon as the animal was killed, a bunch of hyssop was dipped into the sacrifice's blood, and a few drops sprinkled on the door­posts of each house.

The Passover Festival began on the 15th of Ni­san (March-April), the first month of the Jewish religious year. The feast lasted seven days. The Passover was celebrated as an agricultural feast also, a kind of Thanksgiving Day. It marked the beginning of the barley harvest in Palestine. In harmony with Lev. 23:9-12 a sheaf of barley (omer) was presented as a wave offering to the Lord.

The primary meaning of the Passover comes from the special historical event it celebrates— the Exodus from Egypt. The Passover commem­orated the great deliverance—the deliverance which transformed a horde of slaves into the people of God. It was Israel's birthday. Passover is the festival of freedom. The freedom of Israel was the freedom to serve God voluntarily. Pass­over leads to Sinai. Sinai points to Israel's volun­tary acceptance of its special distinction and mission.

See blood, lamb (sacrificial), lamb of god, pas­chal controversy, sacrifice, exodus, atonement.

For Further Reading: Gaster, Festivals of the Jewish Year, 31-58; Segal, The Hebrew Passover, 189-230; Golden, A Treasury of Jewish Holidays, 128-85.

Donald S. Metz

PASTOR. Addressing the elders of the church of Ephesus, Paul speaks of two functions of minis­try that belong to the office of elder. He writes: "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, te-feed the-<;hmrh oLCod, which he hath purchased with his own blood" (Acts 20:28). The first function is that of overseer (Latin, "supervisor," sometimes translated "bishop," Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:2; Titus 1:7; 1 Pet. 2:25). A second function is that of pastor or shep­herd. Inasmuch as feeding the flock is of primary concern to the shepherd, the pastoral concept is dominant. Implied also is the expected capacity of the elder to give wise counsel and demon­strate his wisdom, as a man of God.

The pastor is one called of God to minister, es­pecially to the spiritual needs of God's people, with concern to present every man mature in Christ (Col. 1:28). His concern also for all sorts and conditions of men is shown by his interest in those peoples who are without the light of the gospel: "I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the un­wise" (Rom. 1:14).

In his personal life the pastor seeks to live above reproach and "provide things honest in the sight of all men" (12:17). In our world of competitive values with its emphasis upon "be­coming" rather than on "being," the pastor's watch-care over himself is inseparable from his pastoral concern for others. In the pulpit he speaks the things that become sound doctrine (Titus 2:1). In problem confrontation with indi­viduals or groups, he seeks solutions in the light of God's Word. He must manage his own house­hold well, keeping his children submissive and respectful (1 Tim. 3:4). In his Epistles Paul, speaking of the spirit of the pastor, cites among others these qualifications: not partial, not vio­lent, not quarrelsome, not arrogant, no lover of money; but upright, dignified, hospitable, gentle, master of himself.

As administrator, the modern pastor is re­sponsible for the total well-being of the church, including such areas as church budget, Chris­tian education, music, church witness, church growth, missions, and recreation. Confronted with involvement in these tasks, the pastor usu­ally requires help from qualified laymen, either by election or by appointment.

See clergy elder, church government, pas­toral counseling.

For Further Reading: Jones, The Pastor: The Man and His Ministry; NBD, 1175-76; Schaller, The Pastor and the

People. James D. Robertson

PASTORAL COUNSELING. Pastoral counseling is the effort of a Christian minister (or a trained lay counselor) to help people through personal mu­tual discussion of difficult life situations. It com­bines a knowledge of the Christian religion, a basic understanding of the human psyche, and interviewing skills. Its most immediate purposes



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PASTORAL THEOLOGY—PEACE


are (1) to lead troubled people to a better under­standing of their problems, and (2) to enable them to make self-chosen decisions that are right from Christian and personal points of view.

Pastoral counseling differs from the broader term pastoral care inasmuch as the latter refers to all of the minister's personal and group efforts to help parishioners grow. Pastoral counseling dif­fers from many of the professional therapies in­asmuch as it rarely gives attention to the areas of the unconscious, dreams, and psychotic pro­cesses. Pastoral counselors deal primarily with many of the less "psychologically difficult" life problems such as normal grief, marriage, phys­ical illness, guilt over wrongdoing, and matters of religious and theological concern. The pastor normally carries on a shorter series of interviews than many therapists, perhaps not more than 10 or 12 and usually fewer. He has brief series for two reasons: (1) active pastors cannot spend all of their counseling time with only a few persons in their parishes, and (2) they have not been trained to deal with highly complex life problems that often arise in extended counseling.

There are three primary values in pastoral counseling: (1) it provides support to troubled parishioners, (2) it helps them to make wise solu­tions of problems, and (3) with deeply troubled persons, it leads to the pastor's referral to profes­sional therapies.

Counseling is related to other aspects of an ac­tive pastor's work. His sermons on difficult hu­man problems are an indirect invitation for needy people to confer with him. His pastoral calling is a favorable context for people to men­tion inner needs. His pastoral concern for his parishioners often provides him with an oppor­tunity to take the initiative and, as in pre-counseling, to mention personal needs that are not clearly recognized by anxious and frustrated parishioners.

Pastoral counseling, as a practice based on an organized body of knowledge, developed in the 20th century. In 1925, Anton Boison began clin­ical training and supervision of pastors' "coun­seling" in mental hospitals. In 1936 Richard Cabot, a physician in Massachusetts General Hospital, and Russell L. Dicks, a Christian minis­ter, began teaching pastors certain principles of ministering to the sick in hospitals. That practice spread rapidly, and today there are many hospi­tals, as well as other institutions, where ministers learn pastoral counseling by actual practice along with academic study (commonly called CPE— Clinical Pastoral Education). Many of the Protes­tant theological seminaries have structured clin­ical opportunities for many of their students.

The competence of pastoral counselors de­pends upon a number of basic personal factors: (1) good personal adjustment, (2) a personal sen­sitivity to and concern about the problems of troubled persons, (3) the ability to empathize with needy persons, (4) an ability to listen to oth­ers, and (5) nonjudgmental attitudes.

In addition to local church settings, pastoral counseling is increasingly being carried on by chaplains in hospitals and prisons and by minis­ters who set up counseling offices that are associ­ated with professional therapists.

See pastor, rogerian counseling, reality ther­apy.

For Further Reading: Clinebell, Basic Types of Pastoral
Counseling Adams, 77ie Christian Counselor's Manual;
Howe, The Miracle of Dialogue; Hiltner, Pastoral Coun-
seling, w. Curry Mavis
PASTORAL THEOLOGY. See practical

theology.
PATRIPASSIANISM. See monarchianism.

PEACE. Peace is a state of tranquility and har­mony. In an organism it is produced by homeo­stasis, a tendency toward balance among the organism's interacting and interdependent sys­tems. Between nations peace is not only the ab­sence of either "hot" or "cold" war but open relations with freedom of movement and ex­change. Seldom is such peace absolute, for gen­erally while nations may technically be at peace, they are usually struggling with some tensions and disputes. In interpersonal relationships peace is, minimally, freedom from quarreling and bitterness, and, maximally, a mutual sense of ease and pleasure.

However, the peace most universally coveted and sought is inward—peace of mind or heart. This is freedom from guilt, hostility, and anxiety; positively it is a deep sense of personal well-being. Such peace Jesus promised His followers (John 14:27) and such peace is actually experi­enced by Spirit-controlled believers (Gal. 5:22).

The peace which is available is spiritual, not necessarily environmental. It is not freedom from tribulation (John 16:33). Its prerequisites are not freedom from economic necessity or physical pain; nor do they include the possession of ide­ally happy relations with people (Phil. 4:10-13; 2 Cor. 12:7-10; Rom. 12:18; Gal. 2:11). The Chris­tian may possess a profound rest of soul in the



PELAGIANISM

387

There seems to be in the NT a stress on keep­ing the rational acts of the will independent of passing moods and feelings. In actual life, how­ever, the distinctions are less obvious. One com­plements the other. A good example is Paul's statement: "For godly sorrow worketh repen­tance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death" (2 Cor. 7:10).

Judaism's appreciation for penitence is evident in its liturgical forms. The following psalms were labeled Penitential Psalms: 6; 32; 38; 51; 102; 130; and 143. And in the writings of Isaiah there is an interesting emphasis upon the "contrite heart" (57:15; 66:2).

In Roman Catholic theology the fourth of the seven sacraments is called the sacrament of pen­ance. In order to stress the element of godly sor­row, this sacrament has at times been referred to as a second baptism in terms of a "baptism of tears."

See repentance, penance.

For Further Reading: Kittel, 4:626-29; IDB, 4:33-34.