I was watching an episode of a show on the weekend and
one of the characters, an autistic computer hacker savant, was sitting in a bible
study meeting and when someone asked him if he wanted to share, he took the opportunity
to attack religion. Not just Christianity, mind you, but all religion, all “organized-religion”.
It was such a predictable moment that it took me out of the show. For one, it
appeared as if the writers of the show had contrived the entire episode to
create the opportunity just for this grandstanding moment. The whole episode
seemed rather superfluous. Secondly, you could see it coming a mile away so
clearly that there was literally nothing surprising or interesting about it. Thirdly, it was
such a cliché attack on religion in general, and Christianity in particular, it
was as if the writers of the show had gotten all their ideas from a first year
philosophy course where the lecturer was a fan of 2008’s version of Richard
Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. It was old hat, in many ways.
But something that the character said prompted me to meditate
on how historically ignorant you would have to be to make the argument he was presenting. He brought up that old line that all religions,
including Christianity, were created to control the population and make them docile.
The old religion is the opiate of the mass’s argument. This line of attack is so used up and
tired now that it probably does not have much effect on any serious thinking
person. However, there is a kind of lazy thinker who still finds it to be an attractive
line of thought, hence its usage in this show. So, let’s take a step back and
consider this argument for a moment. Come reason with me, and let’s test the soundness
of this position. You’ll see how far short it falls.
If you have not read the Bible you might not know the
answer to this, but what is the most significant religious moment in the whole
Old Testament? The answer is simple, outside of probably creation itself, the
most significant moment is the Exodus. All of Genesis, the first book of the
Bible, is leading towards the Exodus, and all the rest of the Old Testament in
large measure harkens back to it. It is the central salvation event in the Old
Testament which frames how God’s people should see their Lord, each other, and
this world.
What happened during the Exodus? Moses, at the
instigation of He Who Is Who He Is, the Lord Almighty, led a rebellion and an
insurrection against the largest empire in the known world at that time. It was
such a cataclysmic event that Egypt never fully recovered from it, and it began
to diminish as a result of the economic and social devastation caused by that
Exodus. But take this into account, the central narrative of the Old Testament
is an account of people choosing God over comfort, stability, and loyalty to
the state, and being willing to suffer in the wilderness instead. There
were times when many amongst the Hebrews regretted their decision and longed
for the garlic and leeks of Egypt (Num. 11:5), but still, they chose to break
free of their oppressors at the instigation of their Lord.
The central account of the first part of the most
influential book in history was a kind of revolution that set people free from
oppression. This event was to frame how this people saw themselves. This
creates a unique kind of people. This creates a people who have a complicated
and dynamic relationship with their leaders. There is much in the Old Testament
which encourages and even commands submission to authority figures. But this
submission to earthly leaders is always one link in a chain that leads to the
highest authority, God himself, and those who know they can defy Pharoah at the
command of God, also know that they can reserve the right to defy any other
tyrant or leader who comes between them and God. How on earth can such a
religion be accused of being created by tyrants to pacify populations?
Those who are familiar with Sunday school classes, even
if not the whole Bible, will probably remember the account of Daniel and the
Lions Den, or Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and the blazing furnace. These
two stories recount the godly defiance of unjust orders by four men who are
considered heroes of the Christian faith. These men were part of the Jewish
population in exile in Babylon at the instigation of the Lord himself, and they
were under commands to work and pray for the welfare of the pagan cities
amongst which they were sojourners (Jer. 29). Yet they also understood that
being good citizens of heaven was a higher priority than being good citizens of
any earthly kingdom, and so when these two things came into conflict they chose
the higher priority. This is what makes them heroes. They chose to risk
terrible deaths, Daniel at the jaws of hungry lions, and the other three the
prospect of being burned alive, rather than risk defying their God.
They understood that the chain of authority is not a linear
line. Yes, Kings stand at a higher point than the general populous in the
hierarchy of authority ordained by God, but the authority of God overrules all
other authorities at any point at which it comes into conflict with the authority
of men. Therefore, everyone has a responsibility to follow God’s authority
first. The kind of religion created by the Exodus creates the very kinds of
heroes that we see in examples like Daniel and his three contemporaries. Men
who obey God over other men. And they are not the only ones.
The most significant characters outside of the kings in the Old Testament are the prophets, who starting with Moses and ending with John the Baptist,[1] often found themselves in conflict with the state. Tradition tells us that Isaiah, who was a high-ranking priest in Judah, was sawn in half. Jeremiah’s conflict with the authorities he is prophesying against is famous and recounted in some detail in the book named after himself. Many other prophets also found themselves in a similar situation, because they challenged the state structures that were defying the authority of God. Jesus himself describes what a prophet can expect, “11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matt. 5:11-12). The whole concept of being one of these men was being willing to defy unjust orders, or general injustice when necessary. This creates a particular kind of faith, a faith where its adherents are expected to be willing to suffer for doing what is right, even when it is unpopular, especially when it is.
This brings us squarely into the New Testament. Christians
serve a Lord and Saviour who was murdered by the state, both Jewish and Roman,
because he refused to play along with the traditions of the Jewish leaders.
Take stock of that for a minute. Atheists, in all their grand intelligence,
have the gall to argue that a religion where people serve a risen saviour who
was killed for defying the state, was actually created to control the masses.
Could you get a dumber premise? This premise is so illogical, to even assert it
you would have to work really hard to either not think deeply about it, or to
have worked equally hard to make sure you have never engaged with Christianity
on a serious intellectual level.
Christians serve a Lord and Saviour who said stuff like this,
“28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather
fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt. 10:28). And who
also said stuff like this, “37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is
not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy
of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of
me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my
sake will find it” (Matt. 10:36-38).
I once considered writing a piece entitled Righteous
Rebels, but I decided not to do so as the Bible is clear that the sin of rebellion
is as the sin of witchcraft (1 Sam. 15:23). The motivation for Christians to
defy tyranny is not based on a heart of rebellion, at least it is not meant to
be. It is deeply grounded in a love for God and a love for our fellow man. We
know we are called to prioritize our love for God and his commands above all
else, and we are to oppose that which does wrong to our fellow human beings. This
can bring us into conflict with the state even when we would prefer that it did
not, because often the state is directed by men who defy the commands of our
Lord.
I can tell you that most Christians, along with most
unbelievers, would prefer to live a quiet life, minding their own business.
This is our default setting. Indeed, we are told to prefer this in Scripture, “…and
to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your
hands, as we instructed you,…” (1 Thess. 4:11). You will even find Christians
who define their faith around this sentiment, they want to withdraw from the
world, work the land quietly, stay away from people, and stay as far away from
any trouble as humanly possible. But remember, this passage was written by a man who
was often coming into conflict with people both inside his churches and outside
of them, from both Jews and Gentiles. Sometimes entire cities were thrown into
a tumult, to such a point that once he was confused by a Roman soldier of being a
violent Egyptian revolutionary (cf. Acts 21:38) even though he raised a hand to no one. We should prefer peace and
quiet, and even work towards that, but there is what we would prefer and then there
is what we sometimes have to oppose because God would not have us go along with
evil. When evil rises this can bring quiet and peaceful Christians into conflict
with the world.
The tyrants of this world have often been hammers that
the devil has sought to wield to destroy the Church, but he often comes into
conflict with the anvil of the perseverance of the saints of the Lord who
refuse to budge. Think of Peter, who exclaimed when he was told to defy Jesus
by the Jewish religious leaders, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts
5:29). Much of world history recounts time after time where tyrants sought to
force the church to obey their will and failed to do so. Not because Christians
have a spirit of rebellion, but because we are called to meekness, and meekness
means we are prepared to stand like oaks in a headwind when confronted with the
choice between doing evil and obeying God. Christians know that our virtue of
self-control is directly connected to our submission to God, and therefore, there
are times when the meek will boldly proclaim No! to those who want them to override
their conscience.
Now, I should note before I finish, that yes, there have
been times when the state has overcome the authority in the Church and used the
structure of the Church as a hammer against godly men and women. But whenever
this situation arises, God lifts up ordinary men and women who will even stand up
to that. Every believer knows they have a direct line from their conscience
to God that no priest can override, and therefore, many believers have been forced
even to confront ecclesiastical authorities across history as well. So, even those
times which sceptics might use as proof of their position, times when
Christianity was co-opted by corrupt forces, disprove their overall thesis.
Christianity is designed from the inside out to be a self-critiquing religion
where every human authority is shown its limits.
If you wanted to create a religion to pacify the masses then Christianity is the opposite of what you would come up with. Christianity is the anti-tyranny faith. It is the bane of oppressors throughout history. It is the thorn in the side of many humans who seek to claim absolute power. Jesus Christ is the greatest slayer of tyrants, precisely because he overcame evil with his death and resurrection, and inspires in his believers a hope in a better world. When believed and correctly applied Christianity makes great citizens, who always reserve the right, when needed, to remind their authorities who the greatest authority is; the Lord Jesus Christ. Tyrants hate that.
List of References
[1] Though
he is written about in the New Testament, John marks the transition between how
God worked in the Old Testament to how he is changing things for the New
Testament.
Hey, I like Mr. Robot too. That scene was genuinely cringey. More to your point, that’s part of the radical demand of Christianity. If everybody is going one way and God says go another you’re supposed to go with God no matter how fancy the hat or titled the personage. I’m also glad you didn’t go with rebels. I was discussing this with a friend recently, Jesus wasn’t a “rebel”, He was the King, capital K. The rebels were the wicked keepers of the vineyard. He was the actual Authority.
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