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Having chosen to work with (i.e. learn from) St. Augustine for my M.A. thesis, it seems that all I'm reading is either about him or by him. I'm okay with that. I have discovered a man from whom I can learn to follow and seek God, whose example moves me with desire. So often do his ancient words inspire my soul to magnify God and take joy in his mysteries:
Late have I loved you,
O Beauty so ancient and so new,
late have I loved you!
You were within me, but I was outside,
and it was there that I searched for you.
In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created.
You were with me, but I was not with you.
Created things kept me from you;
yet if they had not been in you they would not have been at all.
You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness.
You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness.
You breathed your fragrance on me;
I drew in breath and now I pant for you.
I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more.
You touched me, and I burned for your peace.
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Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Suffering and Belief in a Good God - Part Two
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During my second year of biblical Hebrew courses, I 'discovered' a Psalm which quickly became one among my favourites: Psalm 82
God takes His stand in His own congregation;
He judges in the midst of the rulers.
How long will you judge unjustly
And show partiality to the wicked? Selah.
Vindicate the weak and fatherless;
Do justice to the afflicted and destitute.
Rescue the weak and needy;
Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.
They do not know nor do they understand;
They walk about in darkness;
All the foundations of the earth are shaken.
I said, "You are gods,
And all of you are sons of the Most High.
"Nevertheless you will die like men
And fall like any one of the princes."
Arise, O God, judge the earth!
For it is You who possesses all the nations.
At first, at least for me, this was a terribly confusing psalm. Who is speaking to whom? Who is the subject? Is the psalmist accusing God of "judging unjustly" and of showing "partiality to the wicked"? Is it the poor, the weak, the needy, who "do not know nor... understand", who "walk about in darkness"? Is it them who are being told that they shall "die like men"? What is going on here?
Understanding the first verse can clear up a lot of the mess. The NASB (which is the translation used above) reads, "God takes His stand in His own congregation"; and the NIV reads, "God presides in the great assembly". Reading alongside the Hebrew (BHS) we find something along the lines of:
God (Elohim) takes his stand/presides in the assembly of God (El)
In among the gods (elohim) he gives judgment.
In the Ancient Near Eastern understanding of the divine realm there were many gods. Generally understood to be at the top of the pantheon was the god El; he was at the top of the ladder (though at some point Baal might have overthrown him and taken his consort/wife). Anyway, if we can place this first verse within the context of the ANE cosmology, it begins to make a lot more sense. If you can imagine a royal court with El sitting on the throne and all the many other ancient near eastern gods in attendance. In walks Yahweh (here and in other places in the OT He is referred to as Elohim), who gives judgment over the many gods there.
In v.2 Yahweh pronounces the accusation against them: they are charged with judging unjustly and giving preference to the wicked.
V.3-4 comprise the nature of just rule; this is how the gods ought to have ruled; this is Yahweh's measure of justice.
V.5 is Yahweh's assessment: the gods do not know or understand true justice; they don't know how to rule properly, to judge properly. The order of things, the cosmic order of divine beings, is being overturned.
In v.6-7 we hear Yahweh's judgement on the gods: a death sentence
I said, you are gods (elohim),
and all sons of the most high (Elyon - one of the names for El).
Nevertheless,like men you will die,
and like other rulers you will fall.
V. 8 is a joyous proclamation of Yahweh's ascent, his judgement on the gods, and his rule over all the nations.
In this psalm we find a clear declaration of the nature of the old religious system: the gods don't care about humans, they don't care about justice. We also find an equally clear declaration of Yahweh's conception of justice: defending the vulnerable, rescuing those in need. Also, we find some insight into the judgment of God. We see that it is intrinsically linked with justice (this is always an important starting point for understanding many Old Testament passages, especially those which deal with God's wrath).
The ancients suffered because the various gods who were formerly in charge were ruling unjustly and didn't care for those whom they ought to have cared for (the poor, the orphans, etc...). But now that Yahweh has stormed on the scene and declared what true justice is... why do people still suffer? Wouldn't Yahweh, who is a good God, solve the problem of suffering?
- - - - - - - - - -
During my second year of biblical Hebrew courses, I 'discovered' a Psalm which quickly became one among my favourites: Psalm 82
God takes His stand in His own congregation;
He judges in the midst of the rulers.
How long will you judge unjustly
And show partiality to the wicked? Selah.
Vindicate the weak and fatherless;
Do justice to the afflicted and destitute.
Rescue the weak and needy;
Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.
They do not know nor do they understand;
They walk about in darkness;
All the foundations of the earth are shaken.
I said, "You are gods,
And all of you are sons of the Most High.
"Nevertheless you will die like men
And fall like any one of the princes."
Arise, O God, judge the earth!
For it is You who possesses all the nations.
At first, at least for me, this was a terribly confusing psalm. Who is speaking to whom? Who is the subject? Is the psalmist accusing God of "judging unjustly" and of showing "partiality to the wicked"? Is it the poor, the weak, the needy, who "do not know nor... understand", who "walk about in darkness"? Is it them who are being told that they shall "die like men"? What is going on here?
Understanding the first verse can clear up a lot of the mess. The NASB (which is the translation used above) reads, "God takes His stand in His own congregation"; and the NIV reads, "God presides in the great assembly". Reading alongside the Hebrew (BHS) we find something along the lines of:
God (Elohim) takes his stand/presides in the assembly of God (El)
In among the gods (elohim) he gives judgment.
In the Ancient Near Eastern understanding of the divine realm there were many gods. Generally understood to be at the top of the pantheon was the god El; he was at the top of the ladder (though at some point Baal might have overthrown him and taken his consort/wife). Anyway, if we can place this first verse within the context of the ANE cosmology, it begins to make a lot more sense. If you can imagine a royal court with El sitting on the throne and all the many other ancient near eastern gods in attendance. In walks Yahweh (here and in other places in the OT He is referred to as Elohim), who gives judgment over the many gods there.
In v.2 Yahweh pronounces the accusation against them: they are charged with judging unjustly and giving preference to the wicked.
V.3-4 comprise the nature of just rule; this is how the gods ought to have ruled; this is Yahweh's measure of justice.
V.5 is Yahweh's assessment: the gods do not know or understand true justice; they don't know how to rule properly, to judge properly. The order of things, the cosmic order of divine beings, is being overturned.
In v.6-7 we hear Yahweh's judgement on the gods: a death sentence
I said, you are gods (elohim),
and all sons of the most high (Elyon - one of the names for El).
Nevertheless,like men you will die,
and like other rulers you will fall.
V. 8 is a joyous proclamation of Yahweh's ascent, his judgement on the gods, and his rule over all the nations.
In this psalm we find a clear declaration of the nature of the old religious system: the gods don't care about humans, they don't care about justice. We also find an equally clear declaration of Yahweh's conception of justice: defending the vulnerable, rescuing those in need. Also, we find some insight into the judgment of God. We see that it is intrinsically linked with justice (this is always an important starting point for understanding many Old Testament passages, especially those which deal with God's wrath).
The ancients suffered because the various gods who were formerly in charge were ruling unjustly and didn't care for those whom they ought to have cared for (the poor, the orphans, etc...). But now that Yahweh has stormed on the scene and declared what true justice is... why do people still suffer? Wouldn't Yahweh, who is a good God, solve the problem of suffering?
- - - - - - - - - -
Friday, October 1, 2010
Suffering and Belief in a Good God - Part One
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Humanity has been struggling to understand the human condition, specifically the reality of human suffering, for millennia untold. It's really not that difficult to accept if you believe in gods who are indifferent, capricious, or even hostile towards humanity - not really good options, but they do lend themselves well to simple explanations for suffering. That is to say, if the powers that be up in the heavens don't care about you, it's easy to figure out why life can be so hard. But if you believe in a god who is good and who cares for humanity, how do you explain suffering? The situation suddenly becomes much more difficult to figure out.
Imagine that you are a poor Semitic agrarian living sometime in the early Iron age (1300-600BCE). Life is hard: you work and sweat and strain and break your body in a humble effort to have enough food and goods to feed your family. Even when you have enough there always seems to be someone more powerful than you who feels that he has the right to some of what you've worked so hard to have. If it isn't nomad raiders who take from the little you have, it's likely either your ruler or someone in his employ. You hope against hope that the crops won't fail, that you and your family will have enough to eat. You hope that what little you have won't be taken by force. You hope that disease will not come to your area, since disease means death. Speaking of death, you hope your wife will survive the child-birthing process and that your children (at least some of them) will survive into maturity so that you will have someone to care for you in your old age (if you make it that far). Life is hard; life is short. It's not completely devoid of moments of pleasure or happiness; but the reality of human suffering is ever present.
Where do you, a poor agrarian, put your hope? Who can you turn to for assistance? Well, how about the gods - certainly they can improve your lot in life. Yes, they can... but will they? Why not turn to Ba'al? He is a powerful god, perhaps one of the most powerful. After all he does have the power to bring rain for your crops; or perhaps you should try his wife, Asherah, who has the power over fertility - between the two of them, they could take care of most of your worries. But the problem is that they don't really care about you. Yes, you can offer sacrifices and hope that they are moved to action by them, but you never really know if they are listening.
With an indifferent, or capricious god, it is easy to come to grips with a hard life, with human suffering. Especially if you happen to be part of a culture (such as the Canaanite one) with a cosmogony that tells you that humans are created to serve the whims of the gods, that they are generally unwanted and barely tolerated by such beings. One some level, the gods of the Canaanite pantheon actually needed the service that humans rendered to them through sacrifices; but beyond that basic cultic requirement, there was nothing else binding them to humans. To the gods, perhaps with the exception of some kings and the like, who were generally considered in closer relationship to the gods, humans were a necessary evil.
Why do humans suffer? Because suffering moves down the ladder and humans are sitting on the bottom rung; and because the ones at the top of the ladder, the ones with the power to help, really don't care.
This is generally the way the human condition was viewed... that is until the new kid in town arrived - and then everything, and I mean everything, began to change. But I'll leave that part for the next post.
- - - - - - - - - -
Humanity has been struggling to understand the human condition, specifically the reality of human suffering, for millennia untold. It's really not that difficult to accept if you believe in gods who are indifferent, capricious, or even hostile towards humanity - not really good options, but they do lend themselves well to simple explanations for suffering. That is to say, if the powers that be up in the heavens don't care about you, it's easy to figure out why life can be so hard. But if you believe in a god who is good and who cares for humanity, how do you explain suffering? The situation suddenly becomes much more difficult to figure out.
Imagine that you are a poor Semitic agrarian living sometime in the early Iron age (1300-600BCE). Life is hard: you work and sweat and strain and break your body in a humble effort to have enough food and goods to feed your family. Even when you have enough there always seems to be someone more powerful than you who feels that he has the right to some of what you've worked so hard to have. If it isn't nomad raiders who take from the little you have, it's likely either your ruler or someone in his employ. You hope against hope that the crops won't fail, that you and your family will have enough to eat. You hope that what little you have won't be taken by force. You hope that disease will not come to your area, since disease means death. Speaking of death, you hope your wife will survive the child-birthing process and that your children (at least some of them) will survive into maturity so that you will have someone to care for you in your old age (if you make it that far). Life is hard; life is short. It's not completely devoid of moments of pleasure or happiness; but the reality of human suffering is ever present.
Where do you, a poor agrarian, put your hope? Who can you turn to for assistance? Well, how about the gods - certainly they can improve your lot in life. Yes, they can... but will they? Why not turn to Ba'al? He is a powerful god, perhaps one of the most powerful. After all he does have the power to bring rain for your crops; or perhaps you should try his wife, Asherah, who has the power over fertility - between the two of them, they could take care of most of your worries. But the problem is that they don't really care about you. Yes, you can offer sacrifices and hope that they are moved to action by them, but you never really know if they are listening.
With an indifferent, or capricious god, it is easy to come to grips with a hard life, with human suffering. Especially if you happen to be part of a culture (such as the Canaanite one) with a cosmogony that tells you that humans are created to serve the whims of the gods, that they are generally unwanted and barely tolerated by such beings. One some level, the gods of the Canaanite pantheon actually needed the service that humans rendered to them through sacrifices; but beyond that basic cultic requirement, there was nothing else binding them to humans. To the gods, perhaps with the exception of some kings and the like, who were generally considered in closer relationship to the gods, humans were a necessary evil.
Why do humans suffer? Because suffering moves down the ladder and humans are sitting on the bottom rung; and because the ones at the top of the ladder, the ones with the power to help, really don't care.
This is generally the way the human condition was viewed... that is until the new kid in town arrived - and then everything, and I mean everything, began to change. But I'll leave that part for the next post.
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