Tag Archives: knowledge

Carl F. Henry: Ways of Knowing (2)

22 Wednesday Jun 2016

Posted by in Apologetics, Carl F Henry, John Calvin, Uncategorized

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Portrait of John Calvin

John Calvin

Intuition 2:  Rational Intuition

Rather than thinking of intuition as a non-rational, it is possible to consider intuition as consisting of some sort of information which we just know:

Those who espouse rational intuition insist that human beings know certain propositions are immediately to be true, without resort to inference; in other words, that all men possess certain underived a priori truths without any process of inference whereby these truths are derived. Rational intuition must therefore be clearly distinguished from mystical intuition.

Carl F. H. Henry, God, Revelation, and Authority, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1999), 74. This a position which Christian thinkers have often advanced. For example, John Calvin argues that human beings have an intuitive sense of the divine:

There is within the human mind, and indeed by natural instinct, an awareness of divinity. This we take to be beyond controversy. To prevent anyone from taking refuge in the pretense of ignorance, God himself has implanted bin all men a certain understanding of his divine majesty. Ever renewing its memory, he repeatedly sheds fresh drops Since, therefore, men one and all perceive that there is a God and that he is their Maker, they are condemned by their own testimony because they have failed to honor him and to consecrate their lives to his will. If ignorance of God is to be looked for anywhere, surely one is most likely to find an example of it among the more backward folk and those more remote from civilization. Yet there is, as the eminent pagan says, no nation so barbarous, no people so savage, that they have not a deep-seated conviction that there is a God

John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion 1 & 2, ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles, vol. 1, The Library of Christian Classics (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011), 43–44. A similar position is advocated by Alvin Plantiga:

A major thrust of his early apologetic work was to show that Christian belief can be rational even if unsupported by traditional evidence, there being in his view no adequate, noncircular arguments to had for belief in God. Yet he has never regarded faith as a fideistic leap. Rather, it is a kind of knowledge that can be had immediately because of the way we are created and cthe action of the Holy Spirit, producting in us what Calvin called the sensus divinatatus – an intellectually grounded by noninferential awareness of the divine ….

Brian K. Morley, Mapping Apologetics (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2015), 119. (As for apologetics, this is a unique book. It explains the nature of the various apologetic schools, there relationships to one-another; together with critiques and praises. I don’t know of any book like it. I work with Dr. Morley (and he even gave me my copy of the book – full disclosure), but I could not more highly recommend the book. I used it with my graduate students.)

Carl F. Henry: Ways of Knowing

22 Wednesday Jun 2016

Posted by in Carl F Henry, Philosophy, Psychology, Uncategorized

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This chapter is an overview and critique of the various philosophical positions asserted as to how human beings know. Henry arranges the schools as Intuition, Experience & Reason. Henry particularly concerns himself with the way in which a human can know, or claim to know (or why one cannot know) God.

Intuition, Part One

Henry divides the various schools of “intuition” into four. The first is the non-rational immediate experience of the impersonal divine. The claim:

That religious reality is known not by sense observation or by philosophical reasoning but by intuition or immediate apprehension has been asserted by various thinkers who insist that God is to be found in one’s own inner experience as an instant awareness of the religious Ultimate

Carl F. H. Henry, God, Revelation, and Authority, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1999), 70.

The mystic intuition claims that God cannot be understood in any manner which applies in “daily life”. God even “transcends distinctions of truth and falsehood, and is beyond good and evil” (Id. at 71).  Therefore, the mystic’s experience cannot be verified in any way applies to other knowledge.

This leads to the obvious objection: If we cannot judge the mystic’s “experience” of God, can we may any evaluation of the claim at all? Indeed, how can we judge anything: “What criterion of truth and error remains if God is beyond truth?” (Ibid.)

Moreover, how can we make any determination as to the mystic’s claim to knowledge. If the experience cannot be related in any manner at all, what can any other do with the claim? The mystic’s paradoxical language about God is not subject to any sort of evaluation by any other person.

The mystic’s experiences may be of psychological interest, but they cannot afford a basis for another person to enter into that knowledge.

This intutionist knowledge is the basis of Protestant Liberalism, as founded by Schleiermacher:

Friedrich Schleiermacher—contended that contact with ultimate reality is to be made not intellectually or conceptually but intuitionally, mystically, immediately. The Absolute is to be felt, not conceived. As a result, these men wrote not of God as the Religious Object, but of their own religious sentiments. Schleiermacher, founder of Protestant liberalism, in effect substituted the psychology of religious experience for theology, or the science of God.

Id at p. 72.

Making the subject of God the question of religious sentiment is “implicitly pantheistic” (Id. at p 73). There is no distinguishable person there, just my inarticulate apprehension of some-thing (not some-one).

Pantheism is inherently without moral categories, because there is only what is & my psychological reaction to it. There is no good or evil in such a world.

This, of course, is completely the opposite of the Biblical assertion that God has made himself know rationally, understandably. God is other, but God has also mediated knowledge of himself through the Logos, the Son has made the Father known.

While there is occasionally talk of “Christian mysticism”, it certainly cannot mean this sort of a-rational, incommunicable experience which loses all sense of “I and thou”, Creator-Creation. The talk of Union with Christ does not entail absorption into any infinite:

The Bible nowhere accommodates the speculative notion that ontological disjunction from the Divine is the central human problem, to be overcome by man’s pursuit of ecstatic union with the Ineffable; rather, the basic problem is that of overcoming man’s moral alienation from his Maker, and a revelation and atonement that God himself provides opens the way to the restoration of spiritual fellowship

Id. at pp. 73–74.

John Newton’s Counsel in Hope Based Upon Christ (April 29, 1776)

05 Monday Oct 2015

Posted by in 1 Peter, John Newton

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Pastoral counseling is not merely correction, but must also be of encouragement. The Christian life can only be lived rightly with a view set directly upon the return of Christ and the joy to follow. To see the importance of such a sight of the end, consider this passage from First Peter:

1 Peter 1:3–17 (ESV)

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile,

The explicitly eschatological elements have been highlighted. Note that Peter does not dwell upon the mechanics of the eschaton as much as its present effect upon us. It is the basis for our hope — which puts us in a future orientation. Our present holiness demands upon our future hope. We live now in both hope and fear, which Peter lays as the predicate (at the very least the psychological predicate) for holiness.

John Newton in this letter wants to create an eschatological mind in his reader. Note carefully how he does this:

My dear Miss M****, April 29, 1776.

The pleasantries are short; he moves most quickly to blessings enjoyed by this woman. The letter does not disclose the reason for this encouragement, which is well — because any believer can pick up this letter and apply it; the blessings disclosed herein are the common blessings of the believer, the church and Christ.

I thank you for your last; and I rejoice in the Lord’s goodness to you. To be drawn by love, exempted from those distressing terrors and temptations which some are beset with; to be favoured with the ordinances and means of grace, and connected with those, and with those only, who are disposed and qualified to assist and encourage you in seeking the Saviour; these are peculiar privileges, which all concur in your case: he loves you, he deals gently with you, he provides well for you, and accompanies every outward privilege with his special blessing; and I trust he will lead you on from strength to strength, and shew you still greater things than you have yet seen.

Note the blessings: To be drawn by love. This language sounds like an allusion to,

Hosea 11:4 (ESV)

4    I led them with cords of kindness,

with the bands of love,

and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws,

and I bent down to them and fed them.

 

When the Father draws the elect (John 6:44), he draws by the cords of kindness, the bands of love. Consider further the movement of the argument: to be drawn is to move from place to another, from one state to another.

Another allusion in this letter is “from strength to strength”:

 

Psalm 84:1–7 (ESV)

1    How lovely is your dwelling place,

O Lord of hosts!

2    My soul longs, yes, faints

for the courts of the Lord;

my heart and flesh sing for joy

to the living God.

3    Even the sparrow finds a home,

and the swallow a nest for herself,

where she may lay her young,

at your altars, O Lord of hosts,

my King and my God.

4    Blessed are those who dwell in your house,

ever singing your praise! Selah

5    Blessed are those whose strength is in you,

in whose heart are the highways to Zion.

6    As they go through the Valley of Baca

they make it a place of springs;

the early rain also covers it with pools.

7    They go from strength to strength;

each one appears before God in Zion.

This is a Psalm with an eschatological movement: First, it is a Psalm of travel. Second, it is a Psalm which promises the transformation of the creation (Baca becomes springs. Third, while the immediate reference to appearing before God is likely the earthly sanctuary, we know that the earthly references the heavenly.

Whether Newton chose the Psalm for an eschatological allusion, I do not know. But there is at least a consonance in his thinking: it is where we are going that orients the Christian life.

Newton also praises the work of the church in this woman’s life: both the ordinances (baptism and the Lord’s Supper) as well as those who able to rightly use the Word of God in assisting the maturity of her soul.

(I know above that I said that the blessings listed in this letter blessings available to every believer. However, sadly, often a local congregation is led by those who are not “disposed and qualified”. That does not mean that the church is not a common blessing of believers. What it does mean is that many sin in the work of ministry, either being unfit for the work by ability or disposition. We must sadly acknowledge this is true.)

Newton now takes an insight from John Calvin’s Institutes, the human being does not rightly know himself until we know ourselves before and in the light of God. While our knowledge of God leads us to greater hope and faith, the knowledge of ourselves leads to a greater sense of our unworthiness:

They whom he teaches are always increasing in knowledge, both of themselves and of him. The heart is deep, and, like Ezekiel’s vision, presents so many chambers of imagery, one within another, that it requires time to get a considerable acquaintance with it, and we shall never know it thoroughly. It is now more than twenty-eight years since the Lord began to open mine to my own view; and from that time to this, almost every day has discovered to me something which till then was unobserved; and the farther I go, the more I seem convinced that I have entered but a little way. A person that travels in some parts of Derbyshire may easily be satisfied that the country is cavernous; but how large, how deep, how numerous the caverns may be, which are hidden from us by the surface of the ground, and what is contained in them, are questions which our nicest inquirers cannot fully answer. Thus I judge of my heart: that it is very deep and dark, and full of evil; but as to particulars, I know not one of a thousand.

But the certain knowledge of our sinfulness, our darkness is no cause for despair — provided this knowledge comes accompanied by a knowledge of the God in Jesus Christ. Newton’s knowledge of his own poverty causes him to rejoice, because it merely underscores the infinite wealth of Christ.

Before we look to this passage, consider our “normal” response: When we feel badly about ourselves, we seek to solve the psychological, emotional, spiritual stress by bolstering our self-esteem. Newton will have none of it. He does nothing to protect himself, but like a true theologian of the cross (rather than a theologian of glory), Newton looks to Christ for all:

And if our own hearts are beyond our comprehension, how much more incomprehensible is the heart of Jesus! If sin abounds in us, grace and love superabound in him: his ways and thoughts are higher than ours, as the heavens are higher than the earth; his love has a height, and depth, and length, and breadth, that passeth all knowledge; and his riches of grace are unsearchable riches, Ephes. 3:8, 18, 19. All that we have received or can receive from him, or know of him in this life, compared with what he is in himself, or what he has for us, is but as the drop of a bucket compared with the ocean, or a single ray of light in respect of the sun. The waters of the sanctuary flow to us at first almost upon a level, ankle deep, so graciously does the Lord condescend to our weakness; but they rise as we advance, and constrain us to cry out, with the Apostle, O the depth! We find before us, as Dr. Watts beautifully expresses it,

A sea of love and grace unknown,

Without a bottom or a shore.

Imagine a poor soul caught in a sin. Our first response is to come, “You are not so bad.” But the truth is that we are all far worse than our public exposure of sin reveals. We know that in ourselves, that is in our flesh, no good thing dwells. We are a mass of rebellion (whether the vilest sin or the strongest morality and self-righteousness) without Christ. Newton will not come and say, we are not so bad. No, we will only learn more and more of the depth of our sin — But Christ! His mercy, glory, righteousness are only magnified by rescuing poor, helpless sinners.

Newton unites this knowledge with his eschatological hope. Our present good from Christ will only grow as we continue on. We will not come to the end and find the depth of the knowledge, we will only begin. Our present desire will only be met with greater satisfaction and greater desire. We will think less or ourselves and more of Christ — and what a joy that will be to be emptied of myself and filled with Him!

O the excellency of the knowledge of Christ! It will be growing upon us through time, yea, I believe through eternity. What an astonishing and what a cheering thought, that this high and lofty One should unite himself to our nature, that so, in a way worthy of his adorable perfections, he might by his Spirit unite us to himself! Could such a thought have arisen in our hearts, without the warrant of his word (but it is a thought which no created mind was capable of conceiving till he revealed it), it would have been presumption and blasphemy; but now he has made it known, it is the foundation of our hope, and an inexhaustible spring of life and joy. Well may we say, Lord what is man, that thou shouldst thus visit him!

 

How Knowledge, Desire & Conduct Work Together 1 Peter 1:13

15 Saturday Aug 2015

Posted by in 1 Peter, Lectures

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1 Peter 1:13–15 (ESV)

13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,

Knowledge of Self Requires Knowledge of God

12 Thursday Feb 2015

Posted by in John Calvin

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1. Without knowledge of self there is no knowledge of God
b(a)Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.3 eBut, while joined by many bonds, bwhich one precedes and brings forth the other is not easy to discern. eIn the first place, no one can look upon himself without immediately turning his thoughts to the contemplation of God, in whom he “lives and moves” [Acts 17:28]. For, quite clearly, the mighty gifts with which we are endowed are hardly from ourselves; indeed, our very being is nothing but subsistence in the one God. Then, by these benefits shed like dew from heaven upon us, we are led as by rivulets to the spring itself. Indeed, our very poverty better discloses the infinitude of benefits reposing in God. The miserable ruin, into which the rebellion of the first man cast us, especially compels us to look upward. Thus, not only will we, in fasting and hungering, seek thence what we lack; but, in being aroused by fear, we shall learn humility.4 bFor, as a veritable world of miseries is to be found in mankind, e(b)and we are thereby despoiled of divine raiment, our shameful nakedness exposes a teeming horde of infamies. Each of us must, then, be so stung by the consciousness of his own unhappiness as to attain at least some knowledge of God. bThus, from the feeling of our own ignorance, vanity, poverty, infirmity, and—what is more—depravity and corruption, we recognize that the true light of wisdom, sound virtue, full abundance of every good, and purity of righteousness rest in the Lord alone. To this extent we are prompted by our own ills to contemplate the good things of God; and we cannot seriously aspire to him before we begin to become displeased with ourselves. For what man in all the world would not gladly remain as he is—what man does not remain as he is—so long as he does not know himself, that is, while content with his own gifts, and either ignorant or unmindful of his own misery? Accordingly, the knowledge of ourselves not only arouses us to seek God, but also, as it were, leads us by the hand to find him.

2. Without knowledge of God there is no knowledge of self
bAgain, it is certain that man never achieves a clear knowledge of himself5 unless he has first looked upon God’s face, and then descends from contemplating him to scrutinize himself.6 For we always seem to ourselves righteous and upright and wise and holy—this pride is innate in all of us—unless by clear proofs we stand convinced of our own unrighteousness, foulness, folly, and impurity. Moreover, we are not thus convinced if we look merely to ourselves and not also to the Lord, who is the sole standard by which this judgment must be measured. For, because all of us are inclined by nature to hypocrisy,7 a kind of empty image of righteousness in place of righteousness itself abundantly satisfies us. And because nothing appears within or around us that has not been contaminated by great immorality, what is a little less vile pleases us as a thing most pure—so long as we confine our minds within the limits of human corruption. Just so, an eye to which nothing is shown but black objects judges something dirty white or even rather darkly mottled to be whiteness itself. Indeed, we can discern still more clearly from the bodily senses how much we are deluded in estimating the powers of the soul. For if in broad daylight we either look down upon the ground or survey whatever meets our view round about, we seem to ourselves endowed with the strongest and keenest sight; yet when we look up to the sun and gaze straight at it, that power of sight which was particularly strong on earth is at once blunted and confused by a great brilliance, and thus we are compelled to admit that our keenness in looking upon things earthly is sheer dullness when it comes to the sun. So it happens in estimating our spiritual goods. As long as we do not look beyond the earth, being quite content with our own righteousness, wisdom, and virtue, we flatter ourselves most sweetly, and fancy ourselves all but demigods. Suppose we but once begin to raise our thoughts to God, and to ponder his nature, and how completely perfect are his righteousness, wisdom, and power—the straightedge to which we must be shaped. Then, what masquerading earlier as righteousness was pleasing in us will soon grow filthy in its consummate wickedness. What wonderfully impressed us under the name of wisdom will stink in its very foolishness. What wore the face of power will prove itself the most miserable weakness. That is, what in us seems perfection itself corresponds ill to the purity of God.
John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion & 2, ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles, vol. 1, The Library of Christian Classics (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011), 35–38.

Anne Bradstreet, A Ship That Bears Much Sail

27 Tuesday May 2014

Posted by in Anne Bradstreet, Humility

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The previous post in this series may be found here: https://memoirandremains.wordpress.com/2014/04/29/anne-bradstreet-meditations-3/

 

A ship that bears much sail,

and little or no ballast

             is easily overset;

and that man whose head hath great abilities,

and his heart little or no grace,

              is in danger of foundering.

 

Overset: turned over, hence, sinking.

Foundering: crashing against the rocks, sinking, disabled.

Preaching from the Old Testament: Boice on Hosea 4

03 Monday Feb 2014

Posted by in Hosea, James Montegomery Boice, Preaching, Romans

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Hosea 4 contains a condemnation of the priests of Israel for failing to instruct the people about the covenant:

Hosea 4:6 (ESV)

            6       My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;

      because you have rejected knowledge,

      I reject you from being a priest to me.

                  And since you have forgotten the law of your God,

      I also will forget your children.

(A minority of commentators take “I reject you from being a priest to me” as a reference to Israel generally. Even if one were to grant that unlikely point, the remainder of the chapter explicitly singles out the priests for condemnation in their work.)

The pastor of a Christian congregation thus faces a challenge with such a text: How can I preach this passage to a contemporary congregation?  The passage cannot be understood and applied exactly on Hosea’s terms, because no one alive today is an Israelite existing in the Northern Kingdom prior to the Assyrian invasion.

Consider the condemnation in general:  The people who claim to be the people of God do not have a proper knowledge of God.  That lack of knowledge has led to a host of sins (detailed by Hosea) which sins invite the covenant curses coming upon the people.

That same principle applies directly to the people of God today. Our lives directly reflect our knowledge of God.  Hosea explicitly states in 4:1 that a lack love is conjoined to a lack of knowledge of God. In 6:6, Hosea says that God desires such love and knowledge. How then does one obtain the knowledge?

The primary way such knowledge is conveyed in both the OT and the NT is through public instruction. Hosea contains a sharp rebuke of priests who fail to perform their function. The Scripture repeatedly condemns those who take the responsibility of instructing and then fail to rightly perform that function.

From that one could draw various applications: 1) The duty of pastors to rightly teach; 2) the obligation of Christians to be taught; 3) the condemnation of those who fail in this task; 4) the responsibility of Christians toward poor teachers (even if they are not “false” teachers); 5) the responsibility to obtain such knowledge.

James Montgomery Boice took a radically different tact in handling this passage.

To apply this passage to his congregation, Boice went through Romans 1:18, et seq.  Boice argues by analogy based upon Paul’s proposition concerning human knowledge of God in Romans 1:18, et seq. (which I have posted in the margin):[1]

 

How pointedly this all comes down to us! Here we think of the first chapter of Romans—indeed, we can hardly fail to think of it—for the argument brought against Israel in Hosea 4 is precisely the argument that Paul brings against the race as a whole in his great doctrinal epistle. We may even go further. The similarity of ideas and even verbal echoes between these two chapters indicate that Paul probably had Hosea’s chapter in mind as he penned his own indictment of the gentile nations….

Paul is saying three important things in these verses. First, God has given a revelation of himself to all people from which, however, all have departed.

James Montgomery Boice, The Minor Prophets, Paperback. (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2006), 1:43.

What Boice has done is define the indictment of Hosea 4 in general terms:  Human beings are liable before God for rejecting the knowledge God has given them. That does not mean that the information God has given to humanity generally is the same as the information God gave to Israel in particular:

There is a difference here between Paul’s words to the Gentiles and Hosea words to the Jews, for the Gentiles had less knowledge of God than Israel had. Nevertheless, there is an important similarity, for each has departed from that knowledge, however little or great that knowledge was. In the case of the Gentiles, Paul claims only that there was a knowledge of God’s “eternal power and divine nature.”  That is, the Gentiles knew even without the law of Israel (which they did not possess) that God existed and that he was all-powerful. Israel possessed the bulk of the Old Testament and therefore had great knowledge. She knew God as the holy one of the Law and the faithful one of the covenant. To turn from such knowledge was great sin than the sin of the Gentiles. Nevertheless, the sin was the same in nature and the judgment equally justified. (1:43).

General proposition: Human beings are liable to God for rejecting such knowledge of God as they possess.

Application to all humanity: All human beings have sufficient knowledge to know the existence of a Creator, and thus have a duty to worship their Creator as their Creator.

Application to Israel: Israel possessed the knowledge granted to all humanity and possessed additional knowledge, “the law of your God” (Hosea 4:6).

Note, we cannot argue in the opposite direction: One cannot argue that Israel is responsible for not knowing the law of their God on the ground that God has granted a general revelation of God as Creator to all humanity. Israel is responsible for knowing the terms of the Mosaic Covenant because God specifically and verbally gave Israel the terms of the Covenant. Likewise, Paul does not contend that all people are responsible for knowing the Mosaic Covenant; only that all people are responsible for not responding rightly to such revelation as they have received.

For these reasons, Hosea does not rely upon general revelation to support his charge against the people. Rather, Hosea lays the chief blame upon the priests who did not teach the people the content of the covenant.

Boice then lists out the moral effects upon a people which flow from a rejection of the knowledge of God. Boice does not address the reason which Israel in the context of Hosea rejected knowledge of God, and, therefore, does not answer the question of the priest’s responsibility.

While Boice’s exposition is possible, it seems to have drained the bite out of Hosea’s prophecy, because Boice has place the problem “out there”. Those people outside suffer this moral degradation due to a lack of knowledge. That is true, but Hosea didn’t point at the Assyrians: he pointed to Israelites.

While Boice is an admirable preacher, it seems he failed in part to deliver as pointed as the text requires.

 

 

[1] , which reads as follows:

Romans 1:18–32 (ESV)

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Ecclesiastes 7:3-7, Translation and Commentary

24 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by in Ecclesiastes

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Ecclesiastes 7:3–6 (BHS/WHM 4.2)

3ט֥וֹב כַּ֖עַס מִשְּׂחֹ֑ק כִּֽי־בְרֹ֥עַ פָּנִ֖ים יִ֥יטַב לֵֽב׃4לֵ֤ב חֲכָמִים֙ בְּבֵ֣ית אֵ֔בֶל וְלֵ֥ב כְּסִילִ֖ים בְּבֵ֥ית שִׂמְחָֽה׃5ט֕וֹב לִשְׁמֹ֖עַ גַּעֲרַ֣ת חָכָ֑ם מֵאִ֕ישׁ שֹׁמֵ֖עַ שִׁ֥יר כְּסִילִֽים׃6כִּ֣י כְק֤וֹל הַסִּירִים֙ תַּ֣חַת הַסִּ֔יר כֵּ֖ן שְׂחֹ֣ק הַכְּסִ֑יל וְגַם־זֶ֖ה הָֽבֶל׃

 

ט֥וֹב כַּ֖עַס מִשְּׂחֹ֑ק

Better (good) is sorrow than laughter.

כַּ֖עַס

Interesting word: Deuteronomy 32:19 Moses uses it to refer to the effects/nature of the Israelites sin in the wilderness, “because of the provocations of his son and his daughters”.  Likewise in  1 Kings 15:30, 2 Kings 23:26, Ezekiel 20:28 & Psalm 85:5 it refers to the response of God to sin.

1 Samuel 1:16 uses it to refer to Hannah’s description of her grief (ESV “vexation”).  Psalms 6:8, 10:14, 31:10, and Provebs 12:16, 17:25, 21:19 & 27:3, it refers to the response of one injured by another due to their foolishness or sin. Where God is the actor, the human the one responding (Ps. 85:5), the cause for God’s “provocation” (if you will) is human sin.

The word is used in Ecclesiastes 1:18, 2:23, 7:3, 7:9, & 11:10.

We could understand the word to mean a personal response to the sin of others.  This does transform the understanding of this verse – particularly in light of the discussion of fools laughing 7:6.

Grief, pain, sorrow is the right response to sin and foolishness. The troubles listed in the passage, death and mourning, directly result from the trouble of sin – only a fool would laugh at such things.

23 Doing wrong is like a joke to a fool, but wisdom is pleasure to a man of understanding. Proverbs 10:23 (ESV)

 

18 Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death 19 is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “I am only joking!” Proverbs 26:18–19 (ESV)

Laughter is not uniformly bad in the Bible, however, it is right only in the right context.

13 Even in laughter the heart may ache, and the end of joy may be grief. Proverbs 14:13 (ESV)

We cannot know for certain another’s heart. Contrast God:

Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD; how much more the hearts of the children of man! Proverbs 15:11 (ESV)

 

 

כִּֽי־בְרֹ֥עַ פָּנִ֖ים יִ֥יטַב לֵֽב

For in bad/sorrow of face(s) it makes good the heart.

Fredricks (rightly) links this statement to 7:2b, “the living will lay it to heart”, that is, we all die. Certainly sorrow comes from the provocation of death – indeed, there is no greater insult than death. The living take this matter to heart.

This particular section will end with 7:14 (it begins in 6:10) making the point that God has boxed man in before and after. No one can undo God’s work (7:13  & 1:15). Verse 14 explains that God has done so that human beings will fear him – the beginning of knowledge and wisdom (Prov. 1:7 & 9:10).

If that is so, then such sorrow will indeed make the heart good.

3.a. MT has, literally, “in evil of face, the heart is (may be) good.” Translations, and hence interpretations (see the Comment), vary. רע with פנים means sadness or discomfort in Gen 40:7 and see Neh 2:2–3. ייטבלב connotes joy and contentment in Ruth 3:7; Judg 19:6, 9; 1 Kgs 21:7.

Roland Murphy, vol. 23A, Ecclesiates, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1998), 61.

In itself, indeed, sorrow is an evil. It is one of the fruits of sin; and no sane mind would seek it for its own sake. But, like the bitter medicine of the physician, it is needful and salutary. Though “it seemeth not for the present joyous but grievous, nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruits of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby” (Heb. 12:11). “Before I was afflicted,” says the Psalmist, recording his own experience of its efficacy, “I went astray; but now have I kept Thy word.” And, accordingly, his unhesitating testimony upon the subject is this—“It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes” (Psalm 119:67, 71). Sorrow sobers and subdues the mind—it rebukes ambition—it humbles pride—it exposes the vanity of this world—it robs wealth and pleasure of their dazzling and deceitful glare—it suggests solemn thoughts as to the shortness and insecurity of time, and flashes often, into even the most careless mind, vivid and impressive views of those dread realities that belong to the world to come. Well, therefore, might Solomon say, that “sorrow is better than laughter.” He had himself tried, as he tells us in an earlier chapter of this book, what laughter could do. He had said in his heart, “Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure.” And what was the result? A brief experience constrained him to say “of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?” (2:1, 2.) Here, again, let it be distinctly understood, that no condemnation is intended, in the words before us, of that occasional and innocent hilarity which seems almost indispensable to a healthful state of the mind. What Solomon means to affirm is simply this, that the moral tendency and influence of sorrow upon the human heart and mind are such as to make it better for us than the most exuberant mirth. It may be true that “he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast” (Prov. 15:15); but it is not less true that such a feast will do little for the wellbeing of the soul.

Robert Buchanan, The Book of Ecclesiastes: Its Meaning and Its Lessons (London; Edinburgh; Glasgow: Blackie & Son, 1859), 229-30.

Consider though:

A glad heart makes a cheerful face, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed. Proverbs 15:13 (ESV)

 

 

לֵ֤ב חֲכָמִים֙ בְּבֵ֣ית אֵ֔בֶל

The heart of the wise (construct relationship) is in the house of mourning.

The word mourning specifically refers to funeral ceremonies.

וְלֵ֥ב כְּסִילִ֖ים בְּבֵ֥ית שִׂמְחָֽה׃

But the heart of fools in the house of gladness (ESV’s “mirth” is a good contrast with mourning).

129. אֵבֶל used specially of mourning for the dead, conf. Gen. 27:41; 50:10, מִשְׁתֶּה, lit., a drinking, or banquet (συμπόσιον), rt. שָׁתָה, but in a wider sense denoting feasting, as in Is. 25:6.

J. Lloyd, An Analysis of the Book of Ecclesiastes: With Reference to the Hebrew Grammar of Gesenius, and With Notes Critical and Explanatory (London: Samuel Bagster and Sons, 1874), 87.

 

5ט֕וֹב לִשְׁמֹ֖עַ גַּעֲרַ֣ת חָכָ֑ם

Better to hear the rebuke of the wise

Hebrews 3:13.

לִשְׁמֹ֖עַ

Rem. 1. The original meaning of the לְ is most plainly seen in those infinitives with לְ which expressly state a purpose (hence as the equivalent of a final clause), e.g. Gn 11:5 and the Lord came down, לִרְאֹתאֶת־הָעִיר to see the city; also with a change of subject, e.g. 2 S 12:10 and thou hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite לִֽהְיוֹתלְךָלְאִשָּׁה to be (i.e. that she may be) thy wife; cf. Gn 28:4, Jer 38:26 (לָמוּת).—If there is a special emphasis on the infinitive with לְ, it is placed, with its complement, before the governing verb, e.g. Gn 42:9, 47:4, Nu 22:20, Jos 2:3, 1 S 16:2 with בּוֹא; Ju 15:10, 1 S 17:25 with עָלָה.

Friedrich Wilhelm Gesenius, Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar, ed. E. Kautzsch and Sir Arthur Ernest Cowley, 2d English ed. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1910), 348.

גַּעֲרַ֣ת

Construct state: the word can mean threat or rebuke. Rebuke makes better sense with “wise”.

7 Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse, and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury. 8 Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you. Proverbs 9:7–8 (ESV)

Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid. Proverbs 12:1 (ESV)

He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken beyond healing. Proverbs 29:1 (ESV)

The wise of heart will receive commandments, but a babbling fool will come to ruin. Proverbs 10:8 (ESV)

Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence. Proverbs 15:32 (ESV)

It is more agreeable, no doubt, to the self-complacency of human nature, “to hear the song of fools”—to go where there will be nothing to wound our pride or to suggest unpleasant thoughts. The song of fools may evidently here be taken for the amusements and blandishments of the world; and what Solomon would have us to believe and be assured of is, that the rebuke of the wise is better than these. Pre-eminently better than these is the rebuke of the only-wise God, and yet how often is even His rebuke wholly disregarded! He is rebuking sinners every day by his Word, and very often by his providence too. By his Word he is continually condemning their folly and their sin, because they are careful and troubled about many things, and are wilfully and obstinately neglecting the one thing needful—because they are far more concerned at the thought of losing the world than of losing their souls.

Robert Buchanan, The Book of Ecclesiastes: Its Meaning and Its Lessons (London; Edinburgh; Glasgow: Blackie & Son, 1859), 232.

It is an evidence of a wise and teachable disposition, to receive with meekness the words of reproof, as David did, not only from Nathan, a prophet, 2 Sam. 12:7–13. but from Abigail, a woman, 1 Sam. 25:32, 33; Heb. 13:22; Prov. 9:9. and 17:10. By “the song of fools” are to be understood any flattering speeches, or jocular and pleasant discourses; it being a synecdoche, significant of all kinds of jests and bewitching pleasures, Isai. 24:8, 9; Gen. 31:27.

Edward Reynolds, A Commentary on the Book of Ecclesiastes, ed. Daniel Washbourn (London: Mathews and Leigh, 1811), 210.

 

 

מֵאִ֕ישׁ שֹׁמֵ֖עַ שִׁ֥יר כְּסִילִֽים׃

Than one hearing a song of fools.

This colon emphasizes the wrongness of the fool’s response to a circumstance. The fool leads one away from the truth of a matter – in contrast to the wiseman.

The wise lay up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool brings ruin near. Proverbs 10:14 (ESV)

כִּ֣י כְק֤וֹל הַסִּירִים֙ תַּ֣חַת הַסִּ֔יר

For as the voice (song) of thorns under a pot.

The entire verse is a wonderful repetition of s’s & k’s. The pun cannot be reproduced in English the words for thorns and pot sound identical (and spelled in a similar manner).

 

כֵּ֖ן שְׂחֹ֣ק הַכְּסִ֑יל

So/thus is (the) laughter of the fools.

6 A scoffer seeks wisdom in vain, but knowledge is easy for a man of understanding. 7 Leave the presence of a fool, for there you do not meet words of knowledge. 8 The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way, but the folly of fools is deceiving. 9 Fools mock at the guilt offering, but the upright enjoy acceptance. Proverbs 14:6–9 (ESV)

The lips of the wise spread knowledge; not so the hearts of fools. Proverbs 15:7 (ESV)

 

וְגַם־זֶ֖ה הָֽבֶל׃

Also, this is vanity (hebel).

David says, (Ps. 141:5,) “Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.” Yet many resent a rebuke, as though it necessarily came from an enemy. And few have the wisdom to rebuke or admonish with a right spirit. It requires caution, meekness, and love. But “open rebuke is better than secret love.”

“The song of fools” may refer to a song in commendation of a person; and if so, it is in contrast with “the rebuke of the wise.” It was better for David to be made “the song of the drunkards”—their song in disrespect—than to have their song of commendation.

Loyal Young, A Commentary on the Book of Ecclesiastes (Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Publication, 1865), 154-55.

LUTHER:—The joy of fools seems as if it would last forever, and does indeed blaze up, but it is nothing. They have their consolation for a moment, then comes misfortune, that casts them down: then all their joy lies in the ashes….. Pleasure, and vain consolation of the flesh, do not last long, and all such pleasures turn into sorrow, and have an evil end.—STARKE:—(Ver. 7), Even a wise and God-fearing man is in danger of being turned from the good way (1 Cor. 10:12); therefore watchfulness and prayer are necessary that we may not be carried back again to our evil nature (1 Pet. 5:8).

John Peter Lange, Philip Schaff, Otto Zöckler et al., A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Ecclesiastes (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2008), 111.

 

NONE question this most wholesome truth; but few there are who take it home. “Let others be reproved; but, as for me, I cannot bear it.” Thus speaks the human heart. My soul, many are thine infirmities, and none more humbling than thy dislike to take reproof. Did I believe myself so vile as I profess to be, could I take fire at hearing of my faults? “The least of saints! The chief of sinners!” Such do I call myself? A vain confession, if I’m not prepared to welcome kind reproof! Oh, for more knowledge of myself; more of that chastened mind; more of that genuine humility, that says, “Amen!” when self is justly censured.—Oh, what a hypocrite thou art, my soul! Ready to feed upon the praise of others, and shine in fancied excellence—how mean, how passing mean, art thou in thy reality! If those, who think of thee most highly, saw how thou bear’st reproof, what would they think of thee?—Oh, there’s a majesty of soul; a greatness more than human, in welcoming reproof. Music is sweet. Its cadences fall gently on the ear, and tune the heart to favour those who make it, and thank them for their melody. Thus shouldst thou feel, when kindness prompts a friend to tell thee of thy faults. What can a friend do more? What could a friend require more of thee? How grateful shouldst thou be to him, who wounds himself, in healing thee; willing to bear thy wrath, rather than suffer sin upon thee.—“The rebuke of the wise!” Who is “the wise” here spoken of? He that is wise enough to be faithful. Don’t say, “He’s not entitled to reprove me. His youth, his station, or his character, unfit him for the office.” Hadst thou a thorn hurting some tender part, would any be too young, too low in rank, to draw it forth? Or wert thou locked in prison, would any be too vile to turn the key, and give thee liberty? The only question to be asked is this, “Has he, then, told the truth? Is the failing really mine? Has he hit the nail upon the head?” If so, thy thanks are due to him. E’en though he be mistaken, and charge thee wrongfully, yet should’st thou thank him for his good intentions.—Reader, is this saying hard to thee? Well, so it is to me. Of myself, I cannot hear it, and I say, “Alas! who is sufficient for these things?” Say, wouldst thou have this grace? I fain would have it too. Then, what remains for thee and me? To learn of Jesus—of Him, who did no wrong, yet meekly suffered (1 Pet. 1:21–23)—to study Jesus—to hide ourselves in Jesus—that we, in some poor measure, may follow Jesus too.

 

G. W. Mylne, Ecclesiastes; or, Lessons for the Christian’s Daily Walk (London: Wertheim and Macintosh, 1856), 60-61.

 

It is interesting in reading the older commentators that they are willing to say something is better than entertainment and immediate ease and comfort.[1] We so believe a right to comfort that we seek to do anything rather than be crossed, even though it seems obvious to most previously that something was more important than instant ease:

‘How earnestly’—as an excellent commentator observes1—‘does Solomon persevere in drawing our hearts from the vain and perilous joys of the world!’ Still he continues his paradoxes—Sorrow is better than laughter. So valuable, so needful is it, that we doubt whether it be safe to be without sorrow, till we are without sin. Christiana was well reminded on the outset of her pilgrimage—‘The bitter is before the sweet, and that also’—she added—‘will make the sweet the sweeter.’ This is not therefore the sentiment of a sour misanthrope. It is that of one, who looks beyond the momentary ebullition of the sorrow to the after abounding and largely-compensating results. What if there be a “need be” for the present “heaviness?” How bright the end—“Found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ!”2 (1 Pet. 1:6, 7.) Meanwhile—waiting for this glorious end—the house of mourning is the wise man’s school. Here we are disciplined to lessons of inestimable value. We obtain the knowledge of that dark mystery—our own hearts. We learn the Christian alphabet, and spell out in the Lord’s dealings the letters of wisdom, forbearance, faithfulness, and love. We study the Christian dictionary, and often find such views of the character of God and his ways presented to us, as a whole life of ordinary study and contemplation could not have set forth. We find the Bible to be a book of realities. We cannot but bear our witness to it. We have felt its power. “I believed, and therefore have I spoken.” (Ps. 116:10; 2 Cor. 4:13.)

 

Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Ecclesiastes (New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1860), 176-77.[2]

 

Reason 1. From the benefit of a sad countenance. As it springeth from a heart seriously affected, so it stirreth up serious affections, meditations, and conferences in the hearts of others. A merry countenance is apt to stir up to loose and dissolute, vain and frothy meditations, affections, conferences.

Reason 2. From the condition of the house of mourning; it is a suitable object to the heart of a wise man: his heart is there. Sad objects to the heart are as ballast to the ship, making it to go steady; whereas the house of mirth is a suitable object to the heart of fools, ver. 4.

Reason 3. From the pre-eminence or betterment of hearing the rebuke of the wise, which causeth sorrow, than the song of fools, which causeth light mirth, ver. 5; which may appear, 1. From the great benefit of wise reproofs. They are as, first, Pricks to let out corruption, Acts 2:37; secondly, Goads to stir up to duty, Eccles. 12:11; thirdly, Nails to drive in and fasten good counsel, Eccles. 12:11; fourthly, Balm to heal sores, Ps. 141:5. 2. From the vanity of fools’ laughter and light mirth. It is as the crackling of thorns under a pot, ver. 6; not like the fire of thorns under a pot, which is soon kindled and fair blazed, but like the noise, which first is no good melody. Secondly, Spends much fuel, as fools’ mirth much time. Thirdly, Soon decayeth and dampeth, and leaveth both meat in the pot raw, and bystanders not thoroughly warmed, Ps. 118:12, and 58:9. So doth the mirth of fools, Prov. 15:13.

John Cotton, A Brief Exposition With Practical Observations Upon the Whole Book of Ecclesiastes, Nichol’s Series of Commentaries (Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet & Co.; G. Herbert, 1868), 62.

 

           Bless my trials, thus to sever

             Me for ever

           From the love of self and sin.

           Let me through them see thee clearer,

             Find thee nearer,

           Grow more like to thee within.

Tersteegen, Lyra Germanica, 2nd Series.

 

This sorrow is no sudden flash—vanishing, and leaving no impression behind. It is a solemn tender spirit—meek humiliation of soul. Nothing but Almighty grace can produce it. ‘Philosophy’—as our great moralist1 lays it down—‘may infuse stubbornness. But religion only can give patience.’ The one may force the confession—“Thy will be done.” But it is the other only that puts stillness and submission into the words, and makes them real. The Divine Sovereignty—reverently acknowledged and applied—at once silences and satisfies.

Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Ecclesiastes (New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1860), 178.

However, there is a point here which cannot be overlooked – our sorrow does not ever make deserving of Christ’s kindness. Our sorrows merely make us to know the absolute dependence we in fact have. At our best, we can merely be in need. The fool’s problem is that he does not even know he is in need of mercy.

Dallas Willard makes this helpful point in The Divine Conspiracy where he comments on “poor in spirit” in the Beatitudes:

If all we need to be blessed in the kingdom of heaven is to be humble-minded through recognizing our spiritual poverty, then let’s just do that and we’ve got bliss cornered. We escape the humiliation of spiritual incompetence because, strange to say, we have managed to turn it into spiritual attainment just by acknowledging it. And we escape the embarrassment of receiving pure mercy, for our humble recognition makes blessedness somehow appropriate (103)

It is our limitedness, our need, our poverty of spirit, or sheer incompetence which Qoheleth demonstrates in this passage. Sorrow is the only conceivable response.

Ecclesiastes 7:7 (BHS/WHM 4.2)

7כִּ֥י הָעֹ֖שֶׁק יְהוֹלֵ֣ל חָכָ֑ם וִֽיאַבֵּ֥ד אֶת־לֵ֖ב מַתָּנָֽה׃

For oppression/brutality/extortion makes foolish a wise man,

And it destroys his heart, a gift/bribe.

This is an interesting but confusing proverb – how does abusing a wiseman make him foolish? Fredricks writes:

I surmise that the wise is not the victim here but instead is the one guilty of extortion. Even the wise can sin (7:20) and stoop to intimidating another person physically, emotionally, legally or even ecclesiastically. This could include requesting or implying that a bribe be made by another to receive a favorable action, as well as offering a bribe oneself to derail someone else from justice. But the result is the shattered heart of the wise person whose conscience is still not calloused enough to remain unaffected by the abuse of any leverage.

Fredricks, Ecclesiastes, 169. The mere act of sin has a destructive effect upon the one who engages in it – this makes much more sense both theologically and psychologically. Similarly:

The reason is here assigned why the happiness of fools is so short. They work their own ruin. Sin deprives them of their understanding, and when that has vanished destruction cannot be far off. First the mens sana is lost, and then follows ruin. First the soul dies out, and afterwards the body is cast on the flaying ground. Parallel is Proverbs 15:27, “he that is greedy of gain destroyeth his own house, and he that hateth gifts shall live.” For oppression maketh the wise man mad. עשק, “oppression,” as exercised by the Persian tyrants (Psalm 62:10). Oppression befools, makes mad: every tyranny has a demoralizing influence on him who wields it; it deadens all higher intelligence, and takes away consequently the preservative against destruction. “The wise man” here is not one who is still such, but who ought to be, and might be, and has in part been such. “The wise man”—so might the Persian still be designated at the time of Cyrus. And a gift destroyeth the heart. Under oriental tyrannies everything was to be had for presents. According to the parallel, “befools, makes mad,” the heart is brought under consideration as the seat of the understanding: compare Jeremiah 4:9, “and it shall come to pass at that day that the heart of the king shall perish and the heart of the princes,” that is, they shall lose their prudence, their power of reflection.

 

E. W. Hengstenberg, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, trans. D. W. Simon (Philadelphia; New York; Boston: Smith, English, & Co.; Sheldon and Company; Gould and Lincoln, 1860), 164-65.

 

Favors and gifts blind the eyes of the wise; like a muzzle on the mouth they stop reproofs. Sirach 20:29 (NRSV)

 

Whoever is greedy for unjust gain troubles his own household, but he who hates bribes will live. Prov 15:27

 

A bribe is like a magic stone in the eyes of the one who gives it; wherever he turns he prospers. Prov 17:8

 

The wicked accepts a bribe in secret to pervert the ways of justice. Prov 17:23

 

A gift in secret averts anger, and a concealed bribe, strong wrath. Prov 21:14

 

15 He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking on evil, 16 he will dwell on the heights; his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks; his bread will be given him; his water will be sure. Isaiah 33:15–16 (ESV)

And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of those who are in the right. Exodus 23:8 (ESV)

 

But the evil falls back upon the oppressor himself. One selfish principle naturally begets another. The act of oppression is often traced to the gift tendered as the price of the oppression—destroying his heart—blotting out every principle of moral integrity, rendering him callous to suffering, and deaf to the claims of justice. (Prov. 17:23.) Good reason was there for the Mosaic veto, restraining the influence of gifts. (Exod. 23:8; Deut. 16:19.) There is indeed peril on both sides. Tyranny forces to irrational conduct; bribery to lack of feeling. The standard of the Bible is the only security. “He that ruleth over men must be just—ruling in the fear of God.” (2 Sam. 23:3.) When the Bible is reverenced as the Book of God—the sole rule of faith and practice, “a man’s wisdom will make his face to shine” (Chap. 8:1); and godliness will enrich the land with the precious fruit of “whatsoever things are honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report.” (Philip. 4:8.)

Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Ecclesiastes (New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1860), 182.

 

 

 

[1]

The influence of sorrow in maturing and purifying human character is, indeed, too obvious to escape the notice of any thoughtful man. Christianity teaches us to regard the troubles of life as the discipline of a Father who is seeking our highest good. “Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted.” “No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” And, in like manner here, Ecclesiastes would console his countrymen with the thought that sorrow has its own compensations, that adversity is a school in which they might learn the very best kind of wisdom.

T. Campbell Finlayson, The Meditations and Maxims of Koheleth: A Practical Exposition of the Book of Ecclesiastes (London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1887), 157.

[2] Anne Bradstreet’s poem seems appropriate:

My thankful heart with glorying tongue

Shall celebrate thy name,

Who has restored, redeemed, re-cured

From sickness, death and pain.

I cried, thou seem’st to make some some stay

I sought more earnestly,

And in due time thou succour’st me,

And sen’st me help from high.

Lord whilst my fleeting time shall last,

Thy goodness let me tell.

And new experience I have gain’d

My future doubts repell.

An humble, faithful life, O Lord,

Forever let me walk;

Let my obedience testify

My praise lies not in talk.

Accept, O Lord, my simple mite,

For more I cannot give;

What thou bestow’st I shall restore,

For of thine alms I love.

Broadus: Requisites to Effective Preaching

31 Monday Dec 2012

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Broadus lists four requisites to effective preaching: piety, natural gifts, knowledge, & skill.

Piety: Piety will flow from knowledge and conviction of the matter of the sermon. The preacher must be convicted and in so doing, he will convey that conviction to the hearer. The conviction — if real — will create piety in the preacher. Jack Hughes one time explained his sermon preparation as his personal meditation made public: stay alone the text until it changes you. Then, bring the sermon.

Many pastors fail here, by making the sermon mechanical, their Christianity remains largely on the outside. The passion and concern of delivery will flow naturally from that which matters most.

I have noted this with men whom I have seen teach well and teach in a mediocre matter. They will typically teach in an “adequate” but not in an outstanding manner. Yet, there comes a lesson, a sermon which transforms the hearer — such sermons come from a heart which itself was transformed; that is, marked with piety.

Thought of differently: a leader can lead no one to a place where he has not gone.

As Broadus writes, piety:

inspires the preacher himself with ardent zeal, and keeps the flame alive amid all the icy indifference by which he will so often be encompassed. This gains for him the good-will and sympathy of his hearers, the most ungodly of whom will feel that devout earnestness on his part is becoming, and entitles him to respect. And to this is promised the blessing of God upon the labors which it prompts. Much false theory and bad practice in preaching is connected with a failure to apprehend the fundamental importance of piety in the preacher

TPDS, 8.

Natural Gifts must be present before they can be developed. While much development can be had, there must be a basis with which to work.

Knowledge:

There must be knowledge of religious truth, and of such things as throw light upon it; knowledge of human nature in its relations to religious truth, and of human life in its actual conditions around us. It was a favorite idea of Cicero that the orator ought to know everything. There is of course no knowledge which a preacher might not make useful.

TPDS, 8.

Skill:

This does not refer merely to style and delivery, but also to the collection, choice, and arrangement of materials. All who preach eminently well—and the same thing is true of secular speakers—will be found, with scarcely an exception, to have labored much to acquire skill.

TPDS, 9. Skill derives from effort. The skill to speak well comes as the result of serious deliberate effort. It is a shame that many preachers think that mere good intent will translate into good effect.

In this respect, I remember an exercise recommended by a well-respected attorney known for his trial advocacy: Practice speaking in front of mirrors. Look to see how your face appears from every angle. Another exercise advantage for lawyers is to read the transcript of public argument. I know many young men who record their lessons to listen and improve — but I have found they are far too easy on themselves. A transcript is brutal in plainness. If you’re going to use recordings, find a friend who loves you enough to tear you up. Very few men can speak well, at all. Most speakers are painful. The difference is often the result of developed skill:

Any one whose good fortune it has been to be intimate with some of those noble Baptist and Methodist preachers, who beginning with hardly any education have worked their way up to the highest excellence in their calling, will have seen ample proofs, particularly in their unrestrained private conversation, that their power of clear and precise expression, and of forcible and attractive delivery, is the result of sharp, critical attention, of earnest and long-continued labor. The difference between skill and the lack of it in speaking, is almost as great as in handling tools, those, for example, of the carpenter or the blacksmith. And while no real skill can be acquired without practice—according to the true saying, “The only way to learn to preach is to preach”—yet mere practice will never bring the highest skill; it must be heedful, thoughtful practice, with close observation of others and sharp watching of ourselves, and controlled by good sense and good taste.

TPDS, 9.

A final note: there is nothing ungodly with taking deliberate effort to learn how speak — it is no shame to learn Greek or theology or history by means of effort. Strangely, many young men enter ministry thinking they will automatically be good (or even great) at speaking — and yet make no efforts to actually learn to speak in public.

As can be seen from Broadus’s list, great preaching can only derive from sustained private effort to gain knowledge and piety which results from deep private devotion and constant practice in speaking. Since the sermon is the central act of public Christian worship, the preacher must dedicate himself to painful effort in this respect. Anything less is no less a crime than laughing at the time of breaking bread or joking during a baptism.

Ecclesiastes 6 as a Discourse Peak: Knowledge

16 Friday Nov 2012

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The sixth chapter of Ecclesiastes brings into combination — and to partial conclusion — various strands which have been developed in the preceding chapters. Rather than merely raising a single topic and developing it in isolation, Ecclesiastes raises a matter, considers it — considers a new topic, and then brings examines the prior topic in combination with the new topic.

 

The process of crowding all the characters onto the stage (so to speak) marks a discourse peak in a literary work. This may be marked by both the intensity of a topic’s presence and the number of topics brought into close connection. The sixth chapter intertwines multiple themes raised previously in the book (work, wealth, vanity, God, children, death, under the sun, adam, what is evil, seeing, speaking, satisfaction, wisdom, fools, knowledge).

 

Thus, the sixth chapter of Ecclesiastes is a discourse peak. The verb “to know” occurs in four verses of the 6th chapter.

 

Knowledge functions as a structural element in the overall development of the book (originally, it seems to been [written?] as a speech).  The matter of knowledge first appears in the programmatic section of chapter one. Having given the introductory poem, Qoheleth sets out the purpose of the book:

 

And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.

 

Ecclesiastes 1:13. While this verse does not contain the verb “to know” (yd’) it does contain the concept of seeking information to understand. Moreover, the verse is structurally parallel to 1:17, which does contain the verb to know (in two forms):

 

And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.

 

The progammatic call to seek knowledge is matched by a question about knowledge which at the very beginning of the second half of the book (in terms of volume — and subject matter):

 

For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun?

 

Ecclesiastes 6:12. Immediately following this question, there comes a series of proverbs which answer the question of “what is good”?

 

In addition to structuring the book (and its sections) around the question of seeking knowledge, the first half of the book begins and ends with an appaisal as to the cost of knowledge.  First, matching to the parallel declarations of an intention to seek knowledge in verses 13 & 17 of chapter one we find parallel conclusions as to the cost of acquiring knowledge:

 

13 And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.

14 I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.

15 What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted.

16 I said in my heart, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.”

17 And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.

18 For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

 

This valuation is matched by valuation in chapter 6, that if God has not granted one the blessing of enjoyment (5:18-20), then it would be better to be a miscarriage, because a miscarriage does not know:

 

3 If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life’s good things, and he also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.

4 For it comes in vanity and goes in darkness, and in darkness its name is covered.

5 Moreover, it has not seen the sun or known anything, yet it finds rest rather than he.

 

Thus, Qoheleth does come to a partical conclusion at end of the first half of the book: If God does not provide some amelioration in the way of the ability to enjoy, life is too painful: indeed it would be better to have never known anything than to know this.

 

In addition to this overall structure, there are series of observations concerning human and divine knowledge. As for human knowledge, Qoheleth concludes that it is better to be wise than a fool:

 

The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them. Ecclesiastes 2:14 (ESV)

 

This conclusion points forward to the theme of fearing God which runs from the middle to the end of the book (Ecclesiastes 5:7 & 12:13).

 

He knows that it is better to rejoice:

 

12 I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; Ecclesiastes 3:12 (ESV)

 

Such joy is a gift of God:

 

13 also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man. Ecclesiastes 3:13 (ESV)

 

This is consistent with the proposition reached in chapter 6 that unless God grants one the ability to enjoy life, it would be better to have known anything under the sun.

 

He also knows that what God does is eternal:

 

14 I perceived [Hebrew, know] that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. Ecclesiastes 3:14 (ESV)

 

This both corresponds to the themes of God’s sovereignty and judgment as compared to the transitory nature of this life (1:2).

 

Qoheleth notes that no one knows what will come after, whether it be one’s heir (2:19) or the end of one’s soul (3:21).  While it is a human trouble that we do not know what will come later, it is not a mark of foolishness. However, it is the mark of a fool to not know when doing evil (5:1).