Luthuli - Bound by Faith to struggle against apartheid

 I don't remember who recommended Albert Luthuli's biography to me, but it was eye-opening and instructive across a variety of fronts. It seems like he could fairly be described as South Africa's MLK or Gandhi, a leader of a great struggle who consistently applied the principles of non-violence despite tremendous pressure to do otherwise.

 In Albert Luthuli: Bound by Faith, Scott Couper details the life of Albert Luthuli, the long-time leader of the ANC who led the resistance against apartheid in South Africa on non-violent terms and was the first African to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. 

 

Albert Luthuli, 1961 (britannica)

 The political aspects of his life were somewhat interesting, though he died decades before apartheid was broken down. However, the background of his life and family, along with his thoughts and commitment to a genuine biblical faith in the public square and while seeking both peace and justice, were more interesting to me. The biographer quotes him in various places, and it is beautiful to see how Luthuli's understanding of Scripture both catalyzed, organized, and 'bounded' his public work. His 'social activism' sprang from his beliefs about the divine-image-bearing of all the humans around him. On the one hand, it caused him to pursue comprehensive change in the way that non-Europeans were treated in South African society. Yet, on the other hand, it stopped him from pursuing violence as a means to achieve that good end. Others decided to use violence and sought his support, but his record stands remarkably clearly about his own convictions. (You can read some of Nelson Mandela's defense of the use of violent sabotage here as recorded at his trial in 1963-1964.) 

 Couper quotes from Luthuli's autobiography, Let My People Go, regarding Christian living, being part of society, and work:

Adams [College] taught me what Edendale did not, that I had to do something about being a Christian, and that this something must identify me with my neighbor, not dissociate me from him. Adams taught me more. It inculcated, by example rather than precept, a specifically Christian mode of going about work in a society, and I had frequent reason to be grateful for this later in life. [italics original, bold mine]

Elsewhere, Luthuli spoke of the fact that living as a Christian was 'not a private affair without relevance to society'...

It was, rather, a belief which equipped us in a unique way to meet the challenges of our society... which had to be applied to the conditions of our lives; and our many works - they ranged from Sunday School teaching to road-building - became meaningful as the outflow of Christian belief.

 

 Listen to these powerful lines from his Nobel Peace Prize speech in 1961.

I also, as a Christian and patriot, could not look on while systematic attempts were made, almost in every department of life, to debase the God-factor in man or to set a limit beyond which the human being in his black form might not strive to serve his Creator to the best of his ability. To remain neutral in a situation where the laws of the land virtually criticized God for having created men of color was the sort of thing I could not, as a Christian, tolerate. (Source)

Moses' poem about life's brevity and futility (Psalm 90)

With its introductory note, Psalm 90 is placed in the context of Moses’ life, you can easily see how Moses could write a psalm like this as he lived to watch nearly all of the adults around him age and die in the wilderness. The brevity of life and its difficulty and the wrath of God must have often seemed very near to him.

As I read this beloved poem again this morning, I was struck by themes that echo within it, like mortals' troubles and divine responses. As you can see in the diagram, it seems to me that the first 2 verses form a sort of introduction of praise establishing the setting of God’s eternality or existence beyond the clutches of time. In verses 3-4, humans’ return to dust is mentioned and given as a command; this is matched in verse 13 by a call for God’s return, and both are followed by a concern for length of time.

Following that, there is the issue of being swept away in the temporary, dreamy, impermanent joy (of life’s morning) followed by the fading, withering sorrow of the evening, in verses 5 and 6. The response to this in verse 14 is that the Lord who is our dwelling place can satisfy us not only in the morning, but also the whole day long with joy.

Verses 7 to 11 directly bring out the theme of God’s anger and our unhidden sins, and we learn that the brevity of our lives is connected with these points. (In my opinion, the KJV translation draws out the emphasis in verse 10 on the extreme brevity of mortal life better, reflecting the Hebrew as ‘the days of our years’. In other words, even if  we count each individual day of all of our years, life’s still naturally going to end very quickly and sadly.) The response to this in verse 15 is that the Lord can give gladness to offset the affliction and evil of many days and many years.

Finally, there is a response to the ‘toil and trouble’ of verse 10 at the end of the poem (verses 16 and 17). Instead of us wasting our energy in meaningless, quickly-ended toil, may the Lord work on behalf of His servants. (Isn’t that beautifully backwards!) Beyond that, God’s favor can turn our toil and trouble into meaningful work.

The psalm hinges on 2 points in this way of organizing it. After the foundation of God’s immovable reality outside of our temporal troubles and our living within the Great Reality has been laid, verse 12 summarizes the first part of the psalm by asking that God teach us to count each day in order to gain wisdom through acknowledging life’s passing nature. Such an awareness of our mortality and futility can lead us away from futility. Secondly, in verse 17, we find that the favor of our Lord can reverse life’s futility and actually establish the work of our hands! Life can not only be joyful; it can also be meaningful when the Lord’s face shines on us. What stunning grace!

 

NOTE: Not all the psalms end in such a happy resolution; for example, Psalm 88 does not exude any explicit hope, at least when considered on its own. 

Children of the Alley - thoughts and quotes

  In our ISRME book club, we just finished discussing Naguib Mahfouz's Children of the Alley this week. It's an interesting book, and it might help you to know that it is an allegory before it starts. I didn't figure that out for over 150 pages. Then things started making more sense. 

 

 The book  considers a variety of themes related to life and religions (and their similarities and differences). These include our human addiction to numbing ourselves against reality and a regular returns to the question of injustice and why the Almighty does not intervene with it more directly. As well, the book seems to me to have a special focus on the human desire to 'return to Eden', though of course that's not the way it's labeled. In the quotation below, 'the mansion' is that allegorical equivalent for an Edenic closeness to beauty, rest, and the divine.

 If the past could be forgotten, the present would be wonderful, but we will keep on staring at that mansion, which gives us the only glory we can claim, and causes all the misery we know.

There is also an interesting progression of thoughts about the nature and place of work in human life:

Working to eat is the worst curse of all.
...

Then [Adham] yawned more deeply. “Work is a curse!” 

“Maybe so,” whispered Umaima, “but it is a curse that can only be defeated by more work!”

...

Arafa’s eyes were bright and he spoke intensely. “But leisure isn’t the ultimate goal! Imagine spending your life free and at leisure. It’s a beautiful dream, but it’s so ludicrous, Hanash. It would be so much better to be freed from work so that we could work marvels.”
...

“So why are you so hard at work?” 

“Because work is all I have,” Arafa sighed.

One final tidbit...

"But every tragedy, however great, eventually becomes a mere fact of life."

Firsts in 2022: The Atlanta Braves

  One of my hobbies - 'pastimes' might be a better word - is following baseball, although I usually can't 'watch' much since time zones don't align well. Last night, Tyler Matzek got his first save in his 5th MLB seaso, 3rd as a reliever. Earlier this year, Jackson Stephens had also gotten his first 2 career saves. Below, I collected the other firsts that I could find from this year's Braves, not including debuting (or barely debuted) rookies. (Source: MLB)

 For most of these firsts, the pattern is clearly that they are young players, but one or two players in the list have waited a long time to do these firsts.

Saves:

- Tyler Matzek (5th season)

- Jackson Stephens (3rd season) - first 2 career saves

Balks:

- Jesse Chavez "The Most Traded Player in MLB History" (15 seasons) - 14 seasons with no balks!!!

Stolen Bases:

- Austin Riley (4th season) - first 2 stolen bases; previously, he had been caught stealing 3 times

- William Contrares (3rd season; 2nd with much time)

Walk-off hits:

- William Contrares (3rd)

 - Austin Riley (4th) - first 2 walk-off hits

Reached on an error:

- William Contrares (3rd)

Outfield assists:

- Travis Demeritte (3rd season)- first 2 outfield assists

Caught Stealing (Pitcher):

- Kyle Wright (5th season, 1st with more than 38 IP) - caught 2 stealing

 - Ian Anderson (3rd season) - caught 3 stealing

Pick-offs:

- Kyle Wright (5th season, 1st with more than 38 IP)

Double Play (fielding as a pitcher):

- Kyle Wright (5th)

ROOKIES:

  As for rookies, it appears that Michael Harris II is the Braves only hitting rookie who has made his debut this year. He's having an excellent year and not really leaving himself many firsts for the future; a walk-off hit, an intentional walk, and a sac bunt & fly seem to be about what's left to look forward to.

*The only 'second' that I could find so far this year was Guillermo Heredia's second career triple, excluding categories that also had a first this year.  

**As for rookies who are pitchers, William Woods & Bryce Elder debuted briefly. Dylan Lee and Spencer Strider with only 2 and 2.1 IP last year respectively have checked many new boxes, as have Jesus Cruz, and Tucker Davidson who had about 20 IP before this season. Also, Mike Form (1B) recorded his first pitching appearance allowing 2 runs on a walk and a home run.

God as the narrator in Judges?

"Above all, it is time to recognize that the narrator [of Judges] is aligned to such an extent with YHWH that we are drawn to the inevitable conclusion that they are one and the same." (pg 188) 

 How does the above quote strike you? It seems to resonate with the biblically conservative belief that Judges is the actual words of the God of Israel. And yet, it is in the final paragraph of an article in The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Narrative which draws on a variety of not-conservative theories or sources, (which is certainly not inherently negative). Along with various feminist sources, the author Deryn Guest writes an analysis 'where narrative criticism is also informed by queer theory, psychology, and the study of masculinities.' (186) The above quote is followed by these two sentences which end the article:

"YHWH's agenda is the narrator's agenda. The narrator/YHWH can evade scholarly critics no longer."

 Thus, as I understand it, Guest is not so much suggesting that God condescended to communicate with humans, but rather that humans have identified themselves with God or a god of their own imaginings in Judges. So, while the first quotation caught my attention for the way in which it was expressed, actually the author is suggesting that YHWH may (must?!?) actually be subjected to scrutiny; God may not remain 'inscrutable' in Guest's words. In fact, this perspective was made explicit in the title of the article, "Judging YHWH in the Book of Judges."

  But, what to do with this? Of course, believers in the Bible as God's Word must consider the actions and expressed words of God deeply. Yet, if the Maker of the Universe is actually as the Bible reveals him*, then our capacity for understanding must necessarily be limited. Those who cannot fully understand/grasp even those things of the creation that we know exist (e.g. the extent of the universe, quantum physics, or whatever the future frontiers of knowledge are) may certainly ask questions of the Creator, but can hardly stand as his judges. But, this isn't a new problem, is it? Isaiah talked of how the clay cannot back talk to the potter simply because it doesn't like things as they are. The biblical authors also wrestle frequently with the problems of pain, grief, and (delayed) divine judgment. Such questions seem to be okay, but in the biblical text, a line seems to be crossed if we move towards 'judging' God, when our 'why' turns to a 'how dare you!' 

 Interestingly in comments made about 'commentaries written with a believing audience in mind', the author seems to acknowledge that really the article was not meant to be beneficial for those who believe in the Bible as God's revelation (184). This dovetails with my own thoughts that the primary, though not only, benefit of the article is in a better understanding of those who do not see the Bible as divine revelation.

*If you are bothered by my use of 'his' when referring to the One who made all things, the Bible is quite clear that God does not have gender while also using masculine pronouns to refer to that One. This may seem like a linguistic tic since some languages don't distinguish gender in their pronouns, but in English, the choices are limited as they were in the languages the Bible was written in. This in many ways is a microcosm of the larger issue: we are talking about the infinite and divine in words that are finite and human; there is some necessary ambiguity which is caused by the limits of our knowledge, languages, abilities, and perspectives. So, we are left with what we were given and the call of faith is to be satisfied with it, at least for this life.

Quotations from my recent reading

As I have been sorting through accumulated books and skimming through them to see what is worth keeping and what should be gotten rid of, I have come up with an assortment of quotes that I want to preserve somewhere. This is the place. The first 2 quotes come from the readings for the second half of the ISRME class on Religious Experience that I recently completed.

  al-Ghazali regarding the desire for knowledge, especially the proper desire for the knowledge of God:  

It is not hidden that there is a pleasure in the knowledge and science, to the extent that one rejoices when he is attributed to knowledge even of a little thing, and grieves whenever he is attributed to ignorance even of a little thing. Man always persists in acquiring knowledge and science in the particular field in which he is specialized. All of this goes back to the pleasure of knowledge, for knowledge is one of the attributes most unique to the Lord, which is the utmost degree of perfection. (Book 36, 'The Vision of God')

Jonathan Edwards, on assurance of salvation and the pursuit of such assurance:

It further appears that assurance is not only attainable in some very extraordinary cases, but that all Christians are directed to give all diligence to make their calling and election sure, and are told how they may do it, 2 Pet. 1:5-8. And it is spoken of as a thing very unbecoming Christians, and an argument of something very blamable in them, not to know whether Christ be in them or no: 2 Cor. 13:5, "Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" And it is implied that it is an argument of a very blamable negligence in Christians, if they practice Christianity after such a manner as to remain uncertain of the reward, in 1 Cor. 9:26: "I therefore so run, as not uncertainly." And to add no more, it is manifest, that Christians' knowing their interest in the saving benefits of Christianity is a thing ordinarily attainable, because the apostle tells us by what means Christians (and not only the apostles and martyrs) were wont to know this. [1 Cor 2:12; 1 Jn 2:3, 5; 3:14, 19, 24; 4:13; 5:2, 19] The Religious Affections. 

from Thomas Watson's The Godly Man's Portrait.

 All the curses of God stand in full force against the unpardoned sinner; his very blessings are cursed (Mal. 2:2). (pg. 11)

It is true that there are sides of this sin [hypocrisy] in the best [person]; but as it was with leprosy under the law, all who had swellings or spots in the skin of the flesh were not reputed unclean and put out of the camp (Lev. 13:6); so all who have the swellings of hypocrisy in them are not to be judged hypocrites, for these may be the spots of God's children (Deut. 32:5). But that which distinguishes a hypocrite is when hypocrisy is predominant and is like a spreading fluid in the body. (pg 18)

The Scripture reveals Christ to us, but the Spirit reveals Christ in us. (Gal 1:16). (pg 27)

When Christians complain at their condition, they forget that they are servants, and must live on the allowance of the heavenly Master. You who have the least bit from God will die in his debt. (pg 39)

Duane Elmer in Cross-Cultural Conflict

The Western world does not place a high premium on unity. Whenever individualism reigns supreme, community is easily sacrificed for personal preferences. [...] Individualism fosters an impatience with people and institutions: we can always join another church, find new friends, or get another job. As long as we have options, we do not need to work at preserving present relationships.[...] The dubious luxury of disposable relationships has a dark side-a serious dark side. We can afford to take the unity of believers lightly if other options are available and relatively painless. But failures in individual and community relationships cast aspersions on God's reputation. (pg 25)

I have long enjoyed reading Louis L'amour and just finished re-reading The Walking Drum. This is one of his more quotable books. Below are a few excerpts.

His trouble had always been that he wished to know, but he did not want to go through the struggle of learning. (p. 496).

There is no miraculous change that takes place in a boy that makes him a man. He becomes a man by being a man, acting like a man. (p. 507).  

When one has lost his freedom it is always a long walk back. (p. 526). 

A First Paragraph of an Intro to a Book

 A book club that is following up the recent course I took on Religious Experience is reading Kamel Hussein's City of Wrong, which is a Muslim's serious consideration of the meaning of the crucifixion of Jesus with its surrounding events. Due to the Kuran's comments about the crucifixion, such a serious consideration is rather uncommon. It was translated to English by Kenneth Cragg, the (very) widely respected Christian scholar of Islam. Hopefully, I'll have more from it later, but the first paragraph of Cragg's introduction was beautifully written with a growing power as the sentences roll on. I'd highlight certain lines, but it's more powerful in the aggregate.

Readers of the Gospels have often been uneasily aware that in their verdict against Jesus men were in fact involved in an inclusive verdict against themselves. The Governor Pilate’s familiar cry in presenting the Prisoner to the pity and, as it finally proved, to the brutality of the mob with the words Ecce Homo, ‘Behold the Man,’ turns on reflection into the plural. Here more than anywhere humankind is discernible in representative moral perversity, epitomized in ecclesiastical, political and popular choices made by particular people caught in a personal and communal crisis. The Ecce Homo scene in the precincts of the Roman praetorian presents a man to the judgement of a crowd. But such are its implications that the tables are reversed. The man becomes the crisis of the crowd and the moral meaning of the scene becomes a judgment by and of humanity. All its import gathers into one revelation chief priests and people, governor and onlookers, and cries to us all: Ecce Homines, ‘Behold humanity.’

Kamel Hussein, City of Wrong: A Friday in Jerusalem. (quotation from Kenneth Cragg's 'Introduction')

India, Persia, and The Council of Nicea

 This past week I read an interesting blog post that mentions that at the Council of Nicea in 325 there was apparently a representative of the church in India. That's interesting enough, but if you look through the blog post, the comments, and the associated links/articles, it appears that there was at least one but possibly a couple other church representatives from outside the Roman-controlled lands. Who knew?

 In my mind, this connects to a book that I read some years ago, which revised my thoughts on the boundaries of Christian history. That book by Philip Jenkins was called The Lost History of Christianity; I blogged about it at the time and would highly recommend it. Incidentally, as far as I can tell, Jenkins doesn't mention the tidbit blogged about above.

***

Articles that were linked in the discussion:

- A. Mingana, “The Early Spread of Christianity in India”, Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 10 (1926), 435-514 (online here).

- E. Honigmann, “The Original Lists of the Members of the Council of Nicaea , the Robber Synod and the Council of Chalcedon”, Byzantion 16 (1942-1943), pp. 20-80. (JSTOR)

- “La liste originale des pères de Nicée,” Byzantion 14, no. 1 (1939), pp. 17-16 – https://www.jstor.org/stable/44171181

Religious Experience in Christianity and Islam

“I suspect that, save by God’s direct miracle, spiritual experience can never abide introspection.” 

(C. S. Lewis, "Transposition", The Weight of Glory, 82-83)

  This semester I've had the real pleasure of taking a course that has been insightful and refreshing in both the readings and the class time. As a class, we're being guided through Jonathan Edwards, al-Ghazali, and William James - a Puritan Christian, a Sufi Muslim, and a psychologist-philosopher from different centuries - all of whom are deeply concerned about the nature and reality of religious experience. These authors have been supplemented by many others from within those different traditions of thought, and it has been intellectually and spiritually enriching. The course name is "Religious Experience in Christianity and Islam", and it's the first offering from ISRME. 

 As is normal, a great part of the richness of the course is in the fellow students (including Bethany!) and the interaction with the teacher. With a breadth of experience spanning the continents and wide variety of backgrounds and expertises, the class discussion supplements the direct instruction fabulously. What I share below comes from all this richness. 

“That, without being discouraged on account of our sins, we should pray for His grace with a perfect confidence, as relying upon the infinite merits of our LORD JESUS CHRIST.” 

Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God (Kindle Locations 110-111).

Ingrid Mattson's talk on Islamic daily prayer is beautiful and far more relatable than what most Westerners or Protestants might expect of a 'ritual'. It's well worth watching. Personally, I imagine the closest thing many Protestants may have experienced would be congregational singing.

Speaking of singing...

“…the duty of singing praises to God seems to be appointed wholly to excite and express religious affections. No other reason can be assigned why we should express ourselves to God in verse, rather than in prose, and do it with music but only, that such is our nature and frame, that these things have a tendency to move our affections.” (Edwards, Religious Affections, Part 1)

 On the topic of the 'evil eye', compare 1 Samuel 18:8-9 in the NASB or HCSB’s footnotes, plus this link on Biblegateway with Schimmel's comments below about it being in the Kur'an and the hadith.

"The belief in the Evil Eye, which probably belongs among the most ancient concepts in human history, is based, among the Muslims, on Sura 68:51ff., [...] And Bukhari..."

 (Annemarie Schimmel, Deciphering the Signs of God, 91)

On the nature of true fellowship and the Lord's Supper...

And in this respect, the Eucharist is just a macrocosm of what the church is called to be as the new humanity: a community that gathers, irrespective of preferences, tastes, class, or ethnicity, in order to pursue a common good. I often tell my children that one of the reasons we go to church is to learn to love people we don’t really like that much—people we find irritating, odd, and who grate on our nerves (the feeling’s certainly mutual, I’m sure!) 

 

[7 pages later] 

 

"[With these friends] We commiserate with one another about the burdens of parenting and share the joys of the same. We’ve mourned together, been frustrated together, worked through tensions with each other, confided in one another. When we were going through struggles “at church,” in our community of gathered worship, this Wednesday night table was a refreshing and welcome “table in the wilderness.” It has been nothing short of a shadow Eucharist, a veritable extension of the Lord’s Supper. "

(James Smith, Desiring the Kingdom, ch 5, bold emphasis added)

 

On marriage and family...

“Thus Schmemann admonishes, “A marriage which does not constantly crucify its own selfishness and self-sufficiency, which does not ‘die to itself’ that it may point beyond itself, is not a Christian marriage. The real sin of marriage today is not adultery or lack of ‘adjustment’ or ‘mental cruelty.’ It is the idolization of the family itself, the refusal to understand marriage as directed toward the Kingdom of God”

As Schmemann laments, “It is not the lack of respect for the family, it is the idolization of the family that breaks the modern family so easily, making divorce its almost natural shadow. It is the identification of marriage with happiness and the refusal to accept the cross in it” (For the Life of the World, 90).” 

(James Smith, Desiring the Kingdom, ch 5, footnotes 71 & 73, bold emphasis added)

 “A Christian cannot do without the imagination because Scripture is full of things beyond our present experience.” 

(Midgley, "Meditating for a Change: Embracing a Lost Art," 27)

 The Bible Project's series on "Spiritual Beings" was really helpful in understanding a more integrated view of the biblical spiritual realm. Their presentation does not present opposing views, but it does a good job setting forth a particular view that is credible. (It also has supporting notes.)

my article in EFL Magazine on Cubing

  I've been interested in cubing as a brainstorming method for several years now. In fact, it's what I did my MA presentation on, at the Sandanona Conference in 2019. Anyways, a couple months ago, I submitted an article on how to use cubing as a pre-writing method specifically for language learners to EFL Magazine. It was recently published here, under the title "Cubing: Recharging the Power of Brainstorming." I'll let you explore it more there if you care to.

Fakurian Design (Unsplash)