Christmas Past

For Christmas 2014 as we gathered in our home to exchange gifts we first read a passage from the Nativity story in the gospels, as is our custom. This year I read from Matthew 1 in the King James Version: the phrases used there like 'now the birth of Jesus was on this wise', 'his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph', and  'not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily' all take me back to prior times, to Christmas past. The KJV brought many expressions into our common usage from 'the skin of your teeth' to 'a drop in a bucket' and many others (here is link to a fun website that lists many http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/bible-phrases-sayings.html) in part because of the almost poetic ring of the language. For me the language of the KJV also reminds me of a time when the language of the bible was more a part of our common culture, not just in America but in the western world.


The news this week picked up on some of that as there were many articles about the Christmas truce during the first Christmas of World War 1 in 1914. That truce was remarkable as the fighting stopped in the midst of war. Some have said it was spontaneous while there are some reports that 2 local officers, one British and one German, arranged it in a small spot and then it spread for some 500 miles. In any case, I do not think that could have happened without a common culture that understood the meaning of Christmas as a day to celebrate the coming of the Prince of Peace.

Our Sunday morning bible study has been looking at the idea of 'just war' lately as a result of being in Romans 13 in our study, and WW1 did not start on just grounds. Yet in the midst of a war that in my opinion was not just, this little bit of peace broke out because of the broader culture that had at least some basis in the bible. I do not think such a thing could happen in a war such as is now going on with ISIS.


So, the King James Version of the Christmas story reminds me of a time like that, when the language of the bible and the idea of God coming to earth was much more obvious in the common culture. Those days had evil of their own, as the war of 1914 also reminds us, but there is something good about that kind of time when the language of the bible was common to many more of us than it is now. I hope that we can reclaim some of that in our culture in the years ahead.

Thoughts on The Righteous Mind and the God of history

I recently read the book The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt and it was an interesting read. He offers some interesting insight into how the political left mindset is built on a different set of what he calls moral 'pillars' than the political right, and I find much of what he has to say to be helpful for our understanding of each other across the political spectrum. Still, I also find his viewpoint to be limited in a very critical way in regard to the matter of religion.


First, some things that resonated with me. His acronym of WEIRD for Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic is a nice one! Those of us in that world are indeed statistical outliers in regard to seeing the world as a world of individuals rather than as a world of relationships. He points out that the WEIRD-er we are, the moral narrow the moral viewpoint becomes. He goes on to explain how the political left consistently expresses a morality that is built on fewer 'pillars' (notably 2; fairness and care/harm) than the political right that is more evenly concerned about all 6 'pillars' that he identifies, including those of Loyalty, Authority, and Sanctity that are notably absent on the left. One result of this is that the political left has a much harder time even understanding the political right than the other way around. Several matters of concern to those on the right are either almost entirely absent from the mindset of the left or considered downright immoral rather than a part of moral 'pillars'. Haidt does a good job of showing how this limited set of moral pillars on the left is often harmful even on purely non-religious and evolutionary grounds. I would go even further and say that he demonstrates well how the political left endorses a form of morality that is basically impoverished.


While I think he does demonstrate why the conservative view of morality has more merit than liberals would like to admit,  even in a world where only non-religious and evolutionary arguments are permissible, he does not even mention the issue of history as a basis for religion. As he discusses the rise of religion in the world, the various views of this which he discusses perhaps have some validity in regard to what the apostle Paul would call 'man made religion' (Col. 2:23). However, he does not allow the possibility of a God that injects Himself into history as a person and validates that action by doing unthinkable deeds like resurrection from the dead. He simply rejects historical Christianity out of hand and lumps it together with man-made religion. He seems to assume that all conceptions of God are based solely on an overactive sense of 'agency',  attributing an agent of cause (God) to things that are just natural. He accepts the mistaken notion that a God who is active in history is just myth.


So overall I think he offers some interesting and useful insight into the conflict between the political left and right, and offers some useful proposals by recognizing some good points on both sides of some key issues like health care and marriage. I think this is most helpful for understanding the mindset of the non-religious left and the non-Christian right; but he cannot understand the Christian viewpoint, both left and right, without understanding the God of history. As a result, his argument will only go so far. As he points out himself, many on the left hate all religions so completely that they cannot bring themselves to accept even the possibility that it has any merit.


I write this during the Christmas season when we celebrate God's invasion of human history to make Himself known. That coming into history culminated in His resurrection, an event that radically transformed those who witnessed it to the point of changing the world by their selfless love. It seems to me that there is a 7th pillar of morality that is greater than the rest: Christ Himself.