Category Archives: Culture

Arts, Christianity, Culture

The Book of Proverbs: Down-to-earth advice

BE KIND, BE CAREFUL

– A narrative from Proverbs

MOST Western people tend to be cautious when it comes to giving money or sharing possessions. Finding the balance between being generous or foolhardy on the one hand, and selfish and uncaring on the other, is not easy.

The Book of Proverbs in the Old Testament, which contains hundreds of pithy sayings about wisdom and daily life, suggests two principles to inform our actions. One is to help the poor. Under no circumstances are we to take advantage of them (22:22). To pour scorn on them is to insult our Maker (17:5) while being kind to the poor is like lending to God (19:17).

This is echoed in Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46) in which acts of kindness to others are in fact done to God.

It is unwise to withhold good from those who deserve it (3:27), but wisdom requires more than just being nice to nice people. “If your enemy is hungry, feed him” (25:21,22) was directly quoted by Paul in Romans 12:20 and alluded to by Jesus in Luke 6:27-30. If nothing else, it makes black deeds even worse, which is the meaning of “heaping coals of fire on their heads”.

The second principle is that while love may be blind, wisdom isn’t. Proverbs draws the line of generosity at standing surety for someone else or “you will surely suffer” (11:15). It even urges the person who has already underwritten a deal to free themselves from it even if it humiliates them to do so (6:1-5).

It is worth asking why. Human nature probably relaxes when it knows that it is not ultimately responsible for a debt or agreement. It is easy to default after a while. Wisdom acts responsibly, but it is encouraging responsibility in others, too.

GOD BE IN OUR UNDERSTANDING

PROVERBS assumes the spiritual dimension. Scattered through the book are reminders that “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom” (1:7). Faith is like a fountain keeping our life fresh and productive (14:27). Respect for and worship of the LORD must always be present.

With the prophets, Proverbs asserts that sacrifice without faith is detestable to a God who looks for inner truth rather than outward conformity (15:8,26). Therefore we should confess our sins in order to find mercy (28:13) and accept God’s “discipline” as a means of spiritual growth (3:11). Only then will we be sure of receiving his guidance through the maze of life (3:5; 19:21).

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Arts, Books, Culture, Society

Current Affairs: Books of the Year 2022

RECOMMENDED READING

. The Fall of Boris Johnson by Sebastian Payne (Macmillan, 288pp)

WITH ANOTHER PM down this year – and on to the next one! Seasoned Westminster commentator Payne exquisitely and with breathless brilliance captures blow-by-blow the car crash at Downing Street. The narrative shows how Boris was turned from the hero of Brexit, Covid and Ukraine, to almost zero before being stabbed and ruptured in the back, front and side.

Prominent among the fingerprints on the knife are those of a vengeful Dominic Cummings – a warning to other government ministers to never make an enemy of your special adviser. They know where the skeletons are.

Yet, Boris’s worst enemy was (as always) himself – failing to get a grip on Partygate, on leaks, on his private office, on his Chancellor, on Michael Gove and, most of all, on the words that came out of his mouth. He blustered and bent the truth while Rome burned.

Payne does, however, acknowledge his substantial successes – “his actions will have consequences for decades” – but concludes that the most mercurial prime minister in a generation was always likely to come to a premature and sticky end.

. The War on the West by Douglas Murray (HarperCollins, 320pp)

THIS is a passionate plea to end the blame game which attributes all the world’s ills to the West, the very culture – “the goose that has laid some very golden eggs” – that has benefited mankind the most. The author delivers an eloquent and refreshing read.

The outspoken Murray is baffled and angered that it is those living in the West who are its biggest detractors, with their one-sided woke arguments and deliberate distortions of language and history.

Dishonest scholars, hypocrites and those intent on spreading hate and disinformation are undermining reason, democracy, science and progress. “In a demented discourse of their own invention,” he writes, “they have pulled us into a zero-sum discussion that insists the history of the West is one of patriarchal oppression, sexism, racism, transphobia, homophobia, larceny and much more. An unfair ledger has been created.”

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Arts, Christianity, Culture

Luke’s Gospel: A signpost for seekers

NEW TESTAMENT

IF Matthew is the Gospel for the Jews, Luke is the seeker’s Gospel. Written in stylish language, it is carefully researched and easy to read.

Luke, who was a doctor and a travelling companion of St Paul, has several special interests. He includes, not unnaturally, some helpful details about Jesus’ healings. He also shows how Jesus regarded women and the poor with special compassion at a time when they were usually seen as second-class citizens or outcasts.

At the other end of the scale, he has strong warnings for the rich. His chief concern, however, is to show that Jesus is the Saviour of the world, sent by God to rescue people from the kingdom of evil and darkness.

Luke alone tells the familiar parables of the Prodigal Son and the Good Samaritan: he alone records the joyful conversion of the corrupt tax inspector Zacchaeus. And only Luke gives us real insight into Jesus’ birth and records the encounter of two ordinary people with the risen Jesus on the Emmaus road. It all makes the book user-friendly and faith-inspiring.

A narrative – God’s magnificent manifesto

Luke 1:46-55, 67-79

MATTHEW’S Gospel launches Jesus’ ministry with the revolutionary teaching of the Sermon on the Mount. Luke launches Jesus’ life with an equally revolutionary sound of music.

The two poems found here (Mary’s is more of a song, Zechariah’s more of a prophecy) speak theological volumes. They lay down the themes to which Luke will return time and again.

In both cases the praise is directed to God, not simply for what he has done for Mary and Zechariah personally. That is the nature of true worship: lifting us from the immediate to the eternal, from the personal to the corporate.

Mary’s song called the Magnificat, in some ways resembles that of Hannah in 1 Samuel 2:1-10. Both their sons were to be special servants of God, but Hannah was married and unhappily childless.

Mary’s ‘humility’ was genuine in terms of her human poverty as well as her attitude of heart. She could offer only the poor person’s traditional sacrifice (2:24; Leviticus 12:8) and for some while she lived as a homeless refugee (2:7; Matthew 2:14).

But her God is not only holy, he is also merciful (v 50), an implicit acknowledgement that Mary considers herself tainted by original sin.

God’s holiness and righteousness are expressed by the way he turns the tables on the rich and powerful (vv 51-54), a constant Lucan theme. This is a prophetic declaration of righteousness which may have its spiritual dimension in terms of personal salvation, but which is far wider-reaching.

To that Zechariah also turns, in the prophecy known as the Benedictus. He sees his son’s birth as a stage in God’s purposes not just for himself and his wife, but for the nation. He focuses on forgiveness (v 77) but as a Jew this was never separated from God’s wider purposes (v 74).

Christians cannot separate the spiritual and personal message from the wider context of God’s plan for the world. John the Baptist called for a radical change in lifestyle, and neither he nor his cousin Jesus were afraid to confront the authorities with their unrighteousness. The Christian gospel is both personal and corporate.

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