During construction, a very rare medieval Irish edition of the Bible (or part of it) was dug up recently. Interestingly, it was opened to Psalms 83, hardly what I would call a good example of the ethos that modern Christians want to develop, which they borrow from the secular humanism of the Enlightenment. Let's read it:
Psalm 83 (NIV)
A song. A psalm of Asaph.Now I don't know about you, but that sure makes me feel Jesus. Kill those bastard enemies of mine, O God...screw that turn the cheek BS! ;) (HT: New Humanist)
1 O God, do not keep silent;
be not quiet, O God, be not still.
2 See how your enemies are astir,
how your foes rear their heads.
3 With cunning they conspire against your people;
they plot against those you cherish.
4 "Come," they say, "let us destroy them as a nation,
that the name of Israel be remembered no more."
5 With one mind they plot together;
they form an alliance against you-
6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
of Moab and the Hagrites,
7 Gebal, [a] Ammon and Amalek,
Philistia, with the people of Tyre.
8 Even Assyria has joined them
to lend strength to the descendants of Lot.
Selah
9 Do to them as you did to Midian,
as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon,
10 who perished at Endor
and became like refuse on the ground.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,
all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12 who said, "Let us take possession
of the pasturelands of God."
13 Make them like tumbleweed, O my God,
like chaff before the wind.
14 As fire consumes the forest
or a flame sets the mountains ablaze,
15 so pursue them with your tempest
and terrify them with your storm.
16 Cover their faces with shame
so that men will seek your name, O LORD.
17 May they ever be ashamed and dismayed;
may they perish in disgrace.
18 Let them know that you, whose name is the LORD—
that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.
Footnotes:
1. Psalm 83:7[a] -- That is, Byblos
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Technorati tags: Theology
Maybe the ethos of said psalm is not: 'hardly what I would call a good example of the ethos that modern Christians want to develop...', it probably sounded a heck of a lot batter to the Irish, when they were being roughed up by the English, who coveted their land until the 1880s.
ReplyDeleteThings always make more sense when context is provided. I wonder if the Irish had the same certitude as the Hebrews, in the sense that the Hebrews' enemy were pagan peoples (whose rituals of sacrifice were not so different, but that's another story), whereas the enemies of the Irish were fellow Christians!
ReplyDeleteCan one make an imprecatory Psalm when one's enemies are praying to the same God of the same Book?
I suspect the Irish felt that the English were sinning against the Holy Spirit with their attempts to subjugate Ireland.
ReplyDeleteIn essence, the theology of the formally Christian state has always leaned on the Old Testament, even when the attackers worshipped the same God.
The Irish believed they were in the right (which they were, after all, it was their land), while the English were greedy swine who were in the wrong.
As for certitude, in the face of superior English armies I suspect the honest answer was 'no,' or at least 'not without a miracle.' It is hard to read the minds of men who are long dead.
Further musings on the Irish Bible. I note that in the Middle Ages, most states identified in some way with Israel, and thus found it very easy to apply those parts of Scripture that apply to the Children of Israel to themselves, consistent or not. This is most clearly seen in the Byzantine state after the early Islamic conquests, but applies to all states. In essence, the books of the Kings were seen as manuals of Government.
ReplyDeleteIf you wanted to attack another state it was a good idea to find a religious excuse like schism, appointing a non-canonical bishop (1066) and so on. But this wasn't always necessary.
This also goes a long way towards explaining medival anti-semitism. Given that the Church of the Middle Ages largely believed in a form of 'replacement theology', the Jews were useless leftovers, rubbish discarded by God. Of course, for the consistent dispensationalist or Postmillenialist, they are simply 'in limbo' until the rapture or the fulfillment of God's promised restoration. Accordingly, while medieval men and women slew the Jews as 'Christ-Killers', modern dispensationalists support the state of Israel without question and the post-millenialist Oliver Cromwell brought the Jews back to Britain in the belief that this would bring forward the date of the dawning of the millenium.
Just some thoughts which I had when pondering your reply.