Relational Righteousness

I’m currently working my way through 20th-century German theologian Gerhard Von Rad’s two-volume Old Testament Theology, one of the classics in its field. Von Rad was very much a product of his era and his national heritage in terms of his theology, and a lot of what he says would undoubtedly be very troubling to anyone who is firmly committed to evangelical touchstones like the verbal inspiration of Scripture and so forth, but in spite of any shortcomings in his theological framework, his work is incredibly erudite and illuminating with regard to the cultural and theological milieu of the Old Testament. 

Anyway, toward the end of Volume 1, in a section regarding the way in which Israel thought theologically about her relationship and response to God, he offers some insightful comments on the notion of righteousness which I thought were worth passing on, especially since they shed some important light on the biblical connections between holiness and justice, which I have explored in a series of previous posts. Von Rad’s contention is that the major Hebrew root word that is typically translated with words such as “righteous,” “just,” and “righteousness” in the Old Testament (the transliteration of the root is tsdq, and the transliteration of the common form for “righteousness” is tsidqah) is fundamentally a relational concept rather than a purely legal one having to do with the rightness or wrongness of a particular behavior. I found this interesting, as it jibes well with a lot of the relational theology that I have been exposed to over the last few years, ultimately centering on the Great Commandment. Given the conceptual framework that von Rad describes, it seems inexplicable and tragic that both Jews and Christians later tended to embrace an idea of righteousness that focused on the moral behavior of the isolated individual, thus divorcing the biblical notion of tsdq from its proper holistic, relational context. After reading von Rad’s treatment of this issue, it dawned on me that in fact the biblical concept of tsidqah or “righteousness” binds together what we mean by “holiness” and what we mean by “justice” under the unifying umbrella of relationship. Undoubtedly, our abandonment of this ancient relational conception of righteousness has contributed to the divergence between a concern for holiness on the one hand and a concern for justice on the other that has come to define our post-19th century political and religious landscape in the West.

Here’s the passage:

There is absolutely no concept in the Old Testament with so central a significance for all the relationships of human life as that of tsidqah. It is the standard not only for man’s relationship to God, but also for his relationships to his fellows, reaching right down to the most petty wranglings—indeed, it is even the standard for man’s relationship to the animals and to his natural environment. Tsidqah can be described without more ado as the highest value in life, that upon which all life rests when it is properly ordered. But what do we mean by it? Theology has for long now ingenuously explained the concept in the light of her own presuppositions, that is, the presuppositions of the West. Its content seemed to be given by the translation in the Vulgate (iustitia), and by the German word Gerechtigkeit, namely, a man’s proper conduct over against an absolute ethical norm, a legality which derives its norm from the absolute idea of justice. From this absolute norm, it was supposed, issued absolute demands and absolute claims. In social respects, justice so understood watches with complete impartiality over these claims and takes care that each man gets his own (iustitia distributiva). Thus, the only remaining question was, what is the norm that the Old Testament presupposes? But, oddly enough, no matter how urgently it was sought, no satisfactory answer to this question of an absolute norm could be found in the Old Testament. The reason was that the question itself was a wrong one, and in consequence the statements in the Old Testament simply could not be brought into harmony with this way of thinking. . . . As we now see, the mistake lay in seeking and presupposing an absolute ideal ethical norm, since ancient Israel did not in fact measure a line of conduct or an act by an ideal norm, but by the specific relationship in which the partner had at the time to prove himself true. “Every relationship brings with it certain claims upon conduct, and the satisfaction of these claims, which issue from the relationship and in which alone the relationship can persist, is described by our term tsdq.” The way in which it is used shows that “Tsdq is out and out a term denoting relationship, and that it does this in the sense of referring to a real relationship between two parties . . . and not to the relationship of an object under consideration to an idea” (H. Cremer, Biblisch-theologisches Worterbuch, 1893). To some extent, therefore, the specific relationship in which the agent finds himself is itself the norm: only, it must be borne in mind that people are constantly moving in very many relationships, each one of which carries its own particular law with it. A man belongs to the family, to a political association (clan, nation), he is involved in economic life, and, if circumstances so decree, he can also come into association with foreigners—every day may bring a new relationship. And over and above all these, there is the relationship which Jahweh had offered to Israel, and which was chiefly maintained in the cult. Here too the same holds true—the just man is the one who measures up to the particular claims which this relationship lays upon him. When Israel praises the justice of Jahweh, she thanks him that he stands on Israel’s side and in his action avows himself to her. . . . Jahweh’s righteousness was not a norm, but acts, and it was these acts which bestow salvation. . . . Men’s common life was also judged wholly from the point of view of faithfulness to a relationship. When Saul said that David was more righteous than he himself, he meant that David had taken the relationship existing between the two of them more seriously and given more heed to it than Saul could say of himself (1 Samuel 24:17). . . . Naturally, it was quite frequently the task of the local judge to investigate a man’s conduct with reference to his loyalty to a relationship, and to declare him blameless or deserving of punishment. Nevertheless it cannot be held that this Old Testament concept of righteousness is specifically forensic, for it embraces the whole of Israelite life, wherever men found themselves in mutual relationships. And in particular, conduct loyal to a relationship includes far more than mere correctness or legality, that is, righteousness in our sense of the word. Such dependence upon one another demanded the showing of kindness, faithfulness, and, as circumstances arose, helpful compassion to the poor or the suffering. . . . A very extreme piece of evidence for tsidqah .  . . is handed on in the story of Tamar, the daughter-in-law of Judah. Dressed as a cult prostitute she seduced her father-in-law and conceived by him. As she was being led out to be put to death, the motive of her action became known. She wanted even by the most extreme of means to raise up descendants for her dead husband’s family, and because she had shown loyalty to her relationship to this family, she was “more righteous” than her father-in-law, who had refused to give her his youngest son in marriage (Genesis 38:26). But what in the world has this to do with our concept of righteousness? Thus our German word Gerechtigkeit is unfortunately not only a very inadequate rendering of the Hebrew tsidqah, but is often virtually misleading. 

Election Day

I live two houses down from the elementary school where I am registered to vote, so I walked over in the chilly breeze this morning and stood in line to cast my ballot. I briefly considered not voting in this election, but I finally decided that making a decision with some significant reservations (as would have been the case regardless of which of the candidates I chose) was better than remaining apathetically uninvolved out of spite. But the reason that I wrestled with the decision of whether or not to make that walk this morning is a significant one: I cannot “vote my conscience” without simultaneously violating my conscience. I’m sure that many Christian voters (at least thoughtful ones) find themselves in this same position. How can I possibly assign accurate relative values to multiple things which I believe in so strongly, and which no political party unites in its platform? How can I possibly reconcile voting pro-life AND pro-death penalty, or pro-life AND pro-war, or pro-life AND anti-gun control, or pro-life AND pro-indifference to the environmental plight of God’s creation, or pro-marriage/family AND anti-compassion for poor families, or . . . . you get my drift, I am sure. How do we live with these contradictions that seem so natural to us? And how do we make Spirit-led decisions between obviously imperfect options? What box can I tick, what button can I press, that will allow me to stand for the value of ALL life that is created by the word of God, imbued with His breath, formed in His image, nurtured by His hands—unborn life and aged life, “innocent” life (if there is such a thing) and convicted and condemned life, prosperous suburban life and impoverished ghetto life, human life, animal life, and plant life, American life, Mexican life, Iraqi life, Afghani life, and Sudanese life?

I think that, at the end of the day, believers have a responsibility to stand boldly for a holistic, biblically-informed set of convictions, regardless of whether or not one political party puts all the issues into one basket for us. When someone asks us whether we’re conservative or liberal, our answer should probably be, “on which issue?” Jesus, for example, was a “conservative” when it came to respect for God and propriety in worship (witness the temple cleansing) and the proper attitude of the Jews to their Roman masters (“render unto Caesar . . .”), but was decidedly “liberal” in His views on Sabbath-keeping and associating with “sinners.” There is no obvious incongruity in His stances on these issues, and in fact they are all held together by the Great Commandment to love God (as opposed to defiling His house) and to love people (rather than rising in armed revolt against them, looking down your nose at them, or refusing to come to their aid because of what day of the week it happens to be). Similarly, love for others prompted the early church to practice a communal economic system that was certainly closer to what we think of as “socialism” than what we think of as “capitalism” (see Acts 2 and 4), yet that same love also ensured that no one suffered coercion and oppression at the hands of some oppressive centralized authority. What an interesting, pan-party set of political ideals we might hold if we still based our views squarely on the Great Commandment!

Of course, we may vehemently disagree with one another on important political issues, even after we have sat together in love and discussed them, prayed about them, and sought enlightenment from the Scriptures concerning them. So please, above all, let’s stop pretending that the political choice for Christians is somehow a no-brainer. This country needs a few politically-aware, passionate Christians with brains if we ever hope to get beyond the current impasse.

Cool excerpt from something I’m reading

Thought I’d share a lovely rumination from the Wendell Berry novel I’ve been reading this week, Andy Catlett: Early Travels. If you don’t know Berry’s work, you should. His novels and short stories (all set in the same fictional town of Port William, Kentucky) are beautiful and moving, and his essays about community, religion, conservation, and literature are incisive, stimulating, and often unsettling (in a good way). Anyway, this little piece of narrative reflection really struck me for some reason, and reminded me of the centrality of my family in my life and of my love for my late grandfather.

“Time is only the past and maybe the future; the present moment, dividing and connecting them, is eternal. . . . It exists, so far as I can tell, only as a leak in time, through which, if we are quiet enough, eternity falls upon us and makes its claim. . . . We measure time by its deaths, yes, and by its births. . . . As some depart, others come. The hand opened in farewell remains open in welcome. I, who once had grandparents and parents, now have children and grandchildren. Like the flowing river that is yet always present, time that is always going is always coming. And time that is told by birth and death is held and redeemed by love, which is always present. Time, then, is told by love’s losses, and by the coming of love, and by love continuing in gratitude for what is lost. It is folded and enfolded and unfolded forever and ever, the love by which the dead are alive and the unborn welcomed into the womb. The great question for the old and the dying, I think, is not if they have loved and been loved enough, but if they have been grateful enough for love received and given, however much. . . . Let us pray to be grateful to the last.”

A few thought-provoking quotes

I have an old Word document where, from time to time, I record interesting quotes that I have encountered here and there. I thought it might be fun to share some of them here, and maybe invite people to respond to the post with some of their own favorite quotes.

“The whole compact mass of created being and essence and the everyday world we are so familiar with sails like a ship over the fathomless depths of a wholly different element, the only one that is absolute and determining, the boundless love of the Father”  – Hans Urs von Balthasar, Prayer

“Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and the pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace.” – Frederick Buechner, Now and Then

“This is the root of what the saints called compunction: the grief, the anguish of being helpless to be anything but what you were not meant to be. . . . And yet, strangely, it is in this helplessness that we come upon the beginning of joy. We discover that as long as we stay still the pain is not so bad and there is even a certain peace, a certain richness, a certain strength, a certain companionship that makes itself present to us when we are beaten down and lie flat with our mouths in the dust, hoping for hope.”  – Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation

“For one human being to love another; that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks, the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation.” – Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet  

“If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it; blame yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth its riches; for the Creator, there is no poverty.” – Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

 ”Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.” – Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

“Do not forget that the value and interest of life is not so much to do conspicuous things . . . as to do ordinary things with the perception of their enormous value.” - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

“Someday, after we have mastered the winds and the waves, the tides and gravity, we will harness the energies of love. And, for the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.” - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

 

Holiness and Justice, pt. 5

I’m finally back to posting again. My in-laws arrived for a two-week visit with us the day after my last post, and then a looming project deadline forced me to work 7 days a week throughout all of September, so there hasn’t been much free time for posting. Hopefully that will change in the coming weeks.

So.. back to the whole holiness/justice question, picking up from where I left off (the death of Solomon). As I hinted previously, the division of Israel into northern and southern kingdoms was precipitated largely by the people’s sense that Solomon’s policies had been unjust, and by his son Rehoboam’s foolish and prideful attempt to secure the respect and subservience of his subjects by threatening to be even more demanding than his late father (see 1 Kings 12). While Rehoboam thus initially displayed a disdain for the demands of justice and mercy, his counterpart to the north, Jeroboam, immediately set up false idols as a way of asserting his control over the religious life of his new subjects, thus leading the northern kingdom of Israel away from holiness and commitment to the One true God. As we have seen repeatedly, once either holiness or justice is abandoned, the other soon follows, and indeed the subsequent history of both Israel and Judah is an almost unbroken litany of failures to serve God faithfully on the one hand and to love and care for one another on the other hand, as the most casual perusal of the books of Kings makes abundantly clear.

Consider, for example, Ahab, the most wicked of Israel’s kings. What are the two best-known stories about him? First, his dramatic confrontation with Elijah at Mt. Carmel (1 Kings 18) in which he appears as a staunch supporter of the false god Baal (and thus a implacable opponent of proper holiness before God), and second, his seizure of Naboth’s vineyard (1 Kings 21), a miscarriage of justice if ever there was one. Or consider Manasseh, the most wicked of Judah’s kings (see 2 Kings 21 for the details of his reign). He showed his disregard for holiness by rebuilding the shrines to false gods that his father, Hezekiah, had destroyed, and even erected altars to the stars in the midst of the temple. In addition, Manasseh is hyperbolically said to have shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end, which seems like it probably falls under the umbrella of ”abandonment of justice.” Conversely, Judah’s greatest king, Josiah, not only launched a revival of holiness by tearing down the idols and shrines to false gods and leading the people to renew their covenant with God, but he also demonstrated his commitment to justice and integrity by using the money that the Israelites had freely given to the temple for the purpose of paying fair wages to the men who were entrusted with the task of repairing the temple (rather than confiscating the offerings for his own royal whims or ripping off the laborers, as many other kings of Israel and Judah surely would have). Time and again, we see that holiness and justice are inextricably linked in the life of Israel and Judah and their monarchs.

This linkage is also readily apparent in the words of the prophets, who, in addition to their frequent condemnations of Israel and Judah’s idolatry and disobedience toward God, also make a point of denouncing the many injustices that have been perpetrated by those in power against the poor and helpless of society. Here are a few (of many) representative examples of prophetic condemnations of both Israel and Judah dealing both with their abandonment of holiness in favor of idolatry and their propensity for injustice:

Hosea — Holiness: “I will punish her for the days she burned incense to the Baals” (2:13). Justice: “There is only cursing, lying, and murder, stealing and adultery, they break all bounds and bloodshed follows bloodshed” (4:2).

Amos  — Holiness: “You have lifted up the shrine of your king, the pedestal of your idols, the star of your god—which you made for yourselves” (5:26).  Justice: “They [Israel] trample on the heads of the poor as upon the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed” (2:7, see also 5:7–13).

Isaiah — Holiness: “Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made” (2:8). Justice: “Your rulers are rebels, companions of thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow’s case does not come before them” (1:23, see also 10:1–4).

Micah — Holiness: “All her idols will be broken to pieces; all her temple gifts will be burned with fire; I will destroy all her images” (1:7). Justice: “Woe to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they carry it out because it is in their power to do it. They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them. They defraud a man of his home, a fellowman of his inheritance” (2:1–2).

Jeremiah — Holiness: “ ‘The people of Judah have done evil in my eyes, declares the LORD. They have set up their detestable idols in the house that bears my Name and have defiled it” (7:30). Justice: “Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, making his countrymen work for nothing, not paying them for their labor” (22:13).

Ezekiel — Holiness: “Because of all your detestable idols, I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again” (this is the first of 45 references to idols in Ezekiel, a book that is positively obsessed with God’s holiness and Israel’s defilement). Justice: “The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the alien, denying them justice” (22:29).

In addition to addressing both holiness and justice in their condemnations of Israel and Judah, the prophets also maintain a linkage between the two concepts in their prescriptions and their promises of restoration. A great example of prophetic prescription that addresses both of these issues is the following passage from Jeremiah:

“If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever” (Jeremiah 7:5–7).

 As for prophetic promises of restoration and newness, a concise summary can be found in Isaiah 33:5: “The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness.”

Of course, there are many, many more examples of condemnations of idolatry and injustice, as well as calls for and promises of renewed holiness and justice, that could be cited from the vast corpus of prophetic literature, but the point should now be relatively clear. In summary then, the basic story of the books of Kings is Israel and Judah’s progressive abandonment of both holiness and justice, and the basic message of the prophets is: A) Israel and Judah have abandoned both holiness and justice and will therefore be punished, B) Israel and Judah must faithfully seek after both holiness and justice, and C) When God restores the fortunes of His people, their new communal life will be marked by both holiness and justice. 

This brings us (roughly) to the end of the Old Testament. In my next post, I’ll tackle the ways in which Jesus integrated these two themes in His ministry.

A Taste of the Apocrypha

Sorry I haven’t posted recently. Things have been rather hectic of late. I’m planning to continue my holiness/justice ruminations soon, but in the meantime I thought I’d share some of what I’ve been reading recently—the Apocryphal and Deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament (books that appear in Roman Catholic and/or Eastern Orthodox Bibles—either as part of the Old Testament or as a discrete collection between the Testaments or in an Index—but not in the Jewish Tanakh or most Protestant Bibles). The spiritual value of these books varies a fair amount (as does their readability), but there are pretty intriguing things to be found in all of them. Here is a sampling of some of the things that caught my attention from each of the 18 Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical works. Happy reading!

Tobit

[The set-up: The book of Tobit is basically a travelogue that tells the story of a man named Tobit, his son Tobias, the archangel Raphael (who accompanies Tobias on his jouney), and a girl named Sarah (who becomes Tobias' wife). The following passage is a prayer offered by Tobias on his wedding night. I think it's a great prayer, and it's a shame that it's not typically referenced in Evangelical marriage ceremonies.]

Tobit 8:5—7 — [5] And Tobias began to pray, “Blessed art thou, O God of our fathers,
and blessed be thy holy and glorious name for ever.
Let the heavens and all thy creatures bless thee.
[6] Thou madest Adam and gavest him Eve his wife
as a helper and support.
From them the race of mankind has sprung.
Thou didst say, `It is not good that the man should be alone;
let us make a helper for him like himself.’
[7] And now, O Lord, I am not taking this sister of mine because of lust, but with sincerity. Grant that I may find mercy and may grow old together with her.”

Judith

 [The set-up: The book of Judith is about a heroine who delivers Israel from the Babylonian general Holofernes by pretending to seduce him and then beheading him. This is Judith's prayer following her deliverance of the Jews from their oppressor. Very reminiscent of the Psalms and Prophets.]

Judith 16:13–16 — [13] I will sing to my God a new song:
O Lord, thou are great and glorious,
wonderful in strength, invincible.
[14] Let all thy creatures serve thee,
for thou didst speak, and they were made.
Thou didst send forth thy Spirit, and it formed them;
there is none that can resist thy voice.
[15] For the mountains shall be shaken to their
foundations with the waters;
at thy presence the rocks shall melt like wax,
but to those who fear thee
thou wilt continue to show mercy.
[16] For every sacrifice as a fragrant offering is a small thing,
and all fat for burnt offerings to thee is
a very little thing,
but he who fears the Lord shall be great for ever.

Additions to Esther

[The set-up: These are additions to the Book of Esther that are found in the ancient Greek versions of the book but not in the Hebrew. This is part of Esther's prayer before she goes to make her request of the king. The numbering of the chapters and verses in these additions is not consistent with the canonical book of Esther. This passage would actually come between Chapters 4 and 5. Pretty cool supplement to the story as most Protestants have typically heard it.]

Add. Esth. 14:5—14 —[5] Ever since I was born I have heard in the tribe of my family that thou, O Lord, didst take Israel out of all the nations, and our fathers from among all their ancestors, for an everlasting inheritance, and that thou didst do for them all that thou didst promise.
[6] And now we have sinned before thee, and thou hast given us into the hands of our enemies,
[7] because we glorified their gods. Thou art righteous, O Lord!
[8] And now they are not satisfied that we are in bitter slavery, but they have covenanted with their idols
[9] to abolish what thy mouth has ordained and to destroy thy inheritance, to stop the mouths of those who praise thee and to quench thy altar and the glory of thy house,
[10] to open the mouths of the nations for the praise of vain idols, and to magnify for ever a mortal king.
[11] O Lord, do not surrender thy scepter to what has no being; and do not let them mock at our downfall; but turn their plan against themselves, and make an example of the man who began this against us.
[12] Remember, O Lord; make thyself known in this time of our affliction, and give me courage, O King of the gods and Master of all dominion!
[13] Put eloquent speech in my mouth before the lion, and turn his heart to hate the man who is fighting against us, so that there may be an end of him and those who agree with him.
[14] But save us by thy hand, and help me, who am alone and have no helper but thee, O Lord.

Wisdom of Solomon

[The set-up: This is a wisdom book (same basic style as Proverbs and Ecclesiastes) that is attributed to Solomon. This is a very cool passage about the future hope of those who trust in the Lord, and it is one of the relatively few pre-Christian passages of Jewish literature that clearly foresees a future resurrection for the righteous.]

Wisd. Sol. 3:1–9  — [1] But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,
and no torment will ever touch them.
[2] In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died,
and their departure was thought to be an affliction,
[3] and their going from us to be their destruction;
but they are at peace.
[4] For though in the sight of men they were punished,
their hope is full of immortality.
[5] Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good,
because God tested them and found them worthy of himself;
[6] like gold in the furnace he tried them,
and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them.
[7] In the time of their visitation they will shine forth,
and will run like sparks through the stubble.
[8] They will govern nations and rule over peoples,
and the Lord will reign over them for ever.
[9] Those who trust in him will understand truth,
and the faithful will abide with him in love,
because grace and mercy are upon his elect,
and he watches over his holy ones.

Sirach 

[The set-up: Another wisdom book, very similar to Proverbs in many ways, and equally profound in its ruminations on wisdom and righteousness in some places. I have chosen a few passages, however, that show other sides of the book: a few pithy one-liners, plus a fascinating passage about the proper relationship between trust in God's healing power and reliance on doctors and medicine.] 

Sirach 20:6 — [6] There is one who keeps silent because he has no answer,
while another keeps silent because he knows when to speak.

Sirach 25:16 — [16] I would rather dwell with a lion and a dragon
than dwell with an evil wife.

Sirach 27:12 — [12] Among stupid people watch for a chance to leave,
but among thoughtful people stay on.

Sirach 38:1–14 — [1] Honor the physician with the honor due him,
according to your need of him, for the Lord created him;
[2] for healing comes from the Most High,
and he will receive a gift from the king.
[3] The skill of the physician lifts up his head,
and in the presence of great men he is admired.
[4] The Lord created medicines from the earth,
and a sensible man will not despise them.
[5] Was not water made sweet with a tree
in order that his power might be known?
[6] And he gave skill to men
that he might be glorified in his marvelous works.
[7] By them he heals and takes away pain;
[8] the pharmacist makes of them a compound.
His works will never be finished;
and from him health is upon the face of the earth. 
[9] My son, when you are sick do not be negligent, but pray to the Lord, and he will heal you.
[10] Give up your faults and direct your hands aright,
and cleanse your heart from all sin.
[11] Offer a sweet-smelling sacrifice, and a memorial
portion of fine flour,
and pour oil on your offering, as much as you can afford.
[12] And give the physician his place, for the Lord created him;
let him not leave you, for there is need of him.
[13] There is a time when success lies in the hands of physicians,
[14] for they too will pray to the Lord
that he should grant them success in diagnosis
and in healing, for the sake of preserving life.

Baruch

[The set-up: A short book attributed to Jeremiah's secretary Baruch. This is the final poem, promising restoration to the Jews in exile. Very reminiscent of Isaiah 40.]

Baruch 5:1–9 — [1] Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction,
O Jerusalem, and put on for ever the beauty of the glory from God.
[2] Put on the robe of the righteousness from God;
put on your head the diadem of the glory of the Everlasting.
[3] For God will show your splendor everywhere under heaven.
[4] For your name will for ever be called by God,
“Peace of righteousness and glory of godliness.”
[5] Arise, O Jerusalem, stand upon the height
and look toward the east,
and see your children gathered from west and east,
at the word of the Holy One,
rejoicing that God has remembered them.
[6] For they went forth from you on foot,
led away by their enemies;
but God will bring them back to you,
carried in glory, as on a royal throne.
[7] For God has ordered that every high mountain
and the everlasting hills be made low
and the valleys filled up, to make level ground,
so that Israel may walk safely in the glory of God.
[8] The woods and every fragrant tree
have shaded Israel at God’s command.
[9] For God will lead Israel with joy,
in the light of his glory,
with the mercy and righteousness that come from him.

The Letter of Jeremiah

[The set-up: An epistle (attributed to Jeremiah) about the follies of idol worship. This passage is fairly representative of the author's pointed argument.]

Let. Jer. 45–70 — 45] They are made by carpenters and goldsmiths; they can be nothing but what the craftsmen wish them to be. 
[46] The men that make them will certainly not live very long themselves; how then can the things that are made by them be gods? 

[47] They have left only lies and reproach for those who come after.
[48] For when war or calamity comes upon them, the priests consult together as to where they can hide themselves and their gods.
[49] How then can one fail to see that these are not gods, for they cannot save themselves from war or calamity?
[50] Since they are made of wood and overlaid with gold and silver, it will afterward be known that they are false.
[51] It will be manifest to all the nations and kings that they are not gods but the work of men’s hands, and that there is no work of God in them.
[52] Who then can fail to know that they are not gods?
[53] For they cannot set up a king over a country or give rain to men.

[54] They cannot judge their own cause or deliver one who is wronged, for they have no power; they are like crows between heaven and earth.
[55] When fire breaks out in a temple of wooden gods overlaid with gold or silver, their priests will flee and escape, but the gods will be burnt in two like beams.
[56] Besides, they can offer no resistance to a king or any enemies. Why then must any one admit or think that they are gods?
[57] Gods made of wood and overlaid with silver and gold are not able to save themselves from thieves and robbers.
[58] Strong men will strip them of their gold and silver and of the robes they wear, and go off with this booty, and they will not be able to help themselves.
[59] So it is better to be a king who shows his courage, or a household utensil that serves its owner’s need, than to be these false gods; better even the door of a house that protects its contents, than these false gods; better also a wooden pillar in a palace, than these false gods.
[60] For sun and moon and stars, shining and sent forth for service, are obedient.
[61] So also the lightning, when it flashes, is widely seen; and the wind likewise blows in every land.
[62] When God commands the clouds to go over the whole world, they carry out his command.
[63] And the fire sent from above to consume mountains and woods does what it is ordered. But these idols are not to be compared with them in appearance or power.
[64] Therefore one must not think that they are gods nor call them gods, for they are not able either to decide a case or to do good to men.
[65] Since you know then that they are not gods, do not fear them.
[66] For they can neither curse nor bless kings;
[67] they cannot show signs in the heavens and among the nations, or shine like the sun or give light like the moon.
[68] The wild beasts are better than they are, for they can flee to cover and help themselves.
[69] So we have no evidence whatever that they are gods; therefore do not fear them.
[70] Like a scarecrow in a cucumber bed, that guards nothing, so are their gods of wood, overlaid with gold and silver. 

The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Jews

[The set-up: The first of three discrete additions to the Book of Daniel. This one records a prayer offered by Azariah (Abednego) in the furnace, as well as a praise song that the three young men sang together in the midst of the flames. This passage is the narrative that sets up the song. Pretty cool view of this very familiar story from a different angle.]

Pr. Az. 23–28 — [23] Now the king’s servants who threw them in did not cease feeding the furnace fires with naphtha, pitch, tow, and brush.

[24] And the flame streamed out above the furnace forty-nine cubits,
[25] and it broke through and burned those of the Chaldeans whom it caught about the furnace.
[26] But the angel of the Lord came down into the furnace to be with Azariah and his companions, and drove the fiery flame out of the furnace,
[27] and made the midst of the furnace like a moist whistling wind, so that the fire did not touch them at all or hurt or trouble them.
[28] Then the three, as with one mouth, praised and glorified and blessed God in the furnace

Susanna

[The set-up: The second of the three additions to Daniel. Two Jewish elders try to seduce a righteous woman named Susanna, and when she rebuffs their advances, they claim that they caught her in an adulterous act with another man. Just as the people are ready to believe the elders and execute Susanna, Daniel arrives on the scene and employs an interrogation tactic right out of the Columbo/Matlock/Homicide/Law and Order handbook.]

Susanna 51–62 — [51] And Daniel said to them, “Separate them far from each other, and I will examine them.”
[52] When they were separated from each other, he summoned one of them and said to him, “You old relic of wicked days, your sins have now come home, which you have committed in the past,
[53] pronouncing unjust judgments, condemning the innocent and letting the guilty go free, though the Lord said, `Do not put to death an innocent and righteous person.’
[54] Now then, if you really saw her, tell me this: Under what tree did you see them being intimate with each other?” He answered, “Under a mastic tree.”
[55] And Daniel said, “Very well! You have lied against your own head, for the angel of God has received the sentence from God and will immediately cut you in two.”
[56] Then he put him aside, and commanded them to bring the other. And he said to him, “You offspring of Canaan and not of Judah, beauty has deceived you and lust has perverted your heart.  [57] This is how you both have been dealing with the daughters of Israel, and they were intimate with you through fear; but a daughter of Judah would not endure your wickedness.
[58] Now then, tell me: Under what tree did you catch them being intimate with each other?” He answered, “Under an evergreen oak.”
[59] And Daniel said to him, “Very well! You also have lied against your own head, for the angel of God is waiting with his sword to saw you in two, that he may destroy you both.”
[60] Then all the assembly shouted loudly and blessed God, who saves those who hope in him.      [61] And they rose against the two elders, for out of their own mouths Daniel had convicted them of bearing false witness;
[62] and they did to them as they had wickedly planned to do to their neighbor; acting in accordance with the law of Moses, they put them to death. Thus innocent blood was saved that day.

Bel and the Dragon

[The set-up: The third and final addition to Daniel, which features a scene in which Daniel kills a supposedly-sacred dragon by feeding it cakes made of pitch, fat, and hair which cause its stomach to explode, as well as a completely different lion's den narrative in which Daniel is thrown into the den for six days after killing the dragon and has food brought to him by the prophet Habbakuk. The passage I have chosen, however, is from the beginning of the work (the Bel story), and again illustrates that the great literary sleuths and TV detectives have nothing on Daniel.]

Bel and the Dragon 3–22  — 3] Now the Babylonians had an idol called Bel, and every day they spent on it twelve bushels of fine flour and forty sheep and fifty gallons of wine. 

[4] The king revered it and went every day to worship it. But Daniel worshiped his own God.
[5] And the king said to him, “Why do you not worship Bel?” He answered, “Because I do not revere man-made idols, but the living God, who created heaven and earth and has dominion over all flesh.” 

[6] The king said to him, “Do you not think that Bel is a living God? Do you not see how much he eats and drinks every day?” 

[7] Then Daniel laughed, and said, “Do not be deceived, O king; for this is but clay inside and brass outside, and it never ate or drank anything.”
[8] Then the king was angry, and he called his priests and said to them, “If you do not tell me who is eating these provisions, you shall die.
[9] But if you prove that Bel is eating them, Daniel shall die, because he blasphemed against Bel.” And Daniel said to the king, “Let it be done as you have said.”
[10] Now there were seventy priests of Bel, besides their wives and children. And the king went with Daniel into the temple of Bel. 

[11] And the priests of Bel said, “Behold, we are going outside; you yourself, O king, shall set forth the food and mix and place the wine, and shut the door and seal it with your signet.
[12] And when you return in the morning, if you do not find that Bel has eaten it all, we will die; or else Daniel will, who is telling lies about us.”
[13] They were unconcerned, for beneath the table they had made a hidden entrance, through which they used to go in regularly and consume the provisions.
[14] When they had gone out, the king set forth the food for Bel. Then Daniel ordered his servants to bring ashes and they sifted them throughout the whole temple in the presence of the king alone. Then they went out, shut the door and sealed it with the king’s signet, and departed.
[15] In the night the priests came with their wives and children, as they were accustomed to do, and ate and drank everything.
[16] Early in the morning the king rose and came, and Daniel with him.
[17] And the king said, “Are the seals unbroken, Daniel?” He answered, “They are unbroken, O king.”
[18] As soon as the doors were opened, the king looked at the table, and shouted in a loud voice, “You are great, O Bel; and with you there is no deceit, none at all.”
[19] Then Daniel laughed, and restrained the king from going in, and said, “Look at the floor, and notice whose footsteps these are.”

[20] The king said, “I see the footsteps of men and women and children.”
[21] Then the king was enraged, and he seized the priests and their wives and children; and they showed him the secret doors through which they were accustomed to enter and devour what was on the table.
[22] Therefore the king put them to death, and gave Bel over to Daniel, who destroyed it and its temple.

1 Esdras

[The set-up: "Esdras" is another version of the name "Ezra," and the book of 1 Esdras is largely a compilation of material that is found in the canonical books of 2 Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah. There is, however, one completely unique passage that feels vaguely Shakespearian, in which three bodyguards in the court of King Darius (including Zerubbabel, who eventually led the first wave of exiles who returned from Babylon to Jerusalem) have a debate about what one thing in the world is most powerful, and subsequently present their arguments for the consideration of the king and court. One says that wine is the strongest, since it controls the minds and actions of those who consume it. The second (obviously kissing up) says that the king is the strongest. Zerubbabel says "Women is strongest, but above all things truth is victor." This passage is his speech in defense of his answer.]

1 Esdr. 4:13–41 — [13] Then the third, that is Zerubbabel, who had spoken of women and truth, began to speak:
[14] Gentlemen, is not the king great, and are not men many, and is not wine strong? Who then is their master, or who is their lord? Is it not women?
[15] Women gave birth to the king and to every people that rules over sea and land.
[16] From women they came; and women brought up the very men who plant the vineyards from which comes wine.
[17] Women make men’s clothes; they bring men glory; men cannot exist without women.
[18] If men gather gold and silver or any other beautiful thing, and then see a woman lovely in appearance and beauty,
[19] they let all those things go, and gape at her, and with open mouths stare at her, and all prefer her to gold or silver or any other beautiful thing.
[20] A man leaves his own father, who brought him up, and his own country, and cleaves to his wife.
[21] With his wife he ends his days, with no thought of his father or his mother or his country.
[22] Hence you must realize that women rule over you! “Do you not labor and toil, and bring everything and give it to women? 

[23] A man takes his sword, and goes out to travel and rob and steal and to sail the sea and rivers;
[24] he faces lions, and he walks in darkness, and when he steals and robs and plunders, he brings it back to the woman he loves.
[25] A man loves his wife more than his father or his mother.
[26] Many men have lost their minds because of women, and have become slaves because of them.
[27] Many have perished, or stumbled, or sinned, because of women.
[28] And now do you not believe me? “Is not the king great in his power? Do not all lands fear to touch him?

[29] Yet I have seen him with Apame, the king’s concubine, the daughter of the illustrious Bartacus; she would sit at the king’s right hand
[30] and take the crown from the king’s head and put it on her own, and slap the king with her left hand.
[31] At this the king would gaze at her with mouth agape. If she smiles at him, he laughs; if she loses her temper with him, he flatters her, that she may be reconciled to him.
[32] Gentlemen, why are not women strong, since they do such things?”
[33] Then the king and the nobles looked at one another; and he began to speak about truth:         [34] “Gentlemen, are not women strong? The earth is vast, and heaven is high, and the sun is swift in its course, for it makes the circuit of the heavens and returns to its place in one day.
[35] Is he not great who does these things? But truth is great, and stronger than all things.
[36] The whole earth calls upon truth, and heaven blesses her. All God’s works quake and tremble, and with him there is nothing unrighteous.
[37] Wine is unrighteous, the king is unrighteous, women are unrighteous, all the sons of men are unrighteous, all their works are unrighteous, and all such things. There is no truth in them and in their unrighteousness they will perish.
[38] But truth endures and is strong for ever, and lives and prevails for ever and ever.
[39] With her there is no partiality or preference, but she does what is righteous instead of anything that is unrighteous or wicked. All men approve her deeds,
[40] and there is nothing unrighteous in her judgment. To her belongs the strength and the kingship and the power and the majesty of all the ages. Blessed be the God of truth!”
[41] He ceased speaking; then all the people shouted, and said, “Great is truth, and strongest of all!” 

2 Esdras   

[The set-up: Here's where things get really confusing. The book of 2 Esdras is completely unrelated to the events of Ezra, Nehemiah, and 1 Esdras, apart from the fact that it is attributed to the biblical Ezra. Furthermore, it is actually made up of what are generally considered three separate works: 1) A brief opening section that describes Ezra's prophetic calling, and that clearly seems to be the work of a Christian rather than a Jewish author, 2) a lengthy apocalyptic section comprising the bulk of the work, in which Ezra engages in an often-anguished and very thought-provoking dialogue with God concerning issues of justice, mercy, election, judgment, and the eternal destiny of humanity, as well as receiving vivid visions that at times rival those in Daniel and Revelation, and 3) a concluding section consisting of denunciations of pagan nations and predictions of impending persecution and deliverance for God's people. To complicate matters further, the lengthy middle section of 2 Esdras is often referred to as 4 Ezra (with Ezra being 1 Ezra, Nehemiah being 2 Ezra, and 1 Esdras being 3 Ezra), while the short opening and concluding fragments are called 5 Ezra and 6 Ezra respectively. Got all that? Anyway, this passage is one of the dialogues between Ezra and God from the "4 Ezra" part of 2 Esdras. Part of God's reply is quite reminiscent of His speech at the end of the book of Job. ]

2 Esdr. 5:23—40  — 23] And I said, “O sovereign Lord, from every forest of the earth and from all its trees thou hast chosen one vine,
[24] and from all the lands of the world thou hast chosen for thyself one region, and from all the flowers of the world thou hast chosen for thyself one lily,
[25] and from all the depths of the sea thou hast filled for thyself one river, and from all the cities that have been built thou hast consecrated Zion for thyself,
[26] and from all the birds that have been created thou hast named for thyself one dove, and from all the flocks that have been made thou hast provided for thyself one sheep,
[27] and from all the multitude of peoples thou hast gotten for thyself one people; and to this people, whom thou hast loved, thou hast given the law which is approved by all.
[28] And now, O Lord, why hast thou given over the one to the many, and dishonored the one root beyond the others, and scattered thine only one among the many?
[29] And those who opposed thy promises have trodden down those who believed thy covenants.
[30] If thou dost really hate thy people, they should be punished at thy own hands.”
[31] When I had spoken these words, the angel who had come to me on a previous night was sent to me,
[32] and he said to me, “Listen to me, and I will instruct you; pay attention to me, and I will tell you more.”
[33] And I said, “Speak, my lord.” And he said to me, “Are you greatly disturbed in mind over Israel? Or do you love him more than his Maker does?”

[34] And I said, “No, my lord, but because of my grief I have spoken; for every hour I suffer agonies of heart, while I strive to understand the way of the Most High and to search out part of his judgment.”
[35] And he said to me, “You cannot.” And I said, “Why not, my lord? Why then was I born? Or why did not my mother’s womb become my grave, that I might not see the travail of Jacob and the exhaustion of the people of Israel?”

[36] He said to me, “Count up for me those who have not yet come, and gather for me the scattered raindrops, and make the withered flowers bloom again for me;
[37] open for me the closed chambers, and bring forth for me the winds shut up in them, or show me the picture of a voice; and then I will explain to you the travail that you ask to understand.”
[38] And I said, “O sovereign Lord, who is able to know these things except he whose dwelling is not with men?
[39] As for me, I am without wisdom, and how can I speak concerning the things which thou hast asked me?”
[40] He said to me, “Just as you cannot do one of the things that were mentioned, so you cannot discover my judgment, or the goal of the love that I have promised my people.”

Prayer of Manasseh

[The set-up: A prayer of contrition attributed to Manasseh, the most wicked of Judah's kings, whose repentance is described in 2 Chronicles 33:12–19. These are the concluding verses.]

Pr. Man. 11–15 — [11] And now I bend the knee of my heart,
beseeching thee for thy kindness.
[12] I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned,
and I know my transgressions.
[13] I earnestly beseech thee,
forgive me, O Lord, forgive me!
Do not destroy me with my transgressions!
Do not be angry with me for ever or lay up evil for me;
do not condemn me to the depths of the earth.
For thou, O Lord, art the God of those who repent,
[14] and in me thou wilt manifest thy goodness;
for, unworthy as I am, thou wilt save me in thy great mercy,
[15] and I will praise thee continually all the days of my life.
For all the host of heaven sings thy praise,
and thine is the glory for ever. Amen.

Psalm 151

[The set-up: An addition to the Psalter that is attributed to David and that references his battle with Goliath. I have included the whole Psalm since it is so short.]

Psalm 151:1–7 — [1] I was small among my brothers, and the youngest in my father’s house; I tended my father’s sheep. 

[2] My hands made a harp,
my fingers fashioned a lyre.
[3] And who will declare it to my Lord?
The Lord himself; it is he who hears.
[4] It was he who sent his messenger
and took me from my father’s sheep,
and anointed me with his anointing oil.
[5] My brothers were handsome and tall,
but the Lord was not pleased with them.
[6] I went out to meet the Philistine,
and he cursed me by his idols.
[7] But I drew his own sword;
I beheaded him, and removed reproach from
the people of Israel.

1 Maccabees

[The set-up: A historical book describing events in Judah between 175 and 134 B.C., during which the Syrian Seleucid Empire (one of the successor states of the Greek Empire of Alexander the Great—who is mentioned by name in 1 Macc. 1:1) dominated the region. The book chronicles the deeds of the five sons of Mattathias, including the famous war hero Judas Maccabeus. Judas and his brothers warred with the Syrians and captured and rededicated the temple, which had been profaned by the Seleucid king Antiochus Epiphanes (an event that is commemorated in the celebration of Hannukah), and their descendants eventually established a quasi-independent Jewish kingdom that lasted until the Romans took over. I have selected two passages: The scene in which Mattathias and his sons launch their rebellion, and an account of the death of one of the sons in a battlefield encounter with an elephant that is highly reminiscent of an Oliphaunt scene from The Lord of the Rings.]

1 Macc. 2:15–28  — [15] Then the king’s officers who were enforcing the apostasy came to the city of Modein to make them offer sacrifice. 

[16] Many from Israel came to them; and Mattathias and his sons were assembled.
[17] Then the king’s officers spoke to Mattathias as follows: “You are a leader, honored and great in this city, and supported by sons and brothers.
[18] Now be the first to come and do what the king commands, as all the Gentiles and the men of Judah and those that are left in Jerusalem have done. Then you and your sons will be numbered among the friends of the king, and you and your sons will be honored with silver and gold and many gifts.”
[19] But Mattathias answered and said in a loud voice: “Even if all the nations that live under the rule of the king obey him, and have chosen to do his commandments, departing each one from the religion of his fathers,
[20] yet I and my sons and my brothers will live by the covenant of our fathers.
[21] Far be it from us to desert the law and the ordinances.
[22] We will not obey the king’s words by turning aside from our religion to the right hand or to the left.”
[23] When he had finished speaking these words, a Jew came forward in the sight of all to offer sacrifice upon the altar in Modein, according to the king’s command.
[24] When Mattathias saw it, be burned with zeal and his heart was stirred. He gave vent to righteous anger; he ran and killed him upon the altar.
[25] At the same time he killed the king’s officer who was forcing them to sacrifice, and he tore down the altar.
[26] Thus he burned with zeal for the law, as Phinehas did against Zimri the son of Salu.
[27] Then Mattathias cried out in the city with a loud voice, saying: “Let every one who is zealous for the law and supports the covenant come out with me!”
[28] And he and his sons fled to the hills and left all that they had in the city.

1 Macc. 6:32–47 — [32] Then Judas marched away from the citadel and encamped at Beth-zechariah, opposite the camp of the king.
[33] Early in the morning the king rose and took his army by a forced march along the road to Beth-zechariah, and his troops made ready for battle and sounded their trumpets.
[34] They showed the elephants the juice of grapes and mulberries, to arouse them for battle.
[35] And they distributed the beasts among the phalanxes; with each elephant they stationed a thousand men armed with coats of mail, and with brass helmets on their heads; and five hundred picked horsemen were assigned to each beast.
[36] These took their position beforehand wherever the beast was; wherever it went they went with it, and they never left it.
[37] And upon the elephants were wooden towers, strong and covered; they were fastened upon each beast by special harness, and upon each were four armed men who fought from there, and also its Indian driver.
[38] The rest of the horsemen were stationed on either side, on the two flanks of the army, to harass the enemy while being themselves protected by the phalanxes.
[39] When the sun shone upon the shields of gold and brass, the hills were ablaze with them and gleamed like flaming torches.
[40] Now a part of the king’s army was spread out on the high hills, and some troops were on the plain, and they advanced steadily and in good order.
[41] All who heard the noise made by their multitude, by the marching of the multitude and the clanking of their arms, trembled, for the army was very large and strong.
[42] But Judas and his army advanced to the battle, and six hundred men of the king’s army fell.
[43] And Eleazar, called Avaran, saw that one of the beasts was equipped with royal armor. It was taller than all the others, and he supposed that the king was upon it.
[44] So he gave his life to save his people and to win for himself an everlasting name.
[45] He courageously ran into the midst of the phalanx to reach it; he killed men right and left, and they parted before him on both sides.
[46] He got under the elephant, stabbed it from beneath, and killed it; but it fell to the ground upon him and he died.
[47] And when the Jews saw the royal might and the fierce attack of the forces, they turned away in flight.

2 Maccabees

[The set-up: 2 Maccabees (a little confusingly) begins its historical account slightly earlier than 1 Maccabees (roughly 180 B.C.) and offers a view from a different angle of many of the events that are found in the first half of 1 Maccabees, ending its account around 161 B.C., before the death of Judas Maccabeus (whose death, in 160 B.C., is recorded in the ninth of 1 Maccabees' 16 chapters). I have selected what is undoubtedly the book's most compelling section—the account of seven brothers and their mother who were martyred by Antiochus Epiphanes for refusing to profane themselves with unclean food. This is another of those rare instances in which a pre-Christian Jewish author displays a firm hope in the future resurrection of the righteous dead.]

2 Macc. 7:1–41 — [1] It happened also that seven brothers and their mother were arrested and were being compelled by the king, under torture with whips and cords, to partake of unlawful swine’s flesh.
[2] One of them, acting as their spokesman, said, “What do you intend to ask and learn from us? For we are ready to die rather than transgress the laws of our fathers.”
[3] The king fell into a rage, and gave orders that pans and caldrons be heated.
[4] These were heated immediately, and he commanded that the tongue of their spokesman be cut out and that they scalp him and cut off his hands and feet, while the rest of the brothers and the mother looked on.
[5] When he was utterly helpless, the king ordered them to take him to the fire, still breathing, and to fry him in a pan. The smoke from the pan spread widely, but the brothers and their mother encouraged one another to die nobly, saying,
[6] “The Lord God is watching over us and in truth has compassion on us, as Moses declared in his song which bore witness against the people to their faces, when he said, `And he will have compassion on his servants.’”
[7] After the first brother had died in this way, they brought forward the second for their sport. They tore off the skin of his head with the hair, and asked him, “Will you eat rather than have your body punished limb by limb?”
[8] He replied in the language of his fathers, and said to them, “No.” Therefore he in turn underwent tortures as the first brother had done.
[9] And when he was at his last breath, he said, “You accursed wretch, you dismiss us from this present life, but the King of the universe will raise us up to an everlasting renewal of life, because we have died for his laws.”
[10] After him, the third was the victim of their sport. When it was demanded, he quickly put out his tongue and courageously stretched forth his hands,
[11] and said nobly, “I got these from Heaven, and because of his laws I disdain them, and from him I hope to get them back again.”
[12] As a result the king himself and those with him were astonished at the young man’s spirit, for he regarded his sufferings as nothing.
[13] When he too had died, they maltreated and tortured the fourth in the same way.
[14] And when he was near death, he said, “One cannot but choose to die at the hands of men and to cherish the hope that God gives of being raised again by him. But for you there will be no resurrection to life!”
[15] Next they brought forward the fifth and maltreated him.
[16] But he looked at the king, and said, “Because you have authority among men, mortal though you are, you do what you please. But do not think that God has forsaken our people.
[17] Keep on, and see how his mighty power will torture you and your descendants!”
[18] After him they brought forward the sixth. And when he was about to die, he said, “Do not deceive yourself in vain. For we are suffering these things on our own account, because of our sins against our own God. Therefore astounding things have happened.
[19] But do not think that you will go unpunished for having tried to fight against God!”
[20] The mother was especially admirable and worthy of honorable memory. Though she saw her seven sons perish within a single day, she bore it with good courage because of her hope in the Lord.
[21] She encouraged each of them in the language of their fathers. Filled with a noble spirit, she fired her woman’s reasoning with a man’s courage, and said to them,
[22] “I do not know how you came into being in my womb. It was not I who gave you life and breath, nor I who set in order the elements within each of you.
[23] Therefore the Creator of the world, who shaped the beginning of man and devised the origin of all things, will in his mercy give life and breath back to you again, since you now forget yourselves for the sake of his laws.”
[24] Antiochus felt that he was being treated with contempt, and he was suspicious of her reproachful tone. The youngest brother being still alive, Antiochus not only appealed to him in words, but promised with oaths that he would make him rich and enviable if he would turn from the ways of his fathers, and that he would take him for his friend and entrust him with public affairs.
[25] Since the young man would not listen to him at all, the king called the mother to him and urged her to advise the youth to save himself.
[26] After much urging on his part, she undertook to persuade her son.
[27] But, leaning close to him, she spoke in their native tongue as follows, deriding the cruel tyrant: “My son, have pity on me. I carried you nine months in my womb, and nursed you for three years, and have reared you and brought you up to this point in your life, and have taken care of you.
[28] I beseech you, my child, to look at the heaven and the earth and see everything that is in them, and recognize that God did not make them out of things that existed. Thus also mankind comes into being.
[29] Do not fear this butcher, but prove worthy of your brothers. Accept death, so that in God’s mercy I may get you back again with your brothers.”
[30] While she was still speaking, the young man said, “What are you waiting for? I will not obey the king’s command, but I obey the command of the law that was given to our fathers through Moses.
[31] But you, who have contrived all sorts of evil against the Hebrews, will certainly not escape the hands of God.
[32] For we are suffering because of our own sins.
[33] And if our living Lord is angry for a little while, to rebuke and discipline us, he will again be reconciled with his own servants.
[34] But you, unholy wretch, you most defiled of all men, do not be elated in vain and puffed up by uncertain hopes, when you raise your hand against the children of heaven.
[35] You have not yet escaped the judgment of the almighty, all-seeing God.
[36] For our brothers after enduring a brief suffering have drunk of everflowing life under God’s covenant; but you, by the judgment of God, will receive just punishment for your arrogance.
[37] I, like my brothers, give up body and life for the laws of our fathers, appealing to God to show mercy soon to our nation and by afflictions and plagues to make you confess that he alone is God,
[38] and through me and my brothers to bring to an end the wrath of the Almighty which has justly fallen on our whole nation.”
[39] The king fell into a rage, and handled him worse than the others, being exasperated at his scorn. 

[40] So he died in his integrity, putting his whole trust in the Lord.
[41] Last of all, the mother died, after her sons.

3 Maccabees   

[The set-up: 3 Maccabees (again, confusingly) deals with still an earlier period of Jewish history (beginning in 217 B.C.), during which the Jews were ruled by the Ptolemies of Egypt (another of the successor states of Alexander's Greek Empire). It is hard to see exactly why it was given its title, as it does not deal with Judas Maccabeus or his family at all. Rather, the book chronicles (quite comedically, in some places) the vain attempts of the Egyptian king to persecute the Jews for their refusal to allow him to enter the Holy of Holies in the temple. The passage I have selected is a prayer for deliverance offered by the priest Eleazar, in which he recounts the Lord's faithfulness to some of the earlier heroes of the faith.]

3 Macc. 6:1–15 — [1] Then a certain Eleazar, famous among the priests of the country, who had attained a ripe old age and throughout his life had been adorned with every virtue, directed the elders around him to cease calling upon the holy God and prayed as follows:
[2] “King of great power, Almighty God Most High, governing all creation with mercy,
[3] look upon the descendants of Abraham, O Father, upon the children of the sainted Jacob, a people of your consecrated portion who are perishing as foreigners in a foreign land.
[4] Pharaoh with his abundance of chariots, the former ruler of this Egypt, exalted with lawless insolence and boastful tongue, you destroyed together with his arrogant army by drowning them in the sea, manifesting the light of your mercy upon the nation of Israel.
[5] Sennacherib exulting in his countless forces, oppressive king of the Assyrians, who had already gained control of the whole world by the spear and was lifted up against your holy city, speaking grievous words with boasting and insolence, you, O Lord, broke in pieces, showing your power to many nations.
[6] The three companions in Babylon who had voluntarily surrendered their lives to the flames so as not to serve vain things, you rescued unharmed, even to a hair, moistening the fiery furnace with dew and turning the flame against all their enemies.
[7] Daniel, who through envious slanders was cast down into the ground to lions as food for wild beasts, you brought up to the light unharmed.
[8] And Jonah, wasting away in the belly of a huge, sea-born monster, you, Father, watched over and restored unharmed to all his family.
[9] And now, you who hate insolence, all-merciful and protector of all, reveal yourself quickly to those of the nation of Israel — who are being outrageously treated by the abominable and lawless Gentiles.
[10] Even if our lives have become entangled in impieties in our exile, rescue us from the hand of the enemy, and destroy us, Lord, by whatever fate you choose.
[11] Let not the vain-minded praise their vanities at the destruction of your beloved people, saying, `Not even their god has rescued them.’
[12] But you, O Eternal One, who have all might and all power, watch over us now and have mercy upon us who by the senseless insolence of the lawless are being deprived of life in the manner of traitors.
[13] And let the Gentiles cower today in fear of your invincible might, O honored One, who have power to save the nation of Jacob.
[14] The whole throng of infants and their parents entreat you with tears.
[15] Let it be shown to all the Gentiles that you are with us, O Lord, and have not turned your face from us; but just as you have said, `Not even when they were in the land of their enemies did I neglect them,’ so accomplish it, O Lord.”

4 Maccabees

[The set-up: Finally, we have the book of 4 Maccabees, which, unlike the other 3, is not a historical chronicle at all, but rather a philosophical rumination on the supremacy of reason over the emotions. It gets its name from the fact that the author devotes a significant chunk of his philosophical treatise to a consideration of the martyrdom of the seven brothers in 2 Maccabees 7. This passage outlines his basic argument.]

4 Macc. 1:15–30 — [15] Now reason is the mind that with sound logic prefers the life of wisdom.
[16] Wisdom, next, is the knowledge of divine and human matters and the causes of these.
[17] This, in turn, is education in the law, by which we learn divine matters reverently and human affairs to our advantage.
[18] Now the kinds of wisdom are rational judgment, justice, courage, and self-control.
[19] Rational judgment is supreme over all of these, since by means of it reason rules over the emotions.
[20] The two most comprehensive types of the emotions are pleasure and pain; and each of these is by nature concerned with both body and soul.
[21] The emotions of both pleasure and pain have many consequences.
[22] Thus desire precedes pleasure and delight follows it.
[23] Fear precedes pain and sorrow comes after.
[24] Anger, as a man will see if he reflects on this experience, is an emotion embracing pleasure and pain.
[25] In pleasure there exists even a malevolent tendency, which is the most complex of all the emotions.
[26] In the soul it is boastfulness, covetousness, thirst for honor, rivalry, and malice;
[27] in the body, indiscriminate eating, gluttony, and solitary gormandizing.
[28] Just as pleasure and pain are two plants growing from the body and the soul, so there are many offshoots of these plants,
[29] each of which the master cultivator, reason, weeds and prunes and ties up and waters and thoroughly irrigates, and so tames the jungle of habits and emotions.
[30] For reason is the guide of the virtues, but over the emotions it is sovereign.

Holiness and Justice, pt. 4

Ok, so today we’re on to an examination of the interconnectedness of holiness and justice during the reigns of Israel’s first three kings: Saul, David, and Solomon. The central point that inescapably emerges from a consideration of these royal narratives is that both righteousness before God and mercy toward others were prerequisites for the kind of kingship that God affirmed, and that a king’s abandonment of one inevitably brought about the loss of the other (and thus God’s condemnation).

Saul, of course, struggled to embody holiness from the early years of his reign. He twice angered God and was chastened by Samuel, first for improperly offering a sacrifice (1 Sam. 13) and then for disobeying a direct command (delivered by God through Samuel) regarding the destruction of a pagan enemy (1 Sam. 15). Following this second occasion, God rejects Saul as king altogether, and Saul’s downward spiral commences. Never again will his relationship with God seem remotely healthy, and his final days will include a consultation with a pagan medium and, ultimately, the taking of his own life. Tellingly, this tragic fall from intimacy with God goes hand in hand with an increasing inability to show justice and mercy to others. While he was initially praised and adored by his subjects (see the latter part of 1 Sam. 11), he demonstrated a troubling lack of compassion soon after his first act of disobedience against God, when he resolved to kill his own son for (unknowingly) violating a rash corporate oath that the king had imposed on all his men. Only the people’s plea for mercy for Jonathan stayed Saul’s hand (1 Sam. 14). Soon after his second act of disobedience, of course, David becomes the object of the king’s wrath, and he implacably seeks to kill David (whether directly, with a cocked spear in his hand, or indirectly, by sending David chasing after 200 Philistine foreskins) in spite of the total absence of any just cause for his anger. (Indeed, David served him faithfully both as court musician and warrior, befriended his son, married his daughter, and, most significantly, mercifully spared his life on two separate occasions when nothing could have prevented him from ending the threat that Saul posed to him.)

These two displays of mercy toward Saul on David’s part serve as clear early indications that Israel’s second king is a very different sort of man from his predecessor. Indeed, he is famously referred to in Scripture as “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14, Acts 13:22), a description that reflects not only his faithful devotion to God (epitomized by his joyful and exuberant worship at the head of the parade which ushered the Ark into Jerusualem in 2 Sam. 6), but also his commitment to justice and mercy, as exemplified not only by his repeated sparing of Saul’s life, but also by his righteous anger against the man who claimed to have callously killed Saul (2 Sam. 1), his genuine grief over the wrongful murder of Abner, a man who had long been his enemy (2 Sam. 3), and his tender compassion toward Jonathan’s disabled son, Mephibosheth (2 Sam. 9).

In 2 Samuel 11, however, David’s story takes its first drastic downturn. First, he forfeits holiness by committing adultery with Bathsheba. Then, he sacrifices justice by arranging for Uriah to be killed in order to cover up his initial sin—which, of course, also constitutes a further affront to God’s holiness. (It is interesting that the condemnatory parable that the prophet Nathan tells David in 2 Sam. 12 is calculated to appeal precisely to the king’s finely-tuned sense of justice and injustice, which he has just acted against for the first time.) This sordid episode leads to many further complications and tragedies in David’s personal and family life, and while his holiness before God is reestablished through sincere repentance and divine forgiveness, the king seems to struggle to regain his grip on the faithful pursuit of justice, as illustrated in Chapter 13, when he first fails to take decisive action (either to punish his son or to defend and console his daughter) following Amnon’s rape of Tamar, and in Chapter 14, when he fails to bring his son Absalom to justice for the murder of Amnon. Even when David demonstrates heartfelt grief and compassion over the death of Absalom in spite of his son’s attempts to overthrow him (2 Sam. 18–19), his general Joab angrily asserts that David has proved that the lives of his faithful soldiers mean nothing to him, and that he would be more pleased if they had all died and the traitorous Absalom had lived. Thus, it could be argued that while David’s relationship with God was (at least in part) restored to its former degree of intimacy following the Bathsheba-Uriah affair, the king never truly recovered his ability to relate to others with appropriate justice and mercy.

The conduct of Israel’s next king, Solomon, makes him perhaps the most ambiguous major character in the entire Bible. Depending on which part of his career one focuses on, he may rightly be viewed as a paragon of godly wisdom and the faithful architect of God’s dwelling place on earth, or as a despotic overlord whose unjust practices directly led to the division of the kingdom, an incurable womanizer, and the ruler who led Israel down the path of rampant idolatry that would ultimately prove to be its undoing. Solomon’s humble prayer for wisdom, and his ingenious solution to a problem of injustice in the incident concerning the two women and the baby (both found in 1 Kings 3), are well known. However, in the very next chapter, we are told of the extravagant lifestyle enjoyed by Solomon and the other members of his royal court, a lifestyle which necessitated the imposition of burdensome requirements for tribute offerings on the rest of the people. It is also mentioned in 1 Kings 5 that Solomon drafted forced labor for his construction projects, a practice that surely demonstrates a certain disregard for justice and mercy. 

The first of these building projects, the Temple, was (at least to a certain extent) divinely ordained, and its construction may be seen both as an expression of holy obedience on Solomon’s part, and as a means of enabling holy worship and sacrifice on the part of the entire nation. Yet we are given an important insight into potential warning signs in Solomon’s character when we are told in the last verse of Chapter 6 and the first verse of Chapter 7, that he spent nearly twice as long (and we may safely assume, a great deal more of his wealth) building his own palace as he did building God’s house. Thus, the picture of Solomon that emerges from the first ten chapters of 1 Kings is deeply problematic, one in which Solomon is painted as largely faithful to God, but one in which we increasingly get the suspicion that he is unjust, more concerned with wealth, grandeur, and abundance than with the welfare of his subjects. This apparent lack of concern for justice and mercy, in turn, gives us a legitimate right to question the sincerity of his apparent devotion to God in the building of the temple. Is it possible that Solomon viewed the temple (at least in part) as another way for him to increase his glory, another jewel in his crown?

In any event, in 1 Kings 11 we are told that Solomon turned away from the Lord, taking a vast number of pagan wives, worshipping many of their gods, and leading the nation as a whole back into the kind of widespread idolatry that had characterized the period of the judges. God responded to this serious breach of holiness by announcing that He would strip the majority of the kingdom from Solomon’s descendants. Yet when the time of the rebellion that caused the division of the kingdom of Israel finally came, it was not Solomon’s idolatry or his large harem or the opulence of his lifestyle to which the people of Israel objected, but rather his injustices against the common people (1 Kings 12).

Thus, Solomon’s path may be seen as the reverse of Saul’s—whereas Saul almost immediately alienated himself from the Lord through breaches of holiness, even while he largely held the favor of the people, Solomon began by pleasing the Lord with his request for wisdom and his obedience in constructing the Temple, while simultaneously perpetuating injustices against his people. The important point, however, is that the lives of both kings illustrate that the abandonment of either a concern for holiness or a concern for justice quickly brings about the loss of both—Upon becoming estranged from God, Saul abandoned all pretense of concern for justice and mercy in his singleminded attempt to destroy David, and after years of satisfying his own appetites for food, drink, and splendor at the expense of his people, Solomon began to indulge his lusts in a way that led him into idol worship and alienated him from the God whose home he had been selected to build. Even the post-Bathsheba part of David’s career offers eloquent proof that even a “man after God’s own heart,” once he has abandoned his commitment to either holiness or justice, can find it hard to get a handle on either one again.

I hope this is all making sense. I realize it may seem a little repetitive, but I think it’s important to consider how this motif of the essential inseparability of holiness and justice is woven throughout the biblical narrative, because with each successive recurrence of this theme it becomes more difficult to explain why the post-nineteenth century Western church has so often been guilty of treating the two sets of concerns as if they were irreconcilable opposites. Next up, a look at the decline of Israel and Judah and the prophetic perspective on questions of holiness and justice.

Holiness and Justice, pt. 3

Ok, so now we move to a consideration of how the issues of holiness and justice were addressed and lived out in Israel and Judah from the time of the conquest to the time of the exile—basically the era of the judges and kings. This will definitely take a few posts to unpack, so I’ll start today with a few observations related to these themes from the time of Israel’s entry into the Promised Land to the beginning of the monarchy.

The first thing that it is important to note is that, in spite of the prolonged moral and ethical instruction that they had received in the wilderness, it did not take long for the Israelites to begin abandoning both holiness and justice once they had entered the Promised Land. An extremely early example of this is Achan’s theft at Jericho in Joshua 7, an act in which he displayed both a lack of concern for holiness by disobeying God’s express command, and the sort of greedy acquisitiveness that always serves to undermine justice. This episode, occuring as it did following the very first battle after Moses’ impassioned reiteration of the Law in Deuteronomy, obviously did not bode well for Israel’s chances of upholding their calling to embody holiness and justice.

The Book of Judges confirms, in a spectacular way, our suspicions that Israel may be in trouble. The book begins with the arrival of an angelic messenger who condemns the Israelites for failing to obey the Lord’s command to drive out the pagan nations who dwelt in the land, and the remainder of the book is a sad litany of Israel’s recurrent disobedience and idolatry (basically “holiness” issues), which periodically led to repentance and deliverance through the raising up of a ”judge,” only for the nation to quickly abandon its commitment to holiness and repeat the whole process again. By the time of Abimelech (Judges 9), justice had gone out the window along with holiness, as his reign was marked by officially sanctioned mass murder and counter-revolutionary banditry. The nadir of both holiness and justice in the period of the judges can be found in the horrific story of the rape and post-mortem dismemberment of the Levite’s concubine (Judges 19), an episode that ends with people saying in shock and disgust, “Such a thing has never been seen or done, not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt” (19:30), and which proves the truth of the statement with which the entire Book of Judges concludes: “In those days . . . everyone did as he saw fit” (21:25).

As the story transitions from the period of Judges to the days of Samuel and Saul, we find that Eli’s sons were involved in a form of priestly misconduct that involved both disobeying God’s explicit instructions and regulations regarding sacrifices and thus dishonoring Him (holiness problem), and forcibly taking meat from the worshippers (justice problem). When God condemns their behavior, He addresses both sides of the issue, accusing them of scorning His instructions and of fattening themselves on the offerings of others (see 1 Samuel 2:12–36). This double failure on their part leads directly to their deaths, as well as to the death of their father, Eli, and the temporary loss of the Ark of the Covenant (1 Samuel 4), after which Samuel becomes the leader of Israel and seeks to restore holiness and justice.

Later, however, we learn that Samuel’s sons abandoned his example and chose instead to follow a path that was similar to that embraced by Eli’s sons: they “turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.” (1 Samuel 8:3). And it was partially in response to their unsuitability to lead that the people came and asked Samuel for a king “like all the other nations have.” This event marks a major turning point in the life of Israel as a nation, and serves to hasten the abandonment of both holiness and justice that had been ongoing since the time of their entry into the land. Indeed, God construes the people’s request for a king as an unequivocal rejection of Him and an illustration of the same lack of holiness that has caused them to serve other gods on and off for centuries (8:7–8). And, as Samuel clearly warns them, the establishment of a monarchy will also lead to great injustice as the king begins to dominate the life of the nation, demanding tribute and forcing the people into his service (8:11–18).

In the next post, I’ll begin to look at how holiness and justice continued to be eroded during the period of the kings (with a few brief and/or partial exceptions). But for now it should suffice to note that Israel’s early national history makes it abundantly clear that holiness and justice are closely linked, and that any neglect of one will inevitably bring about the abandonment of the other, at which point evil and chaos reign. The rest of the pre-exilic Old Testament narrative will make this point all too clear. More later…

Holiness and Justice, pt. 2

Next up, a consideration of how the themes of holiness and justice were embodied in the Law that God gave to Israel. Obviously, the core of this Law is the Ten Commandments, which clearly reflect a concern both with what we think of as “personal holiness” issues (don’t worship idols, don’t blaspheme God’s name, observe the Sabbath) and with “social justice” issues (don’t deprive other people of their lives, spouses, or property). Over the course of the remainder of Exodus, all of Leviticus, a few scattered chapters of Numbers, and the whole of Deuteronomy, these basic principles that are given in the Ten Commandments are fleshed out in greater (often minute) detail. While it is somewhat misleading to suggest any clear or firm divisions in this literature, it is nonetheless interesting to note the following:

• The laws that immediately follow the Ten Commandments and that lead up to Israel’s affirmation of the covenant (Exodus 21–23) are mostly concerned with issues of justice—how to treat servants, how to deal with issue of public violence, how to deal with injuries caused by or inflicted on animals that belong to someone else, how to settle property disputes, treating aliens, widows, and orphans with justice, and providing food for the poor.
• The overwhelming majority of the book of Leviticus, in contrast, is obsessed with issues of cultic practice and personal holiness. It consists of detailed instructions for offering the various types of ritual sacrifices that were necessary to atone for personal sin, as well as laws governing sexual morality, clean and unclean food, purification from disease, regulations for the priesthood, and the observance of feasts and holy days. The scattered legal passages in Numbers (such as Ch. 5–6, 18–19, and 28–29) tend to focus on similar themes.
• Deuteronomy, in which Moses delivers his farewell speech to Israel, recounting both the narrative of their journey from Egypt and the essence of the Law code that God has given them, seems to represent an attempt to turn Israel’s attention back to issues of justice and mercy, thus restoring some of the balance between personal holiness and public justice that was struck by the Ten Commandments themselves. (Indeed, Moses begins the legal instructions of Deuteronomy by reviewing the Ten Commandments in Chapter 5). While Deuteronomy does touch briefly on some of the same issues of purity that dominated Leviticus, it contains several important passages concerning justice and compassion (notably the programmatic statement of 16:18–20, the provisions for the periodic cancellation of debts and servitude in Ch. 15, and the laws concerning compassion for servants, aliens, widows, and orphans in 24:14–22). 

Once again, this division is somewhat artificial, but there is an inarguably strong contrast between the overall tenor of Leviticus and that of Deuteronomy, one that is echoed in the contemporary conservative/liberal divide in American politics and religion. I think it is worth reflecting on some of the possible narrative explanations for this apparent dichotomy. For example, Leviticus, with its focus on personal morality and sacrificial regulations which distinguishes it both from Deuteronomy and from Exodus 21–23, was delivered to the Israelites not long after their exodus from Egypt, where they had lived in the midst of a pagan culture for several generations, and immediately after they had constructed and worshipped a golden idol in the shape of a calf—a serious violation of their relationship with God and a profound distortion of proper corporate worship. Under such circumstances, it is not surprising that God wanted to put a heavy emphasis on devotion to Him, purity of thought and action, and propriety in worship and sacrifice. Moses’ speech in Deuteronomy, in contrast, was given following a painful, 40-year lesson on the importance of honoring God, during which the rituals of sacrifice and purification had become ingrained parts of the community’s life. In their new context, on the threshhold of the Promised Land, the Israelites did not need a simple recapitulation of how to behave in their bedrooms and in the tabernacle, but rather fresh instructions for how to live together justly and compassionately in community. In the desert, God provided manna, quail, and water for everyone in equal measure, no one’s clothes or shoes wore out, the pillar of cloud provided shade and shelter by day, and the pillar of fire provided warmth by night. But in their new homeland, people would go without food, water, clothing, and shelter unless they faithfully exercised justice and mercy.

Thus, in light of the narrative, the differing emphases across this body of literature make a lot of sense. But the whole point is that the division is never complete. Leviticus, for all its focus on the minutiae of personal holiness, also contains the law concerning the Year of Jubilee (Ch. 25), the ultimate Old Testament provision for public justice. Deuteronomy, for all its emphasis on justice and compassion, also strongly condemns sexual immorality (Ch. 22) and the eating of unclean foods (Ch. 14). And, in the greatest (and most telling) of ironies, when Jesus was asked to name the Greatest Commandment in the entire Israelite legal corpus, He picked a verse about loving God wholeheartedly from the book about “public justice” (Deut. 6:5), and a verse about loving and caring for others from the book about “personal holiness” (Lev. 19:18). The implication is clear—while God’s people may need to be more forcefully reminded of one side of the coin or the other at different times in their journey with Him, holiness and justice, love of God and love of neighbor, are ultimately and essentially inseparable.

In my next post, I’ll examine what happened to Israel in the Promised Land as they slowly lost their grip on both holiness and justice.

Holiness and Justice, pt. 1

Sorry it’s been awhile since the last post. I think I was kind of holding myself to the lengthy standard I set with my first few posts and couldn’t seem to find enough free time to post anything as substantive as I wanted to. So I’ve decided to just divide my latest thought into several installments in the interest of getting something up. So you’ll have to stay tuned for a few days to see where this is all going.

I’ve been reflecting more on the dichotomy I’ve cited a few times between personal holiness and public justice, two important aspects of Christian practice which have a disturbing tendency to get severed from one another. In broad terms, religious and social conservatives tend to embrace the personal holiness side of things, while religious and social liberals tend to be more concerned with social justice. Rather than ranting about contemporary Western political and religious schisms, however, I thought it might be illuminating to examine this issue from a broader biblical and historical perspective to see how these two sides of the Christian life are supposed to be held together and how they have become so estranged from each other over the centuries.

So for starters, let’s look at the creation narrative in Genesis 1–2. Interestingly, it seems that the only instruction God gave Adam and Eve concerning personal holiness (or, if you like, their relationship with Him) was a negative one—do not eat the fruit of this one particular tree. There is nothing else in the creation accounts related to what we typically conceive of as “morality” or even what we conceive of as “worship.” Of course, the reason for this is clear enough—without the knowledge of good and evil that would come from disobeying God’s command concerning the tree, there was no distinction between “moral” and “immoral” behavior (at least not in a way that would have been comprehensible to Adam and Eve). In other words, God could not logically have said to them, “Do not do this, because it is evil and will corrupt your holiness before me” because the categories of good, evil, holiness, and sinfulness were simply not part of their consciousness before the Fall. Obedience to God’s single moral commandment concerning the tree had to be based instead only on the preexisting relationship of love and trust that they enjoyed with Him. This “relational obedience,” in turn, served as their appropriate act of worship and functioned as the only form of (what we would consider) “holiness” before God that was available to them at the time.

However, God also gave the first humans explicit instructions that governed their relationships with one another and their stewardship of the natural creation—things that would now tend to fall more under the “social justice” umbrella. Adam and Eve were called to ”become one flesh,” (a phrase which suggests not only physical intimacy, but also emotional union and loving care for one another) and to be fruitful in order that the earth might be populated. They were also given oversight of the plants, animals, and natural environment. Thus, Adam and Eve’s life prior to the Fall was marked by the existence of a web of caring, appropriate relationships that linked them to God, to one another, and to the entirety of the nonhuman creation. In such a situation, both holiness before God and just engagement with other people and with the rest of creation seemed assured.

The Fall, of course, damaged all of these relationships, making Adam and Eve aware of the difference between good and evil and granting them the ability to choose between them. (I realize that wording it in that way may sound heretical from a Reformed perspective, but I think that the biblical emphasis on making choices between good and evil, especially in passages like Deuteronomy 30:11–20 and Joshua 24:14–25, supports this wording). Not only was their relationship with God and their intimate access to fellowship with Him negatively affected by disobedience, guilt, shame, and fear, but their relationship with each other seems to have been damaged by blame and mistrust. In addition, they were forced to confront the new realities of physical pain, toil, and mortality, and to enter into conflict with a nonhuman creation (plants, animals, soil) that would now often work against them. 

Thus, the Fall clearly had profoundly adverse and far-reaching effects both for humanity’s exercise of holiness and obedience before a sovereign God, and for its compassionate care for others and for creation. While personal sin (anger, jealousy, pride, lust) certainly has its roots in the Fall, so do broader social and systemic evils (war, poverty, hunger, environmental degradation). So why, in our contemporary context, is there so often a lack of agreement among believers about how (or even whether) our concerns for these two sets of issues should be effectively combined? How did the two get separated to such a great extent? Stay tuned…