I have, for quite some time (20 years now), been thinking of what a theology of politics might look like. Since my own context is American, my thinking about that theology has been shaped by and in that American context.
Then I happened upon a thought while reading through Ecclesiastes this week.
What would happen if we treated the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes as if it were a theology of politics?
Solomon, after all, supposing him to be the author (as tradition does), was perhaps one of the greatest political figures of the Old Testament.
So why was he so depressed?
When I first discovered the book of Ecclesiastes, I was a college student, and taking a course on Old Testament Wisdom Literature. I was struck by the book's existential angst and found it one of the more meaningful texts at the time (given, as I was, to reading guys like Miguel de Unamuno et al). The main point of reference that I have for Ecclesiastes is "vanity", "dung" -- that life is a complete waste of time.
But is that what the text is about? Or is there something deeper here?
This very "secular" text from the Old Testament isn't as secular as other texts (say, for example, Esther). Ecclesiastes is the lament of a man who can never be God, who lives in a world that God set up to remind you that you can never be God. The more he seeks for power, wisdom, and permanence, the more obvious it becomes that Solomon can never be as all-powerful, as all-knowing, as eternal as God is. Indeed, the more he pushes the boundaries of what is possible for human beings the more reminders he gets. Here is Solomon, at the height of everything the world (particularly the American world) views as the most successful, and all he can say is, "it's worthless".
This, I think, is why the author of Ecclesiastes advises to eat and drink and enjoy our toil. It's not that those things are unenjoyable -- and this certainly isn't yet another ancient philosophy that embodies carpe diem!. No, Ecclesiastes has more to offer than that. The reason we should embrace those fleeting moments of joy, the reason we can make the most of our endeavors, is that those fleeting moments remind us what we're not. We're not God.
I've maintained, for those 20 years, that any political reading of the Old Testament (and the New, for that matter) will always find God setting himself against human political rulers. And now I think Ecclesiastes is the one place where we can see that lived out in the first person narrative of a guy who gets it. Ecclesiastes is the root for a theological protest against human politics, a direct assault on the devil's realization that he can't displace God. Human political rulers keep at it, though, and in that way they really are demonic. But ultimately, as this Preacher knows, it's a fruitless rebellion.
Once our human politics gives up that demonic pursuit, I guess there really is nothing else for it to say than, "All is futility, so enjoy the good moments when you can".
In this world, we cannot be God.
Then I happened upon a thought while reading through Ecclesiastes this week.
What would happen if we treated the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes as if it were a theology of politics?
Solomon, after all, supposing him to be the author (as tradition does), was perhaps one of the greatest political figures of the Old Testament.
So why was he so depressed?
When I first discovered the book of Ecclesiastes, I was a college student, and taking a course on Old Testament Wisdom Literature. I was struck by the book's existential angst and found it one of the more meaningful texts at the time (given, as I was, to reading guys like Miguel de Unamuno et al). The main point of reference that I have for Ecclesiastes is "vanity", "dung" -- that life is a complete waste of time.
But is that what the text is about? Or is there something deeper here?
This very "secular" text from the Old Testament isn't as secular as other texts (say, for example, Esther). Ecclesiastes is the lament of a man who can never be God, who lives in a world that God set up to remind you that you can never be God. The more he seeks for power, wisdom, and permanence, the more obvious it becomes that Solomon can never be as all-powerful, as all-knowing, as eternal as God is. Indeed, the more he pushes the boundaries of what is possible for human beings the more reminders he gets. Here is Solomon, at the height of everything the world (particularly the American world) views as the most successful, and all he can say is, "it's worthless".
This, I think, is why the author of Ecclesiastes advises to eat and drink and enjoy our toil. It's not that those things are unenjoyable -- and this certainly isn't yet another ancient philosophy that embodies carpe diem!. No, Ecclesiastes has more to offer than that. The reason we should embrace those fleeting moments of joy, the reason we can make the most of our endeavors, is that those fleeting moments remind us what we're not. We're not God.
I've maintained, for those 20 years, that any political reading of the Old Testament (and the New, for that matter) will always find God setting himself against human political rulers. And now I think Ecclesiastes is the one place where we can see that lived out in the first person narrative of a guy who gets it. Ecclesiastes is the root for a theological protest against human politics, a direct assault on the devil's realization that he can't displace God. Human political rulers keep at it, though, and in that way they really are demonic. But ultimately, as this Preacher knows, it's a fruitless rebellion.
Once our human politics gives up that demonic pursuit, I guess there really is nothing else for it to say than, "All is futility, so enjoy the good moments when you can".
In this world, we cannot be God.