The Old Testament: Ecclesiastes I – Nothing New Under the Sun

Posted on June 24, 2013 by virgowriter

Recently, several states have been legalizing gay marriage and endorsing marriage equality.  This has made as many people happy as sad—if you believe the people who are so opposed to gay people being treated like equals.  One of these people is Minnesota House of Representative Michelle Bachman, who was so troubled by the prospect of Minnesota passing this legislation that she bragged about how she couldn’t wait to leave the state, to some place safer, saner, like Oregon (she’s heard good things about Eugene, apparently).

She contends that her life and fellow Minnesotans are at risk because she knows God will unleash his vengeance on the state for condoning homosexuality.  “The Bible is VERY clear on this,” she said. (You can read a bit more about her reaction here: http://dailycurrant.com/2013/05/13/bachmann-threatens-to-leave-minnesota-over-marriage-equality/).

Apparently she has never read The Book of Ecclesiastes.

Told in the voice of “The Teacher,” Ecclesiastes makes several observations about life on our planet, namely that everything that will happen has already happened (there is nothing new under the sun) and that there is no pleasure in life without God.  This cheery book of the Bible continues with more insight, such as the more knowledge you have the more grief you’ll experience (1:18) and that the dead are happier than the living (4:2).

But it’s not all dreary.  The Book imparts some rather useful nuggets of wisdom, among which you’ll find notions such as no man knows the future (8:7), that fools lack sense and show everyone (10:3), and that fools are put in many high positions (10:6).

Perhaps Bachman has avoided certain parts of the Bible because she sees so much of herself in them.  Those last three pieces of wisdom apply so wonderfully to her.  Like many people who proclaim fire and brimstone over laws finally being afforded gays and lesbians, she claims to know the future (based on the Bible.).  Yet here’s a book that suggests such a stance is impossible—only God knows the future, not human beings.  Furthermore, she is a perfect example of some who thinks she has wisdom but really is a fool.  And as a fool, she enjoys demonstrating this to the public, on national TV, no less. The sad part is that this fool is in a high position—elected to the House of Representatives.

At least the direction the state of Minnesota is moving in bodes better for their future than the evidence of electing a fool like Bachman in the first place.

One of the main positions of this book is that “the teacher” discovers that in fact there is nothing new under the sun—it’s all been done before. People have always stepped up to be who they are, especially when this goes against society’s laws.  Interracial marriage was illegal, and when that was fought, the opponents said this should not change, the Bible says no interracial marriage.  I don’t recall God’s wrath descending on us for making this joining of two consenting adults of different races legal.

People like Michelle Bachman should not use the Bible to justify their bigotry, especially when it’s not as clear on the points that she thinks it is.

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The Old Testament: Proverbs IV – Stating the Obvious and Adding to God’s Words

Posted on June 22, 2013 by virgowriter

I watch a lot of baseball; specifically, Phillies games.  I occasionally venture out to watch the games with friends, but this can be a pain, especially if a bar is crowded or so loud you can’t actually hear the game.  Plus I feel guilty if I don’t continue to order a beer or food/snacks if I’m at a table or at the bar.  This is one of several reasons why watching from the comfort of my own home is appealing.  Though at home you often have to endure the commentators.  Some of the guys have some interesting banter, but often they need something with which to fill up the airtime, and often this takes the form of inane stats: the Phillies haven’t won a game on the third Thursday in June when a left hander has been on the mound, they’ve been down by three runs and had a runner on third with two outs and two strikes on the batter.

Sometimes you should just let the game unfold without forcing something to be said.

Other times, one of the commentators, Sarge, feels the need to state the obvious.  Here’s a sample: “If they hadn’t had thrown him out trying to steal second, they’d have a runner at second.”  Thanks for that insight, Sarge.  Though there is perhaps something a bit deeper working here, right underneath the surface of the comment.  Likely, Sarge (or similar commentators) is trying to get at the thoughts behind what led a player to make a particular decision (like stealing a base recklessly), ideas that speak to an approach to a game.  If you laugh at these seemingly obvious comments (as I tend to), you might miss the ideas they can speak to. Of course, maybe I’m so used to parsing through figurative language that I get tripped up by someone who is about as dry and literal as they come.

Proverbs has its share of stating the obvious, with perhaps the intention of saying something profound, but in order to make the profound statement, addition meaning must be injected to give the expression weight. So, of course, this leads to people putting THEIR spin on the idea.

For example, “A truthful witness gives honest testimony, but a false witness tells lies” (12:17).  Duh.  But perhaps the idea here is that you should aim to be an honest person so that you will be able to give honest testimony? Is the author here saying what he really means or has he masked his meaning in order to speak to something deeper?

My issue with working this hard to derive meaning from lines in the Old Testament, however, is that people pick and choose when they say the Bible is speaking literally (usually in the service of denouncing gays, lesbians, anything they want to denounce) and when it’s speaking figuratively.

Basically, when you assert parts of the Bible are figurative, you are doing what the Bible, specifically Proverbs, says not to: adding to God’s words (30:6).  To me, this means don’t embellish or elaborate on what is written in the Bible—take the words at face value.  However, if a person says that what is written is this, but actually, what is really being said is this… This is adding meaning to the content—i.e. adding to God’s words, right?

This command in 30:6 is problematic, for if the language is figurative, you almost guarantee the need to have your ideas unlocked/explained…. Which requires adding to the words so that they make sense. Shouldn’t the words themselves be enough?

Think of the issues this way.  On singing show competitions, judges often call out singers for filling in runs with the melody just because they can.  Perhaps they think the added notes show off their voice better.  But, as the judges tell them, just let the melody do the work: if it works, don’t add to it.  The flip side to this is when singers go in and change the melody because they think it better suits their voice or because they think they’ve improved it.  They rarely demonstrate either case.

So what’s the point? If you think you are trying to represent God’s words, you shouldn’t have to add to them, for when you do, multiple things happen.  First, it makes you look arrogant, as if you understand God’s words and, since they are confusing, you are required to make sense of them for everyone else.  Second, it makes it seem like God’s words are not enough.  If you believe in God’s words, they should be enough.  And if they’re not, let them be, for skeptics will just assume that you’re adding meaning that is not there initially.

This is why when certain people go on TV—usually on a talking heads program—and use the Bible to justify some point of view of theirs, they often have to twist or misrepresent the content to make their argument sound—adding words, basically. This doesn’t strengthen your argument (Michelle Bachman, I’m looking at you), it just makes you look foolish.

The benefit of a TV sports commentator is that they distill aspects of the game down to digestible, easily understood points that often add some insight to the game.  The downside is that occasionally the comments are irrelevant.  Sometimes this adds for a fun diversion from the game.  But if it happens too often, it’s a distraction, which means people will stop watching or watch with the volume off.  Once people stop paying attention, focusing instead on only what they want to pay attention to, this is a problem, right?

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The Old Testament: Proverbs III – Watch the Wine and the Dangers of Hidden Love

Posted on June 20, 2013 by virgowriter

I’d been in a church maybe five times before I was 21.  My family did not even joke about going to Church, so I gathered that anything associated with a house of worship should be avoided unless a special occasion arose.  One of those times arrived at the request of my Grandmother (Dad’s Mom), who thought it would be lovely to have the family attend Christmas Eve mass. This was in 1983, and I could think of several things I would rather do than attend.  Furthermore, why were my parents even considering this? And why was this important to Grandma?  She hadn’t really talked about religion (that I had heard). Apparently, one day I would understand that some things you just do for your parents.

I couldn’t tell you a thing that was discussed, but I remember there were songs, a lot of moving from the uncomfortable pews to the knees, a lot of praying, and, to cap the evening, a line up to receive a wafer and some wine at the front of the church.  I’d sipped wine before and it was disgusting.  Thanks, I’ll pass.  But the family lined up and my mother yanked me.  As we inched closer, my anxiety grew.  I had found few things at which I didn’t turn up my nose when it came to eating or drinking and I was not about to make yet another concession for the evening.

I was sure I would just find a place to spit it out.  Perhaps sensing my thoughts, my mom made one thing clear before I got to the front.  You will take the wine, you will drink it, and you will swallow it.  And when I finally tasted that vile drink of wine I had my disgust confirmed.  What exactly did people see in wine?  The whole Blood of Christ thing made no sense either.  But, to be fair, it could have been the best wine in the world, but since I was tasting it in Church, it was terrible. Maybe if I had tasted it elsewhere it would have had a better association, and made that sip of wine better.

As Proverbs demonstrates, turns out that wine wasn’t used in religious ceremonies quite yet. They were too busy enjoying it. Amidst all the suffering and toil people during the Old Testament experience, it’s good to know they were able to cut loose and enjoy themselves once in a while with a bottle of wine.  Although Proverbs makes clear that some of these folks have taken to the bottle a little too much, and people who over-indulge are to be avoided.  Given the number of times this idea is revisited, it seems like this was a big problem.  Who knew?

Details like this not only make the people of this era more interesting—they are just as susceptible to vices as we are—they also express ideas that are still relevant today.  Who among us hasn’t walked into a bar and made a mental note to avoid the drunk idiot trying desperately to order a drink or slurring his/her speech or staggering towards the bathroom.

But at least these public drunks are unashamed of their love for wine. And perhaps Proverbs has them covered.  As stated, hidden love is an issue. Specifically: “Better is an open rebuke than hidden love” (27:5).

Proverbs devotes much attention to the idea of pointing out shortcomings to people so they will learn what they are doing wrong.  The curious point here is how hidden love is seemingly wrong.  Of course, the love mentioned likely has nothing to do with wine; rather, the idea is that you should not hide your love for another person.

Clearly, the idea is designed to speak for a man to a woman, or perhaps the other way around.  Yet, there’s no such context. So, couldn’t this also apply to not being ashamed for one man loving another? Or one woman loving another? Given how much attention to anti-gay ideas is included in the Bible (there really isn’t thus far in the Old Testament), one could understandably look at this line and see it as an endorsement for love between two people in general, regardless of gender.

At the end of the day, Proverbs reminds me that people haven’t changed all that much, which makes me pay a little more attention to the content here.  I do wish, however, I could go back and tell my younger self that the problem wasn’t that I was drinking wine in Church or that there was something inherently wrong with wine.  The problem was that the wine wasn’t any good.  Sometimes it’s not the packaging that matters, it’s the content.

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