Category Archives: Hermeneutics

October 3, 2011

The Devil You Know Beats the One You Don’t

By Bo

I’m writing a story about the devil.

I’ve been working on it for quite some time – off and on for the past three years – but I’m about to finish it up. When I’ve completed it (and have gone through it with a fine-tooth editing comb that is both the writer’s thorn and tweezers), it will most likely be saved and stowed away in a folder on my hard drive. If I don’t mind using the ink, I might print it out and place it in an actual paper folder. Other than that, I don’t envision the story having much impact beyond my own experience of writing it. I know it will be too long to submit to a magazine or journal, too short to call a novel, too genre-like to appeal to a writing workshop, and too literary to interest publishers of Koontz or King. It’s about the Devil, after all, and the Devil is one hell of a character to get a handle on.

"Didn't know I was a fan of the denim, did you?"

Whatever you know – or think you know – about God and religion, you are at least familiar with the Devil. It’s hard not to be; the name itself has worked its way into our figures of speech. “That ol’ devil,” and “Speak of the devil,” and the ultimate hyperbole: “You’re the devil!” Centuries upon centuries of influence have effected idioms like “The devil made me do it,” “The devil is in the details,” “Give the devil his due,” and one of Granny’s greatest hits, “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.”

Within some of these familiar adages, and other sayings like them, there are kernels of truth. However, to get down to that truth takes a bit more digging than most people have the patience for. I mean, didn’t Freud say something to the effect that the devil is only a product of the psychic activity of man. Unless you’re really into literal interpretation of the Bible (and, to a lesser extent, the Koran and various Buddhist writings), it seems much more logical to understand the Devil as simply a personification of the evil that humans do. Then again, one of Dostoevsky’s characters remarked, “I think if the devil doesn’t exist, then man has created him. He has created him in his own image and likeness.” If there is no actual Devil, we have only ourselves to blame when it comes to the evil that humans do. That’s not the most encouraging of thoughts.

"Seriously, Dad! The guy was carrying a pitchfork. He may have been a farmer."

Near the end of my story, Ben, the main character and narrator, states, “It’s been said that the greatest trick the devil ever played is convincing the world he didn’t exist. I don’t think that’s true. We convinced ourselves. The devil had nothing to do with it.” Ben says this not because he’s lost faith in humanity, but because he’s terrified humanity has gotten the whole Devil question wrong for centuries.

Is Ben right? Have we? Has our understanding of the Devil – whether as an actual entity or simply a metaphor for human vice – been warped by years and years and years of misinterpretation and mythic fabrication?

I recently read a short story by Stephen King called “Fair Extension,” about a man with cancer who propitiously encounters a business man, going by the name of George Elvid (hello!) who is willing to offer a deal: he’ll take away the man’s cancer and guarantee good luck in the future, but in fairness he must transfer the disease and bad luck to someone else. When I taught American literature, I assigned Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown,” a tale of the devil corrupting a Puritan village and inciting worship, or at least tricking the main character into thinking he was doing that. I would also teach Washington Irving’s “The Devil and Tom Walker,” an Americanized folk tale version of the popular Faustian legend. Having already lectured on literary archetypes – including the “devil figure” – we would then discuss exactly who the Devil is, and what powers he actually possesses.

Apparently, in the Marvel universe, he can teleport and pilot a submarine.

The first appearance of an actual devil figure – rather than a mere manifestation of human naughtiness – is found in the Old Testament of the Bible. When pointed in that direction, most people will immediately conjure the image of a talking snake, because everyone knows the serpent in the Garden of Eden was Satan; the talking-snake-is-the-devil thing also jives with the Devil as a liar and eternal enemy of God, a sly creature hell-bent on corrupting mankind and spawning villainy and immorality. Be that as it may, the first appearance in the scriptures of the actual character, the Satan or Ha-Satan in Hebrew, is in the Book of Job. Many people will remember this story as the famous wager between God and the Devil, though I always found it strange that Satan could just walk into heaven as if to attend a business meeting. What angelic bouncer wasn’t minding the gates that day? That’s cause for a reprimand, and grounds for termination when it happens again in the very next chapter.

Coming soon to a heavenly kingdom near you!

Unless Satan – or, literally, the Satan - had every right to be there. God certainly isn’t surprised to see him, or even bothered by his presence. If anything, he seems to address the Satan as if a report is due. It’s almost as if – All Aboard! Next stop: Heresy – Satan is simply doing his job (no pun intended). He doesn’t seem to be the archenemy of God - the Lex Luthor to Jesus’ Superman. He seems more like Heaven’s district attorney. Now, without the “Ha” article, “satan” shows up ten times in the Old Testament and is usually interpreted as “adversary” or “accuser.” In the Book of Job, however, the Satan is used (as well as in the third chapter of Zechariah). This is not merely a name, just like Jesus’s mailbox doesn’t read “Mr. Christ.” Rather, “Satan” is a title, a role. It’s the Devil’s job to act as the adversary, or the accuser, of human beings. And that’s just what he does in Job. Sure, he plays the part of the bad cop, but remove all the preconceived ideas about the Devil and what you have is an angelic being doing the very job he’s called upon to do.

Sounds like a pretty crummy job. Probably just above working in the lost luggage office for Air France.

Oh, snap!

What we know of the Devil as a malevolent being committed to human apostasy and ultimate annihilation is a combination of New Testament revision and a hodge-podge of apocryphal books, medieval literature, a Rolling Stones song and, I don’t know, maybe that awful Arnold Schwarzenegger movie.

Am I saying the Devil is not evil? Am I intimating that he is not the enemy of God? No, I am not. I have the New Testament epistles that refer to his trickery and his appetite for our fallenness. And I have the Gospels, where Satan (in Greek, Diabolos) goes after Jesus, trying to get him to forsake his humility and committment to God’s will. Then again, even this story – the most direct reference to the Devil in the entire New Testament – isn’t much different from the Satan’s business in the Old.

What I am saying is that if there is one thing the Devil is not, it’s to blame. He’s become a scapegoat for our own iniquity. Contrary to the sayings, the devil didn’t make you do anything. Contrary to the stories, the Devil is not interested in striking a deal with you in exchange for your soul or your allegiance. Contrary to Mick Jagger, the Devil doesn’t assassinate czars or presidents.

He can play a mean fiddle, though. Charlie Daniels was a prophet.

In the story I’m writing, the most frightening thing about the Devil is not how evil he is, but the fact that he knows how capable the human characters are of doing their own evil, of creating a world of depravity all by ourselves. In other words, we should fear the Devil not because he’s good at lying to us, but because he’s very good at convincing us of our own sinfulness. In his classic epistolary novel, The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis examines this very strategy. Imaginatively depicting Satan’s mission as a demon army complete with high ranks commanding underlings (thank you, Middle Ages), he expounds on the greatest trickery of all: Satan isn’t out to redirect our worship onto him, but simply to persuade us that God wants nothing to do with humankind. Why would he? Look at all the horror that we do on a daily basis, from flipping off people in traffic to sex-trafficking twelve-year-old girls. And to top it off, even God’s hands and feet and mouthpiece in the world, the Church, often places the blame not on humanity, but on that shrewd and slippery Satan – he’s behind it all.

According to this guy, he's somehow connected to Alzheimer's and earthquakes, too.

We don’t turn to Jesus because we want to escape the Devil. We turn to Jesus because he’s the only way to escape the reality that Satan might actually be proven right about us. Ultimately, the Devil doesn’t lie. We are unworthy. We do place our faith in our possessions rather than in Almighty God. We are living as if we’re the masters of our own fate. The district attorney has made his case, and we’re left stuttering in the witness stand, spitting excuses and appealing to some vague idea of being “good enough.”

No wonder Jesus refers to His Spirit as “the Advocate.” No wonder one of the most powerful metaphors of his sacrifice and death is to be the one who takes all our well-deserved blame upon himself and allows the death sentence to fall on him.

The moment we start believing the Devil isn’t real is the moment we stop seeing the cross of Jesus as indispensible. Is it too crazy to suggest that we should actually be thankful for the Satan? Whether you’re compelled to believe in an actual being or simply a personification of our own inability to measure up, there is a need to give the devil his due.

Now you can see why very few people would be interested in my story.

1 comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Hermeneutics, Literature

January 13, 2011

Syllabus

By Bo

Wouldn’t it be great if life came with instructions, some kind of course map that outlined all the major events (and the corresponding dates) scheduled to take place? You could consult it whenever you needed to – confirm a coming test or trial, brush up on the rules, jog your memory on the expectations and the objectives. You would know exactly how much weight each occurrence or incident would have on the overall outcome of your life. There would even be a phone number or e-mail of who you should contact if you get lost or confused.

Something like this, but, you know, less boring:

Ahh, clarity!

Back in class today, standing up in front of my students while coping with jet-lag and its nefarious pal, the pounding headache, I quickly recognized how off-track you can feel when you don’t have a detailed, balanced syllabus to consult. In my new electives this semester, I have not had a chance to complete the corresponding syllabi; thus, any directions or instruction I offered seemed to float about the room like fog, clearly present but making everything hazy. No matter how free-spirited you are, when things get confusing, all you want is order and organization. Order helps you keep a steady pace – organization spares you stressful surprises.

Some people refer to the Bible by the acronym Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth – they feel this is a great way to summarize the content as well as the purpose of what they consider to be God’s Word. I’ve always found the insinuation dull, that it robs Scripture of its mystery and controversy and strangely compelling influence. Treating the Bible like it’s a syllabus for living on planet earth is like believing The Lord of the Rings is a how-to guide for crafting and decorating jewelry. Sure, you may be able to glean some tips and a significant amount of inspiration, but the extent of what you have missed could fill the Bay of Belfalas.

We need more than a mere syllabus to embrace this life. We need confidence in our own story, and we need to see how thousands of other stories long past can still mirror our own ambitions, fears, hopes and anxieties. We need friendly classmates who make good partners, and we need to be responsible with the resources of which we are given charge. We need to understand that the more intentionally we analyze and evaluate and probe for truth, the wiser we will become.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , | posted in Hermeneutics

July 29, 2010

Chasing the Sermon

By Bo

A good sermon is an elusive sermon. At least, this is what I’ve come to believe. I’ve never served as lead pastor in a church, so I suppose this statement may not apply to the majority of pastors out there. But I’ve stepped behind enough pulpits to know that the sermon (or “message,” for the hipper Christians out there … and, I guess,  ”homilies,” for the more traditional) is one that doesn’t come easily. If it does, I believe it runs the risk of being merely the product of the preacher’s own opinions and selfish understanding of faith.

It is a surreal thing to stand in front of people and deliver a sermon. Perhaps the congregation assembled before you is collectively faithful and therefore intrigued and inspired by your musings on the things of God. Or, maybe like the majority of churches in America today, the people in the pews are there because, well, they’re almost always there, usually in the same seat, and arguably the most important thing running through their minds is where they will be doing lunch not long (hopefully) after your final “Amen.” Either way, I believe the sermon is no less of a holy thing. I sometimes suspect it is a sacramental thing, too, because a good sermon is breathed into by God (like Adam, the disciples, Scripture, and you and me), and that makes it a window into His mind, and that means that those who dare to truly look through it – the preacher and the hearers alike – take part in an act of allegiance unto the mind and heart of God.

I used to begin my preparation of sermons with the always popular proof-texting method. This is where you think of an idea you want to communicate (normally one coming out of your own innocent selfishness), and then you hunt down a few verses that back up your idea, which usually means you must take these verses out of context to a degree. The majority of the sermon, then, is like an argument presented in court. You are seeking to convince the audience as if they were a jury gathered to determine the quality of your topic. In my opinion, this is the most popular method of sermon preparation. These days, you can even visit some mega-churches where the Sunday morning worship budget is so fat that pastors can show flashy videos and bring props of all shapes and sizes on stage to make the proof-texting even more extravagant. Then again, this is often a necessity – when your sanctuary is the size of a basketball stadium, you have to do something extraordinary just to hold people’s attention week after week.

Of course, proof-texters rarely lose control of their sermons, because they have learned how to quell the movement of the Spirit while preparing, and then they simply pray for the Spirit to move in what they have created on their limited own. Granted, the flip side to this coin are those pastors (and I’ve known a few) who do not prepare at all and expect the Spirit to simply guide them in their presentation when it comes time to step behind the proverbial pulpit. And yet, even if they are skilled in impromptu speaking, this is just another form a proof-texting, only there is no glancing over the particular texts beforehand. You just land on them like the spinner in a game of Twister.

These days I try to avoid proof-texting of either kind. This can be somewhat difficult, but I believe that when the sermon focus begins to feel elusive, then the preacher is on the right track. When you begin to second guess yourself, I think this is actually a good thing. It means that whatever original idea might have been rolling around in my mind doesn’t seem worthwhile enough to expound upon to the congregation, and that is one of the first steps in getting over selfishness. Not the only step, but one of them.

When we come down to it, it is no easy thing to preach the Word of God. Sure, there are many out there today who make it look easy, but I’m willing to bet half of them aren’t preaching the Word of God so much as they are preaching advertisements for a noble life. There’s nothing wrong with this – there’s nothing wrong with self-improvement at all – but accomplishing an exposition of the things of God is easier done than said. Most churches are full of lessons on how to live noble, moral lives. What exists beyond the noble and the moral – well, that’s harder to come by.

So how do you know when you’ve done it – preached the Word of God, that is? Or, at least, how do you know when you’re on the right track? What do I mean when I write that the sermon becomes elusive? Mainly, I mean that the words you are striving to put together, the exegesis of the text, the application of the lesson (if indeed there is an actual cut-and-dried lesson in there somewhere) becomes haunting. Something that lingers in front of you, seemingly just out of reach. It almost taunts you. Reminds you that, yes, yes, this is the Truth, but oh, how delicate and beautiful a Truth it is, and if you would indeed come after it, you must comprehensively deny yourself – along with all your alliterative sub-points and poetic quotes and perfectly pitched punchlines – and take the heavy responsibility of speaking this Truth once again into being in the hearts and minds of your hearers.

Sure, in the end, you may indeed have three memorable talking points, a couple of winsome illustrations, and perhaps even a couple of chuckle bombs perfectly calibrated. After all, the beauty of preaching is that this elusive Truth – the Truth of the Power of God – is not meant to be preached devoid of personality. He has, after all, chosen you, a human with a hankering for skillful turns of phrases and well-rehearsed changes in voice tambour, to be the bearer of His message. But that’s the simple glory of it. There is no such thing as “dumbing down” in God’s mind. The Apostle Paul reminds us that He chooses “the foolish things” of the world to shame the wise.

He chooses you. He chooses me. So, when it comes to preparing a sermon, take joy in the journey. Take thrill in the chase.

This Sunday, I have been asked to preach … and so, the game’s afoot!


Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Hermeneutics, Ministry

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.