The Two Peaces: Tranquility (Eirēnē) vs. Unity (Homothymadon) 🕊️
The New Testament uses several words for “peace,” but the distinction between the most common one and a related word that describes unity clarifies what the world will settle for versus what God demands.
1. The Peace of Tranquility: Eirēnē (ϵιρηνˊη)
- Meaning: This is the standard Greek word for peace, rest, or tranquility. It signifies a state of cessation of hostility and an absence of war or conflict. It is the equivalent of the Hebrew Shalom.
- Theological Focus: Eirēnē is often used positively to describe the peace that Christ gives (John 14:27), which is a deep, spiritual well-being.
- The Shocking Tie: The Antichrist will promise the world security and peace (eirēnē) (1 Thessalonians 5:3). This false promise is the cessation of global conflict—a fragile, external tranquility that masks the underlying spiritual and moral decay. The world will settle for the absence of war, mistaking it for true wholeness.
Eirēnē is the external cessation of conflict.
2. The Peace of Unity: Homothymadon (ομoθυμαδoˊν)
- Meaning: This word literally means “with one passion,” “one accord,” or “having one soul/mind.” It describes a deep, internal unity of purpose, will, and feeling.
- Theological Focus: Homothymadon is used almost exclusively in the Book of Acts to describe the radical unity of the early Church (Acts 1:14; 2:46; 4:24). This unity was based on a shared surrender to Christ and a common mind about the Gospel.
- The Contrast: True, God-ordained peace in the New Testament is always based on the unity of the Holy Spirit (Homothymadon), which, paradoxically, often leads to conflict (thlipsis) with the world.
The Eschatological Conclusion
The final deception lies in the global substitution of one for the other:
- The Antichrist offers global Eirēnē: World peace, economic stability, and the end of fighting. This is the ultimate bait.
- The lie is that this superficial Eirēnē will require the world to sacrifice the possibility of true Homothymadon—the deep, spiritual unity based on allegiance to Christ. The final global system will demand external compliance (false Eirēnē) by suppressing internal conviction (true Homothymadon).
The believer’s task in the end times is to refuse the comfort of the false global peace and hold fast to the unifying truth of Christ, even if it brings external conflict.
The Return Question
If the Antichrist’s final appeal is a false Eirēnē (tranquility), what specific truth of the Gospel are you currently willing to compromise or soften to maintain social tranquility with those around you, sacrificing your commitment to the Homothymadon (one accord) of the faithful?