With Great Patience Comes Great Power
Spider-Man's Uncle Ben meets Paulus Orosius and Tertullian of Carthage
According to Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben—or Aunt May, depending on which variation of Spider-Man you’re following—”With great power comes great responsibility.”
These words first entered Marvel Comics canon in 1962. But, of course, Marvel Comics’ Amazing Fantasy series is far from the first place where this sentiment shows up. In some sense, Uncle Ben’s proverb is a paraphrastic restatement of the words of Jesus: “To whom much is given, much will be required” (Luke 12:48).
Even in the twentieth century, these words predate Ben Parker. In 1906, Winston Churchill declared to the British Parliament, “Where there is great power there is great responsibility.”
A Proverb that Pairs Well with Winston Churchill and Uncle Ben
While doing research for a future apologetics book, I’ve been studying a work entitled History against the Pagans by an early Christian historian named Paulus Orosius. This fifth-century author provides us with another proverb that pairs well with the wisdom of Uncle Ben:
With great patience comes great power.
In the words of Orosius,
It is only narrow-minded and pessimistic people who resent the fact that great patience is associated with great power. (History against the Pagans 7:1)
In the initial context of this quotation, Orosius is referring to the patience of God. For Orosius, God’s patience does not contradict his power; instead, God’s patience corresponds with his power.
Still, a broader truth is at work here as well.
There is authentic power that accompanies patient hope. Tertullian of Carthage repeatedly made this point in his writings, some of which were penned for people living in the crucible of persecution. According to one author,
For Tertullian the singular mark of patience is not endurance or fortitude but hope…. Patience is grounded in the Resurrection. It is life oriented toward a future that is God’s doing, and its sign is longing… in anticipation of the good to come.
Hopeful anticipation produces power to endure. And so, if we were to create a mashup of Ben Parker’s words with the wisdom of Paulus Orosius and Tertullian, we might say,
With great patience comes great power, and with great power comes great responsibility.
That’s a proverb worth putting on your wall.
This is excellent and makes me thankful for that hope that springs from the resurrection.