blogging the bible

David Plotz of Slate is blogging the Bible. Reading it from beginning to end, offering commentary as he goes:

My goal is pretty simple. I want to find out what happens when an ignorant person actually reads the book on which his religion is based. I think I'm in the same position as many other lazy but faithful people (Christians, Jews, Moslems, Hindus). I love Judaism; I love (most of) the lessons it has taught me about how to live in the world; and yet I realized I am fundamentally ignorant about its foundation, its essential document. So, what will happen if I approach my Bible empty, unmediated by teachers or rabbis or parents? What will delight and horrify me? How will the Bible relate to the religion I practice, and the lessons I thought I learned in synagogue and Hebrew School?

It's interesting reading, largely because his reaction to what he finds is so unbiased by traditional interpretation. He doesn't exactly stick to theology, either. For example:

The first thing I'm noticing about the Book of Judges is that there don't appear to be any judges in it. Sure, they may be called "judges," but they're really generals, left-handed assassins, female guerillas, polygamist warriors, fratricidal maniacs, and holy child killers. No judging seems to occur in Judges—unless your idea of justice is Judge Dredd. But if you want good stories—this is the book to read. It's an adrenaline shot!

Also:

Didn't someone write a book on the biblical roots of capitalism and free enterprise? How did he handle this episode? Our hero Joseph abolishes private property, turns freeholders into serfs, and transforms a decentralized farm economy into a command-economy dictatorship. This is bad economics and worse public policy. This is China, 1949. Joseph is Chairman Mao. (And, to speculate a little bit, perhaps this centralized dictatorship established by Joseph is what ultimately led to the Israelites enslavement in Egypt. Once you create a voracious state apparatus, it must be fed. Is it a surprise that slavery became part of its diet? In a less totalitarian state, perhaps slavery wouldn't have been as necessary or as feasible. This digression has been brought to you by the American Enterprise Institute.)

assassination as a tool of the state

Austin Bay has posted some thoughts regarding the apparent murder of Alexander Litvinenko, and what it means about Putin's Russia. Quoting a Time Magazine article:

Meanwhile, there is the light–uncomfortably glaring–that the case sheds on modern Russia. Vladimir Ryzhkov, one of the few independent liberals left in the Duma, says, “The point is not whether Putin is responsible for these concrete murders. The point is that he is responsible for having created a system that is ruled by fear and violence.” Ryzhkov claims that the armed forces, Interior Ministry, FSB and those who have retired from them to join private security services “are running this country, own its economy and use violence and murder as habitual management techniques.” A U.S. businessman in Moscow seconds the argument. “While you in the press are obsessed by Politkovskaya and Litvinenko, you’ve missed that half a dozen major oil executives and another half-dozen major bankers have been murdered in the last few months.”

It seems clear that Putin is either using or condoning assassination and murder as a tool of the state. Assad's Syria has apparently also taken up the practice of state sponsored assassination, as evidenced by the killings of Rafik Hariri and Pierre Gemayel. On the other hand, the U.S. and Israel have both engaged in the practice, assassinating al-Qaeda and Hamas leaders on occasion. In the case of Russia and Syria, I'm 100% opposed to the assassinations that have occurred. In the case of the U.S. and Israel, I think there's a moral case to be made that supports the use of assassination as a tool of the state. But I'm not certain. Here are the key differences that I see between the "good" and "bad" assassinations:

• Russian and Syrian targets have included politicians and journalists that have been critical of Russia and Syria. None of their targets have been involved in any kind of violent aggression. None have been implicated in any significant crimes--Litvenko may well have been involved in some shady business (he came out of Russia's intelligence services, after all), but Russia hasn't made any allegations of criminal activity on his part.
  
• U.S. and Israeli targets have been leaders in organizations that are engaged in violent aggression against the U.S. and Israel. These targets have been personally implicated in violent criminal activity and would be subject to legal action if only the state could get its hands on them. These targets have been seeking refuge among populations that are not willing to cooperate in bringing them to justice.

In other words, the U.S. and Israel have been using assassination as a tool when it is the only realistic mechanism for bringing a violent opponent to justice. Russia and Syria have been using assassination as a tool when it is a convenient method for silencing an inconvenient critic or political opponent. I don't think I'm splitting hairs to suggest that U.S. and Israeli assassination policies seem to be legitimate cases of a state exercising its God-given authority to use force to punish evil:

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.

Romans 13:1-4

Or am I missing something?

happiness

Last night I got a chance to give a short talk at church. Here's what I talked about:

Why are we so often unhappy? Generally it's one of three things:

1. Possessions -- We don't have enough things, the things that we have aren't good enough and the good things that we have frequently break and decay.
   
2. Relationships -- We don't have enough friends or loved ones, our friends hurt us or let us down and the people that we can depend on eventually move away or die.
   
3. Work -- We work to much, we work too hard and we're never paid enough to compensate for all the grief we have to endure.
   

We can't solve these problems, so how can we be happy in this life? The author of Ecclesiastes tells us how:

Go, eat your bread in joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.

Ecclesiastes 9:7-10

What's the secret? It seems to contradict what we know to be true. Our possessions, our relationships and our labor seem to be the primary sources of unhappiness, but we are told to enjoy all of these things. How is it possible to derive joy from imperfect possessions, imperfect people and imperfect jobs? It's possible if "God has already approved what you do". When we have the right relationship with God we can view all of these things from a proper perspective. All are blessings from God. Perfect? No, but they are blessings and if we have the right relationship with God, the right perspective, we find joy in them.

Paul makes a similar point:

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me--practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Philippians 4:4-10

Does God promise perfect lives that are free of frustrations and disappointments? No. But we can pray for what we need and we can pray when we're hurting. When we concentrate on serving God and when we recognize that He has blessed us with our possessions, our relationships and our work, we can be happy. We can be thankful for what we have, we can see the good in what God has given us and we can have peace because of our relationship with Him.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Matthew 11:28-30

Does Christ eliminate our burdens and make our lives perfectly easy? No. But He helps with our burdens and the cost of serving Him is so much less than the cost in grief of trying to find joy solely in the things of this world. Christ is the ultimate source of rest and peace.

So, how can we find happiness?

• Serve God.
• Recognize the good in what He has blessed us with.
• Trust Him to help bear our burdens.
• Recognize that the ultimate blessing is the life that He has reserved for us.

a critical problem

During a recent Bible study we were discussing what Proverbs has to say about criticism:

The ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise. Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence. The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor.
-- Proverbs 15:31-33

He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken beyond healing.
-- Proverbs 29:1

The point that was made is that criticism is a good thing. It's not easy to accept, it can hurt, but if we swallow our pride and listen to it we can learn some valuable lessons. From criticism we can learn about the flaws we hide from ourselves, about the weaknesses that we don't want to confront.

It's a good point, but it occurs to me that there's an easily overlooked corollary: if criticism can teach us about our flaws, it will be most effective when we allow people to see our flaws. It's natural to fear vulnerability. It's natural to try to control the face we present to the world, to hide our flaws and failures. It's incredibly difficult to overcome our pride and let people see what we're really like, but it's necessary if we want to obtain the full blessings of criticism.

Easier said than done, I'm afraid--it's something I really need to work on.

peace on earth

One of the saddest stories in the Bible:

Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth."

And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech." So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth.

Genesis 11:1-9

At one time mankind was united geographically, united in purpose, at peace, so confident in its own power and potential that it lost sight of God. That God had to break mankind of this hubris is clear--the purpose of mankind is, as Paul states in Acts 17:27 to "seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him", but this was never going to happen while mankind didn't see a need for God.

The solution to the problem was simple and effective--so effective that it has been tearing mankind apart ever since. In destroying mankind's ability to effectively communicate, God shattered our unity, shattered our ability to rely on each other, to trust each other. Ever since Babel humanity has been divided. Belligerent nations, feuding tribes, shattered friendships and broken families--these are the norm throughout history and they are a direct result of our inability to communicate and understand one another.

The only way to have the kind of relationships that made mankind so united and strong before Babel is to learn to communicate. A few individuals can, with enormous effort, overcome the difficulties of communication and learn to live in peace and harmony. A few marriages are characterized by true unity and a few friendships exhibit complete trust, but when mankind relies on its own efforts and its own wisdom to solve the problem the norm will always be division and conflict.

Fortunately, God has given us a real solution to the problem:

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Ephesians 2:13-22

Communication will always be hard and peace will always be tenuous, but we can succeed in finding that peace and unity through Christ.