Niebuhr

I just finished Moral Man and Immoral Society by Reinhold Niebuhr, who has been one of my favorite theologians for quite some time. I have read this work before, and every time I finish it, I think two things. First, I wonder if things really are as bleak as he paints them. Second, I wonder why anyone, including myself, continues to read him.

Niebuhr’s argument throughout the book is that persons are capable of being moral which, for Niebuhr, involves the seeking of social justice. Although they are capable of such an action, they will shy away from it, overshadowed by their selfishness. Nations, in effect, are created in this same spirit of selfishness and thus serve only to amplify it. Through introspection, which religion provides, individuals may return to a point where they are willing and able to seek social justice, but they can only accomplish it on a small scale, within their own communities.

Niebuhr also claims that, if any real change is to occur, the working classes may have to resort to violent coercion against the “privileged classes.” This is where Niebuhr and I part ways, because I believe violence to be contrary to the Gospel of Christ, which also demands that we strive for social justice. Now, Niebuhr is not necessarily endorsing violence as a means to an end, but he is acknowledging it as an option.

So again, I ask myself, why do I continue to read him and why do I consider him one of my favorite Christian thinkers. Well, for starters, I see Niebuhr as a Christian ethicist who is actually trying to be practical. So often, Christian ethics operates apart from society, taking place exclusively as dialogue in the ivory towers of academia. While this has its place, Christendom is in dire need of an ethics that will actually speak to our social situation, rather than just talk around it or impose upon it a set of requirements that it can’t possibly fulfill. Niebuhr is not optimistic about the future of society, namely because he feels that we, as individuals, are too corrupted by selfishness to ever bring about a just society. But, he does feel that social justice can be accomplished on a small scale, within Christian communities, and it is with this point that I definitely agree.

I would also take Niebuhr a step further by arguing that the larger society may very well be influenced, albeit slowly, by a true quest for social justice that takes place within smaller communities. Of course, this cannot happen overnight, but very few things can. As well, it requires action from persons across the social spectrum, from the lowest point to the highest. It can’t and won’t happen passively.

Something to Read

Dr. April DeConick is a Professor of Biblical Studies at Rice University in Houston, TX.  I have been reading her blog for the past couple of months, and today I ran across this post that I feel needs to be shared.  It is a response to Joel Osteen, the pastor of a Houston mega-church.  Definitely worth your time.

Here it is

Why the Rash?

I was in my office the other day (the coffee shop), and I overhead an interesting conversation between two people.  It wasn’t difficult to tell that they were Christians…they had their Bibles open on the table, and each of them sported an impressive gotee.  Even more telling was the way that they talked to one another.  They talked as if they knew all of the answers, and that finding the answers was as simple as picking up the Bible and reading it.

From what I could gather, their conversation centered on the Old Testament figure of Job.  For those unfamiliar, let me give you the five-second rundown.  Job was a righteous man, in fact he is called blameless before God.  A shadowy figure (possibly the devil) appears in Heaven one day and challenges God.  He says that Job will curse God and that he just needs to be pressured in the right way.  God is doubtful, but intrigued.  Ultimately, the shadowy figure is allowed to torment Job, which he does by killing his children, his livestock, destroying his stuff and giving him a rash.  Job remains surprisingly upright through the entire thing, and does not once question or blame God for what has happened to him.  Then, at the end, he questions God, who appears in a whirlwind and, in short, reminds Job that he is not God and therefore cannot know the answers or rationales behind all that happens.  It is then that God disappears and, in the original chronology of the Old Testament, He does not speak again.

The book of Job is fascinating, and the discussions that it has provoked are equally so.  It raises some serious questions about the nature of God, and has done much to keep the question of theodicy alive and well.  Scholars are divided as to what is actually happening, and many have searched for the answer to an age-old question, “Why do bad things happen to good people.”   Now, back to the coffee shop.

In reference to Job, one of the men said something along these lines.  “Don’t you see, the whole thing was a test, and Job almost passed.”  The other replied, “Thats ridiculous, God doesn’t test people.”  The rebuttal, “Of course he does!  He tested Abraham didn’t he?”  The respondent looked stunned.  “Well, thats different, in the book of Job we’re talking about Satan tempting Job.”  Again, the response, “Thats true.  I guess I had never thought of it like that.  I guess Job was being tested just like Jesus would be tested in the wilderness.  Only Job didn’t pass the test, and in the end he made God angry.  But Jesus, he passed the test because he was perfect.”  The other said, “Yeah thats right, although Jesus couldn’t have failed if he wanted to…because he wasn’t able to be tempted.”  The end, “Thats true, because he is human, but he is really God, so the human part doesn’t really count.”

This was the point that I put my headphones back in.

I sometimes wonder about the future of Christianity.  Recent trends have shown that more and more people are flocking to non-denominational “churches,” which is not in itself a bad thing.  The problem arises when you consider what is being taught at these churches, which happens to be “not much.”  Christianity is quickly becoming a program rather than a confession, and the Bible is quickly becoming some sort of self-fulfilling prophetical self-help guide, rather than a collection of writings that are meant to interpreted by the community of faith and, as a result, inspire a sense of awe.

There is not a whole lot of awe left in churches today, in my opinion.  Modern Christians are perfectly content in throwing tradition out with the rest of the garbage, and relying solely on the Bible and their feelings as a guide.  In this age of the church, you can say things like “Jesus is human, but he is also God…therefore the human part doesn’t matter.”  In the early days, a statement like this would earn you the title of heretic and would insure that your next stop would be exile.

We need to rediscover the greatness of God.  It is a greatness that defies all knowledge and all comprehension.  It is a greatness that cannot be spoken of, precisely because words cannot do it justice.  It is a greatness that the mystics describe as “darkness shrouded in light.”  Namely, at the end of a mystical vision, you may see light, but never assume that you have seen or comprehended God.  If you understand it, it isn’t God.